Original RM 7/7/07, use by 7/7/08
Lamb & Rice RM 7/6/07, use by 7/6/08

Is the first date in each of these the manufactured date and the second the use by date? Just curious.

With all the recent acetaminophen findings in pet food, I once again e-mailed Wellness to ask if acetaminophen is in their testing protocol. Here's the response:

"Dear Eric,

Thank you for writing Wellness and Old Mother Hubbard.

We have always tested our raw materials and foods for acetaminophen.

Thanks again for contacting us."

I just hope this is indeed true.

http://itchmoforums.com/pet-food-testing/test-results-t779.15.html

Scroll down...

Geff,
My only complaint so far with Wellness wet is that it doesn't keep very long once openned (no chemical preservatives). The chicken is one my cats' favorite flavors (behind chicken and herring). We've been it for around a month now with known problems (knock on wood, of course).

Everything about this is so sad...and absolutely infuriating.

Has Wellness mentioned what lab they use? I think there was some concern as to the lab that Natura uses. I was wondering if Wellness uses the same one.

I don't know what lab they use. All I know is that they say on their site that they do in-house testing and independent third-party testing. Who that independent third-party is, I don't know.

To update, I e-mailed Wellness again to ask about the lab and was told that they are "not at liberty to discuss" who the independent lab is. So there you have it.

Just to let you all know, I e-mail Wellness todayand asked about salmonella testing and so forth. Here's their reply:

"Dear Eric,

Thank you for writing Wellness and Old Mother Hubbard.

We test for a variety of microorganisms, and pay particular attention to those called
“pathogens”, which are organisms that can cause illness.  Salmonella is one of those
organisms.  Examples of others include but are not limited to:  E. Coli, Listeria
Monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus Aureus.

Of course, with the recent recalls we have expanded or regular testing procedures
to include all the new known contaminates to the industry, such as the melamine
and cyunaric acid.

Thanks again for contacting us."

Glad to hear CJ's feeling well. Keep us posted about her next bloodwork-up.

Garypen,
Is Lucky still doing well? All five of my cats have days where they obviously don't feel well, but it always alarms me and causes my nerves to go off when it happens. I wish we, as humans, could be as laid back about things as our little furry friends are. Also, I like your "call in sick" example; I've never thought of it that way.

catmom5,
Has your kitty been eating Wellness?

Garypen,
I'm happy to hear that Lucky is doing well. Hopefully he stays that way!

Garypen,
How's Lucky doing today?

Garypen,
It is hard to know what to believe and think anymore, but I still wanted to pass the info along. I take a bit of solace in that there's been no realy negative reports (at least that I've seen) from anyone using Wellness (of course I say a prayer and knock on wood at the same time I type those words). I just have to hope and pray that Wellness is actually doing as they say they are doing, and are actually on top of things. Also, the info about ingredient sourceing wasn't as important to me as the statement about testing both raw ingredients and finished products. I just hope they use a worth-a-darn lab.

Anyway...I'm glad to hear that your kitties are doing well on the Wellness foods. If you don't mind me asking, what types of positive changes have you seen from them?

Just thought I'd pass this along. I e-mailed Wellness about ingredient origins and testing of ingredients and finished products. Here is their reply:

Thank you for taking the time to write about Dry Cat Wellness®.

We choose to source some ingredients internationally.  We source our ingredients based on quality, not by country.  When we say source we actually do mean the country of origin.

Ingredient Sourcing is a follows:

95+%- United States and Canada
4%- New Zealand and Australia (Lamb or Venison)
-1%- Europe
-1%- Asia

We have always tested our raw materials before we use them in our foods.  We also retain a sample from every batch of food that is produced and of course it is retested. Of course, due to the recent recalls, we have expanded all of our regular testing procedures to include all the new known contaminates to the industry.

Thanks again for contacting us.

According to the Pet Food List's manufacturers listing, Nature's Logic is made by Crosswinds in Sabetha, KS (also makes Kumpi and iVet), not Tejas in TX...just so you know.