Fromm?

[showshelties]

Has anyone used this brand/does anyone have anything positive or negative to say about it- I am considering trying it for my Sheltie that does better on a chicken-based diet (my others are happily thriving on another Holistic brand, but they do not make a chicken or poultry based diet.  )
The other food I was initially looking at was Timberwolf organics, but I decided against it, as the cost is completely absurd, and the company has not been forthcoming with information, which makes me uneasy.
Any feedback on Fromm appreciated!

I am now considering Timberwolf, as I have found more information and the cost isn't as high as I originally thought. The ingredient panel is a little better than Fromm- (fromm has white rice)  Any information on either of these brands/a comparison would be appreciated.

[Lisa C]

I used Fromm dry food for my dogs for about a year.  It's a little hard to find, so we'd switched to Wellness.  Because of the recall, I found out that Wellness uses menu.  So, we switched back to Fromm.  The dogs really like it.  I know that Fromm makes its own food in its own factory in Wisconsin.  I emailed the company, and they told me that all of the ingredients for its dry food are sourced locally.

If you're considering the canned food, I've never tried it.  But I can definitely say that we've only had good experiences with the dry food.  It always smells really fresh out of the bag.

[garypen]

Their canned food is made in China, though. Their entire thing is processed and canned there.

Personally, I would avoid their canned foods based on that fact alone. But, that's me.

[amy]

O.K., so here's the thing.  Fromm has had me in a confused state for weeks now.  I have been feeding my cat their canned foods, despite being produced in China.  I have e-mailed Bryan Neiman way too much, asking many questions about their products.  He made me comfortable with the manufacturing process over there that the company is using and has written me extensive e-mails.  Now, I am still uncomfortable with the fact that their meat and fish sources come from China (he was upfront to his credit about that).  They are human grade supposedly and the same meat and fish that the facility uses in their human food that they manufacture (someone mentioned Trader Joe's soups being made in the same place).  The thing is, that their list of ingredients is FAR shorter than any other canned cat food that I have used.  There are no ridiculous fruits and herbs, or grains, other than potato starch (so far that is safe), and they import pharmaceutical grade vitamins from the US.  I am telling you guys that the food looks fantastic, and has none of the crap that you can't identify in the other foods.  You could put it on some crackers and eat it I think (not that you want to).  STILL, I am not happy about it being made in China and the ingredients coming from there.  They are looking to come to the US when they can find a facility to make the products to their specs.  But, what do you do now?  All of the food produced here looks suspect right now, so if their food doesn't contain any grains or possible contaminents, and looks good, do you boycott it strictly because it comes from there?  Most of us are boycotting our own country's brands so.....I don't know.  He loves the food and I am definitely torn.  

[Cindy Nevarez]

Thank you all for the feedback on Fromm.
I had purchased 2 bags of their dry cat food, but have not opened it yet as I have still a little of my cats' old bag, which was not recalled, nor does it have the suspected ingredients in it (so far), but am now unwilling to purchase any more of that brand.
I have however, become increasingly worried to open these new bags as new info and recalls have been coming in about other premium-type brands. However, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place if it wasn't produced the way it is. To be honest, I thought both the bagged and canned were produced in this human-food Chinese plant. These posts have put my mind at ease as I see they are truly staying on top of their production quality control.

[Javas Mom]

Amy, I, too, gave Fromm's canned a try a couple weeks ago after two very prompt, reassuring emails from Bryan. He seemed very forthright, even though my trust is wearing very thin at this point. I liked the short list of ingredients that I actually understood, nothing in it that's made a headline yet, and the look of it is more like people food than cat food. I've never seen my cat dig into anything faster, and he's walked away from literally dozens and dozens of brands. Also, I would MUCH prefer it be made in Wisconsin as their dry food is and hope they can make good on their goal to bring their manufacturing to the U.S. ASAP. I'm sure they're very aware that being in China at this point in time is a marketing nightmare. It still comes down to the fact that the foods in our U.S. plants aren't being monitored well at all; at least Fromm's says that every time they produce their cans in China, Rich Marino, their biochemist, is there to supervise the operation. Obviously that's not being done enough in the U.S.  He's been eating it for 2 weeks; all is well, but I'll make sure and post here if any problems arise.

