Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: June 22, 2023 by Crystal Uys
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I’m passionate about species-appropriate nutrition for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, and they need meat not only to survive, but to thrive. The optimal diet for a cat is a properly formulated raw, home-cooked or grain-free canned diet. Cats shouldn’t eat dry food; even the grain-free dry varieties are too high in carbohydrates.
You can find many of the articles I’ve written about this topic in the Feline Nutrition section right here on this site. I also provide one-on-one consultations if you need help with transitioning your cat to a healthier diet.
What I look for in a food I feed and recommend
- Protein is listed as the first ingredient on the label, and the meat/poultry used is fit for human consumption. If the meat is organic, that’s even better.
- The food is grain-free (no rice, barley, or any other grains. Even though these are considered healthy in human nutrition, cats’ digestive tracts are not designed to digest the unnecessary carbs).
- The food does not contain by-products, corn, soy, or any other fillers.
I am often asked what brands I recommend, and you can find a small list of recommended brands in my post The Best Food For Your Cat: My Recommendations. The brands listed are foods I have thoroughly researched, and feed to Allegra and Ruby. One of the brands I recommend and like is Weruva.
Weruva recently sent us a very generous sampling of some of their products. Since I rarely accept food for review, the girls were super excited when I opened the box!
Why I like Weruva
The first thing I like about Weruva is that they don’t even make any dry food. I also like that you can actually recognize the ingredients in their canned formulas. I had asked for chicken and turkey flavors only – I limit fish to only an occasional special treat. Their chicken dinners look like the chicken fricassee my mother used to make!
According to the company, all of their formulas are produced in a human food facility using many of the ingredients and processes that are used in products made for people. Their base proteins of chicken, beef and fish include only top quality muscle meat, such as white breast chicken, whole tuna loins and select cuts of beef.
But as with any cat food, the true test is whether your cats will eat it. “Eating” may not be the right word to use in this context: Allegra and Ruby practically hoover up their Weruva meals. I alternate raw food with canned food, and of all the canned food I feed, Weruva is the paws down favorite, with Fowl Ball being a particular favorite at our house.
We got to test the new Cats in the Kitchen Pouches and Canned formulas, and they were all a big hit. I love that they have no vegetables at all in them, it’s all meat. Some of Weruva’s Cat Cuisine formulas do contain small amounts of vegetables and my girls usually just eat around them. These formulas are also slightly higher in carbs, so I prefer to use the all meat ones (and the girls are not complaining!).
We also received a can of their new freeze dried chicken treats, which proved to be a big hit as well.
Weruva addresses a few concerns I have about the diets
There are a few things I don’t like about Weruva, and I discussed my concerns with David Forman, one of the company’s owners.
Their diets are made in Thailand.
I generally prefer foods that are manufactured in the US. David Forman explained: “Our foods are produced in a facility in Thailand that also makes food for people around the world, including the US and the strict EU and Japan. Similar to our USDA, there is a branch in Thailand called the Department of Livestock Development (DLD). The chickens we source in Thailand are part of an Animal Welfare Standard that sets forth ethical treatment guidelines that helps protect livestock and cattle at the farm, during transport and at the time of processing. Thailand is the 3rd or 4th largest poultry producer in the world for human consumption with much of it exported…so there is heavy regulation by the Thai government to ensure the ethical treatment of animals as well as high processing standards. The diets of the chickens is non-GMO.”
The taurine, and a few of the minerals, are sourced in China.
I generally don’t recommend diets with any ingredients sourced in China, but I wanted to understand why Weruva made this choice, given how much I like everything else about their diets. David Forman: “Indeed, country of origin has become a very important issue. What we have always maintained is that it is less about the country of origin and more about the quality control from a particular company and what proactive steps a company takes when they learn there is an issue. Many people are focused on “US only” production and feel it is the safest, but the reality about that is that the US has experienced and continues to experience higher rates of recall than most countries, including those in China.” Given the recent slew of pet food recalls, most of them for dry food, this point is well taken.
David continued to explain: “As it pertains to taurine, it does come from China. The last statistic I heard was that 98% of the world’s supply of taurine comes from China. I believe Japan produces the next highest amount, but when looking into sourcing from there, as supply is extremely limited in comparison to demand, new customers more or less get on a waiting list as the existing customers get priority. As to the other minerals from China, we have had no reason to doubt the quality of the ingredients or the availability thereof. While we do understand the concerns about China, suffice to say, sometimes unpopular decisions are still healthy ones.”
The diets are lower in calories than many other canned diets.
This isn’t so much a concern, as it is something I want you to be aware of – you may have to feed larger amounts to make up for the lower calories, as compared to other brands. However, chances are, your kitties won’t be complaining about that!
For more information about Weruva and their products, please visit Weruva.com.
I received free products from Weruva. Receiving the complimentary products did not influence my review.
About the author
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
I foster medically fragile neonates for a local shelter and purchased Weruva kitten to offer the more finicky eaters. Mind you, one of the biggest battles in sick neonates is to control diarrhea and maintain hydration. 4 of the 12 cans in my variety pack were obviously spoiled – the color was dark, there was a greasy film on top that was an indescribable color and it reeked of rotten fish. I submitted a complaint where I purchased and while doing so, saw so many other complaints of spoiled food. It was truly appalling. The company has not responded to a single complaint so that goes to show how little they care about the quality of their product. Unbelievable.
i really am sure that carageean was the cause of my cats belly problems, A lot of money later and my own food research, Have her on wereva 5 weeks now and no vomiting, Carageean causes inflamation to both humans and animals if they have a sensitivy.
Hi Dorothy, could you share what the belly problems were? Thank you 🙂
My cat is 4 years old, had urinary problems a year ago so we switched him from dry food to strictly canned soulistic turkey and chicken only. He’s been doing great on this for past year until recently. Now he has chronic diarrhea, multiple times a day. Any recommendations?
I believe I replied to your Facebook message yesterday. If you haven’t already done so, get him checked out by your vet. You can try adding a probiotic to his food to see if that helps, but chronic diarrhea can be an indicator of a serious health problem and should not be taken lightly. As for probiotics, I recommend these two: http://amzn.to/YRaNcE and https://amzn.to/2Kj4Mat
Yes thank you, I wasn’t sure which site was best to message on. I took him to the vet today, 450.00 for xrays, blood work, fluids, and meds but Nothing showed up. Said it could be colitis so put him on an antibiotic. They tried to get me to switch his food to Science diet or Royal Canine even though he’s been on this soulistic for a year now and has done great. We previously tried Science diet a year ago when he was diagnosed with urinary problems but he was vomiting on it so switched to soulistic after reading your suggestions. They told me NOT to feed any grain free food because it can cause heart disease? I’ve never heard of that. I really don’t want to switch his food unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’ve ordered the digestive aid with probiotics you suggested and really hope it works.
There have been reports that supposedly link grain-free diets to an increase in DCM in dogs, and the FDA is currently investigating. We don’t really know enough yet to know whether there is a link, and most likely, if there is, the culprit is not the lack of grains, but something else. You may find this article enlightening: https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2019/08/05/nutritionally-related-dilated-cardiomyopathy-in-dogs.aspx Dr. Becker’s analysis makes more sense to me than anything else I’ve read, and while her article is about dogs, I suspect that the same will probably be true for cats as well. I do not agree with your vet’s advice to not feed grain-free food – I believe it’s premature, given how little we know about this issue.
Thanks so much for the information. I’ve been using Dr. Goodpets feline digestive enzymes with probiotics like you suggested but he still has chronic diarrhea about 7 times a day. The vet recommended switching food but II didn’t want to use the Science diet he suggested. I noticed your list includes the canned instinct. He claims both chicken and eggs can be a common allergen which the soulistic contains so was going to try him on the instinct turkey pate limited ingredient diet. Both the protein and fat content is higher though so wondering what you think?
Just an FYI. As with people, animals will have loose stools when using probiotics. I never add anything to my cats food. In fact, I do the opposite. Adding more will only exacerbate current symptoms. Adding less by excluding (like what is done with humans) will be an more ideal option. Probiotics are not as great as people think. What you are doing is introducing a new bacteria into your gut. This causes your body to react by increasing bowel movements. In essence, you are only pooping to rid the new bacteria. Its the same for animals. Only worse since they cant tell us how horrible they are feeling. Foods with less water content will also help dry up stools.
I agree with Ingrid. I’ll link some other articles from experts below, which I think explain the issue more fairly and objectively. Anyway, in the first place, why would the FDA release such an inconclusive study’s findings and still implicate certain grain-free brands? It’s counterintuitive. I’d like to think this flaw should be enough to raise people’s eyebrows. Yet most of what I see lately on this over-a-month-long issue are simple links of the dated FDA report and initial articles written mainstream media. In other words, people are only seeing the list! Few are even reading the details of the study, and this just contributes to the panic. Again, the FDA HAS NOT LINKED DCM WITH GRAIN-FREE PET FOOD. Let’s not be too quick to ride the bandwagon against grain-free, everyone. I hope the posts below help clarify things.
https://thrivingmutts.com/dcm-and-grain-free-dog-food/?fbclid=IwAR3nagD-Hjh_DG4OZTTG5F1Hmnq-NdQcXYiFP_Uftzz7wtQYNaSaTPwXrl8
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-news/fda-investigating-potential-link-between-diet-and-heart-disease-in-dogs/?fbclid=IwAR2y6nzHHazgvmHitbYBW_KSj7wF27eSpmGAttF7CAk2rIe8VS8mwX2h4MA
I have found that Weruva sneaks tuna into most of their wet food. The front label lists some ingredients, leading you to think it is, for example” “chicken and pumpkin” but when you read the fine print on the back, it contains TUNA. In fact, most if not all of their pate food contains tuna. And my cats don’t like the stew type foods, that do not contain tuna, but do contain carbs like peas and carrots.
well the main problem with that is my cat refusing to eat any sort of turkey.
dry wet or treat
Have been using Wellness canned cat food (chicken or turkey) as they no longer have carrageenan in their product. Seems to be a decent food plus can get a large 15oz can. I do use Rawz kibble as treats
Just received an order from Chewy of the Chicken in Gravy.
The ingredients are different.
The first ingredient used to be chicken but now it is gravy.
So the majority is no longer chicken.
The second ingredient used to be “water sufficient for processing”.
I’m not sure what to make of this.
The analysis (protein, etc.) seems to be the same.
I will see what the cats think of it.
I saw the same thing and wrote to the company and heard back from David Forman, one of the owners. He told me they decided to remove the carrageenan, which is the ingredient that firms the gelatin. I complained that the three flavors I use that used to look like pieces of fish now looked like paste. He said the carrageenan kept the pieces in place and that without it, the fish fell apart. A little hard to believe, but that’s what he said. BTW, while carrageenan IS an additive, it’s made from red seaweed, is used to make things creamier (as in ice cream), and it’s pefectly healthy. Anyway, the new foods are as well received as the old by my two cats, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.
Dave replied to me also. The food is still well received. It looks the same (chicken shreds). One would think there is some level of cost savings but the cats seem happy and healthy so I’ll be buying what I buy. Thanks for the reply.
Carrageenan has been found to be a cancer-causing agent for cat foods. We have spent many, many hours doing research, and Weruva (and one company out of Australia) were the only brands without this thickening agent.
There are numerous other brands that no longer use carrageenan in their formulas. Most of the brands on my recommended list don’t: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Hi there,
This article has been very helpful. I have recently gotten into feeding my cats wet food. They had been on dry their whole life. i just can’t seem to find a food I like, Weruva is definitely the closest. (Though I am “new” to cat food, just starting my research journey) One of my cats has seizures and is on meds, which would be great if he could get off of. I am trying to find food that doesn’t have any gluten, starch, or wheat, which is not easy! Any suggestions would be great! Has anyone had experience with seizures in cats? (He has had the seizures most of his life and it is managed with a veterinarian so I know it isn’t indicative of a different disease or problem)
You can find all the brands I recommend here: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
My big cat Levi has been on this brand for about three or four months. I do notice he drinks less water, but I know that the formulas are very hydrating. He has lost some weight. I am a little concerned and I have an appointment with the vet, But wonder what you would recommend as a supplement. Maybe treats? And you mentioned you also serve him raw foods. Can you give any reconditions on this or provide a link to info on preparing raw foods for your cat, please? Thanks so much.
Hi Jacqui,
Your cat could be losing weight for a number of reasons, and definitely needs a veterinary checkup. Unfortunately, until you know what’s causing the weight loss, supplements or the introduction of a new diet isn’t advised, as they may have adverse effects.
Remember that suddenly introducing new foods to your cat’s diet can cause gastrointestinal upset, and you would definitely not want to risk it prior to your vet visit as it may make things worse. In addition, some supplements cannot be used on cats that are under medication, therefore their purchase at this time isn’t advised.
Your vet will perform a thorough examination on your cat, run appropriate diagnostics, and help you ascertain the cause of the weight loss. Depending on the underlying cause, your vet will be able to prescribe any appropriate supplements, as required. Wishing Levi a prompt recovery!
Hi, I would recommend Feline Natural (New Zealand), chewy.com. Very healthy.
I’ve been feeding several varieties of Nulo. Low carbs, high protein from animals and very tasty (according to my cats).
Also no carrageenan.
I haven’t fed Weruva in a while; last flavor out of rotation was Lambur-gini or whatever it’s called.
Regarding seizures, I also have an epileptic cat, and after a combo of meds from our homeopath we are down to one. Seizures that do occasionally occur are much less severe than before we switched vets and there is less disorientation after.
She is also on a low-carb diet (*not* prescription).
CBD OIL is used for Human children that have seizures. I use Paws brand CBD OIL for my cat.He doesn’t have seizures but it helps with inflammation & when he doesn’t want to eat also pain. Mt cat has Diabetes. I would think if it helps kids it might help your cat?
I give my cat CW PAWS CBD OIL .The company that makes it is very reputable.My veterinarian told me it’s one of the top bands that Cornell University recommends. My cat Ravan has diabetes & kidney disease & sometimes goes off his food. The CBD oil stimulates his appetite & within a few hours he’s eating. He had a seizure a few months ago & I know Charlotte’s WEB (CW) CBD oil is given to children who have seizures & it helps them. I now give my cat several drops in baby food every day I’m hoping it will prevent any more seizures.
I just started introducing Weruva food to my 10 year old cat. the first one is the love me tender- chicken and Duck. I purposely am staying away from fish. Yet tuna is listed as the second ingredient which i didn’t realize until he devoured a bag and a half. I’m disappointed in their labeling. Am I doing him harm by getting him used to the fish? He has been on adult instinctive loaf and slices for years but I am trying to switch him to grain free.
I would feed the fish-free formulas, Janice. Fish as an occasional treat is fine, but I don’t recommend it as part of a cat’s regular diet.
Why am I seeing so many people staying away from fish? I try to feed my cats nothing but fish products. Please enlighten me!!
Here’s more information, Dawn: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/18/does-your-cat-love-fish/
I have 5 cats and my vet recommended staying away from fish completely. Same with beef. She actually said to just stick with things that fly (chicken, turkey, duck etc). As for fish she said the high levels of mercury found in fish these days was why she suggested avoiding it. It was recently discovered that my one cat has a fish allergy too so I had to transition everyone to a fish free diet which has been hard since fish or fish oil or salmon oil is found in so many brands/flavours. 🙁
Hi Dawn,
Too much fish for a cats diet can lead to hyperthyroidism from the Iodine. I had a cat that suffered from it. That’s why from now on I feed my cats only poultry or beef and once in a while fish as a treat.
What if you have a cat allergic to chicken? We have tried rabbit, liver, etc and he won’t eat it. suggestions?
There are plenty of other proteins you can try (although they may not be available in Weruva’s formulas): lamb, venison, and duck are just a few examples.
I have the same problem and settled on Weruva’s Cats in the Kitchen Lambergini and Isla Bonita. It’s really hard to find canned food without poultry of some kind in it. To mix it up I’m going to try Nature’s Logic rabbit.
I would highly recommend a Feline Natural brand (New Zealand). That’s the only food my cat Tulip can eat without having a diarrhea and vomiting. Very healthy food, no grains, gluten and chemicals. Only wet and freeze dry food.
Thanks to everybody for the comments, if anybody knows how to stop a diarrhea in cats, please let me know. I feed Tulip only a wet food, tiki cat puka puka chicken, but sometimes she doesn’t want to eat the same one and I give her something different, like tiki cat chicken and quail, applaws chicken or freedom grain free chicken pate. Also she is getting a probiotics, but she still having a diarrhea twice a week.
Look very closely at the ingredients.
Tiki cat has many flavors that have Carrageenan or Xantham Gum. These are 2 ingredients that definitely cause my cat to have diarrhea.
Same with Blue Buffalo Freedom. This definitely has carrageenan in it.
The diarrhea in the morning is from something she ate the night before. Start a log and keep track. Tulip is giving you the answer, you just need to read it! 😉
Right now my diarrhea cat (Stardust) only eats Nulo (the ones offered through Petsmart, as the others are different formulas). Sometimes she will eat Instinct Healthy Cravings.
She also upsets with egg or egg product, so watch out for those.
Hope this helps. Also (Ingrid, hope this is ok) you may want to try the Assisi Loop! I’m getting one for my Stardust soon (next week it should arrive). Diarrhea mostly occurs because of inflammation. The Assisi Loop reduces inflammation. But better approach is to find the root cause of the inflammation, which is in the food, and eliminate that.
Thank you very much, Ingrid. I will definitely try that.
Mountainkiddo….good for you for discussing carrageenan. This is also in toothpaste, the non-meat products such as Yves, and many other things we ‘put in our mouths’ that we don’t think of looking at the ingredients.
Check out raw food or homemade food, plus Life Gold supplement products for cats. Very good reviews.
I also read that diarrhea is a symptom of constipation – yes.
My little girl has just been diagnosed with lung cancer, so I’m reading all the cat sites.
Cheers and peace to you and your kitties.
I’m assuming you’ve taken her to your vet? Chronic diarrhea can be an indicator of a serious health problem and if your vet can’t determine the cause, you may want to ask for a referral to a specialist.
Hello! I adopted 7 years old cat and I don’t know much about her, she declawed (all 4 paws, what a cruelty), I have her about 6 month and a problems started almost 2 weeks after we got her. She is a longhair, one day she stopped eating and vomiting several times. So we took her to the 3 different vets, did blood, urine, thyroid tests, x-ray etc. Nothing. So we went to ER and they did an ultrasound, she had a blockage. We did a surgery and it
was some inflammation in a lymph node, so the biopsy test result came back with possible lymphoma. I refused to do a chemo, I want her to live comfortable life, even if its a month or two (my previous cat died from cancer), so I know what I’m talking about. Here is the situation now. She is fine, except one thing – the food. We tried several kinds of food (wet, dry, holistic, prescription, etc). The problem is, first, she is very picky, and even if she eats, in a week or two she’s having a diarrhea or vomiting, sometimes both. She is very skinny, 7lb. I don’t know what to do. The vets don’t help at all – just try this, try that and I want to do the right thing. She is the sweetest cat I ever seen in my life. She stole my heart and I don’t know how to help her. I’m not a doctor, but I think if she had a lymphoma, she would not live 6 month without treatment. I’m so nervous typing this and I just noticed I did not mentioned her name Tulip. She is my sweet flower girl. Please, somebody help.
Thank you
Lena
I’m so sorry about Tulip, Yelena. She probably isn’t picky, she doesn’t feel good and that’s why she’s not eating well. You can try some of the tips in this article to see if any of them work to entice her to eat more: https://consciouscat.net/2013/07/03/how-to-get-finicky-cats-to-eat/
Yelana, so sorry for you and you lil girl Tulip. My Isabella (cat) has diabetes and just diagnosed early stage kidney, was throwing up and had diarrhea. Once I found her sleeping in litter box, broke my heart. Back to vet who said now IBS because sick all the time. Couldn’t catch break. Friend recommended Pet Wellbeing products, I use Kidney Support Gold (drops) and I think saved her life. Look into those products. Vet tested and said kidney values normal now, no throwing up or rarely ..happy girl.
Good luck LJ
Thank you so much, LJ. I will definitely try that. But the problem is, after all those tests, the vets still can not diagnose her condition.
Have a Happy New Year!
Hi
I would give her milk thistle. I give my pets this brand Natures Answer Alcohol-Free Milk Thistle Seed, 1-Fluid Ounce https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000IRLF68/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0KytAbGVFR0PB
It’s alcohol free. I read a lot of good things about it and would suggest you read on the benefits. It helped many pets improve with their conditions and find their appetites back.
I’m not a Vet but I believe in alternative medicine and the power of natural remedies although sometimes we do need medicine.
There’s a lot of cancer fighting safe natural remedies for pets out there. Make sure she gets probiotics too. I would focus on boosting her immune system and milk thistle is a great antioxidant to help her body fight.
I wish you and your kitty best of luck and I hope she recovers.
