Royal Canin Changed Their Hypoallergenic Dry Formulas

Perhaps this news has been out there for awhile, but I couldn't find any information on the web, and I only found out when I picked up a new bag at the vet yesterday and noticed that the label was different as well as an ingredient.

The Royal Canin Hypoallergenic Selected Protein dry food formulas (for both cats and dogs) have changed to include hydrolyzed soy protein. This is because they are having difficulty sourcing the meals they use in their dry formulas (duck meal, venison meal, rabbit meal), and the hydrolyzed soy protein will enable them to use less of the meals so that they can have more of a continuous supply to meet demand. They will also be removing the word "Hypoallergenic" from their labels and it will say "Selected Protein" only.

The affected cat foods are:

Feline Dry

Royal Canin Selected Protein Adult PR (pea and rabbit)

Royal Canin Selected Protein Adult PD (pea and duck)

Royal Canin Selected Protein Adult PV (pea and venison)*

I inquired more about the Selected Protein PR (pea and rabbit) because that is what my Sebastian is eating in both the canned and the dry (he only gets a little dry). At this time, they are not anticipating a change in the canned formula. Apparently it is only the novel protein meals in the dry formulations that they are having trouble sourcing.

I will most definitely be keeping tabs on this. Luckily, Sebastian eats mostly canned (which is not supposed to change), but I will be limiting even further the amount of dry I give him or I will decide to discontinue it altogether and perhaps replace it with something else (dry or wet) for variety.

All in all, I find this very disappointing. Hydrolyzed soy protein is not suitable for felines, IMO. I think I'm going to get my resources together to create a raw rabbit diet before they decide to change the canned formula, too, because then I'll be really screwed.

*On a side note, Royal Canin is working to correct shortages of the PV (pea and venison) due to challenges with raw materials (I'm assuming the venison itself?). When the PV is fully back in stock, it will be the new formula as described above.

I never had much confidence in the Royal Canin dry formulas - too much grain.  It drives me nuts to have some of "the best" (read most expensive) foods often have such junky ingredients.

Ondine said:

 
I never had much confidence in the Royal Canin dry formulas - too much grain.  It drives me nuts to have some of "the best" (read most expensive) foods often have such junky ingredients.

Click to expand...

Yes, many of their dry formulas do have grains in them and other "stuff."

The [former] hypoallergenic line that this thread is about doesn't use grains, but they do use carbs (green pea for cats and potato for dogs).

I have a cat (George, 7 months) with suspected Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex. At an appointment this morning, his vet prescribed this food to use during a 6-10 week food trial. The PR - rabbit, both dry and wet.

Are there any alternatives?  

George was a certified kibble addict when we adopted him 3 weeks ago. We've gotten him to about 40% dry and 60% wet these last several weeks, but it hasn't been without a fight. Giving him just the canned PR without any dry isn't going to work. As it stands, I won't be able to give him any of the bribery I use to get him to eat other canned foods. I'm actually expecting if he decides to eat any of the PR at all, it will be the dry.

Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Rabbit dry food is about as close as I can get, ingredient-wise. If I posted the ingredients for both the Royal Canin PR and the Nature's Variety, would anyone be able to help me go over them with a fine-toothed comb?

George had his third Depromedrol (sp?) injection this morning (the first two in January, while still in rescue). That's a heck of a lot of steroids for a cat who's only walked the earth for 7 months. We really need to find out fast if food is the culprit with his EGC, in the hopes that we can get things under control. Any advice or assistance is greatly appreciated.

Poor George. I don't have any experience in EGC directly, but I know from others that it can be very frustrating. I'm sorry you're going through this.  

For the dry, I believe Nature's Variety is the only other non-prescription option. Sebastian didn't like the NV dry. I'm lucky in that Sebastian will eat mostly the RC PR canned. I only give him a little of the dry mainly for variety. I feel bad that he gets the same thing every day for every meal, but he's being a good sport. It's been 5 months. Have you tried giving George the PR canned, yet? I'm sure you've read that dry food is not good for cats, so minimal to none is ideal.

I think your 40/60 is a huge accomplishment!   I know how difficult kibble addicts can be. I had (still have) one...Caesar.

There are other rabbit foods you could try. Below is a list of what I've tried in the past for my cats for one reason or another when I needed to experience with rabbit as a novel protein. Most of them, unfortunately, didn't work out because either 1) my cat(s) didn't like them or 2) the food contained other ingredients that would skew with the food trial. A RC "advocate" was telling me that their quality control is much more strict than other manufacturers and they make sure that no traces of other proteins get into the food. I don't know how true this is. 

Hound & Gatos Rabbit canned (contains duck liver)

Addiction Black Forest Rabbit & Blueberries Entree canned

Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit Formula canned (contains pork liver and vegetables)

Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Rabbit Meal Formula dry

Wild Calling Rabbit Burrow canned

Another prescription option is a company called Rayne Clinical Nutrition (https://www.raynenutrition.com/). They make a Rabbit & Sweet Potato dry food, and a Rabbit & Squash wet food. They also offer a Kangaroo & Squash wet food as another unique novel protein. Their website currently says that they are out-of-stock on all these items, so it would be best to inquire with the company directly if interested.

