Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with Newman's. It's not part of any recall, and the ingredient list is pretty good. Their canned food, however, is made by Menu which is something you may want to consider.

As for Newman's being in the same league as Purina... a side by side comparision of the ingredients would suggest otherwise.

Mary K,

Well said.

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Yeah, I had heard nothing but good things about Solid Gold, and that's why I tried it, plus I really like the fact that it isn't made by Menu, but I wasn't impressed with the can I got.

Although, I do have some reservations about Merrick too.

Even before the recalls I was trying to get away from products produced by Menu Foods due to their contract laboratories mistreating animals, and Newman's seemed like a good choice - only after the recalls sparked some investigation into the pet food industry, in turns out that Newman's cans are made by Menu too!

Anyway, as far as the food itself goes, it's pretty good. You know how when you open a good quality granola bar it looks healthy, and when you open a twinky it looks like it's pure chemicals? Newman's looks like that granola bar. The meat looks like meat, the brown rice is obviously brown rice, etc.  It also smells better than many other brands. I'm not referring to the fishy smell, but to a smell that I can only describe as 'off' or even just this side of rancid. Well, Newman's smells like meat (and a little fishy). When you poke around with a fork, you don't find any unidentifiable stuff. Overall, I think this is pretty good food, and I like what the company says (if it's true), but I do have a few issues...

The first I already mentioned - Menu Foods. The second is that the brown rice is whole, and my cat just eats around them so she doesn't get the nutritional benefits. The third is that the can isn't full. I know that a lot of cat food cans aren't completely full, but these cans are the least full I've ever seen.

I really, really wanted to like this brand, but what I've listed above, and the fact that I can't get it locally (and shipping adds $$$) means that I probably won't be buying any more Newman's.

We tried a can of Solid Gold Chicken, Turkey, White Fish & Liver, and although the cat liked it (probably because it smells fishy), I won't be buying any more of it.  When I prodded around with a fork, I found a fair amount of gristle and other unidentifiable bits. Now I know that cats will eat whole animals (including all of the parts that humans won't), and I'm not squeemish about that, but this stuff just didn't seem right.

Additionally, my local pet food store (actually local, not chain or big box) recently said they were not going to carry Solid Gold anymore due to "losing trust" in the company (they said the exact same thing about Felidae/Canidae too). Just the opinion of one store owner/manager, but based on my experience I tend to agree.

Yup. That's the way I felt about their canned food. (I never tried their dry.) I felt the same about their manufacturer, Evangers, as well. I wonder if the store owners have any feeling about Evangers? Just curious.

Yeah, I just posted my impression in that thread (basically, the same as yours).

I didn't ask about Evangers, but I will next time I'm there. They don't carry Evangers cat food, but I did see some dog food cans on their shelves.

I had the same experience with Felidae. My cat ate it without hesitation, but threw it up within an hour.  I poked around the can with a fork, and it was a soupy mess with a few unidentifiable bits floating around.

I too had heard that it is made by Evangers, and when you compare cans in the store, they are very similar in color and shape, and are quite different from the cans from Menu. The manager of one of the two stores I’ve been frequenting thought it was made by Evangers as well.

It looked good on paper, but I won’t be buying any more Felidae.

The other pet food store I shop at is discontinuing Felidae/Canidae due to what they perceived as a lack of consistency. They even went so far as to say that they had lost trust in the company.

I was at the local pet food store (actually local, not chain or big box) yesterday, and they said they were not going to carry Felidae/Canidae (wet or dry) anymore due to what they perceived as a lack of consistency. They even went so far as to say that they had lost trust in the company.

It’s just the opinion of one store manager/owner, but I thought people here might want to know.

Yeah, it's too bad too. Even before the recalls I wanted to get away from brands that use Menu due to Menu's mistreatment of animals in laboratories. Newman's was one of the first I tried (but the cat's reaction was so-so). Then when the recalls hit, the dirty secrets of the pet food industry came out - one of them being that if it's in a can, there's a pretty good chance it was made by Menu.

Yes, it's the canned dog and cat foods.