Nature's Variety Instinct canned food

Hi All, I am not sure this is the correct area to post this, so moderators, please move if necessary..thanks

Has anyone had any experience with this food? 

I started using this 'new' food for Artie, Nature's Variety Instinct Limited ingredient, on the suggestion of the Vet to change him to novel proteins. The novel protein was suggested because the Vet feels Artie may have IBD. He has a habit of eating, then sitting in front of me and throws up! Then he (gross) tries to re-eat the vomit-- double gross.. I shoo him away, clean up the mess and then he is right back at the food bowl eating. He also has a history of constipation. I am treating that with Miralax and laxatone. The Vet did suggest x-rays and an ultrasound at a later time, if the food change did not help...(money issue)

Well, I have been trying this food for a couple weeks now. The first week was a 'no go'...
This week it is a different story...It has been over 3 days now and he is eating it up!

I am giving him the duck, pork, rabbit, and one salmon. I cannot find the venison.

It is a bit pricey, but there are no fillers in it.

The food is very solid in the can. I normally mix some water in with his food. (iFLUTD issues). It takes a lot of water to make a stew; so I think it is very filling and satisfying.

Artie is a very fussy eater. But he seems to be taking to this food.. Funny, he is not too fond of the rabbit, but will eat it when he is hungry.

He seems to be happier and no vomiting!!

But I have been giving him 1/2 cc of compounded Pepcid twice a day also.....

I have written a book here, but my question is really about the food....I guess I just wanted you to know the reason why I switched. Artie was a Fancy Feast eater. The only food he would eat. I tried just about all the foods on the market. I adopted him 3 years ago. He was fed regular no-name grocery store food before this. He is 11 yrs old now.

any thoughts?

Thanks again!

My Krissy was diagnosed with IBD and pancreatitis last Oct.

So I am familiar with the whole novel protein thing.

Mine also eat fancy feast and won't eat anything canned other than that.

So I am feeding them Blue Buffalo LID turkey/potato during the day, fancy feast classics turkey canned twice a day.

She is stable and great.

A few months back though, in my attempts to get them off the ff canned, I thought I would try switching over to rabbit, dry and canned from NVI as well.

WELL!! That was a no go after one day, for the simple reason that they were whining for the darn dry food constantly, eating it up like it was the best tasting food they'd ever had, which is all bad since Krissy is chubby.

So my conclusion after that is that it has a very good taste to it!

Excellent food btw. 

hi, @Artiemom! 

yes, i have served my two IBD cats natures variety instinct canned cat foods, but that was before natures variety came out with the limited ingredient line starting in 2011. i served mine the rabbit, lamb, and venison. they were "very solid in the can" as you say. at that time i hadn't thought to add water to it, and i think that's a great idea you had. with my two, the instinct wasn't their favorite but they ate it relatively well. my mickey and snick had/have IBD too. mickey has since crossed the bridge, but my snick is with me still.

these days i buy the natures variety homestyle prairie for snick and jasper. they really love the tuna and chicken stew and the chicken and duck stew. the homestyle prairie is like cat sized meatballs with a...kind of gravy to it. we haven't tried the pride line from natures variety yet, but i'm planning on buying the (minced) rabbit later this month and we'll see how snick and jasper like it.

it may be that since (i'm assuming that) your artie had never tried these (novel) proteins he didn't recognize them as a safe food source/something that would be safe for cats to eat, at first.

my snick takes pepcid ac as well as miralax on a regular basis too. i'm very lucky that snick is extremely easy to pill, doesn't mind it in the least. for my snick, it's liquid medicines that she really hates, and i always have been careful to make sure we get the pill form of medicines she needs to take.

Artiemom said:

 
I am giving him the duck, pork, rabbit, and one salmon. I cannot find the venison.

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The NV Limited Ingredient cans aren't available in venison, salmon, pork, or rabbit. http://www.instinctpetfood.com/instinct-limited-canned-natural-healthy-foods-pets I think you're feeding the regular NV Instinct.

Thanks everyone!

Of course, now that I posted that Artie was eating it, well I jinxed myself! Artie is turning his nose up at both the rabbit and duck....Yesterday and Monday he could not get enough of it!! sigh! 

Yes, I am getting confused with the limited ingredients and the regular.  Just trying to stay away from chicken, turkey and beef...I am beginning to think that the FF chicken does not agree with him.. or he does not like anything from FF with chicken......