Oh Yelena, I know exactly how you feel. When something like that happens to a pet your heart breaks. If only they could speak to us and explain how they feel, and where it hurts! I received some excellent advice from my vet years ago. Our dog had received chemotherapy which we knew would not be a cure would give us more time with her. I asked the vet, “ when do you know when it’s time to put them down?” I wish I could tell the whole world his reply, because it has been a wonderful guide to me ever since. He said, “ Better three weeks to early than three weeks too late.”
I don’t know how sweet Tulip is doing right now. Hopefully she has turned the corner and is doing much better, and you don’t need this message yet. But if and when you do, my heart goes out to you even more than your kitty because making the decision to put your animal out of its misery is a wonderful kindness we can do for them, but it leaves us lonely and terribly bereft. My prayers are with you.
I’m sorry, Janna about your dog, but in your case it was a right decision. Until now, I’m not sure, if Tulip has a lymphoma, the doctors saying – POSSIBLE lymphoma, but they are not sure. So, in this case I can not consider euthanasia.
Lena, I don’t know if you ll see my comment, but my kitty was also throwing up and not eating and acting well, we took her to vet thought it was a blockage, took X-rays, didnt see much. I took her home and started giving her some organic coconut oil every day. Within first day she started running like a kitten and pretty much transformed ever since. I give it to her every day now already for a month and she only threw up once a big hair ball. She loves it and gained weight. I d recommend you try that as it helps lubricate their digestive tract and heal it.
Hi Natalia, and thank you for the comment, but my Tulip is not with me anymore. She passed away almost two weeks ago and our hearts torn pieces. I’m trying hard not to cry every day, but so far it’s not working. Don’t know how much time do I need to calm down.
I was considering to get another cat, but my husband not ready for it, he is saying it’s to soon. We have one more cat, and we love her, but she is not social at all. And I’m so used to have a kitty, that asking for attention, I would say she had a dog personality. I miss her a lot. What is a right thing to do, get another cat or wait, like my husband saying? I even found a cat, that I want, she still in a shelter, she has almost the same look and she is a very social. Maybe you can help me with a decision. Thank you
I’m so sorry about Tulip, Yelena. There no one “right time” to get another cat after losing one, everybody is different, and every situation is different. Maybe this article will help you and your husband: https://consciouscat.net/2010/06/30/life-after-loss-getting-a-new-cat/
Yelena: So sorry you lost your little Tulip. What a sweet name.
I lost a kitty last year; a stray I had taken in 1 1/2 years before and my existing cat accepted her, though kept to herself.
When Kiddo died, Puss gradually started becoming a little more attentive and wanting to spend time with me, though before she’d sleep downstairs in the back room.
Give your kitty some time to adjust. He/she is feeling Tulip’s loss and may want/need some consoling, in his/her own special way. He/she just may start becoming a bit more friendly.
Maybe give it some time and see what happens. Maybe he/she just might change when they realize they’re the only one left.
Who knows. They deserve the opportunity.
Good luck.
I have the following written on my wall (!) with the names of all my pets I’ve lost: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”
To: Ingrid King
What all meat Weruva product could be tried, if my cat has a chicken sensitivity/allergy?
You’ll have to look on the Weruva website and carefully read ingredient listings – sometimes, even a formula that doesn’t list chicken in the name may still contain some chicken.
One of my cats has a problem with poultry and I feed Cats In The Kitchen Lambergini, La Isla Bonita and Kitty Gone Wild.
Do you recommend the Weruva BFF line as well?
No, because all of the formulas contain fish, and I don’t recommend fish except as an occasional treat.
I agree. No fish or very rarely
Hi Ingrid… I’m curious as to why you don’t recommend fish food for cats? My cat Yogi is very picky eater and won’t eat the same kind of food more than twice consecutively, forcing me to have to give him all kind of variety flavors.
This article offers information on why fish should only be fed as an occasional treat: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/18/does-your-cat-love-fish/
Wow! Thank you for sharing the article. It dawn on me about the mercury that same night after I sent you the above note. But didn’t realize the other stuff posted in the article. I stopped feeding him fish that same date and went the next day to get some chicken and turkey food for him… he’s just turning 2 on 4/25. Thanks again Ingrid.
My cat is in eternal food transitioning mode. He has taken to Wysong Archetype Chicken Formula, which is freeze dried raw meat. Please comment on Wysong products, when possible.
He really likes Merrick Beef and Merrick Chicken Pate … which I am working to wean him off of. I introduced Weurva this past week. Unfortunately, I purchased b.f.f. …all of which are fish based. (Have to wonder why all the fish?)
Tried Party Animal … that did not go over well.
We need tighter regulations for pets food. This marketing game is killing our cherished best friends.
Please review Wysong. Thank you.
Hi Ingrid, just an urgent warning. Major recall this weekend (in Australia) on Weruva, BFF and Cats in the Kitchen. Cats are dying from the problem – manufacturer hasn’t clarified what the exact problem is. Major Pet store’s statement can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/petbarn/posts/10154196350871706:0
I am aware of this, Les. Weruva released a statement as soon as they became aware of the issue: http://static.cdn.responsys.net/i2/responsysimages/content/greencross/Weruva-BFF-Statement.pdf I spoke with David Forman yesterday because I, too, was concerned. Weruva is investigating and will provide updated information as it becomes available. This is a developing situation, and I’d caution anyone to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. Please contact Weruva directly with any concerns.
Thanks Ingrid, glad you’re completely aware and so proactive 🙂 love your blog, keep up the great work!
BFF and Weruva
Deeply concerned to learn that the recall of Weruva and BFF cat food (https://goo.gl/Hgk8rL) is being misleading.
Due to a potential issue we’ve removed BFF cat food products from stores. Stop feeding BFF and receive a refund instore.
This is very likely responsible for our big teddy bear Ceasar being so sick in the last few weeks. We went today to return unused cat food after being notified of the recall, and were then told that the recall was about quantity of food not being correct, which was totally misleading and an outright lie. Since we have done more research we now can connect the dots and believe that this poisonous cat food has made our cat seriously sick.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/35348862/cat-food-recall-after-claims-its-killed-some-family-pets/
I am disgusted with this company and for not being honest. I do hope that other cat lovers learn the truth. Companies like this do not deserve our business.
I’m sorry about Ceasar, Charles. I spoke with David Forman yesterday because I, too, was concerned. Weruva is investigating and will provide updated information as it becomes available. This is a developing situation, and I’d caution anyone to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. Please contact Weruva directly with any concerns.
I read about the latest update and I admire how open they are and want to offer insurance support to their affected pet parents. I admire that. A scare like that is what will define a company in the future and how they deal
Or will deal
With further safety measures and they genuinely seem
Concerned. Some companies out there never had a recall but many complains of many sick pets but I guess they have excellent lawyers or ppl don’t have enough time or money to sue them which does not make them better than the ones who have openly admitted and took steps about an issue in their food. Many companies get recalls and even for humans on a daily basis, it happens. In their case it was low taurine levels in Australia only. I’m thinking of switching my cats to weruva.
I prefer Tiki Cat’s chicken flavors anyway. Has their stuff ever been recalled? Anyway, I wish we lived in a perfect world, but you’d have to have a functioning crystal ball to know which brands are going to be subject to recalls. After all, major brands of HUMAN food are recalled all the time!
“…the US has experienced and continues to experience higher rates of recall than most countries, including those in China.”
Given China’s abysmal track record with food safety, it’s likely that they’re missing/ignoring problems that would trigger a recall were they to happen in the US. In 2007, it was a Canadian company who first issued a voluntary recall of melamine-contaminated pet foods. The Chinese companies who supplied the contaminated ingredients, however, completely denied any fault right up until the end. They were ultimately shut down by the Chinese government, but it’s questionable whether this would have happened were it not for international pressure.
Another thing to consider is that China’s food safety violations are qualitatively worse than those in North America. Never mind pet food safety, they have problems maintaining the safety of food meant for humans.
TLDR: I would rather buy food that has been sourced in countries with strong food safety regulations.
You all realise that this company has just had a recall on their pet food, don’t you? And they are not being transparent about why, even to help people’s cats that have become ill, they are withholding information that could save their lives. Use Weruva products at your peril.
Weruva released a statement in Australia as soon as they became aware of the issue – they are not “withholding information.” Here’s the link to the statement: http://static.cdn.responsys.net/i2/responsysimages/content/greencross/Weruva-BFF-Statement.pdf No US formulas are affected at this time. I spoke with David Forman, Weruva’s president, yesterday, because I, too, was very concerned. Weruva is investigating and will provide updated information as it becomes available. This is a developing situation, and I’d caution anyone to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. Please contact Weruva customer service directly with any concerns.
I decided against this product, because it is not North American made. I had two cats die as a result of menu foods( ultra). I have never used these brands again. Any food ingredient that comes from china is a no go for me. My dogs are raw fed and my cats are transitioning. I do trust honest kitchen dehydrated raw. Primo is iffy but using the freeze dried raw to transition.
I have been feeding my cat Weruva for a year now.
My initial plan was to only feed him Chicken Frick’a Zee and Fowl Bowl,
both flavours that contain no fish at all, only chicken or turkey.
But as it turned out my cat flatly refuses to eat these 2 flavors on its own unless I mix it with other flavors that still have some tuna in the ingredients.
What a pain!!!!
I prefer Tiki Cat’s chicken flavors to Weruva because it’s packed in water not some suspicious gravy. My cat was on it for 3 years then all of a sudden decided she wanted something else. So, I’ve switched to Wild Calling rabbit, duck, turkey, and chicken flavors. No seafood, of course, but she tends to vomit more with beef, so I avoid beef. Maybe there’s an allergy there. She gets fed four times a day, but one of her meals is Nature’s Variety Instinct’s chicken flavor because she obviously enjoys the crunch. I don’t think one of her four meals being dry can do much harm.
Tom, I feed Wild Calling as well. Do you find your cats are enthusiastic about the rabbit, or just so-so? Mine all go for the turkey and chicken.
My cat gets the chicken and turkey only. I gave her the rabbit once and it didn’t seem to agree with her. She gets NO seafood. Ever.
BTW, I wasn’t saying there’s anything wrong with Wild Calling rabbit flavor. You know how cats are. It didn’t agree with MY cat. Means little as far as yours is concerned.
What are your thoughts about the Weruva BFF line? It’s slightly more affordable and my cat really loves it.
All of the BFF formulas are fish-based, so I don’t recommend them except as an occasional treat.
Hi Debby. Maybe you can try the fish mix like this; just what you’re doing except begin going a little less every couple of days. At the same time, pour some of the liquid into the mix. After a couple of days you do a bit less solids and you add a tiny bit of water to the juice. Less solids, more watered juice? Just as slowly as you need to and for a long as you need to? Just until it’s completely devoid of any fish. It may get you a little bit of an irritated look but cats really do as they’re trained to do. I realized this with a stray who keeps coming around. I can’t keep him because I have four who are not integrating well and it’s been 6 mos. But the stray (Max) was coming more and more often everyday and I realized feeding him that much is just as bad as over feeding my house kids. So I only put food out at certain times and even though it broke my heart to see him sit, stare and wait for me, he adjusted quickly and now only comes for two good meals at specific times. PS: found out he’s a neighbors cat and they let him wander… Don’t get me started. No collar, I just got that from the grapevine. If he had a collar I’d have known sooner!!! People!!
That has been my tactic for the last few months (ie mixing chicken cans with other flavors that are not fish based but still contain tuna) but with limited progress and so much food have gone wasted. It’s made a bit harder because my cat is on medication too so I do not want to risk him skipping his med (he has no issue taking his medication with wet food otherwise).
One thing i can be sure of is on top of the flavours, he also dislike the texture of chicken shreds and will either work through the whole plate of food leaving all the chicken to the side or just give up halfway through eating. So I am also experimenting with cutting up all the chicken shreds into finer pieces and see if it will help 🙂
Hi, I didn’t get this till now. It’s hard charging over foods and every kid seems to have their own hang ups or none at all. I was cutting the pieces as well. My kids were used to pate` or little chunks so shreds had to be mastered. Listen, as i said, I have 4. They are all so unique and I have trouble getting it right for all of them all the time. I had to take them off the Weruva completely because my oldest was having crazy loose stool. He just wasn’t feeling well. Then my little girl followed three same path, and last, one of the younger boys started avoiding the litterboxes altogether because the other kids were having lose stools in the boxes. What a mess it was. I am turning a new leaf and no longer recommending any cat food, regardless of what it is.
I think I have a real winner only to find it boils down to what THEY feel like eating, having fresh cool clean water readily available and not over feeding! Honestly, I feed a pretty expensive food right now which helps Casey maintain a healthy weight. The other kids love it. They’re all happy and healthy. But I won’t make names anymore because I can’t say with 100% certainty that they won’t have a problem somewhere down the line. I hope your baby is doing well.
My daughter begged me to adopt a kitten this year and we now have her home and I am so lost as to what she should eat (I have only had a bulldog). I was talked into a Petco brand which I later found out wasnt that great and now she is eating Primal Nuggets but she goes through 8 nuggets a day, which is getting very expensive. She meows and meows for more food, which she didnt do with the canned food from Petco. I cannot find a clear answer on what wet food is best for her. I understand that raw is best but it just doesnt work for our household and I am super paranoid about doing something wrong and making her sick. I need simple and healthy!
You can find my recommendations here, Vanessa: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
I have had the best cat food experience ever with Wild Calling’s turkey, which is called “Trottin’ Tommy” IIRC. 96% meat and 100% approval by 6 kitties. No weird ingredients. No blueberries. No potatoes or brown rice. I can’t vouch for the other flavors, but I suspect the others could be worth a try as well. Read the labels to see. I got 24×5.5 for 44.99 from an Amazon merchant. No dented cans, either.
My cat loves Wild Calling Salmon.
great cat food weruva!
Hello,
Hopefully people are still reading these comments and someone can help…
I switched my cat the Soulistic brand in lamb, chicken, and chicken-turkey varieties about 2 months ago. She had been eating a dry food before that. She’s always has smelly stools, and I wanted to see if switching to a grain-free, high protein diet would help her. Unfortunately, the problem has gotten worse. Now her stools are borderline diarrhea. She’s still very active and bright, and she has an appetite, but I’m worried. Soulistic was the only brand I could find in my town that meet this website’s criteria, and I don’t know what else to feed her. I don’t live in or close to an urban area with many options… Help??
You can find my other recommended brands here, Jessica: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Try Tiki Cat Puka Puka Chicken. It’s just shredded chicken, water-based sauce, and of course needed supplementary vitamins and minerals. Weruva is similar, but I’m suspicious of the rather creamy liquid the chicken comes in.
I have been feeding Soulistic (Petco’s version of Weruva) and just read on Dr. Lisa Pierson’s site that both the Chicken only varieties w/gravy are extremely high in carbs. I am returning it to Petco. Tiki Cat has either no or very low carbs.
Weruva’s liquid seems like gravy, probably with carb-based thickeners. Tiki Cat’s is clearly water-based. I’ll go with Tiki Cat. And my cat loves it.
Here is where I find my cat food – they have pretty much ALL labels and, for the most part, are the cheapest – their customer service is the absolute BEST (24/7) by live chat or phone call. Their reps are the absolute BEST in the world. Their customer service should be should be modeled in ALL businesses.
I am not affiliated with Chewy’s, in any way. Just a plain old animal lover and know how expensive they can all get…
https://www.chewy.com/
I’ve been ordering from them since they were Mr. Chewys.
Their prices are the lowest,they have every brand out there,free delivery after $49,delivered in two days,stock is always dated and fresher than any store near me.Extremely pleased with customer srrvice.
Hi Jessica, I switched to weruva about 4 days ago. My cats had too much energy a little on the grouchy side and always threw up. Since then I’ve been feeding them weruva their manners are softer they never throw up and are exceptionally happy. All 4 cats get along with each other and are very content! For the first time all 4 cats eat together that’s amazing! Most important, they have not thrown up that’s a big issue because that was a lot of work. I must have tried every expensive cat food out there all flavors and everything! But somehow never specifically tried weruva cats in the kitchen splash dance au jus. I don’t know what I will do if they stop making it. No starch, carrageenan, grain, that covers it all and great texture they love it! No cat will puck on this food!
I have just recently starting feeding my pets Weruva. They do like it. My concern is that it is manufactured in China. I yself do not eat any products from China, so i more than likely return the 30 cans i just purschased
Weruva is not manufactured in China, Violet. As explained in the post, it’s made in Thailand, although the taurine and a few of the minerals are sourced from China – which Weruva’s founder explains in the article.
Jessica, Weruva is the best cat food believe me my cats have not thrown up since I changed brands and that was 41/2 weeks ago. I have 4 cats and they are very happy and healthy. I have tried every other brand out there!!!!!!!!!!! Weruva is the best!!!!!!!!!!! Truluxe kawa booty or cats in the kitchen chicken and pumpkin and splash dance.
Did you make the switch gradually by mixing your previous food and the new food over at least 7 days?
I do feed Soulistic Good Karma, but I prefer Tiki Cat’s chicken, Puka Puka Luau. It’s just shredded chicken in broth, smells great.
You’d be best-served to order through the online pet stores. I do both, and the offering online is greater and conveniently delivered.
I started feeding my kittens Weruva too. At first they gobbled down Fowl Ball and Chicken Frick a Zee, but after a few feedings they won’t even touch the stuff. I’ve also noticed that some of the cans have a different color so I’m concerned about feeding it to them. I’ve decided to follow the recipe from Dr. Lisa Pierson on catinfo.org for a raw diet. This way I know exactly what I am feeding my feline babies and they are devouring it! I’m also thinking about pressure canning some cat food to incorporate in their diets. These will last up to 12 months and again I know exactly what they are being fed. Plus, I’ve done the math and it will be much less expensive for me to feed them homemade over canned bought. We were paying almost $400 a month for both kittens in canned cat food (Weruva) and I’m looking forward to enjoying the benefits of a raw diet (no smelly poop and less trips to the vet).
A raw diet is the optimal choice for cats, and making your own gives you full control over all ingredients. I’m intrigued with you thinking about pressure canning some food. Do you have a recipe that you would be willing to share?
There are actually a couple I am thinking about trying. One is Dr. Pierson’s recipe for raw food (www.catinfo.org). I am researching if it will be okay to pressure can the ground chicken with bone in it. I know that if you cook chicken bone it becomes hard and brittle, but I don’t know if it will remain soft if I pressure can it. The other recipe I have found is from http://tcfeline.com/home-canning-meat/. I like the idea of having an emergency batch handy in case we are traveling or power goes out. I am getting ready to buy a pressure canner to give it a try. Hopefully it goes well and my cats will like it too.
Keep us posted on how that works out for you, Debra.
I always recommend to raw feeders to feed at least the occasional meal of canned food for the very reason you mention: if you lose power for an extended period of time, your raw food will go bad. By feeding something other than raw occasionally, your cats will not refuse that food in an emergency.
I certainly will keep you posted. I never thought I would become this involved in what I feed my cats. But one trip to the vet due to a health scare has put an entirely new perspective on how and what I feed my kitties. I am thankful that there is such a wealth of information out there that is dedicated to the health and well being of our feline family members. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with valuable information and a place to ask questions.
Update! I made 6 half pint jars of pressured canned ground chicken with bone in. My female loved it while the male wouldn’t even try it. He sniffed and tried to cover it. Lol. I think it is because I grounded liver with the chicken. I read somewhere after the fact that you should never pressure can organs because it overwhelms the flavor and aroma of the meat. On an additional note, I was concerned about the bones but I mashed it all through my fingers before feeding my kittens and you couldn’t tell there was any bones in it. I’m going to make another batch this weekend without the liver to see if they like it. I’m thinking about canning both chunks and ground chicken together so they have a mix of consistency in their meat.
Good going! Thank you for the update. I’ve had that experience with commercial canned food, too: if there’s too much liver in it, Allegra especially tends to not want it. Let us know how they like the batch without the liver.
I’ve read the ingredients on all of the Weruva products before purchasing because I wanted to make sure that it didn’t contain carrageenan and it is not listed in their ingredients. Are they deliberately leaving it out? Can you prove that it contains carrageenan? I want to make sure that I feed my kittens good quality food and have been looking everywhere. I finally settled on Weruva because their products do not contain vegetables, grains, etc. If this is a fail then I will start making my own cat food.
Not all of Weruva’s formulas contain carrageenan – you’ll have to read labels to figure out which ones don’t.
My 14 yr old female cat has just been diagnosed with Hyperthyroid and I’m trying to find the best diet according to the Vet Mark Petersen but it’s so difficult. She was raised on Blue dry/Salmon and Friskies Salmon pate because she hated any other flavors but fish. Now, we realize that a fish diet, affects the thyroid. She sees her vet every year and they noticed she’s lost weight but said nothing about potential Hyperthyroid issues or asked us about her diet either. She seemed the picture of health for 14 years but then boom, so it happened quite quickly.
