A strange happening at Tiki Cat

Finally I found cans of puka puka chicken Tiki Cat in the 6 oz. cans for our "babies".  They simply adore it. (At least till they get bored with it!)
I noticed that in ordering cases (which strangely only come 8 cans to a case rather than the normal 16 or 24 cans a case),the label colors changed, and along with the color change to yellow and med. blue (the new can) from pale blue with a purple cat (old can), so did the calorie content ... dramatically.
The new cans (yellow and blue) are listed as 147 calories per 6 oz can as opposed to the old can (light blue) which is listed as 221 calories per can and is perfect for my two 10 lb. (average) cats.  I would give half a can to each in the morning and another half of a can to each at night (or 2 cans a day total). Perfect! 

Now nothing else at all had changed but the calories, which I found confusing.  So I called the Tiki Cat company.
A representative who was sputtering and stuttering (and seemed like she really didn't know what was going on herself) tells me that they are outmoding my light blue label cans for the yellow/blue ones instead. I asked her why the dramatic change in calorie count and her reply was that "they changed their chicken!!" Does that make sense to you?
So now if I want my cats to be happy I have to actually give them each 1/2 can of the 6 oz at breakfast and dinner (or 2 6 oz cans a day), PLUS I need to add another 2.8 can to each dish at both meals in order to add up to 217 calories). That's 3 cans a day to each! WoW!! That's a lot of money and a lot of cat food in one dish.  They'll never eat that much food on their plate!
Who in their right mind would do this and spend this much?
I never mind spending top dollar for my cats but this is ridiculous.

Something is seriously wrong and I wonder if there is anyone who has experienced the same thing that I have?

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Pepper

They changed their chicken!? What does that mean!? I see what you mean about the labels. The change is really obvious: link here!

It sounds like you've only ordered the food and not received it yet but, just in case you or someone else has already used it: Have you opened any of they cans yet? If so, does the food look different? Or are the cans less filled!? Is the price the same? If they've decreased the calories by 1/3 and kept the same price, hmm, I just don't think I'd pay that much for so much less.

This is so disheartening. Our cats love Tiki Cat and it's one of the few foods I've felt good about feeding them.

Maybe they're using more breast meat and less thigh, which would def make the calories lower. Although breast meat is typically more expensive than thigh. Maybe you should email them and see if you get a better response. My cats indoor cats don't like Tikicat, but my outside cat loves it so I buy it for him as a treat and I did notice the change in cans but i scanned the ingredients and thought okay, looks the same, so i didn't actually review the calories. 

Maybe also look at the percentages of chicken and broth? If they've increased the broth:chicken ratio then that would definitely have a big impact on the calories too.

Okay so I just poked around on Facebook and the rumor is Tikicat sold to someone else and that the new formula also has much higher ash/phos. This does not sound good. 

That light blue is the old (and higher calorie can) that they are phasing out.  I am trying to grab every one of those cans off the shelves that I can.

I also have some of the yellow and medium blue (new cans) and I swear there is absolutely no difference I can see except for the claimed 147 a can calories instead of 200+.

Something just doesn't sound right but those at my cat store said it didn't surprise them at all.  They claimed the companies are always looking for a way to save money.

Shame on Tiki Cat and a pox on my baby cats for deciding that is the only thing they will gobble down after trying all the top rated ones.

In searching farther I have discovered that different companies list entirely different calorie content for the same cans.

This is really a mystery!  What is going on with Tiki Cat?  Did someone buy it out and decide to cheapen it?

poivre said:

 
In searching farther I have discovered that different companies list entirely different calorie content for the same cans.

This is really a mystery!  What is going on with Tiki Cat?  Did someone buy it out and decide to cheapen it?

Click to expand...

Yep, it appears it's under new ownership and they're cutting corners. Def not purchasing this food anymore, even for my outside cat. Esp. after hearing that the phos/ash ratio is almost double on the new cans. 

It does seem like the quality on the good foods goes down when they are sold to a new company.  I used to feed my cats Evo for their dry food before it was sold to another company.  I bought a small bag after it was sold to use to transition my cats to a new food.  It would turn into dust in their food bowl.  I quickly gave up on mixing it with the new food because my cats did not want to eat food that looked like dirt.  They have since been on Wellness Core Original Grain Free for their dry food and are doing great with it.

I see that they merged with a (primarily?) dog treat company, of "Wag more, bark less" fame: link here.

Without specific data I'm not going to worry about the ash/phosphorus issue... but lots of things make sense now, like all the new Tiki product lines, including some lower-cost ones, since the merger in early 2015.

missmimz said:

Yep, it appears it's under new ownership and they're cutting corners. Def not purchasing this food anymore, even for my outside cat. Esp. after hearing that the phos/ash ratio is almost double on the new cans. 

Click to expand...

Damn it. I've had it with these companies. I use about 1 can per day, and doing raw for the remainder but it looks like I'll be cutting out TC as well.

Thanks for posting.

There are a couple of Cloud Star dog treats here at the store, I never recommend them, the Wag More Bark Less soft and Chewy treats are wheat based.

ahahahaha figures. I was going to switch to Tiki when my Weruva was gone. GREAT, more research.

LisaMarie12 said:

Damn it. I've had it with these companies. I use about 1 can per day, and doing raw for the remainder but it looks like I'll be cutting out TC as well.

Thanks for posting.

Click to expand...

I know     I sent you a FB message about it too. 