I do know that Artie does not care for the Pride line....he is so picky...Honestly, he will starve himself before he will give in and eat what I want him to....sigh..

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better food day for him....

Artiemom said:

 
Thanks everyone!

Of course, now that I posted that Artie was eating it, well I jinxed myself! Artie is turning his nose up at both the rabbit and duck....Yesterday and Monday he could not get enough of it!! sigh! 

Yes, I am getting confused with the limited ingredients and the regular.  Just trying to stay away from chicken, turkey and beef...I am beginning to think that the FF chicken does not agree with him.. or he does not like anything from FF with chicken......

I do know that Artie does not care for the Pride line....he is so picky...Honestly, he will starve himself before he will give in and eat what I want him to....sigh..

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better food day for him....

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my snick is a very picky eater, and today was being particular about her food. snick will 'hold out' too, not eating until it's something she wants/likes.

Artiemom said:

 
Thanks everyone!

Of course, now that I posted that Artie was eating it, well I jinxed myself! Artie is turning his nose up at both the rabbit and duck....Yesterday and Monday he could not get enough of it!! sigh! 

Yes, I am getting confused with the limited ingredients and the regular.  Just trying to stay away from chicken, turkey and beef...I am beginning to think that the FF chicken does not agree with him.. or he does not like anything from FF with chicken......

I do know that Artie does not care for the Pride line....he is so picky...Honestly, he will starve himself before he will give in and eat what I want him to....sigh..

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better food day for him....

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Have you figured out what has caused his IBD? Base it on what his food has been for a long time, this is what you want to avoid.

Feeding a single protein his body is NOT used to means it will not react the way it has been, in other words, my cat had been on chicken dry and canned fish and chicken, as it turns out she is allergic now to both, so I feed her turkey foods. 6 months now she has settled down, for the most part.

They all have their days now and then, but usually it's triggered by eating something that their bodies will react to.

Artiemom said:

Thanks everyone!

Of course, now that I posted that Artie was eating it, well I jinxed myself! Artie is turning his nose up at both the rabbit and duck....Yesterday and Monday he could not get enough of it!! sigh! 

Yes, I am getting confused with the limited ingredients and the regular.  Just trying to stay away from chicken, turkey and beef...I am beginning to think that the FF chicken does not agree with him.. or he does not like anything from FF with chicken......

I do know that Artie does not care for the Pride line....he is so picky...Honestly, he will starve himself before he will give in and eat what I want him to....sigh..

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better food day for him....

Click to expand...

crumble Purebites freeze dried treats on what you want them to eat. Buy dog size in a flavor other than chicken sold in large bag on chewy.com

Artiemom said:

Thanks everyone!

Of course, now that I posted that Artie was eating it, well I jinxed myself! Artie is turning his nose up at both the rabbit and duck....Yesterday and Monday he could not get enough of it!! sigh! 

Yes, I am getting confused with the limited ingredients and the regular.  Just trying to stay away from chicken, turkey and beef...I am beginning to think that the FF chicken does not agree with him.. or he does not like anything from FF with chicken......

I do know that Artie does not care for the Pride line....he is so picky...Honestly, he will starve himself before he will give in and eat what I want him to....sigh..

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better food day for him....

Click to expand...

have you tried a non fancy feast chicken, just in case it is fancy feast, pick up a can of tiki puka Puka luau, and see if it gets thrown up, it is ONLY chicken, it might be not be chicken but all the other junk in FF making him sick

I took Nature's Variety Instinct out of our cats' rotation because they wouldn't eat it consistently: I'm not sure if it was that solid texture or the taste but they never took to it enough to make it worth the money. Two other brands with single protein sources are Hound and Gatos, and Wild Calling... our cats won't eat Wild Calling at all (they get a very offended look if they see it in the dish), and the only H&G they really like is lamb. In fairness, the cats much prefer shreds over pates.

Good luck!

All of these comments are great thoughts! Thanks!

I am beginning to suspect chicken...Artie has never cared for the FF chicken and the beef with chicken flavor. I thought about it this week-end. I have given him other brands of chicken, the shredded type meat and he seems to be able to keep it down. It is not one of his favorites, but he will eat a bit of these other brands without vomiting. 

Yesterday he had the rabbit, which he ate voraciously this week end. He turned his nose up at it, only ate a few bites yesterday afternoon. I gave him some duck last nigh. He ate a tiny bit. This morning he was so hungry, that he would not let me sleep. He kept waking me up. I gave him some lamb. At first, he walked away from it, but when Iw as not looking he ate about a quarter of a can..