I’ve read every word on this site and also Dr. Petersen’s as well as Debra Zoran’s DMV pdf and my head is spinning. While I agree with everyone but there doesn’t seem to be a perfect food to match what we need for Cookie or I’m too confused to recognize it. High protein, low carbs, no grains, no soy, fillers, no junk and no fish and no dry food. Got it.
We bought a couple cans of Tiki chicken, Puka Puka Luau
& Koolina Luau to try it and she’s eating it but it’s not calorie dense so, she’s hungry. I feel like she’s a baby who’s eating every hr on the hr. Then I read this food is high in phosphorus and does that mean we’ll be creating kidney problems by feeding this to her?
This search is giving me a headache trying to fit the medical situation to the right food requirement and making sure to not create any new medical issues with the wrong food. Tiki Cat has no grain, carrageenan, or flour which sounds good even tho it’s costly.
I went to Amazon for the Weruva and people were complaining about potato starch being added to the food and their cats rejecting it. I have no idea if potato starch is a good or bad thing at this point but it’s a carb and too much is suppose to be a no-no or is that just for diabetic cats?
I’m over saturated on reading and my brain hurts but I’ve got to buy something in the next few days and not begin a cat food roulette with Cookie because that can’t be good for her stomach and which she probably won’t go along with anyway. She’s obviously hungry by her asking to eat frequently (and she lost weight) but I’m not sure how to solve this dilemma with all these high protein food recommendations and if they’re a match for a cat with hyperthyroid. The vet is no help…they gave us Hills i/d the other day. yuck.
Haven’t even touched on the expense. lol Tiki Cat is $4 a can and she’s suppose to eat 1 a day but she’s not right now because she only wants tiny bits every hour like a snack, eats it and walks away.
1 can a day cost $120/mo & hyperthyroid meds @ $40/mo. That is close to $2k/yr not counting vet visits for blood testing T4(?) levels. I think we’re looking at aprox. $2400k a year to control the hyperthyroid issue.
We’ve had cats over the years but none have had hyperthyroid. We did not realize hyperthyroid was so prevalent in cats either.
If anyone has advice on the best food choice for a cat with hyperthyroid, I’d appreciate it.
This is a great site. Thanks for all of your information.
I know it can be overwhelming, Sandi. I’d be happy to talk you through things if you’d like to schedule a consultation.
Thanks Ingrid, I’ll keep that in mind. For now, I’m going to try a few of the brands I’ve researched and see how she reacts. I’m committed to the omnivore diet without getting into the raw foods if I don’t have to for now.
I did find that Weruva’s Fowl Ball is carrageenan free and Nature’s Variety Instinct has a duck variety that has potential. I believe all the NVI are carrageenan free even tho they throw in peas,etc. which I’m not sure cats really need. Perhaps I can rotate all 3 brands Tiki, Weruva and NVI if she likes them and they’ll keep her satiated and she’ll gain some weight back.
I also can’t let her train us to feed her every hour. lol She knows we’re wrapped around her little paw but that just can’t become the norm. We need to be able to go out of town and a caretaker has to take over who won’t want to move in so, Cookie can snack her way thru the day esp. during the summer where we will have to be concerned about how long these meats are on her plate here in the mid-South. That’s why the Blue dry cat food saved the day, when you had to leave town even just for a weekend, a caretaker’s visit was pretty simple.
I’m grateful for your site and the helpful information, thanks again.
Tiki $4 a can? Are those American dollars?
Much cheaper than that on Amazon and also in the local pet stores. More like $2.25 a can.
I’ve never paid $4 a can, even in my local pet store.
I’ve looked at the recipes to calculate the exact price. The pet store charges $3.45 per 6oz can of Tiki. Nature’s Instinct $3.15 per 5.5oz. and the cheapest is Halo $2.10.
I realize Amazon is a bit cheaper but you have to buy 6 or 12 cans. I’m testing brands so that I don’t end up buying brands in bulk that she won’t eat.
So far, she rejected 2 brands as well as rabbit from Nature’s Instinct but like the duck.
My husband bought a can of Wellness forgetting it had carrageenan and he wanted to see what she would do and she didn’t want it. She liked Halo one day and then the next day she didn’t like it.
I still need to call more stores to see who carries Weruva or order it from Amazon.
I think, she thinks we’re now running a cat smorgasbord but so far, she seems to be enjoying all the focus on her favorite hobby…eating and it’s interesting that none of these companies’ canned foods have caused any tummy problems at all.
This is an expensive area to live in so, I’m not surprised that these Brands are cheaper elsewhere. I’ve been to the grocery in less expensive areas and have seen the big difference in prices compared to here. Our postman even commented on how many boxes we get from Amazon…lol. He thought we were running a business but it’s just regular stuff which is cheaper on Amazon. Wait until he has to cart those boxes of canned of cat food to our door.
Eight cans on Amazon is somewhere between 20 and 25 dollars. I think your kitty will like it and if she doesn’t, donate it to a cat shelter and maybe it’ll be a tax deduction. I like Tiki Cat vs Weruva because the latter is apparently packed in an oily broth and Tiki is in water. I also agree with those who say stay away from seafood, even Tiki Cat’s seafood flavors. Cat’s in the wild don’t subsist mainly on fish, even if they get it now and then. It’s not good for them.
Thanks Tom, she was just diagnosed with a Hyperthyroid and is on medication so, fish is a no-no since it has the highest iodine. I learned a lot from the vet Dr. Petersen. Our vet was clueless on diet and nutrition. It’s a shame we had to turn to the Web resources instead of the vet whom we pay a lot of money to care for our cat.
90% fish diet is what she was eating for years. Salmon pates, Salmon Blue dry and real salmon from Whole Foods as well as roasted chicken.
But we were clueless and had never heard of cats getting this disease. Our vet never said a word about how prevalent this is for older cats and she’s had the same vet for 14 years and we go every June as well as other appts for her sinus issues.
She definitely loved Tik’s chicken but she may love it too much. One day she ate the whole can by 11:30 but still wanted more food that day.
We think she’s eating so much because of the thyroid problem and hopefully, she’ll slow down once the Rx controls the iodine output.
Meanwhile, she’s ravenous and now eats up to 15x’s a day…. small meals are her choice, not ours.
I donated all her old unused canned cat food already. We use to buy her old canned food in bulk.
Both Wervua and Tiki are lower in calories than the pate style foods, so it’s not unusual that cats will eat more in terms of quantity. I suspect that her appetite will level out once her thyroid is regulated.
Ingrid,
We’re hoping when the medication kicks in, she’ll stop begging to eat so often. Nature’s Instinct Duck is more caloric but it hasn’t stopped her from wanting to eat it all day. She also needed to gain some weight.
@Sandi “She definitely loved Tik’s chicken but she may love it too much. One day she ate the whole can by 11:30 but still wanted more food that day.”
She can’t eat more than you feed her. My kitty (7.5 lb) get four feedings a day, three of them Tiki Cat Chicken. Each Tiki feeding is a heaping TEASPOON! A can lasts her 3 or 4 days. Her 4th feeding is Nature’s Instinct Raw Boost Chicken dry food because she enjoys the crunch and it may be good for her teeth, but only about a heaping tablespoon of that. On that diet, she maintains her weight. Granted, she’s a small cat, but to eat a whole can in the morning…
Do you think you might be overfeeding? It almost sounds like you are free feeding (letting your cat eat at will by keeping food available all the time). A feeding should be over in a few minutes and then the kitty should have a few hours to digest and rest.
Here’s more information on how much to feed (and amounts will vary based on the calories in a food, which can vary widely): https://consciouscat.net/2015/08/10/how-much-should-i-feed-my-cat/
The myth that dry food cleans teeth is one that just won’t die. If it were true, dentists would tell us to chew on dry crackers! Most cats don’t chew kibble long enough for any of the scraping action that is the theory behind this myth to kick in. What little they do chew shatters into small pieces. Some pet food manufacturers offer a “dental diet” that is made up of larger than normal sized kibble to encourage chewing, but in my years at veterinary practices, I’ve seen many cats swallow even those larger size pieces whole. Additionally, dry food actually leaves a carbohydrate residue in the cat’s mouth that actually encourages growth of tartar and plaque.
LOVE this stuff, found a MUCH cheaper web site to purchase it. www.chewy.com It’s always on sale, I can get a case for $13.00
I can sympathize with what you are going through. My Penelope was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism about 18 months ago and what a nightmare. The meds , methimazole, didn’t work well for her so I had to bite the bullet and get her the radio iodine injection. Overnight she was back to her old self. Until that time, after the diagnosis, she was so finicky about her food…taste buds changing daily. The disease causes that. The radio iodine treatment is expensive, but in the long run does not cost any more than wasted, expensive food and regular blood tests and vet visits required with methimazole use. The meds, if they work for your kitty, should kick in pretty quickly and the finicky food behavior and ravenous will stop. With hyperthyroidism the body is not assimilating most of the food nutrients anyways…that’s why they’re hungry all the time. I do want to add a few comments on Weruva…make sure you read all the labels (like any pet food actually) and don’t assume that their labeling is consistent. For instance, the pouch food, Cats in the Kitchen…”Love Me Tender” states on pouch front that it consists of chicken & duck in gravy. Turns out that it also has tuna, which is listed in the ingredients, but the surprise is that it actually has more tuna than duck in the mixture. I called Weruva to inquire and was told that the owner feels the onus is on the customer to check ingredients and that the description of the recipe is not misleading. I disagree. Like you I didn’t want Penelope eating tuna and this was her favorite. Check out the brand First Mate. It’s a Canadian company and their food is also manufactured in Canada in a company owned facility. The 2 flavors that I feed Penelope are Chicken and Duck. They actually smell like the roasted version would right out of the oven. The ingredients are limited. The poultry is free-range and it’s carageenan, gum, grain and gluten free. Even the can is BPA free. One of the best can foods for our kitties. Good luck!
As much as I love Weruva as a brand, the answer you got when you called them infuriates me, Eileen! “The onus is on the customer to check ingredients?” That’s precisely what’s wrong with the pet food industry in general, sigh.
I had not heard of First Mate, but it looks good at first glance. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Yes, it infuriated me too Ingrid! Actually first I was shocked and then infuriated. I would be interested in hearing your opinion of the First Mate. They seem to be doing a lot right, but I’m so afraid that eventually, to meet demand, they too will cut corners like the others.
I’m concerned about potato being listed as the third ingredient on their formulas – that could potentially be a lot of starch.
Knowing that too many carbs aren’t good for kitties I was also concerned so I called them about it and they had assured me that it was no more than 1-2%…the meat being 98-99%. They said since they don’t use any gums or carageenan the potato is needed to hold it together.
Cats shouldn’t need supplementary carbs. As obligate carnivores who, in nature, don’t eat potatoes, carrots, or blueberries, they should be able to get all of their nutrition from a diet consisting of meat, meat, and meat. While the do munch on grass, that seems NOT to be for any nutritional value in the grass, but more perhaps as “roughage” to help move hairballs through the system.
Eileen,
Thank you so much for the First Mate recommendation. The response from Weruva is very disappointing and shows a lack of compassion for cats and owners who need information on the food source to keep them healthy. I can’t wrap my head around this company’s inability to have empathy for cats who are sick and owner’s who are worried about them and trying to do the right thing. Considering ( I’ve read) that hyperthyroid disease in cats is so prevalent, you’d think they’d be more aware of why mentioning tuna or any fish source in cat food was necessary. Also, I just learned that some cats are allergic to fish.
My vet mentioned no fish restrictions after Cookie was diagnosed but when I called her and mentioned that Cookie wouldn’t eat (or drink) anything but tuna=iodine (which we didn’t want to give her but she refused food and water) only then did she say to not feed her tuna or fish and she sold us methimazole pills to give her while we were waiting for the compound gel to arrive in 5 days. We then purchased Tiki which has a broth and she started eating again.
I’ve been reading food labels constantly and some are disappointing when they advertise one thing and then you find fish or fish oil in the labeled ingredients. Why do these companies think ‘fish’ has to be added to all cat foods when the wild cat diet does not include fish? And you never get the % of fish either. Dr. Petersen said he doesn’t mind a little fish now and then but how do you know how much fish is too much when these companies don’t or won’t tell you?
We are going to stay the course with the methimazole-Gel and check her levels in a couple of weeks. If we go the way of radio Iodine injection, it’s unavailable here so, we’d have to take her out of town to have this done.
Cookie has gone crazy over duck by Nature’s Variety Instinct and she loves Tiki chicken. So, First Mate sounds like it’s in the same vein. Yeah!
I joined the Hyperthyroid Yahoo group but so far, into my reading I’m finding…. they’re fans of a raw meat diet (rabbit) and adding in the taurine,etc. I’m not sure I’m ready to go in that direction.
Again, thanks for this recommendation.
It looks like only two of Fist Mate’s flavors are fish-free, so read labels carefully, Sandi!
Thanks Ingrid. I noticed FirstMate puts Iodine in the Chicken formula. Chicken is part of a low iodine diet so, I probably won’t buy First Mate since the Rx’s job is to lower the iodine level and it doesn’t make sense to feed her more iodine.
Re: First Mate…yes there are only 2 flavors without fish, the ones I mentioned….chicken and duck…which they identify clearly on the labels. You won’t find any fish oil etc. in the ingredients. Re: the iodine…in order for the food to be considered a complete, balanced diet, a small amount of iodine, along with other supplements, is required by federal regulators. The reason you won’t find iodine itemized on other brands is because of the excessive amounts of it found in fish, fish oil, carageenan and other gums that more than fulfill the minimum requirement of regulators. The only pet food that does not have iodine is the prescription food such as Hill’s but then that’s full of meat by-products and excessive preservatives etc that more than likely include remains of other animals’ thyroid glands that could already be full of iodine. I still feel that a regulated, controlled amount of iodine is better than by-products, carageenan and gums. If you have questions about First Mate you should give them a call. Btw, I heard that they’re soon coming out with a lamb recipe. Good luck!
Eileen, Have you had Penelope blood tested lately? My JD had the radio iodine and it threw him into complete kidney failure. We lost him a year later. They never mentioned the possibility, but I found it in the very, very fine print.
Y/d tinned cat food and y/d dry pellets. My Jessie’s thyroid level was 110, should be between 10-50. Three weeks later her levels went down to 35 and her heart rate has come down too. It’s saved her life and she’s a different cat now. Must remember though no other treats allowed, no other types of cat or human foods and leave out plenty of water. Top tip from vet as the food can be a bit claggy and paté like. Mush up food, don’t flatten it, add tablespoon of water and to make food more tantalising sprinkle a thin layer of Thrive 100% dried chicken over the top. The secret of y/d is it had no iodine in it. Im in the UK and order it on line in bulk. Not cheap but worth it. Think its made in Germany. Lots of good luck
Here is more information on the y/d diet: https://consciouscat.net/2012/06/04/can-a-new-prescription-food-really-cure-your-cats-hyperthyroidism/ I’m glad it’s working for your cat, but it’s not a diet I recommend. The dry version contains no animal protein; its protein is derived from corn gluten meal, soybean hulls and dried egg product. The canned product is only marginally better: it contains meat by-products, corn and rice.
Julie,
Thanks. My vet doesn’t recommend y/d. Cookie is doing well on the Rx and her thyroid #’s have come down. The Rx is Methimazole transdermal cream that we put in her ear which cost $440 a yr.
We’re rotating a few brands of no grains high protein foods and she’s gaining back the weight she lost, loves the new foods and her energy is way up.
The high protein foods have changed her. For 14 yrs she happily stayed in our fenced-in backyard off and on during the day from April-Oct. She has access to a screened back porch and the back door is open if she wants to come inside the house also. But….she must have started looking for ways to leave the backyard and she found one. So, we’d find her in our neighbor’s yard and showing up at our front door wanting to be let in!
She’s an indoor cat with backyard privileges so, it scared us to find her leaving our yard. She has a lot more energy from the new foods which may have be causing this urge to roam.
We found out how she was leaving our yard and corrected it. So far, she’s hasn’t left the yard.
Hi Sandi,
I am new to the site. I understand your frustration about cat food. I have one cat that is diabetic and another one that has hyperthyroidism and slight kidney problem. I always am reading labels, making sure there are no carbs – what so ever in the cat food (no potatoes, peas, alfalfa, etc.). It is difficult.
I wanted to let you know, I had the radio active Iodine procedure done on another one of my cats and it was well worth the money. It cost me $1500 and I have save that in prescription drugs. It is something to look into.
I also have to pay for insulin and needles for my diabetic cat. Insulin costs me almost $300 every 5 months and needles $14 every 3 months.
I am looking into Petite Cuisine cat food. Looks interesting. I am also going to look in Weruva – Soulistic Brand. Do you have any suggestions on that brand? It would be appreciated.
I have 7 cats in total, so my cat food bils and vet bills add up.
My cats are indoor cats, but they have an outside fenced in kennel – about 18′ x 8’with deer netting on the top so they can’t climb out. It also has a 8′ x 12′ x 11’H structure that they can go in. It also has a loft, windows, door with a cat door for the winter. They love it. Can go outside any time and I don’t have to worry about them. Just call me the crazy cat lady of our neighborhood.
Hi Jan,
Thanks for your recommendation on the radio active procedure. We haven’t decided on that yet. We’d have to take her out of town because there’s no one in our town who does that procedure.
So far, the Rx is managing the thyroid. I don’t know if that will change so, we’re going month by month at this point and blood test are in her future so, we’ll see how well the Rx works over time.
I did not order Weruva and it’s not sold in my town. I believe Ingrid who runs this site is the expert on Weruva. I settled on Tiki Cat, Puka,Puka chicken but it’s expensive so, for 7 cats that could be an issue. I also feed Cookie Nature’s Variety Instinct in Duck & Lamb. She goes wild for both of these brands but on Tiki days…she acts like she’s addicted to it and begs all day to be fed. I also tried Earthborn Holistic Chicken Catccitori but it has gravy so, I’m not sure I’ll keep buying it. She loves it though. I’ve also tried ‘Limited ingredients diet’ in the Nature’s Instinct brand.
I haven’t heard of Petite Cuisine, thanks, I’ll look into that one. It’s been difficult researching all these cats foods but no one store carries all the brands. I ended up ordering them from Amazon after sampling them and getting Cookie’s approval. She didn’t like everything we purchased but surprisingly, none of them had any adverse impact on her tummy. I took that to mean, that they were all a better grade of ingredients than cheaper cat foods. I also think she enjoyed the testing phase.
Check the customer reviews on Amazon for Weruva.
Thanks again for your recommendation. It’s nice to hear from someone who’s actually done the procedure for their cat.
Jan, my Amber went through the radioactive iodine treatment in 2010, and did really well with it. Here’s more on my experience: https://consciouscat.net/2011/06/15/surviving-radiocat/
We have 10 cats (all fixed and all originally strays) with just about the same living arrangements. Well worth it because they’re essentially free but safe! Guess that makes me a crazy cat lady too.
We have had issues with hyperactive thyroid in our kitties. Our first baby ended with it when she was 12 or so. She ended up with radiation therapy which got her healthy again. Second baby none of the doctors he had seen given any info except keeping him on meds. My sweet kitty suffered for two long years. I was desperate for any one coming up with a solution but none did. He passed away in my arms. I felt hopeless and then my current kitty ended up with same problem. I told her doctor either he give me other options or I will take my baby elsewhere. He ended up giving me a locaton. I took her there and now our baby is healthy and happy. If you are willing to spend the money, you will not regret having a healthy kitty back. You will be a happy mom. Wish you the very best
Hi Sandi, my kitty was diagnosed with thyroid disease, I did ALOT of research on food, the meds they wanted to put her on to treat, etc. and ultimately did not put her on any meds and changed her diet and used an all natural supplement, after 2 months of the change the vet retested her and her thryoid levels were down enough that they said they would not medicate her because the levels were good enough that she was ok. She lived for 3 years with these changes and no medications. The diet included weruva paw licken chicken cat food, this is the best food for a thyroid disease cat as it has high protein, low carbs & fat and also contained raw, real vension. Her life span if i’d put her on the meds was 2-3 years the vet said so the fact that she lived 3 was amazing. She probably would’ve thrived longer to but she had the opposite effect of usual thyroid cats where she actually ate less instead of more so if she’d have eaten more she would have probably done even better.
Lisa,
Thanks for sharing your story. So far, Cookie is on the Rx, eating well, gained weight and the Vet is pleased. We’ve had her blood tested and I don’t know her T scores right now, they’re not listed on the vet bill but the Vet assured us she was doing well. So far, so good.
We changed her diet to high protein food which she is enjoying. Tiki Cat chicken and Instinct duck and chicken is what she settled on. She eats all day because she’s always been a grazer. She loves to eat.
Which supplements did you use? I’ve never heard of supplements for thyroid problems.
She’s going into her 15th year but looks younger, her weight is perfect and her black coat is very shiny now thanks to the rich cat food. I’m hoping she continues to have a happy and healthy life. Our last cat lived to 18 yrs but did not have thyroid problems.
