VERY SCARED ABOUT BLUE BUFFALO !!!!

I have been feeding Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Fish and Potato for about the past month, based on my vet's recommendation. It does not have any of the ingredients that she told me to avoid. So far this food has worked out well for one of my cats, who was vomiting after eating, until I switched to this food. The problem is that I have found a lot of complaints about this food online, concerning cats who have developed UTIs, crystals, and kidney problems while on this food. However, I have yet to experience problems, my cat has stopped vomiting, and my vet still endorses the food, despite the concerns that I shared with her. I contacted Blue Buffalo about the online complaints. They responded that they were aware of the complaints on the Consumer Affairs site and that they could not control what was posted in an online forum. They went on to say that unless a "pet parent" contacted them directly they could not fully investigate the claims. They also told me at length about their process of selecting and testing ingredients. This does not make me feel better at all! I'm at a loss at what to do. I know that if you look hard enough online, you can find complaints about any food.. Am I overreacting? Should I trust my vet or listen to the online pet owners? Has anyone had a POSITIVE experience with feeding Blue Buffalo? I could really use some help deciding what to do. I'm afraid that switching food will make my cat sick again.

I have fed Blue Buffalo Basics LID Turkey & Potato before and did so for about 8 months. I did not have any problems with UTIs while feeding the food. The main reason I switched foods is b/c of the carb content in the BB...I had a few gain some unneeded weight. I switched to Instinct LID Turkey formula.

I do have 2 cats that are prone to urinary problems. One of which is suspected of having FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease.) I am in the process of increasing all my cats' wet food intake and decreasing dry.

The primary concern about the Fish and Potato diet would be the mercury levels. I have been told to not feed fish products more than twice a week.

Is there a veterinary nutritionist in your area? Most vets get very little education on pet dietary needs (unless they attend continuing education seminars on the topic, which 3 of my vets do.)

We also have 6 cats in the rescue who have been eating Blue Wilderness for over a year and all are doing well.

Crystals and blockages happen for a variety of reasons. And each cat is different. Yes, cats have been known to block even on high end canned and even raw diets. My guy is one of those. In that case, some cats are very sensitive to mineral content, specifically phosphorus. Cat food high in fish is usually high in phosphorous. Some cats have urine PH issues. Some cats have dry food /water issues and some cats have stress issues or a combination. What causes FLUTD varies from cat to cat. So to say a food is the cause is not accurate because each cat reacts differently. We fed my cat every expensive canned no grain food available and a variety of raw and he still blocked. We've been trying Young Again because the prescription food is crape and making him fat. So far so good. Their mature formula has reduced mineral load and tons of meat but more importantly, he eats it. So it's hit or miss with FLUTD. Sometimes a script food is all that works.

Tabbysia said:

I have been feeding Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Fish and Potato for about the past month, based on my vet's recommendation. It does not have any of the ingredients that she told me to avoid. So far this food has worked out well for one of my cats, who was vomiting after eating, until I switched to this food. The problem is that I have found a lot of complaints about this food online, concerning cats who have developed UTIs, crystals, and kidney problems while on this food. However, I have yet to experience problems, my cat has stopped vomiting, and my vet still endorses the food, despite the concerns that I shared with her. I contacted Blue Buffalo about the online complaints. They responded that they were aware of the complaints on the Consumer Affairs site and that they could not control what was posted in an online forum. They went on to say that unless a "pet parent" contacted them directly they could not fully investigate the claims. They also told me at length about their process of selecting and testing ingredients. This does not make me feel better at all! I'm at a loss at what to do. I know that if you look hard enough online, you can find complaints about any food.. Am I overreacting? Should I trust my vet or listen to the online pet owners? Has anyone had a POSITIVE experience with feeding Blue Buffalo? I could really use some help deciding what to do. I'm afraid that switching food will make my cat sick again.

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cats can get uti from fish

if you want to switch you can try natures variety chicken my cats did great on it i never bought blue so i have no opinions on it

I didn't know that fish can cause UTI. I can't really feed chicken because the vet had told me to avoid it. My other cat seems to be intolerant to it. I'm not sure about turkey or duck, and I've heard that some cats can be allergic to lamb.

Tabbysia said:

I didn't know that fish can cause UTI. I can't really feed chicken because the vet had told me to avoid it. My other cat seems to be intolerant to it. I'm not sure about turkey or duck, and I've heard that some cats can be allergic to lamb.

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natures variety has different flavers and kinds

they have in dry

chicken

duck 

rabbit

salmon

LID turkey

LID duck

LID rabbit

in wet

chicken

beef

lamb

duck

rabbit

venison

salmon

pork

LID DUCK

LID TURKEY

Thanks for the info. I looked at the Nature' Variety website and read the ingredient lists for all of their foods (the dry). Most of the ingredients seem very good. There are a few concerns that I have though. Tapioca is high on the ingredient list. Does that have any nutritional value? Also, what the heck is montmorillonite clay? It is very high in the ingredient list on their foods. I looked it up, and it is used as anticaking agent. Is that even safe? Also, the dry foods that have a "raw boost"--does that mean that there are chunks of raw meat mixed in the food? If there are, I'm not sure that it would be safe to leave the food out for several hours while I am at work, and the parasites would concern me too. Forgive me if all of the questions seem dumb. I'm just trying to find the right food.

