Well, dry EVO is lower in protein, and higher in fat and magnesium so I'm not considering that option. As for Orijen, my cats prefer it over Wellness Core ... I can even get a stray that doesn't recognize wet food as real food to eat some canned as long as I mix with Orijen kibbles. I also really like that the company obtains its raw ingredients locally.

And I've been doing a lot of food switching and I really wanted to stabilize my cats on a consistent diet so I can get a baseline pH level with the new foods. Should the out of state shipping become so much of a burden that I can only get intermittently, then I'll move on and stabilize my cat's food on Wellness Core.

Innova EVO
Protein - 42.00%
Fat - 22.00%
Magnesimum - 0.14%

Wellness Core
Protein - 50.00%
Fat - 18.00%
Magnesimum - 0.10%

Orijen
Protein - 45.00%
Fat - 20.00%
Magnesium - 0.09%

Sharon L.

Yeah, the kibble is a good size. It is a triangular shape ... same shape and slighly larger then the dry Wellness Core (not the regular Wellness dry, which quite small and pebble shaped).

My cats just love this food. The biggest problem I have is that it is not sold in the Los Angeles area. I've been having it shipped from The Bark Market in Portland (for those in the Portland area, the owner, Piotr Orloff, is a prince among men), but the shipping is killing me.

http://thebarkmarket.com/

Sharon

Same with Orijen ... reading from the bag of feline dry it has 540/kcal per 250ml cup. 40% energy from protein, 15% from fruit & vegetables, and 45% from fat.

I've compensated by cutting down the amount of dry food I leave out. I used to free free dry and open a can of wet two times a day, but I'm now trying to move my cats primarily to wet food. I'm still experimenting with the best way to schedule, but at the moment I feed a greater amount of wet, and then supplement with a small a small amount of dry after the wet is (mostly) eaten.

Sharon L.

Yes, I understand the experience. They are doing what most pet food manufacturers are doing, dancing as fast as they can away from potential issues.

That being said I've decided to switch over to the Wellness no-grain canned foods anyway. The only other brands that I've been comfortable in considering were Evangers and Mericks ... and my cats turned up their noses at both.

Pet food makers failed miserably in establishing ANY quality control for the ingredients that went into their cans, but with the recent recalls for corn and rice gluten, this issue has become so much larger than a single manufacturer.  There are multiple points of failure across many manufacturers and I believe (and I hope I won't be disappointed) that the Old Mother Hubbard people will be more proactive in ensuring adequate QA for their product.

My cats do seem to like this food, and using a canned food with absolutely no grains included whatsoever is providing some security where only panic existed before.

Sharon L.

LOL!

The Beneful commercial is playing in the Los Angeles media market pretty frequently, but I've seen no other pet food commercials over the past few weeks.

Sharon

I've just started using Orijen and my cats *love* it. After their diet is stable for a month or so (I've been doing brand switching) I'll be taking them to the vet to check the ph balance in their urine.

It's amazing what I have learned about pet nutrition during the past few weeks.

At least for the moment I'm comfortable with Wellness canned food. Commercial canners are in the business of canning product for clients for the least amount of money, and it is ultimately up to the client to insist on verifiable quality controls when manufacturing their product. After many, many emails and conversations with OHM, they seem to be aware of their responsibilities. Also my cats like the food, and the ingredients list is very good, so until I see additional reasons to be concerned that's what I'll be staying with.

My second best alternative was Evangers, but they only have one flavor in the premium brand that is grain free and my cats won't touch it. They also wouldn't touch Merricks.

For dry food I'm using Orijen. My cats just *love* this food.

I don't feed my pets TJ's food, but want to give kudos to the Trader Joes management who pulled every can of their food that was made by Menu Foods at the very beginning of the recall. Considering how often the recall list has been expanded that showed foresight and a proactive approach to consumer protection.

Sharon L.