I’ve just started my research on the best cat diet and have learned so much. It’s crazy to me how I’ve had 6 cats in my life time, my friends cats, my sisters cats, brothers cats..they all eat dry food. And they all live to be 16+. It’s also interesting how no one really knows this information about dry food vs wet food unless they put real effort into looking it up. Even shelters and organizations I volunteer for don’t use the FREE wet food given to them. They have boxes and boxes of it. This is all so weird to me. I’ve been reading all these comments hearing about diarrhea, food poisoning, etc. and my cats have been and are fine at home with their dry food. I’m just so confused on what to do! I’ve already read the article on why to switch to wet food too
One of the reasons why the information about why dry food is not a good nutritional choice for cats is not easily available is because of the massive amounts of marketing dollars pet food companies put into selling their food. Dry food is cheaper to produce because grains and fillers are cheaper than quality meat ingredients.
I hope that after doing your own research, you’ll come to the conclusion that wet food is a better choice for cats. Yes, some cats will live well into their teens on dry food, just like some humans seem to live into their nineties on a diet of processed foods and junk food. But are they as healthy as they could be?
It IS very hard to understand it all and separate the correct information from what is just someone’s opinion. My cats have lived to very old ages eating dry food but I have always given them wet food once or twice daily also so maybe that has been helpful. I’ve always heard wet food will cause teeth problems causing tarter buildup or decay because they are not getting the dry food to clean their teeth. I did find out recently that the Soulistic brand wet food except for a couple varieties DOES NOT contain carrageenan so that may be a good choice. We can just do the best we can.
Sadly, the myth that dry food cleans teeth is one that just won’t die, and unfortunately, many vets also perpetuate it. Most cats don’t chew their kibble long enough for any of the scraping action that is the theory behind this myth to kick in. What little they do chew shatters into small pieces. Some pet food manufacturers offer a “dental diet” that is made up of larger than normal sized kibble to encourage chewing, but in my years at veterinary practices, I’ve seen many cats swallow even those larger size pieces whole. Additionally, dry food actually leaves a carbohydrate residue in the cat’s mouth that actually encourages growth of tartar and plaque.
Again I have learned something new…thank you! I worked for a vet years ago and learned so much that has been helpful over the years (especially with my horses) but alot of advancements have been made with cat and dog feeding and I’d say much for their better health. So if I stay with high protein what about the Carbs-Fat-Phos-Potass-or Sodium amounts? My kidney kitty isn’t real thrilled with the Weruva shredded chicken every day, he’s more of a patte guy so I’ve been mixing Soulistic patte with Weruva when he slacks off eating and he is happier. I’ve mixed other brands now and then just to keep his interest and then go back to the raw shredded till he gets bored. I tried cooking chicken, skinning and deboning and he didn’t want it at all! Can you recommend the best patte style? Thank you SO much.
This article should help with your question about what to feed a kitty with kidney disease, Waunita: https://consciouscat.net/2016/02/15/the-right-diet-for-cats-with-kidney-disease/
You can find my recommendation for brands in general here: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Although I live on a farm my 8 kitties are pampered more indoors than out but enjoy lounging on the porch when the weather suits them. No close neighbors but every couple years a new kitty is dumped then we socialize, spay or neuter and spoil. Feeding can be expensive so I do have dry food available (Pro Plan is their favorite) and feed canned for breakfast. The kitties that passed the past several years were 20, 16 and 14 so not too bad. I currently have one kitty with kidney disease, I’ve been feeding Instinct frozen raw and canned chicken variety. He likes dry the best so I also use Instinct dry and add water. I tried raw chicken and he doesn’t want it but will eat it from a can. I would like to increase the canned for my other kitties so would like a recommendation that is somewhat cost effective for 7. Also the best variety of Weruva (or other brand) for the kidney disease kitty. We have one dog that is 16 and runs around like a puppy, we’ve always feed what we thought was high quality no grain dry and wet and added a fish oil pill daily. Would fish oil be helpful for all the kitties also. Thanks for any info since I’ve been very confused.
Weruva is a good choice for cats with kidney disease due to its high moisture content. You’ll also want to look for formulas that are low in phosphorus (you’ll need to contact Weruva for that information as it’s not disclosed on labels.) Fish oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids and is though to have some benefit in preserving kidney function. Look for a comprehensive article on what to feed cats with kidney disease here on The Conscious Cat soon. I would encourage you to eliminate all dry food. Adding water to dry food is not a good idea – unless it’s eaten quickly, it can easily breed bacteria and mold.
I ordered the chicken from Weruva and he liked it ok to start but isn’t interested much now so I’ve added a couple patte types and that makes him happy. I had read that chicken was the best for kidney disease cats and to avoid any salt type ingredients like fish or salmon. As for Fish Oil…do you add straight from the pill? We’ve done that for our dogs since puppies and one is 16 and one is 14 and both move like youngsters. I understand about the dry food with water and I only put a couple mouthfulls down so it won’t set around but thank you for the heads up on that.
Some cats will take fish oil “straight up,” others will prefer it to be mixed in with food.
When I last wrote it was with concern that the formula (Paw lickin chicken) I was giving my cat had too much gravy and not enough meat. That has since changed and the meat is abundant. My cat ate it all up at every feeding. Since that time I have added another cat to my home. Both cats were gobbling the Weruva without hesitation until a couple of weeks ago. Lately they have been rejecting the food and the gravy is somewhat different. Several weeks ago my older cat refused to eat the last can in the case I had ordered. When I finally threw it away and opened a new can from a new case she ate it without hesitation. More recently the cats will reject the food on and off. With the newest case of food I ordered this month I found a small green leaf sitting on the top of the food. Has the processing or inspection of how the food is made changed in any way? Does anyone have any concerns about the food? My older cat can still only eat this one kind of food. I have fed my other cat Soulistic and it appears to be the same. I will try it on the older cat to see if she can tolerate it in case they both continue to reject the Weruva.
Ayesha, When I finally transitioned my kids to Weruva, they decided the Paw Lickin’ Chicken was the one they preferred. My older guy, Casey, was doing well on it, losing weight as I had hoped & my little one Maggie was enjoying meal time even more than ever. But, just like you, after a while I started noticing some inconsistencies. I ignored them because I saw nothing on the can or anywhere, that anything had changed. However, suddenly Casey started having chronic loose stools and started to go outside the litterbox. The loose stools turned to diarrhea, and Maggie started having loose stools. This was the ONLY food they were eating. Nothing else. Unfortunately I had to stop feeding it & put them back on the only diet they would agree to eat. The bowel movement issue cleared up almost instantly & so did the litterbox issue. The only advice I got which seems to make sense was that the manufacturer changed their poultry provider. I contacted Weruva but they did not respond to two emails. I was disappointed. I still am, because it’s been over a year I think and I really wanted to try going back again, but I really did get a little leery to be honest. Now I’m glad I didn’t because I would really be angry if I transitioned back and found the issues you’re finding. I don’t think my response was helpful to your situation right now, but you asked if anyone else has concerns. It’s too bad if the quality has been compromised, it seemed like a perfect product.
Dear Ayesha, and Joyce (who replied to Ayesha),
I feed my boy Weruva’s Nine Liver most of the time, which has always been up to par, and although I have since reduced the PawLickinChickn to almost nil slowly over time, I havent seen inconsistencies.
HOWEVER, I just noticed, on Weruva’s website, they have a new line, “TRULUX”, which is more expensive and holds to higher standards. One flavor, “Quick’n Quirky” is based on the “customer favorite” PawLickinChickn, only upgraded, and with turkey. Check it out.
This might explain inconsistencies. Perhaps they’ve slacked, and are lacking in oversight whilst focusing on their new, more “lux” line. Disappointing, I’m sure, being that it was/is, as they acknowledge, a “customer favorite”.
If you’d prefer less gravy, Tiki Cat has a chicken flavor (“Puka Puka Luau Succulent Chicken in Chicken Consomme”) that is just shredded chicken, with a light broth/consomme. Mostly chicken, so much so, some might call it dry (Although it only looks dry after my boy has the broth first, comes back for the chicken).
(Our regimen: I feed my fat older Cat Weruva Nine Liver and the aforementioned Tiki Cat Chicken, with a small daily snack of “Raw Goats Milk Yogurt with Chia Seeds”. Occasional raw meals, which Id like to increase. )
Hey Laura!! Thanks, that was seriously helpful! I will take a look when I get home later. Maybe I can make some slow changes. It’s kind of irritating however if they slack on what already seemed pretty perfect, only to create another version of perfect but perhaps add a flavor, AND make it more expensive. I rescued my kids from bad breeders. I’ve got 2 here in CA and 2 more rescues in my home in AZ – (my g/f lives there, they are well cared for) But it’s increasingly difficult to do the best for them when I’m struggling already. Can it really be the best they can do or is it really ALL about manipulation for a profit? I totally get they absolutely have a right to do what they want, I guess it just doesn’t ring well when a company touts their dedication to the health & well being of pets but then makes that available to the fortunate few who can afford it. It’s a fine line to taking advantage, I feel. I give up alot to give & do for my kids. Having them is worth everything I do … but what happens when there’s nothing left to trade? Not really looking for a response. Just venting. Thanks again Laura. Great information.
Ayesha, I am just reading your comments and am so thankful to hear, since I had the same thing happen in our household. And please note, for Laura: I was feeding Trulux. So stopped feeding this brand and was feeding Tiki but my two weren’t eating that either. I tried Instinct Raw and changed from Instinct LI dry to Wellness indoor and just noticed Soulistic doesn’t list carrageenan anymore and thought I’d try it. But after reading this, I think I am going to try Honest Kitchen….I am using their bone broth now…has anyone tried this brand yet???
What about Soulistic – Is its parent co. Wherever? Is Soulistic of lesser quality?
I think it’s comparable.
Thanks Ingrid! I don’t understand how Weruva can make a less expensive cat food w/similar ingredients that’s of the same quality. I had stopped Weruva awhile back bc I got a bad batch (I bought it by the case), cat’s got diarrhea so we tried Tiki. Soulistic had carrageenan so didn’t bother. Now, it has more flavors without it so I bought some. It’s soooo confusing, as I have to have a food without fish/fish oils too. I also feed Instinct Raw mixed w/ Honest bone broth.
I’ve just had a chance to scan your site, but I get the impression that it is not good to give cats fish. That’s what I always thought. But now the pet stores are selling B.F.F. cat food in pouches which is very fishy although combined with lamb etc. They say that this is a good quality cat food. The pouches drive me crazy and often will squirt that icky smelling fish gravy like food on me – not impressed, but my cat is crazy over this food. I can’t understand why they would package it like this, but the more important thing is that I think ‘Boots’ has a voracious appetite for this food because of the fish. I’m from Canada. Should I try and make him stick it out with Halo? There’s a store I can buy the pate kind which is the only one he’ll eat. God pets are picky!
I only recommend the Weruva flavors that don’t contain fish, and I don’t recommend BFF since all the flavors have tuna in them. You can find my other recommended brands here: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/ I’m pretty sure many of these brands are available in Canada, or can be ordered from Amazon.
But this is not a raw meat preparation, is it? You wrote that “The optimal diet for a cat is a properly formulated raw, home-cooked or grain-free canned diet.”
Seems to me that they are not the same thing at all. While I think that this company is doing many things right, canned is not raw.
Weruva diets are canned diets – I never said anything different in this article or anywhere else.
Hello,
I was doing more research on Weruva and I was disappointed to find out that some of their canned wet food does have Carrageenan listed as an ingredient. See the link here for their ingredients listed on their website: http://www.weruva.com/cat-cuisine-mack-and-jack.php
Back to square one 🙁
That is correct Susan, some of Weruva’s formulas have carrageenan, but many are carrageenan-free. Unfortunately, you’ll have to read each individual label.
I currently feed my two 3yr old cats Wellness dry food in the morning and then they split a can of Weruva Cats in the Kitchen in the evening. One of my cats has been doing a lot of “scooting” on her bottom on the floor. We had her anal glands cleaned, but she’s still doing the scooting. The vet recommended increasing her fiber intake by trying some Royal Canin GI Fiber Response (dry food) in her diet. This did significantly decrease the scooting, but I don’t really like the ingredients and I’m wanting to start moving away from dry food. Do you have any wet food suggestions that might help decrease the scooting (or other ideas)? Also, what are your thoughts on the “Lamb Burgini” and “The Double Dip” (chicken and beef) versions of Weruva Cats in the Kitchen?
I don’t blame you for not liking the ingredients in the Royal Canin diet. I would try adding some canned pumpkin to your cats’ meals (some cats even like it straight up). I also recommend adding a good probiotic to every meal. I haven’t taken a close look at the two formulas you asked about, but they sound okay to me. I prefer to avoid fish and it sounds like they don’t contain any, based on your description.
Actually, I’ve been feeding my cat the Lamburgerini–with the assumption that it does not have fish in it. She loves it, and I wanted to make it a central protein. But the ingredient list reads (from the beginning): Fish Broth, Lamb, Tuna. It also smells like fish (which makes sense). My cat loves fish, and I’m sure this is part of the reason she likes the Lamburgerini. She doesn’t really like the chicken, and won’t touch the beef.
Please…I need help! I have a 4 month old bengal kitten and I am told she needs a food high in protein. Weruva only has about 10%. Natural Balance Wild Pursuit dry food (that I wanted to put her on) has 40%. I don’t understand and I don’t know what to do. Please guide me. Thanks.
Some of the brands on this list are higher in protein, Patti. You’ll have to check labels since protein content varies depending on the flavor. https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/ Dry food is never a good choice for cats (the article will explain why.)
Here’s what Weruva says on their can of Paw Lickin’ Chicken 64.7% protein 32.1% fat 3.3% carbs 103 cal in their 5.5oz and 56 cal in 3.3oz. Where did you get 10% from? Here is the link for that page:: http://www.weruva.com/weruva-cat-cuisine-nutrition.php. I agree, I don’t think dry is an option and if your baby is young. I would rather not get her used to something you’ll most likely have to wean her off later. Keep checking out this site. Concious Cat has saved me more times than I can count. Ingrid is patient, kind and extremely knowledgeable. You can trust her!! Best Wishes to you and your girl.
Forgive that typo please, typing fast. Conscious Cat!!
The 64.7% is on a dry matter basis, Patti probably looked at “as fed.” It looks like Paw Lickin’ Chicken is 12% protein, and the other poultry flavors are all around 10% as fed.
And thank you for your kind words, Joyce!
I wasn’t reading the label correctly. I ended up switching from Weruva to Newman’s Own Organics, but now I’m really concerned because there is carageenan and guar gum in the Newman’s. I understand Weruva has neither, but the ingredients are not organic. Such a dilemma…….why can’t a company produce an organic, carageenan/guar gum free canned food? It would make life so simple. I give my cats the Cats in the Kitchen pouches in the evenings, which they LOVE.
I agree, in an ideal world, all cat food would be organic and carrageenan-free, Patti!
Weruva is an incredibly high quality canned food. I switched to Weruva chicken for some time from Welness canned food (before that i used to feed her dry food wellness), i swithed to Weruva because i really liked the quality of Weruva, however after about 3 months, my cat does not seem to like it as much as she used to before. She will leave half of the food on the plate…
I’ve started to get her Tiki Cat seafood. She is crazy about Tiki cat, like she used to be about Weruva at the beginning…
My question is, i thought cats were a creature of habit…i feel like my cat just gets bored or the same food…
any thoughts?
I think cats do get bored with the same food. I recommend a rotation diet for cats, for a variety of reasons: https://consciouscat.net/2012/06/14/rotation-diet-for-cats/
Hi,
I am a mother to a one-year old cat, Angelo, and I want him to feed him the best possible diet out there. Right now I feed him grain-free dry food (free-feeding during night time) and Meow Mix wet food. I noticed Meow Mix has several negative ingredients you listed above, however I don’t know what to feed my baby as he was having a bit of loose stool and has started peeing on my bed (not something he usually does, and he still pees in his litter too). I did feed him raw food for one week – a long time ago – with ground chicken mixed with a bit of yogurt to help with bacteria and squash for fiber. Please suggest good healthy, preferably raw, food for affordable prices!
You can find my recommendations here, Merin: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Thanks for the feedback. We don’t actually have any kitten-specific food any more so they are basically on adult or all life stages food. All we can do is watch her and see what happens. Since we are out during the day we don’t get to monitor what each kitten eats but when we are at home we can make a diligent effort to keep tabs. If it turns out that she is eating twice as much as our boy then we will need to attempt to feed them separately.
I picked up some Weruva a few weeks ago because I was looking for foods without carrageenan. Weruva is what was suggested to me. Our two kittens like this food but when I looked over the ingredients I noted guar gum and xantham gum, two ingredients which are listed up there with carrageenan as no-nos. What do you think about that? I didn’t see that in your conversation with David. I don’t personally have any bad experience with any of these ingredients but we’re doing what we can to feed our kittens the best we can. We do have raw food but have put that on hold as our female has had some dietary issues (diarrhea, food poisoning!) so we removed that from their diet as a precaution. That was a shame since they both loved the raw food. No idea if that was the cause but the breeder suggested it might have been (she recommends high quality kibble but we use dry food as a free-feeding source).
We will continue with Weruva Truluxe and probably add other Weruva products as well. We are still figuring out what is best for them and what they like. We tried Natures Variety Instinct and they didn’t touch it – not any of the flavours we tried.
All canned foods will have some sort of a binder in them, and while none of them are ideal, I prefer the other two over Carrageenan. I wouldn’t be so sure that the raw food was the cause of the dietary issues you’re seeing. Without proper diagnostics, you have no way of knowing what caused them. I do not recommend any dry food for cats, no matter how high a quality it may be. Here’s why: https://consciouscat.net/2010/04/05/the-truth-about-dry-cat-food/
Thanks for your quick reply, Ingrid. Feeding pets is a complicated business with so many competing opinions. We free feed because we were told that kittens need constant access to food as they develop over the first year. At this point in time the only wet food we put out is Weruva Truluxe which I’ve read is low in calories. Kittens require a higher calorie diet so it’s confusing to us why one kitten seems, to me, quite overweight. She’s had two fecal tests and a diarrhea panel ($300 for those tests) and she’s been in antibiotics for three weeks because of food poisoning. We’ve never had an obese cat before so this is a new challenge, especially since we have to feed two cats in a controlled way. Thanks again for your feedback.
How old are your kittens?
Free feeding is the leading cause of obesity in cats in general, although it’s rare that a kitten is overweight.
They are both six months old. She is a blue Chartreux and he is a British shorthair. I say she’s overweight but she really just seems to have a big tummy. She doesn’t have a fat face or legs, just her belly. She has had tests and an ultrasound so we know there’s no fluid build up or anything like that going on.
At six months, you can usually start feeding kittens like adult cats. However, as mentioned in the review, Weruva is lower in calories than other brands, so you’ll need to adjust quantities accordingly.
Hello,
I have an older cat who needs to gain weight. I’ve been going through all the brands of cat food and I’ve offered him all the meats food following the Holistic diets, but it has been a hit and miss. Some days he will eat FF, but not consistently. I recently went to Pet Value and bought a variety of small cans. He ate up the BFF immediately and no throw up! I am very happy.
Nobody ever talks about whether or not the cans of Weruva are a complete diet.
Can i just feed my cat cans of ONLY Weruva, everyday?
Yes, Weruva is a complete diet.
i would never feed my cat anything from thailand or anywhere in ASIA. period!!!!!!!
Hi,
I recently started feeding my cat Weruva after getting a sample can from a pet shop and being surprised that my cat inhaled it. I’ve been feeding her dry because I always ended up throwing out most of the can if I buy wet, and it’s such a waste of money.
I noticed two things you wrote, though. One: Are veggies like peas and carrots really not beneficial for cats? She liked the plain chicken & gravy recipe, but I bought the ones Wyeth pumpkin, peas and carrots because I thought it would add nutrients. Is it really better for her to eat nothing but chicken and added vitamins?
I also didn’t realize that Weruva cans are lower in calories than others (although, looking at it, it does make sense). I’ve only been feeding her the food for a few days now, but I’ve been trying to stick to one 5.5oz can per day and a few dental treats for when she’s still hungry. She’s overweight, so lower calories would be good for her — but is it *too* low, especially going from a dry-only diet?
Thanks!
As obligate carnivores, cats don’t really need veggies. They are used as a source of added vitamins in some formulas. A good rule of thumb is that an active, healthy 8 pound adult cat will eat about 240 calories a day, but cats can vary greatly in their nutritional needs.
We had a cat show up at our house about 2 months ago. We of course fed it and it stayed! After sending out neighborhood emails with no one claiming the cat we are proud to call “Kitty” our new pet! We took the cat this week to the vet and she test positive for Feline Leukemia. She has no signs of it yet, and is as energetic as ever. According to the vet, she is maybe a year old. I have been doing research on Feline Leukemia and one of the recommendations is for the cat to have a well balanced diet. Do you know of any brands that would nutritionally be better for her?
