Does anyone have any feedback on Innova EVO dry cat foods?

[MissLori]

I got a sample, and am wondering what everyone thinks of them.

[garypen]

It's probably the dry food brand that's closest to a cat's natural high meat diet. But, be careful, as it's pretty high in calories. Something like 550 per cup, if I'm not mistaken, compared to 400-450 for most dry adult formulas, and 300 for light formulas.

[ashgate]

on their website it states that: Natura’s canned foods are made exclusively in a Menu Foods South Dakota plant

http://www.naturapet.com/about-natura/news.asp?id=16

I am shocked that they would have any of their foods made in that type of company...

I just bought the Dry Innova EVO Cat, Dog, & Ferret food today and fed them it and now i am worried...

[garypen]

Natura makes the dry foods for all of their brands themselves. They are also planning to open their own cannery. I use one of their dry foods myself. But, until they open that cannery, and stop using Menu, I won't buy any of their canned foods.

I'm not so much worried about safety, as they purchase their own ingredients to provide to Menu, and they have a Natura empoyee on site at the plant (the only Menu plant not invloved in any recall). But, I don't want any of my money going to Menu. I'm sure there are many who do the same with many brands of pet food, as many holistic brands have their canned foods made by Menu, including Newman's Own, Wellness, Wysong, Pinnacle, Organix, Whole Foods, etc.

I suggest you check thepetfoodlist.com to see the list of brands not involved in the Menu recall but still have foods made by Menu Foods Income Fund. You'll see that almost all of the brands have their canned foods made by outside companies, along with many of the dry foods.

[Kaylas_Mom]

Hi...I feed Innova...have fed it for the last 3 years...My dogs look beautiful on it...shiny coats.. and once a day small poops...My cat no longer with me she was 22 years old...(nothing to do with the recall)..was fed California Natural..all my dogs are doing great...so I hope that has helped put some minds at ease

[inacircle]

I too was very surprised that a seemingly high-end/natural brand like Innova (Natura and others) used Menu Foods as a supplier.

--Garypen-- How do you know there's a Natura employee on site at Menu Foods?

I work for a major human food manufacturing company (that has it's own plants, and uses many co-packers), and it's not typical to have a full-time/on-site employee at a co-packer, nor do we necessarily dictate their specific ingredient suppliers.

thanks

[garypen]

I don't know that they have one. They say that they have one. I am hoping they are telling the truth.

But, Natural Balance basically said the same thing, and rice prtein powder was supposedly added to their formulas without their knowledge.

So, I do not fully trust anybody.

[Sharon L.]

But, be careful, as it's pretty high in calories. Something like 550 per cup, if I'm not mistaken, compared to 400-450 for most dry adult formulas, and 300 for light formulas.

Higher

Evo Dry comes in at 614 calories/cup. A calorie comparison of similar no grain dry feline food would be Orijen 540 calories/cup and Wellness Core 536 calories/cup.

Sharon L.

[mgt818]

I just started feeding my 'kids' Innova.  I was very worried about feeding them from a new bag... you know.  I was wondering though, if anyone has asked the company perhaps, if the feed fed to the chickens was safe.. or tainted?  Just something thats been on my mind.  I called the company but had to leave a message.  Also, I was wondering what is the origen of thier fish, herring I believe it is.

Oh, I just got off of the phone with them, they called me while I was typing this... 
They said that all of their meats are tested... and that their fish is wild comming from the atlantic... also, they don't use the Cereal byproduct company.  They said that they have started testing for melamine and did test on previous runs and all came back negative.  They tested months back.

[jenny]

One thing on the EVO cat dry food is I had read on one web page that it was very high in phosphorous - you may want to check this out. 

[Jay Jay]

Here's a list made by rchow in Solid Gold brand section:
http://thepetfoodlist.com/forums/index.php?topic=157.0

A few brands that I have found which has lower phosphorus (<.95%):
- California Natural Chicken and Rice Cat Dry (.79%)
- Fromm 4-star Salmon Cat Dry (0.80%)
- Fromm Senior Gold Cat Dry (0.80%)
- Innova Reduced Fat Cat Dry (.95%)
- Life Abundance Cat Dry (.80%)
- Wysong's Geriatrx Cat Dry (~.80% or so, but I haven't confirmed this with the company)

Innova products are in bold.

Jay Jay (I'm not JJ)

[jean s]

I just switched my cat to Innova dry, but not Evo: I was a little concerned about the 50% protein level, since she's been eating about 30%. On another forum it was mentioned that too abrupt a switch to such high protein could cause renal problems. It could be that people were feeding Evo dry and pure meat together. That would raise phosphorus pretty dramatically. The Innova I'm feeding is in an orangey package and is about 36% protein, but meat protein rather than the infamous RPC . My cat loves it.