New "enhanced" formula dangerous?

[meezertorbie]

When I said that my cats have special dietary needs, I guess that it is just my opinion, but here is a little history:

The issues that one of the cats used to have was that she would vomit every time she ate. My vet suggested a food with no corn, wheat, soy, or chicken--all common allergens--and it seemed to work overnight---no more vomiting. I'm not sure exactly which ingredient was the culprit. Strangely, all of these ingredients were contained in two different sensitive stomach prescription foods that she had given me!

My other kitty had always had loose stool issues, it seems from the moment he was born, even when he was still in his foster home. His foster mom had fed him Purina Kitten Chow (or some kind of Purina) and Iams Kitten, which she said "went right through him" (gross, I know). After I got him and he was on several different medications for months, (and treated for coccidia even though he tested negative) given the same prescription food that my other cat was on, and finally the Blue Buffalo food (no corn wheat, or soy), he still had issues. I did some research myself and decided to switch to the grain-free Blue Basics limited ingredient. The previous Blue and most of the other foods had also contained rice. Within 3 days, his stool was normal (and the other cat was still not vomiting). He was 7 months old at this time--poor guy. This was 5 months ago, and he is now a happy, healthy one year old, with great poop and no problems since. The other Blue did contain some fish too, but not salmon, I think.

This is why I am so freaked out about the formula being changed.

I hope your kitty with pancreatitis is doing okay.

 

[oneandahalfcats]

I know I am getting off of my own topic here, but what about Simply Nourish Limited Ingredient Salmon and Sweet Potato? I don't think it is made by Diamond Foods. I'm not sure if P&G is involved in its production. It is free of grains, corn, wheat, soy, and chicken, which I have to avoid. Fish has never posed a problem, but I was trying to avoid it because of potential UTI problems with my male kitty. My cats have never had salmon before. Is it a better choice than other types of fish or should I just be safe and stick with the turkey?

I wouldn't recommend simply nurish as it contains only one and maybe two meat protein sources depending on the diet and the rest is very limited in food ingredients suggesting that it might be too low calorie. A better choice might be something like Taste of the Wild which contains several meat proteins, plus some pretty decent alternate ingredients.

There are only two varieties for cats, Rocky Mountain Feline and Canyon River Feline.

Here are links to both products:

WET DIET

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.co..._food/rocky_mountain_feline_formula_in_gravy/

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/cats/canned_food/canyon_river_feline_formula_in_gravy/

DRY DIET

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/cats/dry_food/canyon_river_feline_formula/

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/cats/dry_food/rocky_mountain_feline_formula/

 

[meezertorbie]

I was actually going for a single animal protein. They have been on the limited ingredient turkey food for a while. I am afraid that multiple animal proteins would be too rich for them.

 

[red top rescue]

Thanks @GoHolistic, I saw the March date and thought it was a brand new post, not last year's post.  My whole day has gone that way today, glad it is almost over, hope tomorrow is better.  Phone calls dropped, nearly had a car accident on the way to a meeting, then fell in the parking lot after my meeting,  stopped at the store on the way home and oculdn't decide what I needed, then bought 2 of something because I could use a $1.00 off for 2 coupon and forgot to use the coupon....then got home at the tail end of a new show that I meant to record on the DVR, was in the middle of setting it to record future versions of the show when the whole thing went out kablooie.  It came back on in about 5 minutes, and took another 5 minutes to "acquire signal" (Dish) and now am herding cats into their various sleeping rooms.  I already posted that recall on Facebook so now I get to recall my post about the recall.  Today was like my own personal Mercury Retrograde event. 

 

[meezertorbie]

I did a little more research on Nature's Variety. It looks like the Instinct Grain-Free limited ingredient turkey might be an option to consider if Blue doesn't work out. However, some people on these forums have expressed concern about NV sourcing ingredients from China. NV does admit on their website that they get their rabbit from China, but does anyone know where they get their turkey or their other meats from? Blue denies getting meat from China. I'm not sure who to believe.

 

[goholistic]

I did a little more research on Nature's Variety. It looks like the Instinct Grain-Free limited ingredient turkey might be an option to consider if Blue doesn't work out. However, some people on these forums have expressed concern about NV sourcing ingredients from China. NV does admit on their website that they get their rabbit from China, but does anyone know where they get their turkey or their other meats from? Blue denies getting meat from China. I'm not sure who to believe.

I only know of the rabbit being sourced from China.

By the way, my Caesar was a regurgitator for a long time, too, so I also had to find a food he could keep down. He was a kibble addict and until I could get him to eat wet foods, I had to make sure he ate something. When I adopted him from the shelter, they sent me home with Science Diet...of course. He was sick on that. From there, I transitioned him to Taste of the Wild. He did not do well on that at all; I think the venison in it was too rich and he vomited it up every time he ate it. From there, I transitioned him to EVO Chicken & Turkey. He did really well on this for a long time and it helped him put on weight. Then EVO (Natura) had all those recalls and every last bag was pulled from the shelves. I had no choice but to transition to something else...not fun. Hours of research later, I chose NV LID Turkey for various reasons. He has been on this ever since along with his wet food. Also, another change I made that really helped him was raising his food bowl.

Not only did I look at ingredients, but I looked at calories as well as fat, protein, and carbs on a DMB basis. Some other factors to look at while you are browsing around. Dry foods are high in carbs, some more than others, and you want as low a carb content as possible. Actually, the lowest carb dry foods out there are Young Again Zero Carb, Wysong Epigen 90, and Ziwipeak.

I tried to research other turkey-only dry foods, and there aren't too many. Wellness Core has a "Turkey, Turkey Meal, & Duck Formula" (see: http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=cat&pid=132&dm=grainfree#ingredients). It does contain duck and pork meal, however, but I think this is probably better than a chicken- or fish-based food. 

Anyway, I suppose you'll have to decide soon so that you can transition them while you still have some of the old food remaining. Worse case scenario: if the one you choose doesn't work out, then you can defer to the other. It's always good to have a plan B. If NV ever had a recall, I already know what I would buy to replace it.