You can find the brands I recommend here, RK: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/ I would also give a good daily probiotic. Probiotics help boost the immmune system, which is important for all cats, but especially for FeLV positive kitties. I like the Dr. Goodpet product http://amzn.to/YRaNcE
Hi Ingrid, Happy New Year…I recently switched my 14yr old male to Weruva pouches/ he loves the duck/chicken and the plain chicken in the can with the gravy…I was wondering if the fish one was bad for him?? I heard that fish in a cats diet isn’t the best route, I don’t give it to him only once in awhile as a treat, lol..he loves it :)..just thought you could comment on it for me, you always give great advice! Anne
Happy New Year to you, too, Annemarie! I don’t recommend fish except as an occasional treat. Here’s why: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/18/does-your-cat-love-fish/
Hi Ingrid!
I was just reading some scary comments on Amazon regarding Weruva, and I wanted to know if you have had any complaints similar to these? One cat owner said he switched to Weruva and the cat became ill with kidney failure.
I am researching brands to switch to, because I am going to cease any dry food (they get very little but want to stop because one of my cats is overweight). Right now I have them on Nature’s Balance wet food (grain free) but it’s not on your list. Just curious as to what are the “bad” ingredients are. I am thinking of making the switch to Weruva, Nature’s Variety or Soulistic (depending on what they like best).
Here are the ingredients to the Chicken and Green Pea formula: Chicken, Chicken broth, Chicken liver, Pea flour, Natural flavor (what is this?!) Salmon Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Cranberries, Di calcium phosphate, guar gum (which I read is bad news), Potassium Chloride, Choline chloride, Taurine, Salt, Flaxseed, Parsley, Yucca extract, Carageenan, Zinc sulfate, Ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, Copper sulfate, Folic acid, Vitamin B12 supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, and a few other supplements like Niacin and Riboflavin.
Geez, after actually typing all that out it seems like way too many ingredients! Maybe there’s my answer.
Thank you for any insight and wishing you a happy, healthy New Year!
Best,
Andrea
I believe this Amazon review refers to concerns about Vitamin K in Weruva’s formulas and concerns about kidney issues. If you scroll through the earlier comments on this post, you’ll see that this issue was addressed in a response to a similar question.
As for your question about ingredients in Natural Balance’s food, I can’t comment on all of the ingredients, but I stopped trusting Natural Balance when they sold out to Del Monte. Here’ s my list of recommended brands: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Ohhhh! I didn’t know they sold out to Del Monte, crum. It’s just like researching cruelty-free beauty products, a lot of good CF companies end up selling to L’Oreal or the like. Thank you for that tip!
Thank you also for clearing up the Weruva question, I’ll scroll up to read through the threads again. I plan on only buying land animal varieties so hopefully won’t have that issue to deal with.
Thank you for taking the time to answer!
My cat recently was diagnosed with urine crystals. The prescription dry food they wanted me to feed him was working but I read the ingredients and its horrible for him, all grains and junk to make him fat. I was told this was the only thing he could eat the rest of his life. After reading the ingredients I went to my local pet store and found wervua cat food. I also got a bag of dry food spot stew. I decided to feed him wet food twice a day and a very small amount of the spot stew in between. Do you think this is safe for him? Or should I listen to the vet? I also hAve 2 other cats that have to eat his diet as well. I do not want the crystals to return. Help!
I would eliminate the dry food altogether. Cats with urinary tract issues need moisture in their diet. Weruva does contain a lot of moisture, and can be an excellent choice to help maintain urinary tract health. Whether it is the right diet for your cat depends on the types of crystals he has. I would recommend working with a holistic vet in determining the best diet.
Hi Jessica,
I hope you don”t mind my two cents. My boy Casey not only had a crystals issue, but had to have an emergency Perineal Urethrostomy surgery. The Vet also recommended the same SO Urinary diet. They offered it dry as well as wet, but thanks to Ingrid I took Casey off all dry food months prior. However, you”re right, the food the Vet recommends is indeed crap. So, I found Weruva, long story short, it’s excellent quality, and lower in calories so feeding them a little more often is a good idea depending on their weight, age, energy & health, but Weruva also has treats you can add to their diet. A little variety, and another way to add the necessary calories. Good for you that you’re on top of this for your kids. This is an excellent website for a plethora of good information. Glad you found it!! Best of luck!!!
Thank you for sharing your experience, Joyce, and thank you for your kind words about my website!
Hello, I will be moving back to the US soon and can’t wait to feed our cat a better food (we’re in South America). I was strongly considering Weruva but I just noticed that their food contain either Tricalcium Phosphate or Dicalcium Phosphate. I read that they could be toxic to the body. What are your thoughts on this ? Thanks !
Tricalcium Phosphate and Dicalcium Phosphate are natural products used to supplement calcium and phosphorus. I’m not aware of scientifically-based reports of toxicity.
Good to know, thanks !
I was wondering if it’s okay to feed my male feline a few different brands of food at once, someone told me not keep switching..he’s been on NV canned only, (got rid of the kibble) and I have introduced him to Tiki Cat & Weruva canned also..sometimes he throws up like a foamy substance, I was wondering if that would be bad for him…and also I feel sometimes he has a harder time going to the bathroom because of the protein diet..I have been trying some pumpkin for fiber but he’s not too thrilled ..Anne
My experience with grain-free diets has been that cats don’t usually have a problem switching from one brand or protein to another, and I do, in fact, recommend feeding a variety of different proteins and brands.
When I initially started feeding Weruva I really liked it. It was less than Tiki, but like it in ingredients. My last case came with too much gravy compared to the amount of meat. My cat has a sensitive stomach and only seems to be able to tolerate pure foods. I can’t afford to to feed this food as she eats one of the 5.5 oz cans a day. She is not overweight so this is not too much food to eat. Due to the amount of gravy it is necessary to feed more extra.
Since writing this I tried weruva chicken again and have found that the ratio of chicken to gravey has improved. Thank you!!! My cat can happily eat this food and be adiquately fed while enjoying your product. I buy by the case and it is the only food my cat can tolerate other than the occasional fish dinner.
Hello, gang!
I adopted a semi-feral kitty born from a house cat forced to live in a garage last October. I even kitten-sat for his sister for a few weeks until renovations on her forever home were complete. When I first took them in, they had a lot of digestive issues at 8-10 weeks old, likely due to the cheapest food being put out for them and mama cat. They were so small I wasn’t even sure they were 8 weeks yet, so I started them on a high quality formula, which helped a little, then I tried various foods that didn’t help much. I put them on a raw meat diet and that solved their systems and they gained weight, but the meats in the stores near me always seem to spoil too quickly (my fridge is fine) and not knowing whether or not there were antibiotics present, I consulted the vet at a local zoo I volunteer at and he recommended supplementing with a dry balanced food, so I went with Blue Wilderness. I didn’t see him drinking a lot from his water dish, and I decided to hunt for some wet food. He liked Tiki Cat at first, but quickly tired of the fish – and most of the cans in the variety pack I got have fish in them. Chewy.com accidentally sent me a box of Weruva pouches, and so I fed him one and he gobbled it up fast! I still supplement him with the Blue Wilderness, 1/4 cup a day and ordered 3 boxes each of the non-fish menus on Chewy. Thanks for your review, it makes me feel good about the purchase. He’s not a lap cat (which makes me sad), but he does give me 5-10 minutes of cuddle and purr every night when I go to bed – just hops up, licks my neck and kneads on my chest a bit to show is appreciation and then he’s gone to protect us while we sleep.
I would encourage you to eliminate the dry food completely, Carla. Here’s why: https://consciouscat.net/2010/04/05/the-truth-about-dry-cat-food/
Done! I will feed out the rest to the neighborhood skinnies who never seem to get enough to eat. We have two little mama kitties who are undersized. It’s better than what they get now. I will continue to augment Oreo’s diet with raw meat when I feel confident about the quality. I usually just buy a little extra than what I need to prepare for him.
Hi Ingrid,
Just wanted to let you that your advice about Casey being allergic to the chicken being more from the sourcing than the brand was right on. Before I reached out to you, I kept changing his food, (he became ridiculously finicky) as I said and I was having such trouble trying to find like quality as Weruva, but low calories. So, since your email I went ahead and purchased chicken flavor in other high quality brands. He’s doing fine. Of course I want to just go back to Weruva but they haven’t yet responded to my query about the chicken source possibly changing, so I really don’t want to risk it at this time.
Also, Casey gained some weight back since off the Weruva Diet. I’m having trouble pinning down the number of calories my kids should get daily. Do you know a good resource I can find accurate info? Everyone has a different number. Casey & Maggie are 8 & 4 respectively. They’re Norwegian Forest Cats so that’s not a very little breed, but Casey could use to lose about 3 – 4 lbs. Can you tell me anything that might help?
Thanks BUNCHES!!! You’re the best!!!
Joyce
Thanks for the follow up, Joyce! I would stick with the brands that work, too, rather than switching back to Weruva right now.
Weruva is lower in calories than other brands, so,that’s probably why Casey gained weight. Calorie needs vary for individual cats. I would just cut back on the amount you feed a little to adjust for the increased calories in the brands you feed now.
Hello. A year and a half ago we brought home a new kitten and while researching the best food I came upon your comments on Weruva and since that day the only food I fed our cat is Weruva. Her favorite is the tuna in gravy. However, today I’m a bit angry with this company. In the past they have offered a 3 and 5.5 oz can. I always buy the 5.5 oz which is about 1.99 per can. I had heard they were discounting the 5.5 oz cans and are only make 6 oz and I guess it’s true because I haven’t been able to find the 5.5 anywhere. So today, in desperate need of the tuna I went to three pet stores which now only sell the 6 oz and every store has this at 2.99 per can – A DOLLAR more for the addition of .5 oz. Six oz really is too much and 3 is too little. Now I’m forced to pay an extra dollar a can (she is fed twice a day so it’s $2 per day more) for a size I don’t need. I’m really angry with Weruva and I can’t get through to them. There site seems to be down. Has anyone noticed this? Best, Tom
I can’t comment on pricing of the brands I recommend, Tom, that’s out of my realm. What I can tell you is that Weruva has three lines (well, actually four, they also make the BFF line, but they’re all fish based, and I don’t recommend fish-based foods.) Of the other Weruva lines, the basic line is the most economical, followed by the Cats in the Kitchen Line. They recently introduced their Tru Luxe line, which is more expensive than the others, but to me, doesn’t seem all that different from the basic line. You may want to look online for better pricing, Chewy.com in particular usually has great prices on food.
I’m with Ingrid . . . avoid the fish and get your kitties on a chicken diet. the Weruva chicken products (without veggies) are great and healthy for your kitty. Just looking at Chewy.com as Ingrid suggested, they show a case of 24 – 6 oz. cans for a price that equals around $ 1.67 a can. Even their Tru Luxe Kawakawa tuna and gravy is less than $2.99 in Chewy.com. Good luck!
http://www.chewy.com/cat/weruva-cats-in-kitchen-chicken-frick/dp/43930
And here’s a link to another Weruva that I know Allegra and Ruby love. Again, the price here is $ 1.67 can for 6 oz.
http://www.chewy.com/cat/weruva-cats-in-kitchen-fowl-ball/dp/43931
Also, watch for discount coupons from various pet stores like Petco and Petsmart. There’s a 20% off coupon today for folks who shop at Petco – good for use instore or online. Petco’s “Soulistic” brand is made by Weruva and from what I can tell by the labeling and the contents, it’s the same first-rate food for less money. Soulistic “Good karma Chicken” is $12.72 a case retail for 8 – 5.5 oz cans. That’s $1.59 a can. Take 20% off of that, and you’re down to $ 1.27 a can! Not bad.
Yes, Allegra and Ruby do love their Fowl Ball, Will! Thanks for providing the pricing info.
Tom,
If you are interested, Weruva also makes Soulistic. It is made for, and sold only at PetCo.
Dear Ingrid:
Hello this is my first post. I have been feeding Weruva to my little fuzzball for a few months now because she suffers from bladder stones. We originally fed her Sheba before it was discontinued and Widget really enjoyed it. When she was one year old I was forced to move across state after a messy break up and that is when her bladder issues began. After trying many different foods to adjust her to a low uric acid diet I stumbled across Weruva at my local Agway. Widget did not care for any of the urinary tract specific foods I tried and the supermarket brands, as you are probably well aware, contained too much processed material for my liking. I eventually settled on Stella and Chewy’s Chick, Chick, Duck freeze dried food. It was healthy, nutritious and she liked it but at $25.00 a bag I couldn’t afford to keep her on it. Then I found Weruva. It has ingredients that I approve of, it was nutritious, and most importantly, she loves it. Her diet consists of fresh meat and both Weruva wet (in the packets) and dry (it is a relatively new product) foods. Since then Widget has been able to void normally and no longer cries when she goes. She has also gained 18 ounces, going from 4lbs to 5 1/2 pounds. She is still tiny, she always has been, but she is happy and healthy. I cannot begin to express the positive change that Weruva has brought about in my little cat. Thank you and best regards.
Sincerely,
Steven D. Howard and Widget
P.s. Have ever reviewed, or thought of reviewing, Stella and Chewy’s?
I’m so glad Widget is doing so well on her Weruva and fresh meat diet, Steve. Since the only “dry” product Weruva makes are their freeze dried treats, I’m assuming that’s what you’re referring to?
Stella and Chewy’s is on my list of recommended brands: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Ingrid:
Sorry, I meant to say freeze dried. It truly amazes me that companies can get away with some of the ingredients they use. Widget loves Purina Happy Cat but I limit how much she gets because the ingredients are so terrible. I essentially give it to her as a treat now and then but not as a regular part of her diet. With all the news over the last few years about unhealthy foods for humans why is it that healthier options for pets is only a recent campaign? Cats really do improve the quality of their pet-parent’s life so I find it shocking that so many cat foods consist of mainly industrial floor sweepings.
~Steven
Did you ask them why all the fish flavors? If you did, can you include their explantion in your review?
Their explanation, on Facebook, was:
“We have five flavors coming out on this line with NO Fish! While we do have five with fish, the good news is that they are are all small breed, bone free, low ash, low mg, low ph, (all lower than a lot of our competitors’ poultry items) wild caught, sustainable…”
I dont feed any foods that contain fish, but if I was going to… Weruva would be it.
I did not ask about the fish flavors, Lola. I don’t recommend feeding fish, except as a very rare occasional treat.
Thanks! Do u have any suggestions?! I’ve always had cats but because if ur website, I’ve decided feed my cats only wet and high quality foods. But I’m still new to this! Should I be too concerned with high levels of phosphorous? Thanks a million!!!
You can find some of the brands I recommend here, Karen: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
Phosphorus is generally not a concern in young cats.
If you’d like personalized recommendations for your kitten, I’d be happy to schedule a consultation with you!
Hello, just a quick comment about phosphorus – I agree about not being too concerned about phosphorus content for a kitten. But if anyone reading this has a cat with CKD (chronic kidney disease) you need to be very careful about phosphorus. I have a 14 year old cat who suffers with CKD and finding a commercial brand moist food with low phosphorus can be difficult. Thankfully, Weruva fits the bill!! And they seem to be one of the few companies who actually list the phosphorus content. Yay Weruva!!
You’re absolutely right, Janine, phosphorus is a concern for cats with kidney disease.
Hi Ingrid
I have been feeding my 14yr old male Weruva for about 6mos now..he absolutely loves it, I only feed him the duck/chicken pouch & the can of the chicken with gravy..as he doesn’t care for the pumpkin flavor..my question to you or comment is sometimes I feel he’s not getting enough? He
seems to be a bit more hungry since I started him on this food. thanks Anne
As I mentioned in the review, Weruva is lower in calories per weight than other brands, so you may have to adjust feeding amounts a little.
Hi! I just adopted a kitten and am trying to feed him the best food available. I am concerned with what seems like limited calories, carbs and phosphorous for a kitten. Should I be worried with this brand? I feed him Tiki for a day until I saw the amount of phosphorous that was included in their foods. Then I bought Weuva and now it seems like it may not have enough calories. Please advise. Thanks for your website; it has helped me tremendously.
Weruva is lower in calories than other brands, so you’ll have to adjust the amount you feed for a kitten. If your kitten eats well, the larger quantities may not be an issue, but there are other, more nutrient dense foods on the market that may be a better choice for a growing kitten.
I found information online that a 5.5oz can of Weruva Paw Lickin’ Chicken is only 84 calories. https://consciouscat.net/2013/04/23/weruva-cat-food-review/
Sorry …. mistakenly used conscious cats link. Here is the one I found the info on:: http://www.consumersearch.com/cat-food/weruva-paw-lickin-chicken-canned-cat-food
As I mention in the review, Weruva is lower in calories than other canned foods, Joyce, but I don’t think 84 calories is correct. According to Wervua’s website, a 5.5 ounce can of Paw Lickin Chicken have 103 calories.
Hi Ingrid,
Oh I know, I read your post. I was just letting them know the calorie count that I had found.
I asked Weruva at one time and I have emails from them going from 84 to 103. I’m not sure if they had changed something in the interim and didn’t inquire because I really needed to get Casey to lose some weight. After surgery and subsequent infections he stopped playing. Just ate & slept, and gained weight. I needed to do something to drop a couple lbs and decided to just give him 2 cans of the Weruva PLC. But I needed to know that I wasn’t starving Maggie May who is 4 years old and very energetic. That’s why I had been perusing different sites. I had 2 counts from Weruva and just wanted a mid point. My kids love Weruva. I’m really glad you had so much info on the site. You are the reason I stopped giving my kids dry. Casey’s vet wanted to give him CD dry and I just decided that I would rather not do that. I changed Vets (for various reasons trust me) and his new vet loves Weruva too! Thanks for all the great info!!
I’m so glad you decided to take Casey off dry food, Joyce. It always makes me happy to hear that the information I provide here helped yet another kitty eat better.
Hi Karen, congrats on adopting a kitten! 🙂
I just wanted to let you know not to worry about “limited carbs,” in fact, that’s exactly what you want. Cats are obligate carnivores and therefore cannot digest the carbs found in plant-based foods. So avoid all cat food that includes grains (like wheat, corn, rice), soy, starches, etc. since they are no good for a cat. I think less than 10% carbs is what to look for, but it’s not an exact science… Carbs are cheap fillers that only lead to overweight cats and diabetes. Also be weary of “pretend” protein sources, cats cannot digest those either (peas and pea protein are unfortunately common). It’s all about the meat! 🙂
As far as your kitten getting enough calories, I believe that the recommendation is to free-feed kittens when they’re really little. Then I think you feed 4 times/day until they reach 6 months of age, then decrease to 3 times/day. We just adopted a third cat, he’s 6 months old, and we were told to feed him 3 times/day. At around 1 year I think you can feed 2 times/day. Our kitten was used to eating a mix of dry and wet food at the shelter, but we’re slowly weaning him off the dry food (our two adult cats no longer get any dry food). Good luck with your kitten!
Ideally, you should aim for 5% or less vegetable content, but it’s pretty challenging to find commercial diets that meet that requirement.
Good for you for weaning your new kitten off of dry food, Anna!
Yes, I wish I could find canned food that is less than 5% carbs and that our cats also like, but they only like gravy-style meals, so that’s basically impossible. Add trying to avoid fish, carrageenan, and sneaky by-products, and I’ve had to settle for less than 10% carbs (although even that rule goes out the window sometimes when our cats get tired of some brand for a while)… So we switch each day between Wellness Signature Selects (beef + chicken), Weruva Cats in the Kitchen (beef + chicken), Earthborn Holistic (chicken), Wellness grain-free pouches (chicken), and the occasional Soulistic can (chicken).
PS. Writing this post made me look into the ingredients in Earthborn Holistic chicken dinner, and it includes carrageenan! Argh! Just sent them an email urging them to remove the ingredient. Fingers crossed I’m not the first one to contact them.
Wellness Signature Select contains carrageenan, too, Anna. I believe all of Wellness’ canned products do.
I checked just now on Amazon, Petco, and Wag.com, and the Wellness Signature Selects don’t. Phew! I didn’t check every single flavor, and I’ve noticed that for some brands, it seems to depend on the flavor (which is odd). For example, I saw now that all of Soulistic’s “dinners in gelee” contain carrageenan, while none of the ones “in gravy” do (at least according to Petco’s website). It would be great if they labelled each can “carrageenan free” just like they do with “grain free” (or just stopped using it). Maybe if there is enough consumer pressure?
I only checked the chicken flavor. You’re absolutely right, sometimes, it depends on the type of flavor, which probably has something to do with how well the other ingredients in a particular formula bind without the addition of carrageenan.
Is it because carrageenan is seaweed that it’s not good for the kitties? I know veggies are considered a carb and not necessary for kitties, but if it’s in a binder is it enough to worry/not buy the food?
Carrageenan is a controversial ingredient in food (both pet and human,) Andrea. Here’s more information: https://consciouscat.net/2012/06/08/carrageenan-should-it-be-in-your-cats-food/ I prefer to steer clear of it as much as possible.