And last, but certainly not least, there's a raw diet. I'm actually toying with this right now and made my first batch of raw rabbit tonight (new thread yet to be started). 

Thank you so much for your reply! The list you gave me with the other rabbit foods is going to be very helpful if the food trial is successful... I will use some of those when the time comes to start slowly expanding his diet.

I'm definitely also in the camp that wet is better than dry. And I'm not afraid of raw, either. I need to get him fully into the food trial before this current steroid injection leaves his system (2 weeks max, to play it safe.. could have 3). I don't trust myself to know enough about raw, and convince him to eat it, in that time frame. But I do intend to try it with him at some point when I am ready. I have another cat, Dory (6 months) who will eat anything and I'm sure she'd thrive on it too.  Good luck with trying the raw at your end. I really do think that is the best possible diet for felines when it's done right, and with the help of everyone on these forums, it's almost impossible to get it wrong.

I haven't tried the PR canned with him yet. We had to order it as the vet did not have any in stock at the clinic. For all I know, he'll adore the stuff and it'll kill two birds with one stone... successfully getting him on the food trial, and successfully getting him to eat 100% wet!   Time will tell, I should have the canned PR by the end of the week.

I think I will start a new thread with an appropriate title for my issue, in hopes of drawing even more people in. I really hate to give him the PR dry if I don't have to. The first ingredient is peas and the hydrolized soy is what really has me in a tither. But I'll give him it if it really is the only way to do the food trial successfully... I just keep telling myself it won't be forever! With any luck it'll be just a few months and we can slowly start moving him back to healthier things.

Thanks again, you've been most helpful.

Hi, My Reggie has been on Royal Canin High Fibre response GI kibble for several years, due to hairballs and constipation.  in the last two months he has lost weigt[ 400 gm], and two weeks ago he had blood in his stool.  Since then he has lost his appetite, been lethargic on and off, has been to the vet five times, two shots of B12, hydrated under skin prednisone, metridiasone, Progut  Plus oral paste and had an xray, which showed IBD.  I googled the Royal Canin diet, and found a page that had reviews about how sick their pets have gotten from this diet.  I'm so concerned.  Reggie is now on Rayne Clinical Nutrition Feline Sensitive GI diet, the first three ingredients turkey, sweet potato peas.  Has anyone heard anything about this, I'm phoning my vet tomorrow.  Over a thousand dollars and my cat is being poisoned by his food?

I am responding to this older post because I see so much bad stuff written about the cat food that our vet has prescribed for our very sick cat. We Fostered him from the SPCA when his owner died, not knowing about all of his congenital health issues. After a couple months of vet visits, testing and whatnot, it was discovered he has an pancreatitis, which is probably congenital. He is a Snowshoe or Siamese and Snowshoe mix. Because it's a rare breed,mprobabl you inbreeding played a role in his background. In any case, here we at
Re with this 5 year old male spayed beauty with chronic vomiting, constipation and pancreatitis. The only food he has yet kept down is Royal Canin Hypoallergenic Hydrolized Protein cat food. He keeps other foods down when he is given a steroid shot, but that is not a "cure"...just a short term symptom fix. It's gitten to the point that he was so nauseated and in so much pain, I have considered euthanasia as the only way out for him. But here's the catch, with the exception of his mild pancreatitis, vomiting and constipation, his tests are all coming back normal. What the heck? I have no option but to feed him the food that he is keeping in his stomach. I know you all hate this food, but I have no other options. It's feed him this,mor put him down. I hope others who have cats with serious digestive issues can find something...anything that their cat can digest in its intestins and not vomit onto the floor. Any food, at this point, is better than no food. Do I have an Amen on this?

@ VLeavy: if it is working for your cat, then keep using it. I know people who swear by Royal Canin. I never had any luck with it but my cats are really sensitive to carbs. If everything else you've tried makes him sick, use this, by all means.

I personally don't say that any complete food is all bad or all good.  Kitties and any physical condition that they have is unique.  I know there are kitties that have issues with urinary crystals and the only thing that keeps the issue with crystals in check is a prescription food.  I tried a prescription food with my IBD kitty and it was the longest he went off of steroids without a flare.  He did flare though and is now on a steroid.  I know that there are foods that are top quality by their ingredients but if they don't work for a particular kitty then they aren't good for that kitty.

Dear Leavy,

Don't give up on your cat yet.  I have an Abyssinian that has lived for many years with IBD that they thought could have been lymphoma.  I wouldn't recommend the hydrolyzed protein diets because they still have chicken, which can cause problems.  Unfortunately, these auto-immune conditions can flare up, but can be controlled and your cat can have a quality life.  First of all, I would get a second opinion from another veterinarian.  My cat has been on oral prednisolone for years now and cats do tolerate it well (much better than humans or dogs).  Royal Canin isn't ideal, but I believe they have the best quality control, so you don't have to worry as much about contaminated food.  Right now, he is on the Royal Canin PR (canned rabbit) and he hasn't vomited in ages and his letterbox is looking great.  Please check with another vet before considering euthanasia.