Important information on the Wellness Canned Cat Food Voluntary Recall

Originally Posted by 2coolCats

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I'm going to go ponder the raw food thread now...I drive 30 minutes to get my cat's food and I'm starting to think maybe it would be less energy and money and more peace of mind to just do it myself.

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Wellness grain-free varieties are one of the few commercially-prepared foods I recommend to others and feed to my fosters. Although I will continue to do so, maintaining personal control of quality is precisely why I never feed anything commercial to my own cats.

AC

Dang I got 15 cans of this. They are sending coupons and told me to tjhrow the cans away. I just opened a can last night so I'm tempted to call and say I forgot a can. I'll go through my cupboards and make sure I didn't miss any.

I had 14 cans that fell under the recall dates. I returned them to the feed store where I purchased them and simply exchanged them for 14 new cans. The Wellness representative had been there that day, and "checked every can in the store"

At the moment I will continue to include the three Wellness flavors I've been feeding in my cats' diet rotation. I've found it very difficult and frustrating to find many good quality foods they will eat with any enjoyment and consistency. Since they will eat the Wellness most of the time, and show every evidence of thriving, for the moment it stays.

Thanks, OP, for posting. I haven't checked my cans yet, but I'd likely have missed this were it not for this post.

I am wondering how long now until more cans are re-stocked in the stores??? I have been feeding Instinct and EVO in place of the Wellness, but my cats just love the Wellness wet food.

I don't know if they carry this where you live, but our kitties are loving this food (Holistic Select) : http://www.holisticselect.com/recipes.aspx?pet=cat

Originally Posted by LDG

I don't know if they carry this where you live, but our kitties are loving this food (Holistic Select) : http://www.holisticselect.com/recipes.aspx?pet=cat

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YES they do!!! I have never tried that brand, but will now, thanks for telling me that. It always helps knowing someone else has used a line of food and has good results with it and their cats like it. Boy, if Wellness takes too long to get product back out, we all might have found something else we like better and won't want to go back

Actually, once I started feeding them the Holistic Select, they got picky about the Wellness! That's why I had only the pouches - I didn't bother buying any of the Wellness cans the list time we picked up food! (They still like the Instinct cans though).

And, FYI, the only Wellness pouches I get are the blue/green (Chicken, Crab & Herring), the gold (Turkey & Duck), and the purple (Chicken, Duck & Shrimp). The other ones have potato starch high on the list of ingredients.

The feed store I purchase Wellness from is fully stocked with other-dated cases. Holistic Select, didn't that used to be called Eagle Pack? Made by Mother Hubbard. My cats wouldn't eat it. Maybe I should try it again, since they've obviously made some changes.

<edit> oh never mind. All they have are blended flavors. Tolly won't eat his chicken mixed with any other flavor.

Holistic Select is another brand owned by Wellpet LLC (which also owns the Wellness brand).

Wellpet owns Wellness, Holistic Select, Eagle Pack, and Old Mother Hubbard - each is a different brand.

Old Mother Hubbard was the "mother" company, of Wellness, they made dog food I think, then branched out to the Wellness brand for dogs and cats. I had that part mixed up, Mother Hubbard was not originally affiliated with Eagle Pack Holistic Select.

And Eagle Pack was Holistic Select. Holistic Select was one line of Eagle Pack pet foods.

May not be that way now, but it was at one time, I still have the pamphlet.

Wellpet LLC owns all those now, eh? How disturbing. Wellpet LLC is a subsidiary company of the Berwind Corporation, a mining company.

I'm going to keep feeding the Wellness, but I guess I will stay away from the other foods manufactured by them. Since I like to feed from different brands, partly in case of recalls, no point in feeding Wellness AND Holistic Select, IMO since they come from the same place.

Originally Posted by otto

<snip>Since I like to feed from different brands, partly in case of recalls, no point in feeding Wellness AND Holistic Select, IMO since they come from the same place.