Hi Ingrid!
One last update on the carrageenan stuff. Like I said yesterday, I emailed Earthborn Holistic asking them to remove carrageenan from all their canned cat food. They responded! Here is what Cindy Montgomery (VP, Marketing Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc.) said in her email:
“Our Chicken Catcciatori will be shipping out soon without carrageenan along with three new formulas. It will take a little time to reach the stores but that change is already in motion.”
Whoopee! 🙂 Seems like the manufacturers are catching on. Thanks for all the great work you do educating cat guardians about feline nutrition (and other important topics).
That’s great news, Anna. It’s always nice to hear that a company is responding to consumer requests.
Hi Ingrid and all.
Just a quick update on how we’re doing with the Weruva. These last cases we’ve gotten have seemed much better there is a much more consistant amount of the gravy in the cans. We’re currently feeding our kitties a combination of the Nature’s Variety and Weruva, they like them both but all of them tend to take a lot longer to eat up their helpings of the Weruva, maybe because of the bigger pieces of chicken, I’m not sure. In any case I just wanted to mention that it seems a lot better since I had brought up the problem with the gravy before so it looks like they have addressed this.
Best regards,
Tom Mary Beth and the Furrries.
I’ve noticed the same thing, Tom: more consistency in the amounts of meat, and less gravy. My girls take longer to eat the Weruva than other brands, too – but that’s because it’s “real food” and they have to chew!
One of our kitties, Anya, takes longer to eat her Weruva chicken, too. So we sometimes actually cut up the chicken strips her the food to make the bites smaller. Then she “hoovers” it down just like Oscar. This is great food!
Ugh! My cat has enjoyed Weruva Pumpkin Jack for 8 months. Last week we found a solid bone measuring 1 1/2 inches in a food pouch. When we contacted the company owner, his response was anything but satisfactory. We will be going back to an American made product.
I’m really sorry to hear that, Judith.
Yipes!
Oh wow ……. I JUST ordered that yesterday for Casey, because he sometimes has been having bouts of loose stools. Now I’m not just concerned about that in particular but what else could go wrong if they aren’t really showing concern for this? PLEASE keep us in the loop.
I’d be really interested to read or hear from you what the owner said.
I emailed David Forman, Weruva’s president, last night, and got this response a few hours later. I hope this helps explain.
“As you may know, even tuna products for human consumption will occasionally have bones in them. In fact, some labels on human food tuna products state that the product may contain bones, and they state this because not matter how good the processing, it is impossible to remove bones 100% of the time in canned fish items. The same holds true in even the finest of restaurants that serve fish.
Though bones may be present, they become brittle during the cooking process. And similarly, on the Chicken of the Sea website regarding its salmon product that has bones, “The high heat sterilization process softens the bones and skin to the point where they can be easily mashed and blended into salads, casseroles and other delicious dishes.” The cooking process is the retort process, and we perform this as well.
Does a customer want to see bones? Probably not. It is a delicate balance. We believe in “what you see is what you get”, and this means that a customer can see and identify everything we use. We can accomplish this because we flake meat off the bone and hand pack the meat into cans. Though we have an excellent system in place, as do other tuna canning entities, despite best efforts per elite international human food processing standards, it is inevitable that bones will be present. The other option would be to completely blend our formulas, but this will eliminate the customer’s ability to identify the cuts and quality.
Thailand is a world leader when it comes to canning fish by hand, and there is limited if any hand processing of fish into cans in the US. US pet facilities manufacture by machine, and everything is blended. So certainly, in Thailand, we can blend the same exact formula and if any bones were missed in the preparation and sifting, they would not present an issue as they would not be visible after blending. And if someone claims that bones are an issue, even if blended, they will be hard pressed to find any pet food at all.
US manufacturing is rarely bone free because chicken, the most popular protein source, has an industry definition that allows chicken bones to be called “chicken” on an ingredient statement. Yes, according to the industry and law, chicken is equated to chicken bones. In that regard, manufacturers regularly use fish frames and chicken frames, both highly inclusive of bone, and they blend them into pate and they need only label them as “tuna” or “chicken”. We, of course do not go this route, one of the reasons being that we, as well as our customers, will never know the meat to bone ratio. As mentioned, we prefer “what you see is what you get” even if it means bones may be present—and we can only state this because we have an excellent system to prevent bones, albeit it is not perfect…but again, no fish processing system is.
Thanks for contacting Weruva, Ingrid, and posting their side of the story!
Funny about those bones…My sister and I started eating high-quality canned red salmon since we were old enough to eat real food. And we would always fight to get the string of vertebral bones which were in the center of each can. The were pleasantly crunchy and had a delicious, though indescribable taste. I still eat that salmon and still go for the bones, although now both my Siamese cats will also horn in to get some. The lesson here is what you heard from Weruva is correct: fish bones in properly cooked fish are edible and not harmful in any way.
I hope I’m responding to the correct post (Dee 4/28/2015) but it’s hard to tell with the way the Reply links are lined up.
Do you have links to your findings? I mean, if you’re going to call someone out on something the least you can do is provide some evidence. I did a quick search and did not find countless stories. When I told my vet about this food she admitted to never having heard of it but when she did some research, she didn’t tell me any horror stories.
For the record, we only sometimes feed our kittens Weruva now as it seems that a wet food diet was giving our Blue Chartreus diarrhea. Now that we have switched to mostly dry food, the diarrhea has gone. Our breeder told us that this breed is sensitive to rich diets and she only feeds her cats / kittens kibble.
I think you are being paid by Weruva. Everything I research…besides your site…has horror stories of cat owners who thought they were feeding their cats a good diet by feeding Weruva. But instead ended up with pets close to death. There are countless stories of kidney and liver failure after a diet of Weruva. This company is a wolf in sheeps clothing. I don’t think I’ll be following the advice on your site any longer. Be honest with your followers!
I was not paid by Weruva for this review. In cases where I am receiving compensation for product reviews, I fully disclose this. Regardless of payment received, my reviews will always reflect my honest opinion.
Dee . . . one thing I can tell you . . . . Ingrid King is honest. My observation in reading her blogs on a daily basis for the past two years has been that she is more concerned about the health and wellbeing of our cats than she is about making a buck. She works very hard to research and recommend the best products out there, and numerous times she has indicated in a review that a particular product or food might not be an ideal fit for every cat. My personal experience with Weruva has been very positive, and I received that food recommendation from reading The Conscious Cat. I feed my cats Weruva “meat only” products frequently, and have found them to be high quality and much enjoyed. Perhaps some of the other sources you are hearing from may have another agenda, but I believe that anyone who loves and respects cats like Ingrid does would never intentionally compromise their health and wellbeing for any reason.
I replied to the wrong post so here it is again in case it was missed….
Do you have links to your findings? I mean, if you’re going to call someone out on something the least you can do is provide some evidence. I did a quick search and did not find countless stories. When I told my vet about this food she admitted to never having heard of it but when she did some research, she didn’t tell me any horror stories.
For the record, we only sometimes feed our kittens Weruva now as it seems that a wet food diet was giving our Blue Chartreus diarrhea. Now that we have switched to mostly dry food, the diarrhea has gone. Our breeder told us that this breed is sensitive to rich diets and she only feeds her cats / kittens kibble.
Hi ,I have two 6 mo. Old brother & sister kittens,the female chloe is quite finicky & petite on the other hand her brother eats quite a bit,& is startig to get a little on the chunky side…. but he looks as though he’s going to be a big cat. My question is what’s the best possible economic cat food I can feed them ..their on kitten chow purina since they were 8 wks.I won’t them to be healthy ..they have been my joy since I lost my mom afew months ago…they are inside only cats ,I play with them & they play with each other.thank you for any help u can offer.
You can find my recommendations for what to feed here, Monique: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/ If you’d like a more personalized recommendation, I’d be happy to schedule a consultation with you.
Hi again Ingrid.
No problem. We can find out the specifics on the calories. That is what we thought that the pate style foods tended to have more calories. We’re going to go get Jackie some nature’s variety today since she has likedd that before. Like I said she does like the Weruva but we think she just has some trouble eating it because of her teeth. We have no idea how those teeth got broken, we found out about it when we took her to the vet several years ago, she’s always been an indoor kitty.
Well have to leave for work.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Hi all.
Well here’s an update on the gravy situation, the cases we’ve been getting have been better although some of the cans sttill have more gravy than others. Ingrid, do you have any idea right off which of the canned foods you recommend has the most calories? Our Jackie kitty is not always wanting to eat a lot of the Weruva, we think it may be because she has some broken teeth and probably has a bit of trouble chewing it. So we want to try her on some of the pate type food because that should be easier for her.
Thanks for any info.
Tom Mary Beth and the Furries.
I don’t have information on calorie counts, but I believe you can find those on most companies’ websites, Tom. Generally, the pate style foods are more calorie dense. Nature’s Variety Instinct and Hound and Gatos are two pate style foods that are on my recommended list.
Mine was switch from S/d to the C/d dry but it still has crap in it too. Since I have my girl on wet food most the time, she has been making big puddles in her kitty box. As a matter of fact, the kitty box has to be empty often n I have two for my two cats. I hope u can find something your kitties can have n like.
Joyce, yes, absolutely. Canned food is always better than dry food. Once you have the information on the calcium content of Weruva, you can start trying to gradually wean him back onto healthier food.
Ingrid ….. Since the time that I wrote last, one of my 2 cats had to have a life saving surgery called PU. By then, I had already transitioned my kids over to Weruva. They were only on it for about 4 mos when Casey (age 7) became ill. (NOTHING to do with Weruva of course)
But now the vet is pushing me to feed them a prescription food for Urinary Diet “SO” because of the concern with crystals.
After being hospitalized Casey is giving me a hassle about everything. He doesn’t gobble down the Weruva as he once did. He will avoid the SO wet food and cry for hours because he wants dry back. SO also comes in dry.
I’m at my wits end. The only wet food he will “hoover” is Fancy Feast, (never seafood at all though) and the SO dry. I had just switched from FF to the Weruva, because I also loved the Weruva ingredients and process. (I even contacted the company, as you did, with concerns & they told me basically the same thing. I was satisfied.
Now I have a cabinet full of Weruva flavors. I am trying to mix that with some Fancy Feast to persuade him to eat at all. Otherwise he’ll just whine, paw me and sulk. I don’t want him to be miserable. I just saved his life, now I’d like Is Weruva a healthy food to prevent crystals? He had the calcium type crystals which they told me is rare but I almost lost him. I will do anything for my kids, but I’ve been thrown such a curve here. I think we’re down to “lesser of the evils” at this point. Can you help me decide?
It depends on what type of stone caused your cat’s urinary problems which diet he should be eating, Joyce. Once you have that information, that will tell you what to watch out for (calcium levels, phosphorus levels, ash content, etc.) Once you have that information, you’ll have to contact Weruva to get the specific info from them. I hope this helps!
It was Calcium, the kind like humans get. The Vet said it’s rare, the type like humans get. He said Casey had a beach inside him when they opened him up. Yet, there were no symptoms until that morning. He kept hiding, which he never does. He was squatting like he was going to urinate, but not in the litter box, which he never does. I took him in immediately and his little world crashed. Luckily that surgery was a possibility and saved his beautiful life, but I don’t understand what to look for in the food. The Vet is pretty insistent on the SO Urinary diet food that they sell. That food is the very crap I didn’t want them on.
I guess I can contact Weruva again and ask, but I wish there was a guideline or some sort of list with levels for ash, calcium content, etc. suggested for a healthy urinary diet.
Thanks for getting back to me so soon.
Ask your vet about potassium citrate, Joyce. I believe it can be used to make urine less acidic, which is believed to inhibit formation of calcium oxalate crystals. You may want to consider consulting with a holistic vet, since your vet is so adamant about the SO diet.
Joyce, I like to know what u find out about the product Weruva for I am going through similar issues with my female older cat. She has had this problem for years off n on. My vet too keeps pushing that S.O mess n my cat will eat the can sometimes n won’t eat it. She also seems like she always hungry too n she is not underweight either. I try to watch her fat intake but she is a grazer when it come to eating. I am trying the Wellness and Halo but Halo. She ate the Halo except the chunks of carrots n peas which I don’t understand why they put those two in it. I probable won’t buy it again.
Good luck on getting some information of the Weruva.
I absolutely will let you know what I get back from them.
My kids were on Halo Dry sensitive (turkey) and The Weruva canned. Mostly they liked the simpler mixes like the chicken & gravy.
The SO canned went over when Casey was actually in the hospital because he was starving after not eating a few days. I stayed with him from morning to night every single day while he was there so I knew exactly what he was going through. And I had a private nurse for him at night (not that I trust the information I got from that every day but what else can you do) One morning I got there and started to feed him the SO little chunky one and he literally drew blood from me because he was ravenous. He was still so drugged that he couldn’t see well so mistook my fingers for the food. He just chomped down and tugged. But when he finally came home he slowly showed me he just didn’t like it at all. I even tried the pate texture but he is not happy. He likes the dry SO, (which I really hate giving him) so I am just going to finish off the Halo dry I have and let him have the SO dry. But the canned SO, I just can’t. I went back to the Weruva and he is just not thrilled. I have purchased some Fancy Feast (again, I’m not thrilled about that) but he’s gobbling it down. I really don’t like a dry diet so I have to give him wet. If he’ll only eat FF then it’s the lesser of the evils right?
As soon as Weruva responds to my inquiry I’ll post here. Also, I’m going to write Halo and suggest they look into a diet for urinary issues since that seems to be so common.
Best wishes!!! I hope to write again with info, soon.
I had mine on Wellness grain-free but doesn’t it contain a lot of magnesium, ash. etc? My cat gets flutd and not sure what to feed them anymore due to ingredients, high content they can’t have that may cause problems or due to recalls. I now have a tablets of tons of notes n recalls and nothing to feed them except homemade food I will have to do myself and that is not possible right now. I am so frustrated with these companies! They are both on S.O Urinary can cat food and c/d dry from their vet. I think both of these according to the ingredients is just garbage food. Help!… I thought about checking out the Tiki, Taste of the Wild and Honest kitchen foods. I think fish product foods are not good for cats with Flutd? I am lost and confused what to buy for them.
You can find some more information on what I recommend here, Debbie: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/ I hope it helps clear up some confusion.
I don’t have information on ash content for any of the diets, unfortunately, this is not usually listed on the label, so you’ll have to contact each manufacturer directly.
Thank you for the information.
I tried getting those certain ingredients from the company Merrick, but they seem to not have them. My cat loved this food too. Supposedly they are still working on it. How can a company sale items without all the UA available to the customer?
Here is what was sent to me from the above co:, “Thank you for taking the time to contact us. My apologies but the exact analysis information on our new food isn’t completed as of yet. We currently are waiting on the results from the lab. This information should be in the next few months. Feel free to check back with us and we will be able to provide that to you. Please let me know if I can assist you further.”
Of course, I was concern about them selling this without all the info, and their respond was,
“I do understand, the minimum requirements are listed on the cans as required by AFFCO. We do 3 runs of testing before the Guaranteed Analysis is complete. We will be glad to provide that information as soon as its available. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
Hopefully, they will get the rest done soon.
Hi Ingrid.
Thanks very very much for this info, I knew you had a way to contact the president of the company and he seemed very responsive before so this is exactly what I was hoping for. We will definitely look into maybe getting some of these things replaced, it should be pretty easy because frankly all of these have had way more gravy than they did when we started buying the product. We will have to see if Mary Beth can read the product codes off of some of the cans, where would you think we should send those to? You’re probably only seeing a few examples of this because you probably aren’t buying the amount that we are. I am glad to hear that it doesn’t appear that they are deliberately adding more gravy to the cans although he did not say this straight out.
Don’t get me wrong we still consider this an excellent brand and will continue to buy it but hopefully the gravy problem can get resolved and we can also find some other alternatives that may go a little further. I think I’ve mentioned before that most of our cats don’t seem to particularly like the excess gravy that is in these recent cans.
Thanks again for this information.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
We have noticed more liquid in our Weruva cans as well, although only for some varieties. The cans of tuna are more expensive than the cans of chicken, and the tuna cans also now have more water in them and less tuna, in our experience. Certainly makes me wonder.
I would contact Weruva customer service to find out how to go about getting a refund, Tom: http://www.weruva.com/drop-us-a-line.php
Hi fellow cat slaves. I wanted to point something out that Mary Beth and I have noticed lately and see if any of you are noticing the same thing.
There seems to be a lot more gravy in the chicken formula Weruva than there used to be, it is to the point that we are actually having to open extra cans because it doesn’t go as far because of all of the liquid. Also, the amount of gravy is not consistant definitely from one case to another. In my experience this should not be the case, stuff should be pretty consistant across batches. We’re still looking at alternative brands to switch out with the Weruva that are comparable in price hopefully a bit less costly. If this gravy issue continues it may force us to look for another primary food as we simply cannot afford to keep buying more and more. A friend of ours who knows something about commercial practices suggested that they may be adding more liquid because it is cheaper and they have to put a little less food in each can. Frankly with as much as they are charging for this stuff I hope this is not the case.
Best regards,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
I’ve noticed that, too, with a few cans recently, Tom, and after seeing your comment, I contacted Weruva’s president. He promptly responded with the following:
“We pride ourselves on consistency, so it is disappointing to hear that we have not met expectations. We have a triple weight check system that is designed to eliminate all underfills and overfills, but while a great system, it is not perfect.
The initial fill into the can is the gravy portion, and all cans are weighed before they are to continue in production. If there are any deviations from the product spec, the process has to start again on all cans. There are a few more weighing points along production as well that help ensure proper fill. The meat is hand placed into the can, and the can proceeds on a conveyor. It goes one of three ways when it reaches a certain point…straight if it is proper fill, one way if it is under, and another way if it is over. Cans are adjusted accordingly and are put through the checkpoint again. And once again, after making it through this point, the cans are weighed again. It is a great yet imperfect system.
If you could provide the product code from the bottom of the cans in question as well as the good cans, we can investigate the production run. We also have a 100% guarantee on all of our items, so if our products are not up to expected standards, if interested, even the empty cans may be returned to the place of purchase for a refund/credit. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
I have two year-old brothers, Jake & Elwood. They get mostly canned with a little kibble at night. They were on the Purina Pro Plan kitten food and were doing fine, but Elwood would only eat the salmon flavor.
I got them off of Pro Plan by feeding BFF and Weruva (both made by Weruva). Jake will eat just about anything, but Elwood will only eat the fish flavors. The BFF flavors all have tuna as the first ingredient, and I’m concerned that’s too much fish (although I don’t know why that is a problem). I wrote to Weruva and asked about feeding too much fish, and David Forman wrote back and said he had not heard of that being a problem. But so much of what I read says it is.
Any suggestions on what else to try? I have tried Wellness and Before Grain with no success–Elwood won’t touch it and even Jake doesn’t like it much. Tiki is way out of my price range; I can barely afford Weruva and the fact that it is so low-calorie doesn’t help. Elwood is already very slinky.
I’m not new at this cat thing–my last kitties lived to 16 and 18 and the older one had severe IBD, so I learned all about food do’s and don’ts. (I’m even a moderator on an IBD forum.) But I’ve never had a cat as picky as Elwood.
Thanks for all feedback–glad to have found this site!
Try some of the other brands I recommend in this post, Jeanne: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
This article about how to get finicky cats to eat may also help: https://consciouscat.net/2013/07/03/how-to-get-finicky-cats-to-eat/
I don’t recommend feeding fish on a regular basis, only as an occasional treat. The main reason is the concern about heavy metal contamination, but there are other concerns: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/18/does-your-cat-love-fish/
Thanks, Ingrid. I had expressed the same concern to David Forman at Weruva. Here is his response:
“Fish will have some level of mercury in them or other toxins, and we do test for mercury, histamines and pcbs. Yet, not all fish were created equally. In a nutshell, the lower on the food chain, the younger and smaller the fish, the less toxins. We use fish that meet the FDA’s list of those lower in mercury. There are many species of tuna, some of which have high levels of mercury. We use skipjack and bonito, smaller and younger species that has lower levels. So, while there will be mercury, it will be on the lower side.
As for allergies . . . I am not sure what role fish would play in developing allergies. Regarding pet food and allergies, often allergies are based upon particular cuts and quality as opposed to allergens to the general food. For instance, “chicken” in pet food has a legal definition which is “flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone”. What this means is that when you see “chicken” on a label, it may sound a lot better than “chicken by-products”, but there is no requirement that the chicken used contain a large amount of flesh…it can be nearly 100% bone. So, where a cat may thrive on chicken meat, it may have allergic reactions if the “chicken” consists primarily of bone with minimal flesh. Same with many other ingredients.”
I’m really tired of trying to get him to eat anything. I think about the cat I had as a child. My mom fed her whatever was on sale at the grocery store, and she lived to be 22! 🙂
Jeanne
Hi,
Thanks for the info. My old cat suffers from hypothyroidism and recently shown disinterest in Hill,s Y/D.
