I've been feeding Beechnut Stage 1 meat only, & am transitioning him to a custom raw recipe from a local "pet food bakery" called Natural Pet Pantry. So far, it looks like this new raw food may work. He is going through some allergy issues, but they appeared before the new raw experiment.

I previously tried another raw food called Rad Cat, but something in there didn't agree with him. I now believe he's allergic to eggs on top of everything else!

Not sure who this has been worse for, his body or my brain!

I lied about that being my last post....... Does anyone still have a bag of California Natural Chicken & Rice Dry 2006 manufacture (exp date of 2007)? If I remember right, the bag is chartreuse Green & clear with Yellow daisies. There is no white rice, only brown.

Reason I'm asking is I know my cat tolerated all the ingredients in that formula. It would be really helpful to have a complete ingredients list. If anyone still has one of the pre-white rice bags made in 2006 with a 2007 exp date I'd be really grateful if you would post the complete ingredients list, or email me a scan. Kitty is just going through a nightmare at the moment & I'd rather not expose him to anything else he can't tolerate in our experiments to find a food for him.

I have also written Natura, hopefully they'll be willing to provide the info.

Thanks!

This is likely my last post on this subject. I have chosen to stop feeding CN. On Friday, my cat's recent allergic reactions became pretty severe with CN "Formula 3". Since the switch to the newest formula, I've seen the following:

1. Breathing problems
2. Diarrhea
3. Lots of scratching
4. Some compulsive Licking
5. Low Energy
6. Spinal Sensitivity Returned
7. Sore On His Face

Out of desperation, starting early Saturday morning, I switched him temporarily to baby food only (Gerbers Stage 2 & Beech Nut Stage 1). All symptoms are either moderated or gone, & even with no vitamin supplements his energy has gone way up, he's the most active I've seen him since October 2007 when we had to move from CN "Formula 1" to the replacement CN "Formula 2".

I am looking into raw as our next solution. Unfortunately, most commercial raw foods appear to also have ingredients he's allergic to. With the Cal nat Chicken & Rice, I believe that he's highly allergic to the rosemary, & I suspect the white rice & possibly other unknown ingredients didn't sit well with him either.

It's a shame they ruined a previously wonderful product.

My vet wants me to try to transition him to raw. She believes he's is allergic to the Rosemary in the current CN formula.

hissandtell, kitty's blood test came back today. No apparent harm from 9 months on Cal Nat. Kidneys are good. There's some concern with his liver reading, but it's actually improved since the last blood test which was right before he started the Cal Nat.

Due to his allergies & gas/diarrhea, his vet wants me to try to transition him to raw after he goes through a course of antibiotics.

Himimom, is your old bags Pre or post May 2007 manufacture? (i.e. pre or post May 2008 exp date)? They did 2 publicly acknowledged formula changes in 2007.

My kitty went to the vet today. I brought along the new bag of Cal Nat Chicken & "Brown Rice" so my vet could look at the ingredients. She had 2 comments & 1 question that I'd like to pass along:

Question:
Does anyone still have any of the older bags of Cal Nat Chicken & Rice (either 2006 or 2007 style)? If so, is Flaxseed Oil one of the ingredients? She had some concern about Flaxseed being a potential allergen, but I honestly don't remember if it was present before the last formula change; & also if it was present in the first of the 3 Cal Nat formulas I've fed. My vet felt having that info would help to figure out what's going on with my kitty.

Comments:
1. She stated that Rosemary can definitely be an allergen for cats. She believes that my guy is likely reacting to it.

2. She also stated that Natura's claim on their website for this formula being "hypoallergenic" is not accurate. In addition to the 2 ingredients I just mentioned, she stated that some cats (not mine) have allergies to Chicken.

He appears to be allergic to about 1/2 the planet! Cal Nat is the only high end food that had no seafood, herbs, fruits or vegetables (until the new formula added Rosemary).

The only wet foods I've found that theoretically contain nothing he's allergic to are Wellness Chicken & Evangers Chicken. Both have other issues (Wellness wet is made by Menu & Evanger's has confirmed that their label is inaccurate), but the biggest neg is he doesn't like either. For him it appears to be Cal Nat; or if that doesn't work I'm going to need to look at  Raw/Freeze Dried or home cooked.

If i could find a vitamin premix that is 100% not from China, I would consider combining it with Gerber's stage 2, which he loves.

Hissandtell, I posted the following on Itchmo the other day. As you'll see, I have some concerns. Some of them MAY be related to my kitty's allergies. The grit is about the same, or slightly less. The salty taste on skin contact has moderated some. I THINK they lowered the amount of potassium chloride, which I have believed was the culprit for the salty taste issue.

Posted on Itchmo 1/8:
I'm wondering if anyone is having any issues with the new Cal Nat Chicken & Brown Rice formula? It's likely a good sign that there are no recent posts!

I'm seeing a couple things with my guy on the new bag/formula that may or may not be important:

1. He's eating more then he used to. He's also often looking for fuzzys or his own hair to eat in the carpeting. That's new behavior for him. I'm wondering if he's feeling hungry due to empty calories in the new formula?

2. He's drinking more water. His drinking went up with the first 2007 formula change & went up again with the change to the new formula.

3. He's having some congestion issues when sleeping. This seems to bother me more then him, & it may be due to some new mildew issues in our home. He's also scratching more then usual. They did add Rosemary to the new formula; it's possible he may be allergic to it. Not sure WHY Natura felt the new to add a useless (to cats) herb.

The vet wanted to see him next month anyway, so I'm planning on waiting if nothing gets worse, but curious if others are seeing anything similar?

His energy level is ok: When we first switched from Royal Canin to the old 2006 formula of Cal Nat Chicken & Rice his energy went WAY up. it went back down to Royal Canin level with the first bag of 2007 new formula Natura we bought & has stayed about the same.

One thing i found ironic: They've renamed the food from "Chicken & Rice" to "Chicken & Brown Rise" AFTER they added white rice.......

Sorry for the short notice. I SUSPECT the time is Eastern US, but i don't know for certain.

Dear Friend

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As Elmo Fudd would say,   "shhhhhhhhh, I'm hunting Wabbits in the Woods'.

I had a really gritty bag with that date. Interesting. Natura is claiming that grit is from "end of the batch". Weird that my state would get end of the batch everytime!

Geff,

I have not seen the amount of grit you mention.  There is a little, but not enough to turn me off. 

Do you happen to know what the exp date is of your current bag? If you know of a batch with little grit, I'd like to try to find a bag. (or 10!). Just to clarify, I've been using CN dry Chicken & Rice.

I think one option is to try a larger paper bowl. I probably also need to try your suggestion of not breaking down & giving dry food. 

I'm also considering going to a combination of Gerber (which hee loves) & Taurine & cat vitamins. It would cost a fortune, but... At least it's not Summertime where the wet foods can only be out a few minutes.

himimom, what has your experience been with the CN "grit"? The grit is why I'm trying to get him off of the CN.

                            Geff