Problems with Friskies?

A little over a week ago, all of my cats got really sick from some Friskies. All 8 cats got sick and were sick for about a week. The Friskies people said they haven't had any other reports like that, so I don't know how I got the bad can or cans.  Maybe one of the cans had a bad seal and bacteria got in. I tend to mix all the food together in a mixing bowl and then dish it out into the cats' bowls, so I could have contaminated the whole big bowl with one can. Anyway, it's finally getting out of their systems. I took one to the vet and he was nice enough to send me home with enough antibiotics for all of them. He never did figure which kind of bacteria it was, because he didn't get a stool sample. Just prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic which he said should kill anything. Anyway, since they are finally eating again and I don't want to go back to Friskies. I've been giving them a variety of other things, but I should settle on something. It's expensive to feed that many cats, especially since I don't do dry food because of urinary problems. I was wondering:

Has anyone else had problems with Friskies lately? The flavor was Mixed Grill in the big can.

What are some ideas for the healthiest food possible without buying the most expensive stuff?

I've started cooking for them some, but I'm afraid of trying the raw diet because of bacteria. I can't go through another week like the last one.The cats were so sick it was scary. Vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, lethargy. 

I have also tried the raw diet. Let's just say it was a disaster!   The cats were running away with little chunks of meat and dragging the pieces across the floor. I am glad you are feeding them canned food instead of dry. I feed my cats PetGuard Weight Management but it can get pretty expensive with three cats. I will put the link below. Some suggestions are Sheba, Beyond, Pro Plan, and Iams. All of them contain menadione but, with 8 cats you can't be very picky. You can find all of them at Chewy.com. If you have any questions, the Chewy team is SUPER! I hope this was helpful and I hope your kitties get better! Here is the PetGuard link and the Chewy link:

https://www.chewy.com/petguard-weight-management-chicken/dp/33770

https://www.chewy.com/

I have also tried the raw diet. Let's just say it was a disaster! The cats were running away with little chunks of meat and dragging the pieces across the floor. I am glad you are feeding them canned food instead of dry. I feed my cats PetGuard Weight Management but it can get pretty expensive with three cats. Some suggestions are Sheba, Beyond, Pro Plan, and Iams. All of them contain menadione but, with 8 cats you can't be very picky. You can find all of them at Chewy.com. If you have any questions, the Chewy team is SUPER! I hope this was helpful and I hope your kitties get better!

~ Cat food in cans has to be stored in a cool place. If the can gets too warm for too long there can be problems . Maybe one can was too old [emoji]10067[/emoji] Each can has an expiration date.
I have never heard anything good about raw diet for kitty cats .

catlover1028 said:

The cats were running away with little chunks of meat and dragging the pieces across the floor.

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That sounds familiar:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/336182/gizzard-hunting-kitten

If it was a damaged can, that's not a manufacturing problem and could happen with any brand :/. It's best not to use cans that have dents too close to a seam, or very deep dents, as those can allow contamination. I use canned Friskies, in the 13-oz cans, almost exclusively and haven't had any trouble.

I've tried all the similarly-priced brands and my cats just don't like them. Oh, cats! If you want to try other brands, Triumph and Dave's are good.

These cans expired in 2018. I do remember checking that. Some said 1/2018 and some said 12/18. They didn't have obvious dents. So I don't know. It probably wouldn't hurt to still feed them that, but now im skittish.

Oh I forgot. As I've been researching this I read that the Friskies brand has had problems in the past with cans not being heated to a high enough temperature during processing to kill all bacteria. Also a seal could have been done incorrectly during manufacturing and not necessarily happened after. Bottom line is I'll never know what caused it really and if it was the fault of the manufacturer.

My cats love the Friskies Shreds. We haven't had any problems so far. The pate is supposed to be better for them, but they won't eat it anymore for some reason. They just want the Shreds.

Whatever happened, I can't imagine having 8 out of 8 cats all sick for an entire week.  That must have been a real nightmare.  I'm so glad they all got better!

Thank you! It was a huge nightmare! Now I'm trying to settle on a way to feed them from now on. I just can't bring myself to go back to Friskies, even though it's possible I would never have another problem. I fed them Friskies without problems for a long time before that. I discovered in another thread that Kirkland's has a grain-free canned cat food. I haven't seen it at my Costco, but I'm going to ask for it. I already buy the Kirkland's grain-free canned dog food and it is a good deal. Really good ingredients at an extremely reasonable price.

Do you have a petsmart nearby? We really liked the Grreat! Brand of cat food from them before my tabby developed chicken allergies. It's on par with Friskies and does come in 13oz cans, with the 5.5 oz sometimes being a better deal with sales. I don't think they sell it online sadly!

I have a Petsmart nearby but have never seen that brand

I don't know what a can of Friskies costs, but I saw someone here recently recommend the Tractor Supply house brand, "4Health"...especially when it's on sale.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/se...derBy:&pageView:&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&

(That link looks a little funny...hope it works.)

Yep. Happened about a month ago. One can of Friskies Mixed Grill. Max took a few bites and started gagging right away, so I threw it out. She has had many cans of Mixed Grill before and since with no problems, so I chalked it up to that single can. I suspect you may be right about a production run problem.

Thank you Orange and White! I've started buying the 4 Health! It is the exact same price as Friskies, but the ingredients look WAY better! I think my problem is solved! Only issue is that the nearest Tractor Supply is not real close to me, so I will probably have to make a weekly trip where I pick up a bunch of it. 

Sailon, Wow! That's interesting that your cat experienced something similar. Probably the reason mine were so sick and Max wasn't was because she gagged and spit hers out. I think mine just went ahead and ate it in spite of whatever weird taste turned off Max. I know I'm never buying it again.

gaylemg said:

A little over a week ago, all of my cats got really sick from some Friskies. All 8 cats got sick and were sick for about a week. The Friskies people said they haven't had any other reports like that, so I don't know how I got the bad can or cans. Maybe one of the cans had a bad seal and bacteria got in. I tend to mix all the food together in a mixing bowl and then dish it out into the cats' bowls, so I could have contaminated the whole big bowl with one can. Anyway, it's finally getting out of their systems. I took one to the vet and he was nice enough to send me home with enough antibiotics for all of them. He never did figure which kind of bacteria it was, because he didn't get a stool sample. Just prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic which he said should kill anything. Anyway, since they are finally eating again and I don't want to go back to Friskies. I've been giving them a variety of other things, but I should settle on something. It's expensive to feed that many cats, especially since I don't do dry food because of urinary problems. I was wondering:

Has anyone else had problems with Friskies lately? The flavor was Mixed Grill in the big can.

What are some ideas for the healthiest food possible without buying the most expensive stuff?

I've started cooking for them some, but I'm afraid of trying the raw diet because of bacteria. I can't go through another week like the last one.The cats were so sick it was scary. Vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, lethargy.

Click to expand...

I get the 24 can variety pack. All of the mixed grill flavor cans have beef dented with the seal compromised in the last two cases I purchased. I emailed Friskies tonight and sent them the manufactures code as well as the UP Code. They IMMEDIATELY emailed me back and are sending me a refund and coupons. I did not feed the food to my cats. I threw them away.

Vega has been on Friskies for about a week or two. So far she's doing well and she loves it. I only got the poultry platter as it's the only one made in USA; others imported without country of origin seen.
I just checked Friskies website and there seem some complaint about their new label/recipe of classic pate. I haven't seen their new label. All cans I got were old ones with BB Jan 2019. I live in Canada.