Wild Calling Cat Food

I really hate to post negative things, but since I've been referencing this food, I thought I'd better.

I did a little research today and found out some things from a different cat forum who discussed this brand in more detail.

Wild Calling is a new brand. The high protein content, no carrageenan, and no menadione are all good points about it.

However, the other forum found out a few negatives:

--They have chosen Evanger's to manufacture and can the food. Evanger's has been cited for some questionable business ethics, among the most bothersome for me is that the protein in one of their foods was not the correct one.

--The members of the other forum noted that the source/type of the liver is not noted on the can. It took a while for someone there to find out, so they felt customer service was lacking. Once someone answered, though, it was the vice president of the company, and the answer was that the liver came from the same protein source - so pheasant cat food has pheasant liver, duck cat food has duck liver, beef cat food has beef liver, etc.

The liver issue was not a big deal for me. Being new, maybe some protocol was not established for customer questions that were more detailed. And the answer was a good one.

The relationship with Evanger's, though, I know some people will refuse to buy the food just based on that.

The deal with Evanger's is what would concern me.  From what I understand anyway, unless dealing with an allergy, the liver doesn't have to match the meat source.  They should be putting the type of liver on the can for people who do have cats with allergies.  The deal with using a meat other than what's on the label would be a huge problem for people with cats that have sensitivities to certain meats.

Yes I bought a couple of cans of wild calling a while ago and after googling it I decided against buying it again. Plus neither of my cats really liked it all the much. 

I read the FDA notice and it was for dog food that contained bovine meat instead of lamb. The duck food was also cited as not having duck meat in it, although the notice didn't indicate what meat (if any) was in there.

The other violations have to do with felony counts that don't affect the food composition. There's accusations that they told workers to divert gas line fuel before it reached the meter so that they wouldn't get charged. Then there's a charge of witness tampering in the subsequent trial--trying to give bribes. None of these charges have been proven yet, the cases are still under trial. But it does sound pretty bad in the article I read, like you had to make active decisions to do these things and there wasn't much leeway for it to be a mistake.

Since they are a new company, I wonder what possessed them to use Evangers to manufacture their food, knowing Evangers reputation .  Money probably.  Well,  , that's very disappointing.  Plus, their customer service, so far, isn't all that great for me, either. I emailed them over a week ago with a very simple question (it was late at night so couldn't call them), and I STILL haven't rec'd a response back.

Raintyger said:

--The members of the other forum noted that the source/type of the liver is not noted on the can. It took a while for someone there to find out, so they felt customer service was lacking. Once someone answered, though, it was the vice president of the company, and the answer was that the liver came from the same protein source - so pheasant cat food has pheasant liver, duck cat food has duck liver, beef cat food has beef liver, etc.

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Just in case anyone is considering feeding Wild Calling, there was one exception to the liver sourcing - salmon flavor food is made with chicken liver.

mrsgreenjeens said:

Since they are a new company, I wonder what possessed them to use Evangers to manufacture their food, knowing Evangers reputation

.  Money probably.  Well, 

, that's very disappointing.  Plus, their customer service, so far, isn't all that great for me, either. I emailed them over a week ago with a very simple question (it was late at night so couldn't call them), and I STILL haven't rec'd a response back.

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I know, they went through the trouble of making a really high quality food, and then they sabotage their efforts by their association. Maybe they signed a contract before the Evanger's trouble started. The wrong protein thing was dated Dec. 2012, and the fuel and witness tampering in spring 2013. Only other thing I can think of is that the quality of the food was so high they needed to offset the costs by picking a cheap manufacturer.

Upon further reading, Evanger's has also had sanitary problems according to Truth About Pet Food.

http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/evangers-pet-food-troubles

So unfortunately I am returning my cans of Wild Calling. Hopefully Wild Calling will wise up and when they are able to, switch manufacturers. Too bad, I had such high hopes for this food. Novel proteins, high quality.

There are very few pet food canning plants in the US, and most companies (besides the big ones like Iams and Purina who can afford to have their own) share canning facilities. But they may retain full control over the ingredients and production practices. You could contact the company for more details if it's something you're really concerned about.

Willowy said:

There are very few pet food canning plants in the US, and most companies (besides the big ones like Iams and Purina who can afford to have their own) share canning facilities. But they may retain full control over the ingredients and production practices. You could contact the company for more details if it's something you're really concerned about.

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The problem is a trust issue, though. Yes, Wild Calling may specify their production and ingredients have to be up to certain standards. But Evanger's seems to have a problem with compliance. So how can I trust that Evanger's fulfilled their duty?

Depending who staffs the plant while they're making Wild Calling food. They may only be using Evanger's equipment, doing everything else themselves.

Hmm...yes...this is all very disappointing. All while I'm trying to get Sebastian to eat the Wild Calling rabbit, which he doesn't like anyway. I guess I can stop that battle. 

Are there any other foods made by Evangers? I have one can of Wild Calling 96 percent pheasant which I will probably feed to Chowder because taking it would be a hassle. However even if he doesn't like it this is pretty disappointing as they seem to be a nice new company.

