Evangers Canned Cat Food

[garypen]

Not much success with this brand. BOTH cats threw up within minutes of eating the "Organic Braised Chicken". They seemed to like the taste. But, their stomachs didn't like one or more of the ingredients, that's for sure.

I didn't care for the way it looked either. It was VERY dark for chicken. And, the sauce was almost black. It looked and smelled more like beef. I have a feeling that it was either mis-labeled, or spoiled. But, it didn't smell spoiled. And, the best by date was OK. It just looked terrible.

It's a shame, as I was hoping they'd like the organic brand. I don't think I've found another organic canned food brand that isn't made by Menu Foods Income Fund.

[MissLori]

Are you set on organic canned food?  There are some non-Menu Foods brands out there without wheat gluten that aren't organic.

[garypen]

Oh no. It doesn't have to be organic. So far, the cats like Blue Buffalo, Chicken Soup, and Merrick. I have chosen Merrick as our main food, with the other two as backups.

You can read my reviews in the specific brand forums.

[karatemom2]

Have fed their classic chicken dinner and Organic chicken dinner to my cats and both like it without any problems.  My cats are former Nutro and Wellness consumers.  Have also tried the Chicken and Rice dinner with my dogs without a problem too (former Nutro canned and kibble diet). Also using Evangers dry kibble successfully.  My pets and I have no issue with the color, texture or smell.  I think the dark color comes from the chicken liver along with dark meat in addition to white meat.  I'm satisfied thus far.  No one has vomited despite a total, radical change in diet.  And I have one cat that vomits easily, and she would vomit on the other foods too, including Wellness.  I order on line and get home delivery within a few days.

[karatemom2]

Should clarify that when I mentioned feeding my dogs the classic chicken and rice dinner, I was feeding them the DOG food, not CAT food.   Just want to be clear. 

[Neto]

Hi Gary,

My cat threw up after eating organic chicken, too!  He likes organic turkey and seafood & caviar, though.

[garypen]

Interesting. Did you find the chicken to be rather dark in color, as well?

[amy]

Gary, the chicken is always dark  in color, as is the pheasant.  I think it is the liver that is included--never saw anything else strange in it. 

[Neto]

Gary, all 3 flavors I gave to my cat looks similar, looks like ground meat mixed with black sauce.  I don’t know what made him throw up, but I’m not gonna give him organic chicken anymore.

[garypen]

The chicken formula looks darker than any cooked chicken liver I ever ate. But, the turkey formula looks and smells ok. However, Neto's cans of Evangers turkey look black. Weird. Very incionsistent. Dioesn't inspire confidence, I must say.

I decided to try the turkey formula, due to it's relatively normal appearance compared to the chicken, and the cats both liked it. They also didn't throw up. So, I may give Evangers brand another chance. But, only the turkey, definitely not the chicken. However, the inconsistencies in appearance have me a little nervous.

[Cindy Nevarez]

Hi All,
I have been away from here for a few days, but am back.
I purchased several dog/cat canned varieties from Evangers right after the recall. My kids have been eating it for a couple of weeks now.
The dogs love all of their flavors, and I have no problems to report on that.
The cats are a different story however. I bought the Whole Mackerel w/gravy, the Seafood Dinner, the Seafood and Caviar Dinner, and the Holistic Pheasant Dinner. All 3 cats hate the pheasant, and I see that is does contain many ingredients that cats should not have after all, and I will be giving that one to the dogs as it's safe for them. They don't like the Seafood much either, but the ingredient list is good so I entice them to eat it with Beechnut baby food stage 1 chicken or turkey. They like the seafood/caviar, but like it better with added baby food meat. The one that they LOVE is the Whole Mackerel. 2 of them gobble it up within minutes. The 3rd one will lick up all the gravy and come back later to eat the fish...if she doesn't make it back in time, the male cat will do it for her. I will be ordering many more cases of this one.
A comment on the baby food: I choose Beechnut for 2 reasons; one that they use only the meat and added broth...Gerber adds cornstarch to theirs. The second reason is that Gerber was just swallowed up by Nestle. I am sick to death of these huge conglomerates swallowing up everyone, and in my opinion losing quality control at the same time.
OK...I hope this is of some help to someone.

[garypen]

Followup on Evangers:

They ate the Turkey dinner the first time. But, will not eat it now. As I mentioned above, they won't eat the Chicken either, plus it made them throw up.

So, if they won't eat the turkey or chicken varieties, then Evangers is a no go in my house.

[karatemom2]

Evanger's Classic Chicken canned cat food and Organic Braised Chicken canned cat food continue to be well accepted and well tolerated by my 2 year old cat and by my very aged senior cat (19 years) until she finally succumbed to old age and other ailments unrelated to the food recalls  .  No tummy upsets and no changes in their bowel habits despite a total change in their diet.  And my older cat had a very sensitive stomach.  I have found the food to be darker in color, but not nasty looking (ie. black sauce) as described by some other posters.  Personally, I've actually found lamb pet food made by some other pet food companies to have an offensive odor that  I didn't care for.   Thus far, Evanger's is a keeper in this household unless our experience changes.

[reddancer]

My kitties love the organic turkey and the whole mackerel. They liked the pheasant too but I believe it has some kind of grain in it so I didn't buy it again. Does anyone know how to find out where they get their ingredients from? I want to avoid ingredients from China but it's so hard to tell. Even if they say all ingredients are from the US, that is not always the case, ie: Natural balance.

[Cindy Nevarez]

A month ago when I first ordered from Evangers right after the first recall, I actually called them up (the number and name is posted in the old blog I think on page 1), and she (I forgot her name) personally picked up. I talked to her a long time and felt confident that she was being truthful with me at the time about where they get ingredients, and process the food, especially when I realized that the company was started in 1935 by someone who was breeding/showing dogs and was dissatisfied (already!) with the pet food available at the time.
I have been very satisfied with the quality of the food in spite of the fact that all my cats don't like all the ones I bought. And also that the pheasant formula has stuff in it that cats shouldn't eat I found out later, however, my box turtle loves it, so now those cans "belong" to him.
I did buy more of the mackerel the other day from them as all 3 cats love that one.