Need some help on brand info

I am useless with searches. I just never seem to know the right phrasing to find out what I want to know.

What I am hoping one of you sleuth types can tell me is if the pet food brand Blue (aka Blue Buffalo) is in any way related to the brand Castor & Pollux.

Are they owned by the same parent company for instance, or do they use the same manufacturing plant?

Thanks for any help

Blue Buffalo shows that it is a brand of the privately owned Blue Buffalo Company and is not under another umbrella. I see no relation to Castor & Pollux.

Blue is not a Blue seal brand which I belive castor and polluck is ... Blue seal is a BIG parent company

Originally Posted by sharky

Blue is not a Blue seal brand which I believe castor and polluck is ... Blue seal is a BIG parent company

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Now having same plants is Possible with smaller brand s.. remember the 07 recall 100 brands One manufacturer

Only way to fully know is to call and hope for a truthful knowledgeable rep...

May I ask, is there any reason you're concerned with whether or not Blue Buffalo is affiliated with Castor and Pollux? I'm considering purchasing their Organix cat food brand, but after reading their website, I'm a little concerned.

My first (small) concern was with them listing organic peas and organic brown rice third and fourth on the dry cat food ingredient list, and they also list 'dried egg product', which I don't recall having seen before. Their wet food ingredients list has organic brown rice listed as their second ingredient, which seems outrageous for such an expensive wet food. Alarm bells also sounded when the site subtly advised against a raw food diet, and when they said people should look for pet foods with fruits and vegetables in them. But what got me really nervous was when I read the following in their FAQ:

DO YOU DO ANIMAL TESTING?

The most common form of animal testing that pet food companies engage in is for “palatability,” (in other words, a taste test). A taste test is done to make sure that any changes in the food are better than or equal to the current food. The taste test is quite simple and is conducted by simply presenting the food for consumption. The amount of food eaten is then recorded and compared to what was eaten of the other food. This is how we know any changes made to the food to make it more nutritious are still yummy to the animal! We also send food and treats home with our staff and friends to feed to their own four-legged friends and the results are consistent— pets love our stuff!

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Does this seem to anyone else like they kind of avoided the question? They said yes, we do 'a form' of animal testing, but they didn't say anything about not doing any other kind of animal testing, which is something I would certainly stress if I were running a company catered to animal lovers. After hearing whispers of Iams doing some form of animal testing (I have not looked into this) I am a little paranoid, and after seeing this thread, was wondering if there was a reason this company should be avoided.

Thanks for the replies, I'd forgotten I started this thread.

The reason I asked is because when I opened a can of the castor & pollux Natural Ultramix "chicken and vegetable casserole" I saw it is almost identical to the Blue "Healthy Gourmet Flaked Chicken" I was feeding before. The one difference is there is a chunk of potato (which I pick out) in the C&P cans.

My cause for concern over this is, I stopped feeding the Blue flaked chicken because the last batch of it I bought looked bad and smelled worse, I mean it smelled really bad, and the cats wouldn't go near it.

I contacted Blue and they asked for samples which I sent. I have not heard anything else about it, and I check for Blue recall announcements daily. So if the food wasn't "bad"/recalled, I have to assume they used inferior ingredients in that batch, and if they are going to start putting inferior product into their very expensive food, I will no longer buy it.

So I went on a search to find something similar my cats would enjoy in their rotation, and one of the foods I tried is this C&P, which, as I said, looks exactly like the Blue. The Blue before I got that bad batch, that is.

However they don't like it as much, so I only feed it about once very 10 days or so.

I agree that cats don't need fruits and vegetables in their food, but many of the "high quality" foods add them, it's a marketing scam. So I rotate foods as much as possible so they aren't getting filled up with that kind of stuff every day.

Heck, I'd go back to fancy feast if they'd stop adding artificial stuff, and wheat gluten and sodium nitrites and sodium nitrates.

Originally Posted by otto

I am useless with searches. I just never seem to know the right phrasing to find out what I want to know.

What I am hoping one of you sleuth types can tell me is if the pet food brand Blue (aka Blue Buffalo) is in any way related to the brand Castor & Pollux.

Are they owned by the same parent company for instance, or do they use the same manufacturing plant?

Thanks for any help

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Blue and Castor & Pollux are not affiliated. Blue uses several different manufacturers. I do not know who Castor uses to manufacture their food but it could very well be one of the same as Blue but this has nothing to do with ownership of the company itself.

Originally Posted by Arkadia

<snip>
Does this seem to anyone else like they kind of avoided the question? They said yes, we do 'a form' of animal testing, but they didn't say anything about not doing any other kind of animal testing, which is something I would certainly stress if I were running a company catered to animal lovers. After hearing whispers of Iams doing some form of animal testing (I have not looked into this) I am a little paranoid, and after seeing this thread, was wondering if there was a reason this company should be avoided.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the impression I got too =\\

Here's an idea: check the label on the can.

Pet Works owns Castor and Pollux, Mars Petcare used to make it for them and may still.
Ironically their talk of "we put rigorous testing on our products" is silly, that's Mars' policay for all of their food, even the cheapy grocery store brands they manufacture.

The idea behind the added fruits and veggies is that they're a healthier source of vitamins and minerals. Which works for a dog, but not a cat. Though I used to feed some of the dry (it was free lol) and I must say that the banana chips did actually force cats to chew and did scrape plaque off.
Otherwise it's just marketing to people. Trail mix is healthy and tasty for us, right? Why let people know it's not for cats. Same for the wet foods with veggie chunks.

All petfood companies do food trials. Mars does theirs in conjunction with Banfield. Hill's has their own set up for it. I don't know who Purina, Del Montie, Diamond, or smaller companies use.

Well of course I looked at the can. The can does not tell all. The C&P can says "made in USA" but doesn't say where in USA. There is an address but often the address on the can is a corporate office not a manufacturing plant.

I don't have an Blue labels to look at, I had to send them back to get a refund.

Tolly and Queen Eva aren't eating the C&P any more. These two are going to put me in an early grave with their finicky ways. I thought I had a good variety for them, and things seemed to be going good, but they are back to saying "I'm not eating THAT".