Willowy said:

Depending who staffs the plant while they're making Wild Calling food. They may only be using Evanger's equipment, doing everything else themselves.

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A good point. However, since Poppy seems to have given Wild Calling a less than lukewarm reception, I will still be returning the food. She only tolerates it. ("Mommy, what's this stuff, do I have to eat it? What happened to Hound and Gatos? What about the By Nature Organics?") And since we're talking more about homecooked food, I'm thinking mommy cooks!

A local holistic pet food store recommended Wild Calling a few months ago and I was reluctant to buy it because when I felt the can and looked at it, I could tell it came from Evanger's.  My guess was confirmed when I contacted the company.  The can was very sturdy  like the Addiction brand's Forest Rabbit formula can.  Addiction is also canned by Evanger's in the US.   The cans from both Addiction and Wild Calling also  had the same some sort of crust or dirt near the rims.  I had to clean the Addiction cans that I ordered with cotton swabs before I opened them.

I'm still considering whether I should try Wlld Calling.   Other than Evanger's or Simmons (which purchased Menu), where else can the smaller pet food manufacturers turn?  Unfortunately, Nestle/Purina doesn't seem to be willing to subcontract their canning facility to the companies that manufacture the more natural pet foods, despite the fact that Nestle/Purina isn't in natural or holistic pet food market.  It's a shame that they won't can or distribute for the smaller companies as they probably have much better quality controls at their plants.

In the month or so since the last post, has anyone else tried Wild Calling?

My cats have been on it about a week. I've had no problems with it and they love it!!!!

Hello,

I created an account here to respond to this thread about Wild Calling! using Evangers. My local natural pet foods store nearby started selling this brand and my three cats really like the buffalo flavor (the pheasant was a unanimous fail though). They also don't use carageenan which I liked. When I was looking at reviews online I noticed Evangers was the main reason people were not interested in this new brand so I emailed them. I had two concerns I asked them about:

1. There was rust on top rim some of the cans (I've seen other unrelated brands have it too so I was sort of curious what the deal is with it in general)

2. Using Evangers canning facilities. (I also wanted to let them know that it seemed like a lot of people wanted to like their product but couldn't get past the Evangers concerns.)

Here's what they responded with. For reference, they actually use another facility at American Nutrition more than Evangers. I just wanted to share because it alleviated my concerns. This response was from their executive VP.

"Rust can occur on cans from any facility because of the manufacturing process. Cans are packed and then cooked inside a huge vat of steam and water. As such, when the can comes out it must be dried. During humid and hot seasons rust can occur. We have had rust issues at both American Nutrition and Evanger's but they have both instituted additional measures to prevent rust from forming. We are working with both our co-packers, our logistics companies and warehouses to get this issue resolved. We are almost to a point where our entire supply chain has corrected the issue and rust should not be an issue as we exhaust current inventory and move into newer inventory of product. I can assure you the rust is cosmetic damage and does not impact the quality of the product. In most cases, if you wipe the rust it will come off the can.

As for Evanger's, we have instituted strict quality standards with all co-packers. We source the ingredients to their facility and conduct random sample testing on all products. To date, we have not had any issues with the quality of product produced at Evanger's. I can certainly understand people's concern with Evanger's as they have been accused of personal deficiencies, but think it is off base to believe this impacts the quality of product they produce. They have worked very close with the us, the FDA and other regulatory bodies to ensure their products are of utmost quality. We have produced over 1MM cans at Evanger's without any issues. Further, the agreement we have in place with our co-packers places additional standards on them that they have upheld with the highest standards of certainty. We are also very excited that they are moving into a new state of the art facility that they are hoping will be Leeds certified.

As of current, a large percentage of our product is now being produced by American Nutrition. Evanger's remains a trusted co-packer but American Nutrition is helping to meet the demand for our product so they currently produce a large percentage of product which people seem to ignore.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I hope this helps!"

Welcome to TCS. Thank you for posting your questions to them and their reply to you.

Thanks! And you're welcome. Thought it was worth sharing because there isn't too much information out there about this brand that otherwise seems pretty solid.

Hello, i am currently in training at a vet's office while i await my program start date to become a licensed vet tech. I am working on teaching myself feline nutrition with emphasize on holistic care. I have 6 kitties and i just discovered this food. I thought it was a dream come true. And they all actually agreed on it which has been the biggest hang up with switching them to a high quality wet diet.  Has anyone had any recent experience with this company good or bad? I'm about to purchase mass amounts since  i really can't find anything bad about it and your email to the company cleared up the question about the canning facility.  i would appreciate  any feed back

I've been feeding this to my kitten who is now 10 months old. I havent had a problem with it. His coat is amazinly soft, bright eyes, playful and alert. Very limited stools and not big or smelly. I like how they have alot of different protiens and alternate between the flavors. Rabbit is his favorite as is the pheasent. Not highly priced for a wet food. I pay about 150 - 170 per can and Im feeding him 1 can per day and hes in perfect shape and weight.