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Well... I'm not sure they're manufactured at the same plants. And as they're different formulas, and the other brands owned by Wellpet weren't affected by the recall, it seems to me that feeding them different brands even if by the same parent company does achieve the goal intended when feeding different brands.

But as Tolly needs only chicken, seems there's no point in feeding Holistic Select foods.

Our kitties, on the other hand, seem to have chosen the Holistic Select brand over the Wellness brand (at least in the cans).

Originally Posted by LDG

Actually, once I started feeding them the Holistic Select, they got picky about the Wellness!

That's why I had only the pouches - I didn't bother buying any of the Wellness cans the list time we picked up food! (They still like the Instinct cans though).

And, FYI, the only Wellness pouches I get are the blue/green (Chicken, Crab & Herring), the gold (Turkey & Duck), and the purple (Chicken, Duck & Shrimp). The other ones have potato starch high on the list of ingredients.

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Picked up some Holistic Select yesterday, and the cats LOVE it, I can't believe it. They also love Instinct, which I just started using too. I wrote down the pouches of Wellness you use, thanks for all of the info. on this

Went to the Petco in West Dundee (near where both Feralvr and I live) yesterday and a manager told me that Wellness cans would be restocked today. She said they had to do a count involving all the stores to make sure they got all the cans with those dates, so that is what held up them getting new cans on the shelves.

I had a coupon from Wellness that came via e-mail and had to be used by 3/16. It was $1.00 off a can. They let me take the discount off a pouch.

Robin

Originally Posted by bastetservant

Went to the Petco in West Dundee (near where both Feralvr and I live) yesterday and a manager told me that Wellness cans would be restocked today. She said they had to do a count involving all the stores to make sure they got all the cans with those dates, so that is what held up them getting new cans on the shelves.

I had a coupon from Wellness that came via e-mail and had to be used by 3/16. It was $1.00 off a can. They let me take the discount off a pouch.

Robin

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I am on my way to Petco now!!!!!!!! Thanks Robin!!

If I only have a handful of cans, is it okay to use them? This isn't tainted food, it's about missing an important nutrient? I rotate Wellness, Evo and Blue Buffalo. In addition to feeding my cats twice daily with wet food, they get about 1/4 cup of dried food for snacking. I'm thinking of using the Wellness a little less in the rotation to offset the deficiency.

Because I feed my cats 4-6 brands of canned/pouches food, (different brand every day), as well as dry food, I'm not concerned about this recall, and have continued to feed my cats the Wellness cans I have in the cupboard.

Robin

Originally Posted by tdonline

If I only have a handful of cans, is it okay to use them? This isn't tainted food, it's about missing an important nutrient? I rotate Wellness, Evo and Blue Buffalo. In addition to feeding my cats twice daily with wet food, they get about 1/4 cup of dried food for snacking. I'm thinking of using the Wellness a little less in the rotation to offset the deficiency.

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This is from the press release by the CEO of wellness

"Cats fed only product with inadequate levels of thiamine for several weeks may be at risk for developing a thiamine deficiency. If treated promptly, thiamine deficiency is typically reversible."

Here's the link: http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/letter.aspx

You'll be fine if wellness is in a long rotation with other cans.

Thanks. I'm going to drop the Wellness frequency in my rotation to be safe. The kitties should be getting enough thiamine from the rest of their diets. Back to increasing the rotation (hence the thread I just started!).

Originally Posted by bastetservant

Because I feed my cats 4-6 brands of canned/pouches food, (different brand every day), as well as dry food, I'm not concerned about this recall, and have continued to feed my cats the Wellness cans I have in the cupboard.

Robin

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I rotate wet food as well, so I was not too concerned if my cats ate one of the cans with the recall date. I did check the ones I had and they all had dates before or after the recall anyway. Except for a few cans of the Core, and I did replace them since I was going to the store anyway. But I really wouldn't worry about it if you feed a variety.