I just compared the label on the new Tiki Cat Puka Puka (it's here on Amazon) with the label on a can I have on hand that seems to have been manufactured in 2014, before the merger/acquisition. (The "best by" date is June 2017. I think it's this one on Amazon but it's a neck craning exercise to check.) Both are six-ounce cans.

The numbers definitely support what the guy said on the Tiki Cat Facebook page about ash increasing, though I don't know about phosphorus since it's not listed on the label. (I didn't mean to sound dismissive yesterday, @missmimz! It's just really frustrating that he didn't cite actual numbers or provide photos or links!)

A few things I noticed:

-the new label doesn't list tuna fish oil

-the old can doesn't list calories; the new, as @poivre mentioned, says 147

-crude protein dropped from minimum 18.5% on the old can to 16% on the new

-crude fat rose from 2.3% minimum on the old can to 2.6% on the new

-moisture rose from 78% maximum on the old can to 80% on the new

-ash rose from 1.0% maximum on the old can to 1.6% on the new

-there are other changes to the ingredient list that would take more analysis than I'm capable of in the morning (for example, copper sulfate pentahydrate is out but vitamin K3 supplement is in)

And I really did feel like a sleuthing detective when I looked at this: I had to use a magnifying glass to read the label on the can from my kitchen!

The plot really thickened (and the food thinned), though, when I brought the can back to the kitchen and picked up a small can of Puka Puka, manufactured in June 2015, best by date of January 2018. That can also has a slightly different ingredient list (calcium lactate phospate, anyone? that might be the only difference, I didn't make a full comparison). But the guaranteed analysis numbers are what's really interesting to compare with the ones above:

-crude protein minimum 14%

-crude fat minimum 2.2%

-moisture maximum 81%

-ash maximum 1%

I don't even know what to think of that except to wonder what the heck Tiki's been doing with their recipes and labels over the last several years! I have noticed, of course, that some cans didn't seem filled as well or that the cats didn't always eat as enthusiastically but now I have to suspect things have been changing all along. Most of all, I'm very sorry that there's no way I'm going to feed Tiki's new version of the food: even if I were assured the quality of the food hasn't declined, there's no way I'd spend the same money for 1/3 fewer calories per can. Assuming, of course, that the previous calorie figures were correct in the first place. I have no idea.

And now, back to work! After feeding the poor cats: all that can rattling got them pretty worked up!

I just bought a whole bunch of Tiki cans as they were on sale at the pet food store. My cats still like them, and as far as quality goes, they still seem OK especially compared to some. I'll still keep them in rotation. It is frustrating though trying to keep up with all these changes. It seems just as you find one good brand, it gets bought out and the quality goes down!

Wow LisaLE: You are a gal after my own heart!

I also decided to take back the "new and improved" (HA!) Tiki Cat cans and keep several of the old cans (just in case one of my babies decided to get persnickety again, which is not unlikely).

But hallelujah for me -- as I was packing up the Merrick limited ingredient chicken cans that they snubbed their noses at, I decided this morning to give them that instead of the puka puka chicken and, bless their little hearts -- they slooped it up and fast too.  So I added another 1/4 of a can and they finished that too (because the company does not make (ready for this?) a 3 oz can of the limited ingredient chicken!  Whoever heard of such a thing?  Even the lovely representative I called, Brittany, was shocked and appalled herself.  So I have written to the company pleading on bended knee to consider a 3 oz can just like all the other top rated cat companies have.

As for now, I just have to go with 3 cans a day of Merrick's Limited Ingredient Chicken and go through the pain of having to refrigerate the morning can and then heat it up to room temperature for their dinnertime which is a pain in the you-know-what (and not to cheap either -- but money was never a problem when it came to my babies!! Only the best for them!)

Wish me luck!

pushylady said:

I just bought a whole bunch of Tiki cans as they were on sale at the pet food store. My cats still like them, and as far as quality goes, they still seem OK especially compared to some. I'll still keep them in rotation. It is frustrating though trying to keep up with all these changes. It seems just as you find one good brand, it gets bought out and the quality goes down!

Click to expand...

If they are the light blue cans with a purple cat on them, you should be just fine.  They are the old cans, which are the better ones.  If they are the new yellow and med. blue cans, fuggedaboudit!!!!!

LisaHE said:

A few things I noticed:

-the new label doesn't list tuna fish oil

-the old can doesn't list calories; the new, as @poivre mentioned, says 147

-crude protein dropped from minimum 18.5% on the old can to 16% on the new

-crude fat rose from 2.3% minimum on the old can to 2.6% on the new

-moisture rose from 78% maximum on the old can to 80% on the new

-ash rose from 1.0% maximum on the old can to 1.6% on the new

-there are other changes to the ingredient list that would take more analysis than I'm capable of in the morning (for example, copper sulfate pentahydrate is out but vitamin K3 supplement is in)

Click to expand...

the differences don't really seem that major, if it's still shredded chicken in gravy, I'm sure my cats will still like it

msserena said:

 
the differences don't really seem that major, if it's still shredded chicken in gravy, I'm sure my cats will still like it

Click to expand...

I think the bigger concern is that once companies start implementing changes like this by cutting corners they will continue to do so. A great example of this is Merrick LID, which was good food with no fillers until Merrick was bought out by Purina, and then they slowly started adding fillers, and since pet food companies are allowed to change ingredients without using new labels for (I think) 6 months they could already be implementing new ingredients that we have no idea about it. Either way, it's worth keeping an eye on.