I've tried Whole Earth Farms, yes. I tried a whole case of the duck pate and tried one can of the beef pate. My cats gave it a thumbs up and I appreciated the economy price and good ingredient list.
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What is on your wet food rotation list?
- Thread starter ghiblithecat
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It was our vet, who's a cat specialist, who told us that Siamese and mixes are prone to GI problems. And dental issues, too. Edwina and Ireland aren't even three yet but they've already proven her right on both counts! As far as digestion goes, Edwina has trouble with potato (she gets very smelly gas and barfs) and tends to vomit if she's not fed often enough, and Ireland seems (I stress "seems" here) to get low-level nausea sometimes that keeps her from eating. They both do well if they're fed often enough. So they get five small meals a day. (Switching them over from dry food early on soon after we adopted them improved things a lot, too.)
LisaHE, are siamese mixes really especially prone to them? I have always though Ghibli was a Siamese mix but I have no idea. Would you take a look at my pics of him and let me know if you think he is in that category? If so I should probably be more careful. After reading all of these comments today I looked at my rotation food list and some of my favorite brands have carrageenanCanidae?! Ugh, I even love the smell of Canidae pure. Natural balance is something I have always liked as well because it has such a variety, decent ingredients, and Ghibli loves it.... however carrageenan is the LAST ingredient in some of their pates meaning there is a very small amount of it... I think I will keep feeding Natural Balance. I've been looking on Chewy for some canned foods that don't have carrageenan.... what ones are your favorite? I'm willing to pay decent money for them but nothing over $2.00 for a 5 oz can.
I also feed Ghibs raw but since I am a student I can't give it to him every day (he probably gets it a couple times a week and I switch between rad cat and natures variety raw.
Ghibli looks a lot like Ireland, with his stripes and blue eyes, though he looks fluffier, like Edwina, our snowshoe mix. Ghibli's stripes may darken as he gets older. He's a very beautiful cat! I'm not very good at assessing mixes, though he and Ireland do look like cousins! Maybe your vet can give you some insight into this: one of the techs at our vet's practice loves Siamese so was very helpful.
As for foods! There are a few ingredients that I try to avoid, though I will, very occasionally, feed foods with them: carrageenan, menadione, and tuna. All grains, including rice, are totally banned. I always avoid potato in any form because of Edwina's stomach, and I don't feed peas, too. I'd love to get rid of the gums, too, but I'm not sure that's realistic. Everything they get is low-carb (under 10% dry matter, the lower the better), with the exception of a couple Soulistic foods, which I usually drain because of the carby tapioca sauce. We feed these canned brands: Weruva Cats in the Kitchen, Soulistic, Tiki (luau and Gourmet Carnivore), Merrick LID (I admit I don't know the carbs on these), Hound & Gatos (lamb only, they don't like the rest), and Nutro Natural Choice. The raw portion of their diet (which is probably about 60% of their food) is Rad Cat and Primal freeze-dried, with Stella & Chewy's garnish.
You mentioned the costs of food. Which really can get very high! In terms of price per meal, I find that raw food, even Rad Cat, which I get at a good price, ends up being competitive with canned foods. It might be worth crunching some numbers. Raw food really seems to satisfy the cats: even their small mid-afternoon Rad Cat snack holds them for several hours. I also find that Tiki's worth the very high price: in terms of meat content, I wouldn't be surprised if it costs around the same, ounce-per-ounce of meat and protein-calorie-for-protein-calorie, as some of the Soulistic foods, which seem cheap. (The can of Soulistic chicken/pumpkin that I fed the other day was more sauce than meat and I pour most of the sauce off anyway! The cats love it, though, so it's a great occasional treat.) Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen cans and Hound & Gatos are a good value for our cats, too. Wild Calling is another very decent brand but our cats hated it.
All of which is to say that there are tons of trade-offs in feeding cats. It took us months to figure out a good meal plan for the cats and it's still a work in progress because recipes come and go and the cats' tastes change. And, of course, a good food's not good if the cats won't eat it!
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Natural Balance's pouch food doesn't contain any carrageenan as well as their Delectable Delights although the latter contain menadione.
After reading all of these comments today I looked at my rotation food list and some of my favorite brands have carrageenan
Lilith and Sophie used to love the Natural Balance pouches so I bought a bunch when they were on sale at Petco. Then they decided they hated them. The one Henry tried came back up for whatever reason.
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There are newer companies now that are going gum free with the usual gums although using agar agar as a thickener, which, so far with our cats, doesn't seem to be an issue (even our Molly who has severe IBD). Bravo Feline Cafe is one of them.
Keep an eye out also for Natural Planet Organics, the food currently contains carrageenan but the company said they are removing the carrageenan (but keeping guar gum). Regardless, the ingredients look very good and the meat is certified organic, e.g., :
Organic Turkey, Organic Turkey Liver, Organic Turkey Broth, Organic Flaxseed Oil (natural source of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids), Organic Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 fatty acids), Calcium Carbonate, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement), Carrageenan, Choline Chloride, Sea Salt, Taurine, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate), Tricalcium Phosphate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (an organic compound of Iodine), Sodium Selenite.
Natural Planet Organics[emoji]8482[/emoji] Chicken Dinner and Natural Planet Organics[emoji]8482[/emoji] Turkey Dinner is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established
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Yeah, our cats ate that a few years back but then started licking the gravy only and leaving the food behind. I don't use it now, too carby but for the OP who was concerned about carrageenan and wants to remain with NB, it's an alternative.
