Flint River Ranch

[Geff]

"I'd never heard of this brand before reading this thread. 2 of their 3 cat foods look like they might meet my Kittie's needs. "

Geff,
If you go to Therese's THE PET FOOD LIST and check out the "foods and manufacturers" link you will find Flint River and so many other foods that have had ZERO problems EVER.  Flint River has been there since early spring. People who keep switching from food to food to food are not doing enough homework and are not helping their pets digestive systems either

Sylvia, since I found Natura Cal Nat in late April I have not switched to anything else. I'm using old stock that was manufactured last year. I don't trust the food Natura is currently making, so I'm doing research to figure out what we're going to switch to. At some point soon before the 2006 Cal Nat runs out I will be trying foods to see what my sensitive guy will tolerate. My cat has allergy issues, which seem to eliminate most of the safe foods. And for that matter, we hear of new problems almost daily with foods we THOUGHT were safe.  Canidae/Felidae has issues at the moment as an example. Therese posted on the main pfl: "The list is intended as a starting point for your own research - it is a list we are compiling of pet foods deemed safe by the pet food companies themselves".

[sylvia]

Hi Geff,
I have read what Therese has said about the various foods on her list. I have also spent a great deal of time researching many of those foods and have found some that have NEVER had a problem in the past. I really have little interest in what the pet food companies say about their own safety and am not naive. I would never buy from a company that keeps "proprietary secrets" or refuse to deal with a company because I don't like a philosophical answer on a website. One thing I have noted is the best foods are from smaller companies with one, maybe two brands and admittedly they are more expensive. Flint River is just one of those companies. There have been a lot of questions re: Natura products on other forums. The only time I tried one, Innova Evo, my dogs had digestive problems. It is not a company I want to deal with now. I know some members of this forum have had to switch foods several times. I am sad for their animals. I have had no such problems with the foods I use and don't expect to. Perhaps your kitty has had problems related to the foods in general and not the specific ingredients. I see a lot of analyzing of foods here by pet people who may not have the expertise they think they do. Diane listed a site Defendourpets.org where they have data ranking from best to worst ingredients in pet foods. It is very interesting to match the list to some of the pet foods. I am happy to see the ones I use really do have the highest quality ingredients. Perhaps it would be helpful to you.
Finally Robinplan was nice enough to offer a free sample of Flint River and so I took her up on it. She got right back to me and is sending out a sample of the "Fish & Chips" for dogs.  This is one of the foods I felt from way back would be an excellent one to try.
I taught school for many, many years and my natural instinct is to try and help. I will not claim percentages of this or that are best for animals as I have no background in animal nutrition, nor will I decide what is best to put in or leave out of pet foods because I read  something on a website somewhere.  However I take a lot of time and do a lot of reading from a lot of sources. I also use common sense.  So far its worked for me. Perhaps the help I try to offer is not always wanted. That's okay too. Good luck on your search for kitty's food. Hope you eventually do find one.
Sylvia
PS: I stand behind my statement that Therese has laid out the best site I have found for evaluating pet foods. I use it regularly and constantly recommend it to others.

[Geff]

I agree that this is an excellent site. I was not criticizing it any way.

[moxie]

I had been using Flint River dog food for my dog but did not like the fact that the second ingredient was Whole Wheat Flour. I thought the first four or five ingredients were the most important.

This was the reason that I changed his food

Did anyone else have this concern

[sheltiemom]

Moxie,
Yes, I did too. I don't care for the wheat, either. But they do make a Lamb, Millet, & Rice formula. Wheat-free.

[petfoodadviser]

I sell and feed FRR and another food, but I use the Trout & Sweet Potato biscuits that my poodles love.  I have tried other biscuits but they love these so much.