Tabbysia said:

Thanks for the info. I looked at the Nature' Variety website and read the ingredient lists for all of their foods (the dry). Most of the ingredients seem very good. There are a few concerns that I have though. Tapioca is high on the ingredient list. Does that have any nutritional value? Also, what the heck is montmorillonite clay? It is very high in the ingredient list on their foods. I looked it up, and it is used as anticaking agent. Is that even safe? Also, the dry foods that have a "raw boost"--does that mean that there are chunks of raw meat mixed in the food? If there are, I'm not sure that it would be safe to leave the food out for several hours while I am at work, and the parasites would concern me too. Forgive me if all of the questions seem dumb. I'm just trying to find the right food.

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the raw is freeze dried its safe i have a bag it still fine as long you put it the dry in ziplock bags and i have sojos freeze dried beef dog food and grandma lucy freeze dried cat food both contain meet that is fine also i use it as a most treat sometimes or when my cats are sick

i thought montmorillonite clay is the clay good for the intestines hmm maybe both of us need to do more research on that one lol

tapioca i have no idea

Holistic vets and physicians for that matter recommend montmorillonite   clay to absorb toxins in the digestive system.  I would imagine that a pet food company is using it to stabilize their processed food but it isn't dangerous and may have health benefits.  It isn't clay like we normally think of clay like in Play-dough.

Denice said:

 
Holistic vets and physicians for that matter recommend montmorillonite   clay to absorb toxins in the digestive system.  I would imagine that a pet food company is using it to stabilize their processed food but it isn't dangerous and may have health benefits.  It isn't clay like we normally think of clay like in Play-dough.

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i think they us the clay to help cats with intestines issues like diarrhea etc  natures variety is the only food that don't give marty diarrhea his poos are normal on it im going to try 4heath on him if that fails he is back on the nature variety again

Since your vet is ok with BB brand, ask about feeding the fish based "Blue Buffalo Wilderness". It's grain free so it would have to be less likely to form crystals. It is pretty expensive but the ingredients are good.

I talked to her about trying the grain-free, and she is okay with it, but some people on this site have expressed concern about grain-free dry foods being bad for male cats (UTI), and I have heard that some grains are needed to prevent UTIs. My male kitten has had chronic loose stools for several months, all while on different foods, including vet prescribed ones, and my adult female cat is either sensitive to corn (most likely) or chicken, since these were the main two common ingredients in all of the foods that she vomited before I started feeding Blue. I think that the Wilderness brand has several different meat sources, (trying to stick to one protein) and a higher protein content than what I am currently feeding. Not only might the food be too rich for my adult cat who used to vomit frequently, but I have heard that too much protein can raise the urine ph and also make diarrhea worse. I could be totally wrong. There are so many conflicting reports out there. I might try mixing the Blue Basics Grain-Free Turkey (all that it is offered in), with the Blue Basics Fish and Potato since they are similar and might be less likely to cause stomach upset. Do you think that might work, or should I ask her about the Wilderness?

Oh, and I noticed that the magnesium content in the grain-free Basics is higher than the fish Basics. That is a little troubling.

How about testing your cat's urine pH with test strips? If you can get access to the urine mid-stream, you could test the pH at home. No guarantees, but at least you'll have feedback.

Does your cat refuse to eat wet? Switching to wet is the biggest factor in avoiding UTIs. I'd switch to wet and feed fish flavors sparingly. The latest research says that magnesium is not as big as a concern as previously thought, feeding wet food is the biggest step to take.

I don't know much about this because I haven't had to deal with it yet.  I thought the stuff that they added to the prescription food for ph for the more common crystals came from meat.  Grains really wouldn't help prevent UTIs.  For the vast majority of cats grains either contribute nothing or they are a negative.  There are a few cats that seem to do better with a little rice in their diet, I have one.  But that is more the exception than the norm.

My kitten does not refuse to eat wet. He likes it, but the vet has told me not to give him very much (just a little as a "treat"). She says that he does not need it. So, he is eating only dry for now. I just give him a little bit of canned with his pills. He did used to eat more canned (Royal Canin and Hill's w/d)---with ZERO improvement----(still had loose stools), so I am not sure that canned will help anyway. I am trying to transition him away from fish and grains though. The only common ingredient that has been in EVERY food that my loose stool kitten has eaten (including Iams and two vet prescribed foods--dry and canned) and that I have not yet eliminated is RICE. The vet kind of blew me off when I mentioned this but said that I could try grain-free. I have started mixing some Blue Basics Grain-Free Turkey and Potato with the Blue Basics Fish and Potato (1/2 and 1/2) to see if it makes any difference with him.