I am kind of tempted to give him some FF turkey and giblets classic. The only FF I buy is classics pate.. But I do not want him to get into the cycle of him knowing that he can go on a hunger strike and I will give in  (which I always do)....

I will have to find a store which sells Hound and Gatos and Wild Calling. I will have to search on line for local stores. Petco and Petsmart are the easiest for me to get to. They do not carry these brands. I would like individual cans to try instead of buying a case...

Are these pate?  He does better with pate....

Thanks again

Originally Posted by Artiemom  

I will have to find a store which sells Hound and Gatos and Wild Calling. I will have to search on line for local stores. Petco and Petsmart are the easiest for me to get to. They do not carry these brands. I would like individual cans to try instead of buying a case...

Are these pate?  He does better with pate....

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Yes, they're all pate. Wild Calling is a little softer than H&G, though they're both considerably softer than Nature's Variety. I do see that the H&G lamb and rabbit foods both have duck liver, though it sounds like Artie does okay with duck. Some Wild Calling flavors include "liver"... what kind, I don't know!  Anyway, just watch those labels.

From what others have said on The Cat Site, these really seem to be love-'em-or-hate-'em foods so definitely don't buy too much to try! I see that you're near Boston... if you're close to Danvers or Stoneham, maybe a Pet Life store could help. Our local Pet Life (in South Portland, Maine) sells both these brands.

Artiemom said:

 
I will have to find a store which sells Hound and Gatos and Wild Calling. I will have to search on line for local stores. Petco and Petsmart are the easiest for me to get to. They do not carry these brands. I would like individual cans to try instead of buying a case...

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Go to non chain independent pet stores. Your location says "near Boston". There are lots of small independent pet stores in the Boston-area that carries Hounds and Gatos and other brands of food. Try Brookline Grooming, Especially For Pets (several locations), and Pet World. There is also one in Belmont but I can't remember the name of the store now

http://houndgatos.com/wheretobuynew.aspx

http://wildcalling.com/store-locator/

Thanks LisaHE and LTS3 for the ideas, and all the others. When I say my location is 'near' Boston, it means that I am 10 miles north of Boston, on the ocean.

Pet Life in Stoneham is reasonable; so is another one which I found in Medford. 

I will be looking into them tomorrow and Saturday or Monday..Tomorrow I have to pick up his prescription. The compounding pharmacy is in Lynnfield which is near Stoneham...so I will check out Pet life.....

I was just leaving my house and it really started raining. I hate to go out in the rain... I know, I shrink!! I wish..no, really: By the time I get there and look around, I will be coming home in rush hour traffic.. never mind the traffic just to get there. I know the route...since I am not working (long story), I do not feel like driving in rush hour traffic, if I can help it...and there are a lot of street lights along the way. 

I will do my research today and search them out.. That will be my new 'mission'!!! 

as long as I have my GPS on my phone, I am all set. 

Belmont is a bit far from me. If you are from this area, then I will tell you that I live in Revere..

Artie ate 1/2 can of lamb this morning...he is sleeping now..He must be starving!! 

wish me luck tonight with him. I found a can of Halo venison with fish....I do not know how he will take that....I keep him away from fish as much as I can. 

I just looked and I think the store is Medford may have the best variety~ at least according to their website. What we see in person will be the telling.. 

I went through all the NV LID until I settled on the Turkey.   What a pain in the - ah - neck.   Now I feed him that and the Blue Buffalo LID turkey.  Just started to add slippery elm bark.  I also go through a fair amount of Fortiflora because they'll eat almost anything I sprinkle it on .  Fluffing it up with a fork as he eats also helps. 

I'm trying to get the other two on grain free, but they are wearing me out.  They have been turning their noses up even with the grain free varieties.  Thank god the IBD boy is the least finicky. 

Not famliar with North Shore pet stores but try these:

http://stinkyskittens-doggiestoo.com/

http://www.petexpressboston.com/contact-us/lynn

http://www.gonetothedogsgifts.com/

http://www.everythingbutthedog.net/

http://thebarkingcat.us/

http://www.nedogbiscuit.com/

http://www.worldlypets.com/

Most independent pet stores will special order food that they don't normally carry.

