The pull date on my bag of CN is 05/03/08.

I plan to keep all that I have left in case I decide to test it. 

I'm sorry if I posted something that people already knew, but I hadn't read anything about the black chunks in cat food, only dog food.  The stuff I found is identical to the pictures that Donna has posted from her Innova dog food.

I just opened a new bag before I left on vacation for my cat sitter to feed and now today after 10 days I return and find some of the pieces have hard "black" stuff sticking out of some of the kibble.    Some of the particles are big enough for me to pull out with my fingernails.

I'm freaking out and just called Natura.  They told me it was flax seed and I said no the pieces are rough and jagged, not smooth like flax seeds.  She then said perhaps it's the vitamin premix.  She is sending me a form to submit 2 cups of kibble to be tested.

Has anyone else found anything like this in the CN Chicken and Brown Rice dry cat food?

Carol in IL

Geoff,

I use Wellness canned chicken because it has no grains.  I had a kitty with IBD that I used to feed raw and without the grains there were no symptoms.  The guy I have now has a tendency toward loose stools and so I stick with Wellness varieties that don't have grain.

I've been using Cal Nat dry for at least 10 years.  My kitty seems to be doing fine on it.  He's 4.5 years old, but I've used it for my other cats as well.  He eats CN dry and 1/4 of Wellness chicken canned food.  He had labs done in April as part of a regular check up and all kidney and liver vaules were normal.

I'm toying with switching him to Wellness Debone Chicken dry, but he's very finicky and we're not had good luck with Wellness dry in the past.  I've not tried since they changed their formula though.

I just got some sample bags of Fromm's dry cat food (salmon and duck a la veg).  There haven't been any postings for quite some time about this food so I'm wondering if people are having good luck with this food or just thoughts in general before I feed it to my cat.

Was there ever any resolution with the company about the rice gluten and Vit K that was listed on the bag?

My sample bags doesn't contain an ingredient listing since they were out of their regular sample bags, they made some up for me.

Thanks

I've had good luck with Revolution.  There doesn't seem to be any skin sensitivity or other effects that I've noticed.    The thing I like about Revolution is that is also protects against heartworm and ear mites.  We have lots of mosquitoes so that's a plus even though Andy never goes out there always seem to be one or two that get into the house over the course of the season.

Another tip I learned from my vet is put the "nasty" flea collar in my vacuum cleaner bag.  I just put a new one in every time I change the bag.  It might kill any nasties that are picked up by the vacuum.  Although when I first had the infestation I was vacuuming daily and emptying the bag each time. 

Doug,

I've found fleas three times on my kitties (Himis and Persians) over the years.  These are cats that have never gone outside, but.... I was told it's possible for us to bring them in from the outside especially if you have squirrels and rabbits in the yard.

I've done the whole flea removal thing; vacuuming like a maniac everyday for a month and then treating the cats.  I now use Revolution 7 months out of the year as a preventative.  It's a topical application that's applied monthly.  I don't like having to use it, but since having a really bad infestation I don't want a repeat experience.  It was so bad, I was getting bit by the fleas. 

We also treat the yard every spring as a preventative as well. 

Good luck

My cat eats California Natural Dry and Wellness canned grain free, chicken and/or turkey.

I've used the C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews for cats in the past.  They were not a big hit at my house since they are fish ( I have the only cat in the world that does not like fish).  I would have to cut them in thirds because they were so big so I think I was defeating the purpose of the chewing required.

They are worth a try if your kitty likes fish.  My vet loves them and gives them out as treats in the office.

I found this post on their website today:

May 23, 2007

Dear Pet Parents,

We are pleased to reassure you that NO Wellness, Old Mother Hubbard or Neura products have been affected in any way by the recent pet food industry recalls.
We say this to you with confidence after having completed extensive testing on products and ingredients…this includes testing for melamine and other contaminants.  Going forward, we have added melamine testing to our already extensive testing protocol. 

Our Mission
Wellness Natural Food and Treats for pets was created a decade ago as consumers increasingly questioned the purity of the food they eat, and increasingly paid more attention to proper diets and healthy lifestyles for themselves. We saw this need for our animal companions, and made it our mission to create natural products with healthy ingredients that pet parents can feed with confidence.

Human Food Standards
Because there are no specific pet food safety standards, we use human food standards qualified by a human food auditing firm (Cook and Thurber). It has always been part of our mission to develop, test and produce our pet foods and treats to meet human food standards. We believe we may be the only company that conducts human food audits.  And because of the comprehensive nature of our Quality Assurance Program, we can assure you that our products remain of the highest quality and meet the same standards as the food you yourself eat.

About Our Comprehensive Quality Assurance Program
Wellness has a dedicated staff of experts working every day to ensure the quality of our products. All are produced according to our proprietary, thoughtfully balanced recipes, with our specified ingredients, and must meet our human food quality standards. We can assure you that they are met because we insist the following requirements are met on every food product bearing our company name.

    * Ingredient selection and sourcing - We require that our suppliers prove that their ingredients are free of contaminants and meet our exacting standards.
    * Manufacturing and supply chain security - Our employees monitor the quality control processes with our manufacturing partners.
    * Quality Assurance - Our facilities are audited by Cook & Thurber, a HUMAN FOOD auditing firm, which utilizes over 600 checks to ensure the correct systems are in place to build safety and quality into all steps in the process.
    * Our facilities must also employ HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) standards that measure for potential risks and mitigate them along the way.  This includes tests for physical, chemical and microbiological hazards, just as is required for human food.
    * Continuous quality checks are performed throughout the entire manufacturing process.
    * We require a complete cleaning and sanitation between each product run to help ensure the purity of our products.
    * The final product is double-checked for adherence to our strict specifications at both the Wellness Quality Assurance lab and an independent third-party laboratory.
    * Continuous Improvement – In addition to always expanding our quality assurance procedures to incorporate tests and processes that ensure the safety of your pets’ food, we welcome and encourage feedback about our products from Wellness consumers and their pets. This is perhaps the most important step in our Quality Assurance Program.

We believe that nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our pets.  The events of the past two months confirm the critical importance of our comprehensive Quality Assurance standards to ensure the quality and safety of your pets’ food.

We welcome any questions you might have. You can reach us at 1-800-225-0904.


Jim Scott
Chief Executive Officer
   
Deborah Ellinger
President

I've been using C.E.T. Enzymatic Toothpaste (Tartar Control)  It's made by Virbac.

Active Ingredients: Glucose Oxidase, Lactoperoxidase.  Also contains Sorbitol USP/NF, Purified Water USP, Hydrated Silica, Glycerine, Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Flavor, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Thiocyanate.

I don't know if those are good ingredients or not!

I've been brushing Andy's teeth and they look great.

lesliek,

I just checked my cans and all the codes start with 7W  eg. 7WCCC1   I hope those are okay.

I've tried that approach many times with this guy and he just won't go for it. He does not have IBD, but my previous two kitties did; one would eat raw and one would not.  I used the recipes from catnutrition.org.  Anne is my mentor and helped me get started.  I used to grind rabbits and the cat just loved it.  It's amazing how no grains stopped the IBD symptoms overnight.  Just proves that cats as carnivores are not meant to eat grains.

I've been feeding California Natural chicken/rice dry and Wellness Chicken canned food.  I had labs done on my cat mid-April and everything was normal.   

I will probably continue with the Wellness canned because I'm throwing out more than he'll eat.  He's extremely fussy and will only eat the Wellness Chicken.  I like the idea of it being grain-free after having two cats with IBD.  I wish he would eat raw, but he won't touch it.

Thanks I've been checking too, but didn't check today! (breathing a sigh of relief).