Ther are vets, DR. Person an endocrinologist who is not in favor of Y/D.
What food can I feed her, She may also be at the beginning of renal failure!!!
Thank you
Louise
I don’t like any of the Hill’s diets, Louise, they contain too many by-products, fillers like soy and corn, and other things an obligate carnivore like the cat should not have in her diet. If your cat is hyperthyroid (which I’m assuming she is if she was put on y/d, that diet would not be indicated for hypothyroidism, which is very rare in cats), she’ll need to be treated for that condition. Here’s some information on treatment options: https://consciouscat.net/2013/05/20/feline-hyperthyroidism-what-you-need-to-know/
With regards to renal failure and diet, this article may be helpful: https://consciouscat.net/2011/10/17/kidney-failure-and-diet-in-cats/
Sticker shock. I have five cats. Two are mid-teens, and one has FeLV (the youngest). All are abandoned finds. Had to put one down last Saturday due to a Saddle Thrombus. He was eight. I’ve read Friskey’s is no good (that’s the canned food I’ve been feeding them), and recently Hills brand as well. Until recently, I had only fed them Hill’s dry food and, because my my female became quite fat, the vet put her on Hill’s R/D (diet). All eat from the same bowl except Thunder, the one with FeLV (he’s isolated). It seems like that’s not a good idea. I want the best food for them, but I can’t afford it. What affordable canned food would you recommend otherwise?
I’m sorry about the kitty you lost last Saturday, Abel.
You can find the brands I recommend here: https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
The bottom line: get the best food you can afford. Any canned food is better than dry food. Your overweight cat will most likely loose weight as soon as you eliminate the dry. Look for grain-free varieties. Look for brands that don’t use by-products, artificial flavors and preservatives.
OK, I’m off to PetSmart to check out what they have. I’ll keep you posted on what goes on with the food issue. Thank you.
Hi Tim and all.
We have the same problem here, our five cats like Weruva and Tiki and the NV canned stuff but all of these seem to cost pretty much the same, actually the Weruva is more expensive if we buy it locally but we order it from petfooddirect.com and are able to save some money that way.
Unfortunately as I’ve said in other posts four out of the five cats will not eat the NV raw stuff at all which would really cut down on our food bill. We also tried the Before Grain canned stuff which is a lot cheaper but they didn’t like that either. So I guess we’re stuck buying the expensive stuff for now unless we read or hear about some other brands to try. We’re buying the cases of ten ounce cans from petfooddirect.com and we’re going through about 8 cases or so a month so you do the math.
Will be interested to hear what you hear back from the president of Weruva about those issues Ingrid. Fortunately we only feed the chicken flavor here. As has been said in previous posts it’s going to be pretty much impossible to find a canned product that is going to be absolutely perfect, if you want that then you’re probably going to have to make it yourself which we’re not quite prepared to do at this point.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Hi Ingrid,
I’ve come across this disturbing review in regards to Weruva
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1THLZ12Z32ZFS/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B008SEAEXS&nodeID=2619533011&store=pet-supplies
In short, its main concern is the use of Menadione in some of the Weruva products. Is this a legitimate concern?
Also, while Weruva looks very promising, according to catinfo.org, it doesn’t seem like its calories from protein is well suited for kittens or even cats.
I’ve passed your question on to the president of Weruva, and will let you know if I hear anything. It appears that Menadione bisodium sulfate (synthetic vitamin K) is not used in Weruva’s poultry flavors.
Mike, I received the following response from David Forman. I’d like to add that I received this response within less than an hour after I sent my inquiry to him, I’m just now posting it here:
“I am not sure the context of this [Amazon] review, but I am assuming that someone is blaming menadione for causing renal failure? Of course, anybody is free to state their opinion, and there are no requirements to back it up. So is the world of the internet and beyond.
We had one inquiry suggesting something similar, but a polite response more or less settled the issue. In particular, one of the things we pointed out was that a few kidney specific formulas that are available only at veterinary offices actually include some form of menadione. Of course, ample research under veterinary expertise and supervision, along with heavy clinical trials were performed on such formulas to deem them beneficial to the kidneys. This process, to gain approval, undoubtedly was thorough and expensive. These canned items are not fish-based, so no Vitamin K supplementation, whether natural or menadione, is needed at all. Yet menadione was nonetheless added . . . The expert formulators and veterinarians could have easily left it out, but they instead deliberately chose to include it formulas specifically for cats experiencing kidney issues . . . presumably because they felt menadione was beneficial.
Whether one agrees with it or not, menadione, is the only approved source of vitamin K supplementation into pet food, and there is no scientific information we have seen showing that it harmful to kidneys or otherwise. Here is a link which provide a brief history:
http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/newsevents/fdaveterinariannewsletter/ucm149087.htm
This one is from the FDA which states that menadione “can be added up to levels as high as 1,000 times the dietary requirement without seeing any adverse effects in animals . . .” The article notes that injections of menadione into horses may be harmful. It was injections into newborn humans in high therapeutic dosages that created issues. Injection directly into the bloodstream is far more potent than oral supplementation.
As it pertains to acute kidney failure, there are many potential causes, and it usually is not related to the food (renal failure that is gradual may be food related, such as from dry food and those with inferior protein sources). Acute renal failure may be a result of something as simple and un-thought of as anti-freeze ingestion. In the winter months, our shoes walk on streets and in parking lots, and undoubtedly, we may be tracking toxic elements into the house. Kitty may walk over this, and as they lick their paws throughout the day, some toxins may be ingested. It is very easy to “point fingers”, but there are so many variables and unturned stones when it comes to figuring out why things may or may not be happening.
I hope this is helpful.”
Wanted to like Weruva canned because the cats like it, but I can’t get past that the ingredients and manufacturing are from SE Asia, despite the rationalizations from the company I found here. If I’m going to buy something and accept the usual concerns with stuff made in China or SE Asia, such as quality control, low wage laborers and minimal environmental protections, then I definitely expect a bargain price. Instead, Weruva is among the most expensive cans on the shelf:-( I have the same issue with Tiki Cat, though it is at least average in price. Sad part is, my cats like both, but won’t touch some other products I wanted to like, such as Honest Kitchen raw or Ziwi Peak air dried. They sometimes will eat Nature’s Variety Instinct canned and frozen raw. Same with Primal raw, some days they eat it all, some days not. They just aren’t crazy about them like some other premium canned foods that they gobble up completely every time. Pretty unusual that they both generally agree and turn their noses up at the same stuff. They still like their kibble, but at least we got them off the mass market crud the breeder fed and have them on some reasonably priced premium kibble.
I have the same misgivings about diets being manufactured in Asia (Tiki Cat is made in Thailand as well), Tim, but I still think Weruva is a great food and I have been impressed with the company president’s openness to answering my questions. I’d encourage you to completely wean your cats off dry food – even premium dry food is still dry food, and it’s just not good for cats.
Thank you for the comments! Yes fortunately between the NV Instinct frozen and Primal frozen and a couple premium canned foods they don’t eat nearly as much kibble. The kibble is a grain-free variety with good ingredients, but weaning them completely from it is unlikely as I’m not the only one who feeds them… Finding a company that uses ingredients only from North America (or even New Zealand or Europe) and manufactures premium grain-free kibble in their own plant isn’t too difficult. Finding the same in a canned food is much tougher for some reason, and almost impossible to find one that our cats also like and doesn’t cost a fortune.
The Primal raw frozen turkey is nice because it’s only $18 for the 48 oz nuggets at the local store, but as I said, the cats will eat it but aren’t all t hat crazy about it. The NV raw frozen chicken is only a little more but similar results. The canned food they love is as expensive as the Weruva cans, and while made in USA with USA ingredients, I believe the company outsources it to a co-packer which may be a drawback of its own. Perhaps not as much as outsourcing to a co-packer in the far east that uses ingredients from Asia, though. Either way, the cats likely eat better than I do!
Hi Tim,
I believe that it is mentioned elsewhere and on the Weruva site that there are benefits for the food being manufactured in Thailand (in that they are FDA recognized, and manufactored to strict quality assurance as human food is produced there for the rest of the world). All in all, I would not worry about that too much. Between the recalls in the United States, politics regarding quality control in the United States (stuff like eggs), and the Monsanto theories, we really have no idea or control over the differences in production location of the foods we and our pets eat.
Sure, every company is going to rationalize their choice to make their product in Asia or to use questionable ingredients, simply because they save money doing it. If it wasn’t for money, it’s a heck of a lot easier to source your food and just about any other product domestically. Yes, they’ll all claim the quality is great, the oversight is the same, the labor and environmental standards are equal and that their suppliers and ingredients are thoroughly inspected. I personally don’t believe it. I’m not saying that things are ideal in the USA, Canada, New Zealand or other countries, but you know, I appreciate that we do at least have more oversight and recalls in these countries. Maybe this one plant in Thailand is the exception? Perhaps it is, but for all the factors people will use to avoid feeding a particular food to their pets (or themselves), I’m sticking with made in China/Asia as the biggest one. Seriously, why bother with all the extra concerns when so many great products can be found that are made in in the USA, Canada or New Zealand, and many in a plant owned by the company itself that also avoids additional pitfalls of having your recipe co-packed by a third party? Now if Weruva cans were $1 a can, maybe I’d have a different opinion, but at $2.50 a can, they are as expensive or more expensive than many premium foods that are not made in Asia!
I agree with you up to a point, Tim. Let me first state that I have no stake in whether anyone feeds Weruva or not, I just believe, based on my research, that it is one of the better foods out there. That being said, I, too, prefer brands that are sourced and manufactured in the US. However, the sad reality is that no food system is 100% safe, as the frequent recent recalls in the US have shown. The best we can do, as consumers, and as responsible cat parents, is to educate ourselves about the food we eat and feed our cats, and make informed decisions.
Thank you, Ingrid, Good points. I didn’t mean to belabour the issue, but like me, I suspect many other readers find webpages like this one just because they are concerned about pet food problems. To say that one should not worry about foods made in asia, as suggested earlier, seems contrary to this purpose. Yes, there are problems in the USA as well, but at least you quickly hear about them once a link to the food chain has caused illness. I doubt you can say as much for most countries in Asia, where such problems are likely never to be noticed or investigated at all, and likely swept under the rug if they are ever found. For example, if the melamine supplied from China had not caused illnesses in the USA, do you think we’d have ever even known if it caused sicknesses or deaths in foods used in Asia? Probably not! Having control over your own production in a domestic location IS a big deal in every industry. The difference is that when your iPhone breaks, you get it covered under warranty or buy a new one. When your pet breaks, it’s not so easy. As I said, if I’m paying a premium for a top rated food, I’d just prefer to have it sourced in a more reputable country. Fortunately, there are number of great alternatives listed on the best food page that aren’t manufactured in Asia! https://consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
aww, sorry to hear about your kitties Yana but glad to hear they are doing better. I’m convinced that the information I’ve found on this site litterally saved little Saul’s life. I won’t go over all his past issues again since I’ve been writing about them for the last six months but suffice it to say that getting him on a good quality canned food and probiotic has basically cured all of his problems. He still gets a little crud in the corners of his eyes from the herpes but that is all.
We really like the freeze dried raw treats/food from Stella and Chewy’s, all the cats love them even though they will not eat any other raw. Saul is the only one of our five who will eat raw but then he’ll eat damn near anything if we let him. Now that we’ve had them all on the Weruva mostly for a couple months now I am thinking about maybe trying a little of the raw stuff from Nature’s Variety, we’ve got some in the freezer. I’ve been a bit hesitant to try it since our other male cat Speedy puked after eating some, but it was sort of mixed with some other canned stuff to get him to eat it, we were still working on getting them off dry. All these cats except of course Saul are former hard core dry food junkies. I will look into that stuff you mentioned.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Hey,
If you have sick kitties, you might want to try topping your food with Ziwi Peak Venison…it is from New Zealand and is slow dried raw. Yes, I know, dry, but it literally cured my kitties (who I couldn’t convince to eat raw). My cats were rescue babies and were very sick with herpes. They always had drippy noses, eyes, asthma, panting…it was awful. We tried Lysine, a variety of supplements, nothing seemed to help much. Then I bought some Ziwi Peak at our local natural food store thinking maybe they would eat it as it was kind of a jerky, treat quality. They loved it and, three weeks later, they were getting much better, just a little panting after some play. We thought, is it the food? Took them off..back came all symptoms within a week…that was it for me. I put them back on Ziwi and they were fine. After a year, one started vomiting after the meal we topped with Ziwi regularly, so I suspected a food allergy and took them off, but at that point, they were off all other supplements, and their symptoms never recurred. I have been feeding Weruva..but they are addicted to the fish ones…love the idea of mixing with chicken! Yay! I also am going to get the Nature’s Variety raw bites and see if warming a little and then mixing with their food would help. I want those raw enzymes back in their diets. One of them has been vomiting a bit too much lately, but we have been feeding them some dry (a mix of Epigen and Origen). We always have, but they are getting older and I don’t want them to develop intestinal problems. My last two cats died at ten with intestinal lymphoma within 3months of each other..I was an idiot back then feeding them Friskies. I could cry thinking about it.
Freeze-dried raw food, like the Ziwi Peak you used, is different from dry kibble, – it’s a good option without any of the issues of dry kibble. It sounds like you’re doing everything right, Yana! I’m sorry about your two kitties. Unfortunately, for many of us, it’s an experience like that that makes us research better quality food for our cats.
Well here’s a minor update, we checked out the Soulistic, it does look real close to the Weruva, the main difference seems to be that the I think third and fourth ingredients are sunflower seed oil and locust bean gum whatever that is, it also has guar gum and carrageenan. As mentioned it doesn’t have potato starch so I guess it’s probably one of those cases of six of one versus half a dozen of the other. Is it more liquidy than the Weruva? Speedy seems to like the dryer stuff like the Tiki. How much are you guys paying for this, at our petco it was $1.49 for a 5 ounce can.
Thanks again for all the info.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Locust bean gum, guar gum and carrageenan are all binders. I’m surprised to see all three in the same food. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t answer the question about liquid vs. not.
We’re going to drop by petco today and check out what flavors of soulistic they have, Speedy is still being a pill and not consistantly wanting to eat the chicken Weruva. We’re going to see if maybe they have a turkey one or something that might be more interesting for him. Will let you guys know how it goes.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Hi. Ok we’ll likely check this out as an alternative/addition to the weruva, it’s always good to have options even though the Weruva is working pretty well.
I was told by the founder of Weruva that Weruva and Soulistic are sister brands. Both are produced under the same processing standards and the quality of ingredients and sourcing are very similar.
I will be very interested to hear what you think of that brand and whether we should give it a try Ingrid. If we could reduce our costs some by ordering a little less from petfooddirect.com every month and at the same time give them some alternatives to try that would be great. We are having some difficulty with our one guy Speedy. I think you guys are correct, he is just not always real nuts over the chicken. He will eat it but he gets distracted and goes away from his plate easily. We can sometimes stimulate him with some of the Stella and Chewy dehydrated stuff put on the plate. So we need to do something to get him to eat better. Overall the kitties are doing well though.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
It looks almost identical to Weruva, Tom.
I have been using Soulistic Good Karma Chicken Dinner – it’s made by Weruva and it does seem very similar – no potato starch, it contains tapioca instead. Made in the same facility, human grade, etc. One difference is that it contains more water (which isn’t always a bad thing) and the price is significantly less. It is carried exclusively by Petco. They make a lot of different fish flavors too, but I stick with the chicken.
I haven’t taken a close look at the Soulistic brand, but I will – thanks for mentioning it, Kathy.
Hi all.
Hope all who observe it have a good Memorial Day. The kitties continue to do well here on the Weruva except for Speedy who seems to have decided he doesn’t want to eat it these days although he does go out and sniff the plates we put out for the others. We’re still not quite sure which of the other brands that have been talked about on here and elsewhere are what we’re going to try. I seem to recall a friend of mine telling me that you could get one of the brands mentioned here at Costco for a pretty decent deal so I intend to do some looking into that.
In the meantime we have some of the chicken and some of the fish Weruva left. As some of you all will remember a couple of the cats got sick after eating just the fish flavor for a few days. We will change our recurring order from petfooddirect.com so as not to include any more however this stuff is too expensive to not use it at all. My idea is to kind of split it up and put a couple servings of the fish and a couple of the chicken out so we will gradually use it up hopefully without giving them too much of the fish. Of course if they get sick again we will just have to not use it unless we can figure out who can tolerate it and give it to them separately once in a while. Does this seem like a reasonable approach and have any of you had to try anything similar?
Best regards,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Since they seem to not have tolerated the fish flavors the first time, I would not feed them again, even in small quantities. PetfoodDirect.com will let you return unused product.
Tom – my cats won’t eat the chicken alone. I found that if I added just a tiny bit of the tuna to the chicken and mixed it up (just enough for flavoring) they would eat it. The chicken is so bland that the fish flavor overtakes it, even if just a very tiny bit is used. they think they are eating tuna, but they are mainly getting chicken.
I’m finding that my girls don’t always go crazy for the chicken, and I think you’re right Kathy, it’s probably pretty bland.
Hi ingrid and all.
Yeah I’m finally starting to think we eventually will although we are not there yet. Since we’ve switched back to the Weruva chicken the cats are eating it a bit more slowly than they were before we tried the fish. Speedy is being particularly difficult about going back to the chicken, he is not wanting to eat it very much. I’ve found a way to bribe him, what I tried is putting a little of the stella and chewy freeze dried stuff in the Weruva and that gets him to eat some. We’ll probably have to go get more of that tomorrow as we’re on the last small bag and I’m getting the feeling we may have to do this for a bit before he will eat the chicken by itself. All this has probably just been too much change for the poor guy, that plus the fish flavor making him sick earlier last week has I think kind of turned him off to the whole damn thing. Not real worried yet as we are able to bribe him to eat.
That is strange about the before grain, and that is funny that your girls don’t like it either. To me it seems fairly similar to the nature’s variety so I’m not sure why our cats don’t like it but they don’t. Hopefully we’ll have luck with one of these other brands.
Best,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Hi Ingrid and all.
Well over the last couple of days a couple of the cats have been intermitently throwing up after eating the fish flavor so I think we are going to discontinue feeding that except maybe very occasionally. We have since gone back to the chicken which has Speedy annoyed because of the change so he didn’t want breakfast today. I’ll offer him some of the chicken maybe this afternoon to see if he is interested. Haven’t had time to investigate the nature’s logic orthe Tiki Cat that you recommended as possible alternatives but we will get to it. It’s unfortunate they did not like the before grain food as that seems pretty decent and is pretty affordable. Even Saul didn’t snarf it up the way he does the Weruva or Nature’s Variety. Might be willing to try some of the other flavors of that sometime.
So that’s how things stand for now.
Best,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
You’re better off not feeding fish anyway, Tom. I know it’s a process, but you’ll get there. For what it’s worth, my girls aren’t crazy about the Before Grain, either.
Hi Ingrid, yeah us too. Speedy doesn’t puke often at all, just the very occasional fur ball even though he’s a long haired kitty so when he does we pay serious attention to it. Everyone is fine and wanting breakfast this morning so not sure what the deal was yesterday.
Best,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Well the cats continue to do pretty well on mostly the Weruva. Something kind of weird happened yesterday, both Saul and Speedy puked in the morning, Saul was fine shortly and wanted breakfast but Speedy was under the weather for most of the day. If he wasn’t better by today we’d have taken him in but he ate fine last night.
We’re definitely going to look at some of the brands like the nature’s logic that you mentioned, the cats are still technically not eating as much of the Weruva as they should, we tried increasing their meals to a half cup each per meal instead of the quarter we were trying at first but they didn’t finish it so we split the difference and dropped to a third and they’re pretty much finishiing that. I think I may be noticing some weight loss in Jackie and Speedy which won’t hurt either of them as they were a little overweight, but I don’t think it is good for them to lose weight to quickly and I’ll feel better when I am sure they’re getting the calories they need. I suspect they just get full on the Weruva sooner than they did on the old dry stuff because of the real meat in it. Will keep you all posted.
Best,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
I’m glad the vomiting was just an isolated incident, Tom
Hi Ingrid and all,
Tom and I both thank you for all the help and suggestions to articles to read and whatnot. I am about to read about the foods the one lady suggests in a bit here.
This has been quite a journey but one so worth it. Saul is our food hog here at the homestead. As Tom told you Speedy got sick the one time we tried to combine the Weruva with the raw. That was a huge failure but such is life when you are trying new things. Speedy has been afraid of the Weruva since that night but since we had some of the Natures Variety we were able to give him that. This made Speedy a happy camper for sure.
Last night and today Speedy has decided that the Weruva is once again ok. What a good boy. They are all getting faster at eating the food when meal time comes around. It is going to take time as you have said many times Ingrid but for sure they are doing so much better then I could have ever expected. We look forward to finding a good compermise regarding an affordible food but I think in the end we are going to have very happy and healthier cats. Already we see a huge difference in how they look physically and their coats are shinier then they have ever been.