[amy]

Java's mom:

How do you feel about the meat sources coming from there (although he said their chicken primarily comes from the US)?  Are you concerned about contamination of their beef with antibiotics and so forth?  Just wondering, because that is my only real nagging concern.  Bryan said everything is checked very carefully, but I wonder how they really know what is in their beef?   I would e-mail him again abou the ingredients, but he may block me one of these days   I agree that it looks like good food, and they have been very forthcoming with info.  Will you continue with their canned?

[Javas Mom]

Amy, frankly I've AWAYS avoided any cat food with beef. Silly as it may sound, I've always been leery of Mad Cow disease. And I've noticed that very few brands even carry a beef flavor, so that means other people steer away as well, cats don't like it, or it's too expensive to produce. I only have 1 out of 3 cats that even go near canned food, but even HE won't eat the one can of Fromm's beef I did try, so he and I are very happy to stick with the chicken and tuna varieties. I sound like a vegetarian don't I? But my husband and I eat beef all the time; I guess we know who ranks tops in OUR family 

[LettuceLady]

Ack!  My cats eat the hard Salmon a la veg!  I just opened their bag yesturday!  I am in Canada and I have 7 cats.  Is it safe to continue to feed them this?   

[Javas Mom]

Although the favorite around here for our three cats is Cal. Natural, we do offer the Fromm's Duck as they like variety. We opened a new bag a couple of weeks ago and all have eaten from eat and are doing fine. Super-energetic as always!! I'm feeling comfortable with it. I have yet to open the Salmon to see if they like that flavor.

[rchow]

I have started to feed my cats Fromm's Salmon yesterday .  So far, they seem to like it.  I tried feeding them with Fedidae Platinum before I tried Fromm's.  My younger cat hardly wanted to eat it.  My older cat would eat it, but not thrilled.  So far, Fromm Salmon seems to be good. We will see.

[amy]

At this point, I am so frustrated with everything, that Fromm food is starting to look better, despite the China production.  At least they are manufacturing for sure in a human food plant and on their labels there is not evidence of ANY grain product, except potato starch.  Logan LOVES the shredded chicken dinner and it seems to agree with him.  Plus, their vitamins are sourced from the US.  I mean, what do you do with the state of things?  Their food appears to be a choice, even though it is not made here.

For you Fromm dry users, I do know that they manufacture their own dry.

Anyone else trying the canned now?

[Javas Mom]

Amy, we have one of our three cats who is a wet food eater. And a very picky one. As much as I hated it, the only thing he liked was 3 flavors of canned ProPlan, but with the wheat gluten thing, I stopped him cold turkey and doubled my efforts at finding something safer that he would eat. Many, many cans later, we tried Fromm's and he digs into it like he NEVER did with Purina. He loves all but the beef flavor.  I've had several letters back and forth with their company and have been impressed with their responses. He's been on it now for 3+ weeks and is the most active little mischief-maker of the three. And I think we're going on four weeks now without even having a hairball [knock on wood]. I know many people have responded about their fear of the China manufacturing plant, but I'm reasonably comfortable with Fromm's explanations, the food actually looks like FOOD, and it's reinforced by my cat's health. So unless I hear something concrete to the contrary via an Itchmo alert, it's Fromm's for us.

[Javas Mom]

I'd like to hear, too, from anyone else having success with the Fromm's canned...

[amy]

Javas mom,  I am with you right now.  I went out last night and stocked up on the wet chicken , tuna and tuna and chicken varieties.  It seems to be a good option for now.  Mind you, I did cave and buy some Wellness canned as well, after talking to a rep and feeling a bit better about their current production.  That was another food that seemed to keep Logan healthy and doing well.  I will continue with the Fromm, like you, until I see a need to switch.  I really wish that Bryan Neiman would publicize their stance a bit more, because I think people might feel more comfortable and give them options for food, considering how bad things are.

I would encourage people to at least try the shredded chicken and see how different it looks from other pet food.