Found hard black pieces in CN Dry cat food

[himimom1254]

Davis,

I have no choice but to go back to Wellness dry.  I've used it in the past and it caused loose stools, but there really aren't many "good" choices left.  I have to wait until Friday because my local pet food place is out of it.  They can't keep it on the shelves.  I also spoke to customer service at OMH and they will send me samples as well, but it will take a few days for them to arrive.

Has anyone bought any bags with later expiration dates?  I saw today the ones on the shelves are 7/08 exp dates.

Carol

[garypen]

I'm so worried because Andy does not do well on Wellness (loose stools), but I don't feel there are many other good choices left.

Have you tried all of their formulas? Maybe only the one(s) you tried cause loose stools. They have two flavors of Complete Health, plus one flavor each of Indoor Health, Healthy Weight, and Core. (plus Kitten Health, which I assume doesn't apply.)

A lot of people RAVE about Kumpi. Personally, I find its ingredient list to be too grainy. I feel the same way about Wysong, another highly rated holistic food. But, people rave about them, so I would consider them, if I discover a problem with Wellness.

But, CalNat, and all Natura brands are now off my list. (Well, they've been moved to a different list, my sh** list.)

[garypen]

We believe my cat is allergic to Seafood. Also from the samples I tested during the recall, he doesn't seem to do well on Cranberries, alfalfa, herbs, etc that are in most premium cat foods.

I'm very open to suggestions. I wish to stay on dry foods, at least for the moment as they've still had far less deaths then canned. My sister is using Wellness for her cat, but I believe all their dry flavors have seafood.

Why not borrow a cup from your sister, or check your local Wellness retailer to see if they sell the small sample bags, and try them with your cats? Then, you can see how they tolerate it.

Yes, all of their dry cat foods contain cranberries, and some form of fish meal. But, perhaps your cats were allergic or intolerant of some other food, or only a certain type of fish.

[himimom1254]

I checked my pet food store for samples of Wellness today and they were out so I called the company and they are sending them out this week. 

I used Wellness Super 5 mix, which was a long time ago, so maybe now the formula will be different.  The only thing I can do is try it out and see how he does on it.

[eternaljester81]

himimom,
Wellness has changed all their cat forumals recently, which I'm sure you know. Do you know what type they are sending you a sample of?

[garypen]

I just called Wellness, and asked them to send me samples of Indoor Health, Healthy Weight, and Core. I hope my little one likes one of them, as she hasn't taken to the Complete Health formula.

[eternaljester81]

Garypen,
Indoor Health is what we use. Just a forewarning, the Indoor Health looks different then the others. It's a lighter color (sorta khaki), and some peices will have dark brown splotches (some more than others). I've spoken to others who use this and have said theirs is the same way, and I spoke to someone from Wellness who told me that is the way it normally looks. I just know that several people (myself included), were a bit alarmed when first seeing this.

[garypen]

Oh great. Black specs in the food. That's what got me to switch to Wellness in the first place! 

[himimom1254]

Eternaljester,

I called the company and requested the types of samples I wanted and they were happy to take my request.  I requested the deboned chicken and Core types to try.

Carol

[eternaljester81]

Garypen,
No, no not at all. They aren't "black specs". It's hard to explain, but you'll see when you get the food. The Indoor Health simply isn't uniform in color. But all the bags I've used have looked the same. I was just telling you so you wouldn't be surprised by the appearance.

[lacy]

I asked about the color variation in the Indoor Health on Itchmo. Its not specs, its more like swirls of dark in with the light. Kinda like a marble cake. So I feel comfortable using it and they like it. I am one of the ones who also found black specs in my CN dated May 18,2008. I was scared to feed it so I switched to Wellness. They were also eating Kumpikat so they are still on that too. I know its kinda grainy, but my cats do very well on it. Its their favorite food. I have to watch them though, they love it so much that they will overeat it.

[Geff]

Just spent a bit more time on the Itchmo forum. Here is a link to excerpts from a book that claims that dead cats & dogs are used in pet foods.
http://204.50.24.183/render.htm

This is hard to read without getting really sick to my stomach, but............................

I have read lots of articles on this type of thing.  It's just horrifying.  The whole rendering process turns my stomach, even if it's just chickens.  I feel uneasy about the process in general, and the questionable methods and standards that are being used.  I think what we want to watch out for the most is foods that list "meat-by-products" in the ingredients.  Those are most likely to contain a rendered soup of who knows what.  Can you point us to the thread that you found that link on Geff? 

Davis, I'm sorry, I no longer remember. I found it while exploring Natura elated topics on itchmo. 

[Geff]

I just opened a new bag before I left on vacation for my cat sitter to feed and now today after 10 days I return and find some of the pieces have hard "black" stuff sticking out of some of the kibble.    Some of the particles are big enough for me to pull out with my fingernails.

I'm freaking out and just called Natura.  They told me it was flax seed and I said no the pieces are rough and jagged, not smooth like flax seeds.  She then said perhaps it's the vitamin premix.  She is sending me a form to submit 2 cups of kibble to be tested.

Has anyone else found anything like this in the CN Chicken and Brown Rice dry cat food?

Carol in IL

Carol, I thank you for this post. It was the first I heard about problems with their cat food. I didn't realize this until this week, but as our forum has slowed way down, Itchmo's has gotten huge. As I usually don't read the Dog food posts, I thank all who've brought this to our attention.

I partially agree with Davis that it's still worth being cautious on this, but based on what I've had time to read on Itchmo, this does feel like another corporate cover up.

My GUESS is that Natura's sales soared due to the recall & they expanded too fast due to the demand. My GUESS is that they added new suppliers & lowered quality control; sadly the opposite of why many of us switched to them! My GUESS is that the Tylenol is probably from Chinese vitamin mix or Chinese Rice mix & the hair is from rendered pets.

[Geff]

Davis,

I have no choice but to go back to Wellness dry.  I've used it in the past and it caused loose stools, but there really aren't many "good" choices left.  I have to wait until Friday because my local pet food place is out of it.  They can't keep it on the shelves.  I also spoke to customer service at OMH and they will send me samples as well, but it will take a few days for them to arrive.

Has anyone bought any bags with later expiration dates?  I saw today the ones on the shelves are 7/08 exp dates.

Carol

My vet suggests stage 2 Gerber Baby Food for emergencies. Stay away from Stage 3 though; it has Garlic. I did use the Gerber off & on until we settled on the Cal Nat.

[Geff]

We believe my cat is allergic to Seafood. Also from the samples I tested during the recall, he doesn't seem to do well on Cranberries, alfalfa, herbs, etc that are in most premium cat foods.

I'm very open to suggestions. I wish to stay on dry foods, at least for the moment as they've still had far less deaths then canned. My sister is using Wellness for her cat, but I believe all their dry flavors have seafood.

Why not borrow a cup from your sister, or check your local Wellness retailer to see if they sell the small sample bags, and try them with your cats? Then, you can see how they tolerate it.

Yes, all of their dry cat foods contain cranberries, and some form of fish meal. But, perhaps your cats were allergic or intolerant of some other food, or only a certain type of fish.

Hi Gary - Thanks, but during the recall I tried enough food & saw enough reactions that I'm pretty certain on the allergies.

One of the things I find ironic is that my vet told me back in April the reason to feed pet food rather then human food is they need the vitamin mix, which now is starting to appear contaminated & China sourced.......