Good luck, @Artiemom... and I understand about not liking to drive around in bad weather! (I'm very spoiled because I work at home so (often, anyway) can pick and choose when to go out.) In any case, I hope you're able to find some foods that will tempt Artie in a good way. Some of our local independent pet food stores are great with advice, ideas, and even samples. Plusas @LTS3 said, the majority of them will order just about anything if you ask and there's any chance they can sell it to more people.

Thanks for the list, LTS3

The first one on it was the one I was planning on visiting yesterday.

The second one is about 5 minutes from where I live! I forgot about them. They did  not seem to carry much for cats and expiration dates are "iffy". I visited them a few times a couple of years ago, but I will try it again today!

The others are bit not bad in terms of distance.. will just wait for good weather. The ones in Salem Ma are for good weather days. Lots of walking around in that town. It is the "Witch City"..lots of things to see and do around there....

LisaHE, thanks for the support. I really need it. Artie is so hungry. I even broke down last night and gave him some FF turkey. I leave some food out at night so he does not wake me up early in the morning (like 4:30am). He ate some of the FF and even nibbled a bit on the Halo....He was so hungry Thursday morning that he woke me up at 4:30 am and would not stop until I got up!!!

This morning it was Nutro all natural duck....he is hungry, but turned his nose up at it. He is sitting in front of me now, waiting for me to finish my coffee. 

Artie has had a couple bouts of iFLUTD, because he is such a nervous cat. The Vet said he is in early kidney failure and now with the IBD--it is hard to find a food which is all around good for him and he will eat. sigh..

He is a good kitty..loves me to death....always talking to me...is spoiled rotten!

Artie is 11 years old. I adopted him 3 years ago at age 8. He had 4 homes in 3 months! Not because of him~~due to circumstances. His elderly owners passed away, the daughter tried but could not keep him (over limit for pets in her apartment) and then the foster home.... I think that is when his system got thrown out of whack.....

Since I started this entire thing of changing his food around, he has been sleeping on my bed with me~~cuddling. He does that occasionally, mostly when I am upset...I am a restless sleeper so he usually jumps off as soon as I move, but lately he has been jumping back up, or not moving or just moving a bit, then cuddling again.....

I love my cat....

thanks again!!

Oh, I hear him lapping at the food!!!

Did Artie eat much when you heard him lapping at the bowl? I hope so! The combination of kidney disease and IBD can be difficult--our previous cat had a lot of health issues (and not just those!) and her appetite waned a lot in her last months. Fortunately, she started to like shredded meat foods (Weruva) during that time after having been a big Fancy Feast fan for years, and I was able to get her to eat a fair bit that way. I did everything to get her to eat, including feed her from a fork, which she seemed to enjoy. (Of course!)

It's too bad Artie didn't like the Nutro duck -- our cats love the Nutro Natural Choice foods we feed them. Chunky loaf chicken is a big favorite, have you tried that one on Artie?

Good luck with your food foraging expeditions!

Lisa, Artie did eat a bit..I broke down and gave him some NV salmon..he loves it...I stay away from fish. The most I give it to him will be once a week. He is so fussy. He does not even like human food!!

I will say, maybe premature, but he is looking so much healthier since I began this quest...not that he wasn't to begin with. 

He has a lot of 'little' early things.....As far as the iFLUTD goes, since he has gotten used to being here and the apartment house noises--that seems to be under control. I add extra water to his food.  His early kidney problems are early~ have been for a couple years. Diagnosed by the specific gravity and early changes seen on an ultrasound.

The IBD is because he is always vomiting and having constipation issues. 

I honestly believe all this started because his original owners both passed within a month of each other and he was shuffled around to a few places before settling here. The owners daughter tried taking him in, but she had already had a cat and dog. When her landlord found out about Artie, he gave her an ultimatum...she reluctantly gave him up...I spoke to her.

The foster mom, who does not work with the humane society anymore, was keeping him in her cellar, in a cage. I never saw the set up but he was down there with several other cats. One had a couple of seizures in front of all the others. Thank Goodness he was only there for a couple of weeks. She only had him upstairs in her house twice! Once on the day she got him, and the other time when I went to see him....

So I can imagine what terror, heartbreak  he went through. He is a sensitive cat...and at age 8 to be uprooted and your life in turmoil...the poor baby....stress on the entire body.

The day I adopted him, I gave him the run of the apartment. I left him alone. 

That night while I watching TV, he jumped on my lap and started purring....he wanted someone to love him!!

He was very fussy about his food and was startled by any noise at all~~~this all led to not eating, vomiting, a visit to the e-vet and stuff.

gotta get going on my 'journey'...