Chicken & brown rice dry cat food

[Mary K]

But don't forget, if there are further contaminants yet unknown, they may not be in the batch that one of us tries.. thereby giving false security to someone else who tries it that may get a bad batch   

[Geff]

But don't forget, if there are further contaminants yet unknown, they may not be in the batch that one of us tries.. thereby giving false security to someone else who tries it that may get a bad batch   

Agreed. That's why I've been specifying pull dates in my Cal Nat posts. That's also why I chose to get a bag with a pull date older then (though I would have prefered the same as) the pull date on the samples we had success with.

[2cats2dogs]

I thought the ingredients looked good and I like the fact that all the food is from the U.S.-- I no longer trust anything from China-- I'm glad that this company is going to open up its own canning factory and sever ties with menu foods.  My cats both recently made the switch and seem to be doing fine.  They both appear to like it.  Fingers crossed.....

[catmom5]

Several of the cats wouldn't eat the Cal Nat (2/9/08) mixed with the NutriSource so back the NutriSource goes to the pet food store!  Only one has vomited again, and that's not unheard of with her.  May watch her today and take her tonight if she gets sick again or doesn't seem herself.  They have not been drinking a lot of water, either, for which I am grateful.  The other two seem fine today.  I am wondering if they are reacting to my being so upset, too . . .

[Geff]

I can relate. I felt crazy for over 2 weeks until it became apparant that Sylvester was thriving on the Cal Nat.

Before this, every food I tried with him had some problem or another.

[garypen]

I hear ya. Yesterday, I found a quarter-sized puddle of relatively clear cat vomit. At first, I started worrying about the CalNat dry, then the Merrick wet. But, I calmed down, and realized I have TWO cats. If there was poison in the food, they'd BOTH be vomiting, drinking copiously, lethargic, etc. But, they are playful, rarely vomit (except when experimenting with new foods), drink about the same as always.

Of course, I keep a close eye on them. But, I think it's also important to keep a clear and rational head at this important and stressful time, and not to panic at every little thing. That doesn't mean we should ignore the danger signs, or not care about our pets. It just means to use a little logic and objectivity.

[Geff]

I spoke with Cal Nat today on the storage issue. They said that no matter how one stores the food, they reccomend tossing it 3 months after opening. The did say Refrigeration would keep it a little fresher. I also asked if their would be any concern about storing it in a plastic container. She said that would be ok, but that still worries me (it appears to be components of plastic that caused the whole recall). I'm going to keep looking for large metal cannisters for a couple more days.

[garypen]

I think plastic storage has been considered safe for many years. And, remember, there are issues with metals leeching into food, as well. If you are concerned about the storage medium, glass is generally considered safest.

[Geff]

I continue to be pleased with Chicken & Rice dry. My cat is going to be 11 in July. I'd been noticing the last few months that he was starting to look old. It got worse when we went through the food merry go round when the recall started.

That's reversed on the Cal Nat. Last night I didn't get much sleep because he felt the need to run very fast laps around the house for quite awhile. He also just looks more alert & less out of it.

[catmom5]

Things have settled down here ~ no more vomiting and everyone is acting "normal" so we're staying with the Cal Natural.  The other one I liked, NutriSource, turned out to be high phosphorus!  I really would like to get them eating some wet food, too, but they aren't crazy about any of the good brands.  I'm going to keep trying!

[garypen]

Which wet brands did you try again?

[Javas Mom]

We have three cats who have had Cal. Nat. in their rotation for a couple years and happily can say that it's the only one we are still comfortable feeding them these days. We even have one cat with IBD and haven't had so much as a hairball from anyone in over three weeks--knock on wood. We've started offering Serengeti and Fromm's dry because they all like a variety, but Cal. Nat. is still the favorite.  I pray it doesn't let us down...

[catmom5]

They prefer the Fancy Feast, would only eat grilled, but that's not an option for them anymore.  Even cooked an organic chicken breast and only one would eat that.  Will be picking up some kind of Natura canned to see if they will be tempted.  If anyone else has had success with cans, I'd love to hear about it.

[garypen]

FYI - Natura's canned products are still made by Menu right now. They do buy the ingredients themselves, and have a tech on the Menu site. But, it is still made by Menu, if that means anything to you. (It does to me.)

[rchow]

Thanks Geff from tunning me onto Cal Natural.  The food seems very food compare with others.  The only concern I have is that my older cat had some blood work done last month (both cat had a can of recalled food a month ago but turned out ok).  The vet said the result shows that his kidney has some "wear and tear" and he has high chorlestrol.  He suggested that I keep him on senior food or a low protein diet.  I am trying to determine if Cal Natural can be used for a 13 1/2 year old cat with this condition.  I started only considering senior food - but have expanded this to other food that maybe ok too.  Any thoughts on this?