My adult cat that used to vomit before I began feeding Blue Buffalo has had no problems on the new mixture so far, and I hope to switch over completely to no fish and grain-free soon. It remains to be seen if my kitten's loose stools will improve.

I know that it is not ideal, but I am hoping that it will work out. I want to possibly switch brands in the future (still kind of worried about Blue) but have been advised not to for now. I hope that my kitten shows some improvement. He is big, healthy, playful, and has a good appetite. If only I could find a good food to regulate his stools. I have only tried the grain-free mixture for a couple of days. Fingers crossed!

Oh, by the way, both cats seem to drink plenty of water. The little one gets excited when I refill his water bowl. I might try to sneak a little more wet food to the little one (not sure what brand), if it does not make his diarrhea worse. I'm afraid to change anything with the adult cat though, since she is in a good place and not vomiting. I'm afraid to push my luck!

I'm very confused as to why your vet does not recommend wet food. That is very out-dated thinking. :dk: This is a site written by a vet: http://www.catinfo.org

As Cannegardner said, cats develop urinary issues for so many different reasons - but a PRIMARY reason is simply not enough water.

If your cat is an adult cat eating only dry food, while it depends a bit on the quantity, MOST dry foods recommend an amount of food that works out to about 2 to 3 ounces of food a day. That means that for your cat to consume enough water to equal the amount of water IF eating canned food, your kitty - EACH kitty - needs to drink about a cup of water a day. So if your kitty isn't drinking a full 8 ounces of water a day, he's not drinking "enough" water.

I have a FLUTD kitty, and I feed a homemade raw diet. She still has a problem with her urine pH - and a raw diet is naturally acidifying. Denice is right, the urine acidifier added to most "urinary health foods" is methionine, an amino acid found in meat. It seems to me the "problem" with BB is that carbs contribute to a high urine pH, and then the fish can compound the problem. Struvite cyrstals form in an alkaline pH environment, and without the water needed to keep flushing them out, this is likely why there are so many reports of problems.

Your kitty may be just fine on this food. There's really no way to know until a problem develops - or doesn't. But I really recommend you take a read of the information at the CatInfo.org website (link above) - and perhaps consider a new vet, one that is a little more current in nutrition for our cats.

When it comes to food for UTI - canned raw or dry -- you want to focus on as low carb as you can get, grain free, made with a lot of meat but not too much organ meat. Watch the phosphorous and magnesium ratios. More meat = lower Ph. Potatoes are also phos heavy like fish so if they use potatoes make sure it's potatoes starch. Get a mineral profile from the company and see how it compares to a uti /crystal diet. Protien makes them drink more water too.

Most crystal diets look like this :
Calcium 0.76
Phos 0.65
Potassium 0.6-0.8
Magnesium 0.04-0.06

Dl-methionine is usually added as an acidifier as well as Potassium citrate to prevent calcium ox stones.

And you want meat meat meat. The carb % will tell you how much meat you've got.

These are dry matter ratios. Also those fancy clays are mineral dense and so can cause problems in some cats so get a dry matter nutrient profile.

It's a frustrating condition but low stress low mineral load acidification of urine ph and extremely low carb diets all together seem to help. My guy has been crystal and blockage free for a year. It can be managed.

I am still feeding Blue Buffalo, and have now switched over completely to Blue Basics Grain-Free Turkey and Potato. A few days after switching to this food, my kitten's stools firmed up and have remained normal (since October 18). I guess the little guy was sensitive to grains (maybe). My adult cat has started losing some weight though, but has had no issues with vomiting. The vet said there is nothing wrong with her that she can see, but did acknowledge that she has lost some weight. She seens to be okay otherwise--full of energy and a good appetite. I still worry about the reports that I am hearing about cats getting sick on this food, but it seems to be the only food that both cats respond to (no vomiting or loose stools). No one has really responded with positive reviews about the food on this site, so that kind of worries me too. Anyone?

Possible explanation for weight-loss....

I too fed Blue Basics GF Turkey and Potato for awhile (at the time it was the only GF LID diet I could find that wasn't fish and didn't have ANY chicken product in it.)

Several of my cats began to lose weight (others were constantly eating...like they couldn't get full.) After doing some inquiring, I found out that this particular food is basically a Potato based food with Turkey (even though I think Turkey is the first ingredient.) The Turkey% is done PRIOR to the cooking process (before the water is taken out.)

I currently feed Instinct LID Turkey Meal formula and NOW Fresh Turkey, Duck and Salmon formula. My crew gets 2 canned meals (Instinct, Natural Balance, Wellness CORE canned) and 1 dry meal.

Good luck with your food journey! I've been at it for 2 yrs (3 of mine have severe food allergies/intolerances) and I'm still trying to figure out what works best for everyone.