Lilith and Sophie used to love the Natural Balance pouches so I bought a bunch when they were on sale at Petco. Then they decided they hated them. The one Henry tried came back up for whatever reason.I think that they were too rich for his tummy. I donated the rest to the shelter kitties who enjoyed them very much.
Here's some photos of my current cat food pantry:
And here's the overflow that won't fit on my rack shelves.
All this is not including the separate stash for my foster cat. I was blessed to get a bunch of donated canned food for her and a number of the cans were grain free.
Buying in bulk is the way to go for me.
All this is not including the separate stash for my foster cat. I was blessed to get a bunch of donated canned food for her and a number of the cans were grain free.
Buying in bulk is the way to go for me.
When the girls first decided that they were picky eaters, it was one food that they really liked. They especially liked the varieties with duck in them. Now they refuse to eat it. They are really into the Wellness sliced, cubed and minced turkey and chicken right now. It's at the top of thre list. For now that is
Henry was on a mix and match diet (donated foods) at the shelter for so long (mostly Purina dry) that I think that his tummy needed time to adjust to higher quality foods. He's loving them now but there are a few he can't tolerate. His fur is so much nicer now. It's thicker, softer, shinier and he sheds so much less.
What are y'all's thoughts on Natural Balance? I want to feed their foods for variety's sake, but I'm nervous because they've had so many recalls.
Mine won't eat the pouches (Platefulls) anymore. The only canned one varieties that they have tried are the Land & Sea and the Catatoullie. The Catatouille is hard to find in my Petco. They are usually sold out so it's a popular flavor. Mine ended up not liking either one. I think they use peas in a lot of them and the pouches have a lot of veggies in them. My kids give NB 2 thumbs down.
Speaking of reviews, I think now would be a good time to go add one for these.
ETA: @Anne can you please add these foods to the reviews?
http://www.chewy.com/cat/natural-balance-platefulls-turkey/dp/36079
http://www.chewy.com/cat/natural-balance-delectable-delights/dp/37621
http://www.chewy.com/cat/natural-balance-delectable-delights/dp/37622
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I was curious about NB from the standpoint of recalls. Does anyone know if they ever addressed all the issues that led to all their recalls?
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Well, I know I addressed NB and recalls on another thread, post merger with Del Monte / Big Heart Pet Foods and now Smuckers.
My feeling on recalls is that if you trust the company then just use your best judgement, especially if you've put a little research into it.
I am still (cautiously) using both Stella & Chewy's (two recalls in less than six months) as well as Bravo (quite a few recalls over the past 2-3 years) despite the recalls, so again, it just depends, it comes down to trust and that differs from person to person, what someone is willing to accept or not.
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Great, glad Wellness is working out for you.
When the girls first decided that they were picky eaters, it was one food that they really liked. They especially liked the varieties with duck in them. Now they refuse to eat it. They are really into the Wellness sliced, cubed and minced turkey and chicken right now. It's at the top of thre list. For now that is
Henry was on a mix and match diet (donated foods) at the shelter for so long (mostly Purina dry) that I think that his tummy needed time to adjust to higher quality foods. He's loving them now but there are a few he can't tolerate. His fur is so much nicer now. It's thicker, softer, shinier and he sheds so much less.
When I looked up NB recalls, one of th sites directs you to Consumer Affairs where NB has a 2.5 star rating
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/natural_balance.html
i noticed that they grayed out the negative reviews.
if you put your cursor on the first letter of the first word and act like you're doing a copy/paste, you can see what the people wrote.
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #56
Ghibli loves every natural balance flavor accept the duck. We haven't tried pouches just the canned. The pates are a good consistency and the price isn't bad at all! Carrageenan is the last ingredient in some of them (so a very small amount)..... other than that the ingredients are really decent!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #57
Thank you! That was so helpful. Ghibli has the blue eyes which occasionally cross and the color, so I'm just going to go ahead and assume that he is a Siamese mix. Looks like no more carrageenan. That was super insightful, thanks
I haven't tried Soulistic so I will give that a try. Weruva and Tiki Cat are our splurge! I think I'm going to try Whole Earth Farm too, and EVO 95%.- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #58
What do your cats think of Red Barn? What do you think of it?
Well, being that we just received our first case from Chewy.com today, I hadn't even tried it yet! But your question made me want to, so I opened a can and gave some to my young cat. My cat enthusiastically gave his approval. My cats are really not a very good barometer of whether something will be appealing to other cats, though, because they're not picky.
I have one cat who doesn't really ever turn down any wet food, whether it be random pieces of raw or cooked meat, commercial raw, home cooked cat food, or any type of canned. I have another cat who will eat almost everything, with a few exceptions like commercial raw or Blue Wilderness chicken. I have a foster cat who hasn't turned down a single thing that I've given her. So between the 3 of them, I can pretty much order whatever I want and somebody is sure to eat it. I've ordered entire cases of canned food without them ever trying them first, and I've never had any problems with doing it that way.
It's seems to be a pretty good food and I don't think that it has any carageenan in it. The price was very good. It was only $25.64 for a case of 24 cans, so only $1.07 per 5.5 oz can.
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Red Barn Tricky Chicky is good food and gets 2 paws up from my picky eaters. It hasn't been in the normal rotation for a while because it's not sold near me. I might have to order some from Chewy or Petfooddirect.
