Chicken & brown rice dry cat food

[Geff]

Pull date & expiry date are the same thing. You're probably & Hopefully right, all Cal Nat bags are PROBABLY good. If I didn't think so, I wouldn't be feeding it.

I am being paranoid/extra careful. The samples I've been feeding are pull dated 11/22/07 & I've seen no bad reaction from my cat. My preference was to get a bag from the same date, but my retailer only had 1 bag with a pull older then December 07, so I grabbed it. The owner of the pet store I shopped at BELIEVED that the pull dates were 1 year after manufacture. That may or may not be correct.

Up until about an hour ago, it appeared that nothing had turned up bad before December 2006. They're now reporting that the US wholesaler who's name escapes me at the moment (starts with a "W") started importing Glutens from the bad China distributor in 6/06, so that may blow a few theories out of the water.......

[lacy]

Catmom,

Are you still feeding this food? How our your kitties doing on it? Thanks!

[catmom5]

We're still with the Cal Nat.  They all seem to like it really well, eating it enthusiastically.  Gracie, the barfer, had another round of vomiting but it definitely was food and had a bit of fur in it.  She is a long haired tuxedo and that's probably part of it.  Poor girl sees me coming and dives under the couch, I've been fussing with her so much.

I am going to have to trust Natura that they are being honest with us!

[Geff]

So far so good here also. Sylvester usually throws up 2-5 times weekly from eating too fast & allergys. That's now started with Cal Nat, but It's to be expected with him. It looks like his normal throwing up. I just started the new bag today, again so far so good.

[Davis]

I bought a 16 pound bag today, I would have prefered smaller, but it was the only bag left with a pull date earlier then/the same as the samples I've been feeding. It's going to take awhile for him to to eat all that up, but that may be a good thing. I was using RC before all this, & I agree this is quite a bit cheaper.

Geff, if you haven't already, I would suggestion transferring that 16 lb. bag into gallon size ziplocks and putting it in the fridge.  It might take up a lot of space in there, but this is always a good idea when you buy a larger supply of the natural foods.  Since they don't have chemical preservatives and only natural ones (thank goodness) they can go rancid faster.  The fridge will help to keep the food fresh.  I have always done this when I buy a large bag.  Rancidity can make the pets sick too.

I finally left that post about Diamond food that I was promising in the Diamond forum.  I think all of you will find it very interesting.

[Geff]

Davis, thanks that's a good idea. The pet store told me it should be good for 3 months after I open it, but better safe............

I'm also thinking of buying a really big cannister. R.C. gave out 3 pound cannisters a couple years back, but this is a bit bigger.....!

I'm off to check out your Diamond Post.

[garypen]

Geff - I use a nice plastic canister with a locking lid I purchased from a storage store. I think it was called "Storables" or something. They had a wide selection of stuff like that. It comfortably holds 8lbs of CalNat with room to spare. So, you would need two. Or, get some smaller ones to keep some in the fridge.

Those kind of stores are popular in California due to the small, expensive housing. They probably have similar stores in most cities where storage space is at a premium. Actually, Target and the like probably have crap like that too. I won't shop at Wal-Mart, though.

[catmom5]

Just spent the afternoon at two different pet food stores after 3 of my 5 started vomiting with Cal Nat.  It isn't necessarily the food, but I'm not taking any chances.  I bought NutriSource, recommended by WholeDog, out of Minnesota. It looks good and sounds safe . . .  I am ready to have a stroke if this doesn't end very soon.  Hopefully this will settle better with their tummies.  One of the barfers vomited frothy stuff but seems okay today.  They all may be going to the vet for blood work and urinalysis!  My whole life is pet food right now and it's making me crazy!!!!!!!

[lacy]

Oh no!! Im so sorry. I am scared now too. I keep wondering my cats wont eat much of it. If you get bloodwork, let me now how it turns out! I have no idea what to switch to now.

[Geff]

My cat is still doing fine with Cal Nat Chicken  & Rice Dry food pull dated/expiry 11/22/07 & 10/20/07.

[lacy]

My cats seem to be doing fine on it too. Im just really stressing over this whole thing like everyone else. I guess it also worries me that they dont like it..I keep thinking "does that mean there is something wrong with it???" One wont even eat it, so I have to keep a bowl of Felidae next to the California Natural, and he doesnt even like THAT very much. The other two will eat the California, but they dont eat very much of it. I am going to try not to worry(yeah right), but Catmom PLEASE keep us updated!

[lacy]

Oh and my expiration date is Feb 08.

[catmom5]

It might not be the food at all, but I'm just not willing to take any chances.  They seem to like the NutriSource so we'll see what happens.  Will definitely keep you posted.  Just hope the NutriSource isn't high phosphorus since that's not good for my ARF girl.  Crossed fingers, please.

[garypen]

Catmom - Please let us know how the tests turn out. I think a lot of people have started using CalNat dry due their theoretically healthier product. If they're screwed up too, you'd be helping a lot of people and their pets by letting us know.

[Geff]

My cats seem to be doing fine on it too. Im just really stressing over this whole thing like everyone else. I guess it also worries me that they dont like it..I keep thinking "does that mean there is something wrong with it???" One wont even eat it, so I have to keep a bowl of Felidae next to the California Natural, and he doesnt even like THAT very much. The other two will eat the California, but they dont eat very much of it. I am going to try not to worry(yeah right), but Catmom PLEASE keep us updated!

I don't know if it's a difference between cats or between different batches of the same food, but my cat loves the Cal Nat; other then Gerber it's the only one we've tried that he's been pleased with the taste long term.