Nature's Variety VS Wellness

I work for Nature's Variety, but I have fed both foods. 

If you want to stick with Wellness, you can try their CORE line. It's grain free. 

Nature's Variety Instinct is grain free and I've found that most pets really like it. I'm sure you've read quite a bit on the website about it, so I won't go into all of that. One thing that I don't think the website says is that all of the kibbles are coated with the freeze dried raw, so the crumbs in the bottom of the bag are just the freeze dried raw crumbs that have come off the actual kibble. 

Another thing that you can do with NV Instinct CANNED food, if you feed it, is to buy the bigger cans with a picture of a dog on it. It's the same food as the cat one, exactly, and you'll save quite a bit by buying the bigger can. 

When I was feeding my dogs Wellness (I fed both the regular one and CORE), they were always pretty gassy and their poops were always on the looser side, but formed. I've only ever fed Leiki (my cat) the pouches as a treat when I get them on sale, so I haven't really noticed any difference with her. 

I don't know why I didn't think of this prior to my post, but if you contact the company they should be able to tell you when they're having a demo in your area. There should be around 5 per month in an area with a demonstrator (some areas don't have them yet, but if you're looking for a great part time job I recommend it!). At the demo, you should be able to get samples of the Instinct kibbles (different flavours) and some small cans to try out. If you decide to buy the dry food, the demonstrator will have a high value coupon to use with your purchase. 

Also, if you subscribe to the Nature's Variety updates, you'll frequently get coupons in the emails: http://www.naturesvariety.com/subscribe

The thing is, with dry cat food, any dry food... the "grain free" advertisement is usually a hoax.  Grains aren't really the problem, though.  Starch is.  I read the ingredients on every so-called grain free cat food and there is almost always a grain of some sort in there.   I tried my cats on Nature's Variety when they first put it on the line at Petco.... They were running a special and I couldn't resist.  My cats didn't really take to it.  They didn't hate it.  They just like their Blue Buffalo Wilderness and Pro Plan Selects better.  I give them chicken and turkey slightly cooked as they won't touch it raw... I figure it balances it out.  They need some grain, just as we do.  But not as much fillers so I think it really depends on what kind of grain they put in and how much.  Not that it's grain free.  JMO, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FleshFlowers 

So I'm not really sure about either of the starches.

As much as I would love to, I just can't afford to buy her blue buffalo right now! One day maybe!! The NV is $16 (with my coupon and pals card) while the BB is $25.

Mine didn't hate NV... They just prefer their high dollar, expensive foods better!  Haha!  They have expensive tastes!!  So, my advice is try it... Can't hurt!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by FleshFlowers 

 I will have to keep in mind when nearing the end of the bag and probably just discard it so she isn't just getting all the freeze dried bits.

When you get to the end of the bag just dump the "dust" at the bottom into her bowl. It's the raw medallions that have been freeze dried and ground up (basically the same as the Boost supplement). She'll love it!

If you've already bought the Instinct line just make sure to do the transition slowly. It'll be pretty rich compared to a food with grains. We usually recommend switching to the Prairie line and then making the switch to Instinct - the transition is usually easier for more sensitive cats to go from a food with grain to another food with grain, then to a food with similar ingredients without grain. Once you have made the switch over to Instinct, if you decide to stick with the brand, slowly introduce the other flavours as you would if you were introducing a new food. Once you have gone through all of them, you should be able to switch "cold turkey" through the flavours. The ingredients are pretty much the same in all the flavours, unless you go to the LID (Limited Ingredient Diet), which doesn't have the freeze dried coating and has fewer ingredients. 

I don't know if it's the same for cats as with dogs (in terms of the quality of the formula) but BB doesn't rate that well as a food on the majority of food analysis sites (for dogs), the only line of theirs that does is the Wilderness line. 

One thing that I would be calling or emailing the companies about before switching would be whether the grains in the food (if there are any) are genetically modified, where they come from (if they're imported), if the meat contains antibiotics or hormones and where it comes from (again, if it's imported). A food can rate really well by looking at the label and reading the ingredients, but where the ingredients come from and what they contain is also something that should be looked into, IMO. NV is free from genetically modified ingredients, the animals are feed food that isn't genetically modified and it's hormone and antibiotic free. 

Someone else was asking on another topic about the rabbit in the food, because it is imported, and I do have an answer for that. I had a training seminar on Friday, the rabbits are raised in China under Western husbandry standards with western veterinary care, then sent to France where they are then sent to the US. I was told the reason that they were sent to France first, and for the life of me I cannot remember right now (I'll check my notes when I do my report tomorrow). The shortage on rabbit was caused by the dock workers strike in France and seems to be sorted out now. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by P3 and The King 

The thing is, with dry cat food, any dry food... the "grain free" advertisement is usually a hoax.  Grains aren't really the problem, though.  Starch is.  I read the ingredients on every so-called grain free cat food and there is almost always a grain of some sort in there.   

You can't really say that it's a hoax because the foods are grain free. There has to be some sort of binder in a kibble to hold it together, otherwise you'd end up with a bag full of crumbs. 

Yes, Nerdrok, that's what my point was... There has to be something in there to bind it together... It depends more on what type of grain and how much they use.. If it's beneficial, it's OK.  You need to worry more about starches. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by FleshFlowers 

She has the NV instinct mixed in with her old food.. is that okay?

It's fine, just make sure to do the switch slowly and if you notice runny poop use a little less until she adjusts.