I hate to throw food away so we are using the dry food to attrack the strays we are wanting to send off to no kill shelters which accomplishes two things. We will get rid of the dry stuff we spent so much money on and we will get the stray cats out of the area as well. Might as well put the dry junk to some good use.
I will have to post a video on Twitter for you Ingrid to show how excited they all get at meal time. It is amazing to watch them and I know you have already heard the clip Tom did a while back. It sure makes me happy to see them doing so much better.
It gets frustrating some days and we wonder why we started all of this but our resolve is strong. We are not giving up no matter what.
Thanks again for all the wonderful info.
Mary Beth, Tennyson, Tom, and all our fur kids.
Hi Ingrid and all.
Well we tried to supplement the weruva with some of the nature’s variety raw this evening and it was not a resounding success I’m afraid. Most of our guys ate it albeit somewhat slowly, Saul was the only one who snarfed his up as usual. Unfortunately it made our older male Speedy puke shortly after he ate so I guess we won’t be doing that any more.
So the way I think it stands right now, we have found that they do well on both the Weruva and the nature’s variety canned, however looking at the feeding amounts I have we are thinking we are probably going to be forced to compromise somehow at least with the other four. Saul we absolutely have to keep on one of these brands as they are the only things he’s done well with and he’s doing better now than he has in his whole life. We are committed to keeping all of them on canned if we can even if it means putting the other four on a brand that is maybe not quite as good as these two but is a little more affordable. I am open to suggestions from anyone on what they like that is at least grain free and pretty good. I figure anything we put them on like this will be way ahead of giving them the kibble we were giving them before.
This definitely gets frustrating at times when you have this many kitties that you feel obligated to do the best you can for. We can see why some give up and go back to the kibble, at least they eat it and it is affordable but after all I’ve read on this site an elsewhere we refuse to do that.
So that’s where things are at the moment.
Regards,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
I’m glad you’re holding firm no not returning to dry food, Tom. In addition to Weruva and Nature’s Variety, I also like Nature’s Logic and Tiki Cat (I prefer the chicken flavors, use fish only as an occasional treat) for canned foods. You may want to take a look at this list from Liz Eastwood – I trust Liz’s judgment, even though I have not researched all of the diets she lists myself: http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/
Hi Ingrid and all.
Oh thanks much for reminding me of that, I had forgot about that in the review. We’ll look at the flavors we have and see what the calories are in it. Either way I think it is good we have found a brand they are
doing well on, we will just have to figure out a way to get them what they need at a price we can afford, so we may need to come up with either some alternatives or additions to this stuff. We have some of the nature’s variety raw patties and we gave them a mid-day snack yesterday to see if we could get them to eat the raw stuff, they seem less hungry this morning so maybe that was a good idea. So we’re still kind of figuring this out but we are definitely making progress.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries
Hi Ingrid,
When you tested the Weruva, did you follow the manufacturer’s amounts that they recommended? Our friend was reading those amounts and it says that you should give them an ounce of food per pound that the cat weighs, right now we are giving them way less than that. We’re currently giving each cat about four ounces a day, we want to make sure we aren’t starving them or anything.I am sure they would eat more if we offered it.
Best,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
You have to be careful with Weruva – as I mentioned in the review, it’s much lower in calories than other brands. The average 10 pound cat should eat somewhere in the vicinity of 170-200 calories. Some of the 5.5 oz cans have less than 150 calories. Of course, every cat’s metabolism is different, so you have to take that into account, too. But with Weruva, you’re definitely going to want to feed larger amounts than with some of the other brands out there.
Hi all.
Well the cats are taking to the Weruva pretty well. This is of course a different kind of food than they have ever had, what they tend to do is to lap up the gravey then eat the chunks separate. Don’t know if others have had this experience with their kitties. They’re gradually getting better about eating it up, it was taking about an hour when we started a couple days ago for them to get done, it went much quicker tonight. Saul had been being a bit slower than usual but tonight he snarfed his whole plate up like he usually does. We are having to make sure that all of them are getting enough a couple tend to want to walk away and come back and if they do then the ones who are pigs will come up an devour the rest. This is a bit of a challenge with five cats like we have but we are not real worried we can see this is very doable.
Just for the heck of it here is a link to an audio file I put up so you can hear how enthusiastic they are for the new food. Sorry this is audio only.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2104500/The%20cats%20wanting%20there%20Weruva.WMA
Best regards,
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Now that’s a testament to how much they like the food, Tom!
I hear this quite a bit about cats taking longer to eat the Weruva than other diets. I’m sure it’s the texture – it’s more like real food, and they have to chew it!
The six cases of Weruva we ordered showed up yesterday, pretty impressive shipping. We’re going to try the chicken formula this morning and see first if the cats like it and second whether it agrees with little Saul. Will let you all know how things go.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Thank you so much for this informative review. I worked in an independent pet food store in Arlington, Va before I moved to Alabama a couple of years ago. I sent this review to the store owner because I remember having a few customers who were concerned about the fact that Weruva is made in Thailand. Weruva is, in my humble opinion, the best food you can feed your cat if you can’t feed raw.
Yes definitely, thanks for the info about the small bites Anjali. Something to keep in mind if we do have to put Saul back on the raw food. We got a bunch of the Weruva on order from petfooddirect.com so we will see how that goes when we get it. We definitely saved quite a bit of money going this route and getting the 10 ounce cans, we will have to see if this is something we can sustain long term.
Saul’s soft stool issues have continued with the Before Grain despite the probiotic so obviously there’s something in it that isn’t agreeing with him. We’re picking up some of the nature’s variety instinct canned today to hold them over until the Weruva gets here and he did well on that before. As I said if we can’t get it to resolve any other way we’ll put him back on the raw stuff since he did great on that. So that’s where things are for now.
Tom Mary Beth and the Furries.
Hi Ingrid, yes indeed I went on Amazon right away and bought a couple bottles of the dr. goodpets per your recommendation and he is getting that. We’ll just see what happens over the nesxt day or so, the soft stools aren’t real bad, nothing like the diarrhea he had before, he isn’t even getting his fur dirty, it just isn’t nice and normal like it was on the Nature’s variety and the smell about knocks you over which isn’t like it was either.
Thanks so much for the reminder about the other types of frozen raw food, we saw those at the store and yes those would be easier to deal with for one cat. We just can’t see dealing with those big tubes in the fridge if he’s the only one eating it, plus I’m sure you shouldn’t have that in the fridge more than a couple days.
Will keep you posted.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Hi all.
Well here’s the latest update in the food saga. We went to a local store yesterday and picked up some of the Weruva cats in the kitchen flavors in the 3 ounce pouches because that was all the store carries. We stayed away from the fish for now and from the ones with pumpkin in them that just sounded kind of weird. In addition to these we picked up some of the Before Grain canned food. We did that because they didn’t have enough of the Weruva to keep us going until we get something online. The ingredients looked pretty good in the before grain and the store had it for a pretty good price compared to some of the other grain free stuff.
All the cats loved the Weruva when we gave it to them last evening so that is a good thing. We tried some of the before grain this morning, they didn’t seem to like that quite as well but they did eat all of it so we’ll keep trying it and see if they get used to it. Saul had some minor soft stool issues this morning but with all the switching around from raw to canned I’m not real surprised and it doesn’t seem at all serious. Of course if he continues to have it we’ll need to figure out what isn’t agreeing with him and eliminate it. If necessary we can go back to giving him the raw stuff but we’d rather not do that for one cat because we’re afraid he wouldn’t use up a tube quick enough.
So, looks like we’re making progress here.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
I’m not surprised that they love the Weruva!
If you only want to keep Saul on raw, you can get the nuggets/medallions from Nature’s Variety – then you can easily thaw out smaller portions.
As for the soft stools, I can’t remember whether you’re using a probiotic? If not, I’d recommend adding that to their food. I like Dr. Goodpet’s Feline Digestive Enzymes.
You can get even smaller portions from Nature’s Variety. They have a new “raw bites” option, small pieces that thaw quickly. Our Teddy likes them. Ingrid wrote about them here: https://consciouscat.net/2012/10/03/natures-variety-instinct-raw-bites-make-raw-feeding-easier-than-ever/
I forgot about the Raw Bites, Anjali – thanks for letting Tom (and me!) know!
Thanks for the advice both Ingrid and Anjali. I too would worry if going for 18 to 24 hours was something that went on routinely even though it probably does them no physical harm I agree it probably means they really don’t like what we’re trying to do.
Speedy is a big kitty but not seriously overweight, chasing Saul around keeps him pretty active. We really hate to see him picking at his food and obviously not really liking it, we are in fact going to go pick up some of the Weruva today and see if he likes that any better. All of them really liked the nature’s variety canned grain free, I just wish to hell they had it in the big cans, I guess there may be some people that spend 300 bucks a month on cat food but that’s not something we are able to do. Will let you know how it goes with the Weruva.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Well, things are pretty much where they were the last time I wrote except that we’re a little concerned about Speedy our other male cat. He appears to really not be liking the frozen stuff at all. He’ll eat a very little bit each meal but not much and generally just doesn’t seem very interested in it. I’ve tried heating the food up just a bit in the microwave, we’re actually doing that for all of them, I know some claim that the microwave will destroy nutriants, this is undoubtedly true if you cook things in it, one reason why we don’t, the other is most things cooked in a microwave taste nasty. However just the few seconds of E.M. radiation should not be sufficient to do much damage. The other cats seem to like it a bit better if it’s warmed, we cannot tell yet if that makes any appreciable difference with Speedy. I’ve also tried putting just a few nibbles of his dry food with the frozen, this helps a little but only a little.
I know it has been under a week and we’re probably worrying too much about this. We are going to go pick up some of the Weruva tomorrow and see if he likes that better but I do hope we can get him to eat this stuff too. Of course if he was not eating anything we would give him some of his dry in 18 to 24 hours but since he’s eating a little we are trying not to give in. We’re hopin if he gets good and hungry he will decide to eat it.
Tom Mary Beth and the Furries.
I just read your comment, and I sympathize. We have five cats, and one will hold out for tuna Weruva and starve herself without it. Yup. We finally found some flavors of Wellness that she will eat, but she actually held out a long time, eating very little, and then when we went back to tuna, she ate so fast, she threw up. I felt terribly guilty. My vet feeds his cats raw/frozen food, but one cat he recently adopted just never took to the raw food. So he doesn’t give it to her. So far, only one of our cats will eat raw food, but we keep trying. Another vet friend told me that if a cat goes without eating, there can be a danger of fatty liver syndrome. So I would actually worry if my cat went 18-24 hours without eating.
Anjali, fatty liver disease is a serious concern if cats stop eating, but unless a cat is overweight, going without food for 18-24 hours should not be a concern. Here’s more about fatty liver disease: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/25/how-to-your-cat-off-dry-food/
Thank you for clarifying that, Ingrid. I should’ve added that I’m not giving veterinary advice, as I’m not a veterinarian! My vet did worry about Luna not eating, and she is a big cat. But I, personally, would not feel comfortable allowing any of our cats to go 18-24 hours without eating on a regular basis. If they do that, they’re telling me something. I want them to have a healthy diet, but I also want them to enjoy their lives. So I would try something different, mix the raw with the regular food, and so on. I don’t want to force them to eat something they hate because they are starving and have no choice. I appreciate all the advice and options you give people in your wonderful blog! Keep it up! 😀
Unless Speedy is overweight, as long as he eats something each day, you probably don’t have to worry. Here are some other tricks to get him to accept the raw food: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/25/how-to-your-cat-off-dry-food/
Raw feeding purists advise against warming food in the microwave, but I don’t think 15 seconds of warming a plate of food can really do that much damage. I think warming up the food does make a difference. My cats either won’t touch the raw food when it’s straight out of the fridge, or they’ll vomit it right back up if they do eat it when it’s too cold.
Hi Ingrid.
Ok thanks much, yes I thought that was what you said and we will do our best to avoid that. We’re still looking at the Weruva as a possible alternative or addition to feeding this frozen stuff from Nature’s Variety because we can get it in the 12.5 ounce cans. We’ve found a reasonable way to deal with the frozen, basically we take the thawed food out of the tube, put it in a ziplock bag and then use a 1/4 cup measurer to measure out 2 ounce portions. This works pretty well because I of course cannot cut the tube at the lines they give you to specify amounts.
So far, all the cats are eating it but with the exception of little fiend Saul not super enthusiastically. At least they are eating it and I’d say they are getting a couple ounces a day so nobody is going to starve to death at that rate I don’t think. Saul would eat everyone’s if we let him.
So that’s where things are for now.
Tom Mary Beth and the Furries.
Hi Ingrid, yes I saw that not all of the Wellness were grain free, thanks for reminding me though. So, even though I realize having the carrageenan isn’t ideal the grain free ones are pretty good otherwise?
Thanks so much.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
I prefer diets without carrageenan, Tom.
Hi Ingrid, ok thanks for explaining what the aspic is. We found a couple stores here that have the weruva, one only has the three ounce packets and the other has to order it, the good news is they can order the 12.5 ounce cans. So depending on how much we need to buy we may give that a try, of course we don’t want to have to order too much in case they don’t like it.
Are the Wellness flavors pretty good other than having the carrageenan in them? I know we should try to avoid that but there may be times when we can’t so we want to at least give them something that’s good otherwise.
Well it’s about the same today, Saul is a fiend for his nature’s variety, he’d eat everybody’s if we didn’t stop him. The others are eating it but not as enthusiastically, we hope this improves over time.
Well that’s all for now.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Look for the grain-free Wellness flavors, Tom – not all of their products are grain-free.
We recently tried the Weruva Cats in the Kitchen and love it! However, the mom is not thrilled about the fact that it is made in Thailand and taurine is sourced from China despite what the company says…she did not know that before she bought the Weruva.
We like Tiki Cat too…but most of their flavors are fish based and the mom does not want us to eat a lot of fish so we don’t get Tiki Cat much.
Your concerns about Thailand and China are why I addressed this with the company’s owner. I believe Tiki Cat is made in Thailand as well. I have not researched the brand enough to know whether they source anything from China.
Hi all, I’m sorry it’s been a long while for those who were waiting to see what Weruva’s responded when I asked them about their diet compared to the SO Urinary Diet the Vet placed Casey Jones on. Weruva never responded. In the meantime Casey got an infection at the surgical site (6 mos after PU surgery) Turns out he is fine and the traces of proteins in his urine were artifact. Less than .2%.
In any case, he is on a strict NO DRY diet. Not even the SO from Royal Canin. The NEW Vet (for many reasons, I finally changed the hospital & Vet) But she wants him to eat the Royal Canin SO canned diet. Unfortunately Casey went from a completely Weruva Canned Diet to only eating Fancy Feast. (I started going backwards along his diet historty & landed on his very first food as a kitten) I was sickened by his insistence. But he HAD to eat something and is not an avid water drinker, be damned all our fountains and aerators) So, giving him back the RC S/O Dry was not a good option although the Vet preferred that I do that. I wish that somebody could give me a hint as to what canned food would be a great alternative to Royal Canin Dry or Wet. I wish Weruva could have helped me. Why is it that the best foods don’t have a line of foods for cats with health issues? Anyway, Casey is healed now. On the tail end of his antibiotics but no kidney issues or anything negative to report. Clean bill of health but going forward I want him & my Maggie May on a clean healthy plan. Any advice?
I would work with a holistic vet to help you find an appropriate diet for Casey. Services like petdiets.com and balanceit.com can help you formulate a homemade diet. Here’s more information on homemade diets: https://consciouscat.net/2013/01/14/cooking-for-your-cat-how-to-make-a-balanced-homemade-diet/
My cat, Princess Diana, used to like Paul Newman’s cans of wet food. The she suddenly stopped liking every flavor. GRRRR! I got her some IAMS senior food in desperation but she only wants dry food now. And she loves Friskie’s treats. She is not overweight and is about 9 years old. Any suggestions on how to please my picky eater?
This article has some tips on how to wean cats off of dry food, and also includes some suggestions on how to deal with finicky eaters, Lisa: https://consciouscat.net/2011/07/25/how-to-your-cat-off-dry-food/
I’d do everything you possibly can to get her off the dry food and on a brand with better ingredients (no by-products and no grains).
I want her to eat wet food. I worry more about her diet than I do my own,
Aspic? I’ve not heard of that yet.
Yes we are very pleased so far, this was the beef that they got today, that’s what Mary Beth got in the samples, we have yet to try the chicken.
Tom Mary Beth and the furries.
Aspic is the gel-like sauce in some of the formulas.
Hi Ingrid and all.
Mary Beth went to the store today and looked over the food choices, we have found that the Wellness foods do have carrageenan in them which I know is not ideal. However as has been said you’re just not going to find canned food that is exactly the way you want it, truthfully probably the only way you’re going to get exactly what you want is to make it yourself, something we are considering doing eventually but we’re not there yet.
In addition to the wellness, she picked up some samples of the nature’s variety instinct raw frozen stuff and we’re trying them on that too. Depending on how they do they may be getting that pretty often because the ingredients looked pretty good and it is economically pretty viable for us. It has some vegies and stuff but pretty much any commercial food we can get around here is going to. Saul scarfed his up immediately, the others aren’t quite as sure but nobody turned their noses up at it. Will keep you guys posted.
Tom Mary Beth and the Furries.
The Weruva flavors with gravy do not have carrageenan, but anything with aspic does. That’s great that Saul took to the raw right away. Nature’s Variety is a pretty good choice as their raw food is 95% meat. Keep me posted!
I used to like Weruva and throw it into the mix sometimes, but one thing I don’t like is that they use potato starch, at least in their chicken formulas. Also, I just realized that they use xanthan gum, and I just read about this problematic ingredient on one of Dr. Karen Becker’s website http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/04/15/xantham-gum.aspx.
Do you like Tiki Cat, Ingrid? It seems very similar to Weruva.. too much so maybe. However, they don’t use potato starch or xantham gum. Also, the cans are packed with chicken, unlike the Weruva which has a lot of liquid/gravy in it. It seems that you get more for the money with Tiki. I noticed the chicken flavors do say “chicken broth” after chicken, and I do wonder what that means. I think I’ll contact them to find out what’s in this broth, as I hear that can be a hidden source of MSG.
Anyway, it’s nearly impossible to find a “perfect” canned food. I’m currently using Life’s Abudance Instinctive Choice, Lotus, Nature’s Variety Instinct, a little bit of Tiki Cat, occasionally Fromm. I’ve been dabbling with raw foods, and just tried a sample packet of Stella & Chewy’s, and my kitty Izzy LOVED it! But all commercial food is going to have pros and cons, and I guess we’ll just try to feed the best that’s available for our beloved kitties. Until I’m ready to start making cat food myself, I guess that’s all I can do. 🙂
I’m not crazy about the use of xanthan gum, Elaine, but like you said, it’s almost impossible to find a perfect canned food. By definition, all canned foods are processed, and ultimately, the less processed a diet, the better it is – for cats, and for us! However, not everyone is comfortable feeding raw of homecooked diets, which is why I try to find commercial foods that meet most of my requirements for a good diet.
I haven’t looked closely at Tiki Cat, but at first glance, it looks like a good brand to me.
I’ll just second what Mary Beth said, that being we’re definitely glad we found this site. We’re currently giving Saul one of the Nature’s Variety foods but we are probably going to switch to the wellness mainly because we can get the more economical 12.5 ounce cans as opposed to the 5.5 ounce cans which unfortunately seem to be the norm for a lot of cat food. As I’ve said on here if I’ve done my math correctly switching all five of our cats to a food in the 5.5 ounce cans at the prices I’ve seen would result in our spending over $300 a month on food. While nobody wants to put a price tag on taking care of their kitties, money is a reality and spending that much would not be either a practical or a financially responsible thing for us to do. So hopefully the kitties will do well on the wellness brand, damn I can’t believe I wrote that. Must not have enough coffee in my system yet. We may investigate some of the frozen foods from nature’s variety and others and the Weruva too and see how that is packaged and see if we can find a good combination that is not too outrageously expensive.
Despite all the issues he’s had we’re really glad we took in little Saul. Frankly if we hadn’t we probably would have just kept going on like we had been before.
Well guess I oughta get ready for work.
Tom Mary Beth and the Furries.
Mary Beth and Tom, I completely understand that economics come into play when choosing food for our cats. I always tell people to feed the best food they can afford. And it doesn’t have to be all or nothing (well, with the exception of never feeding dry food) – get a brand you’re financially comfortable with, and occasionally feed something a little more premium. I recommend rotation feeding for many reasons: https://consciouscat.net/2012/06/14/rotation-diet-for-cats/
We feed Weruva and Wellness canned food. The cats do fine. Only one of our cats will eat raw food so it’s the next best thing. We love our kitties, would love for them to all switch to raw in a perfect world, but we do the best we can (no pun intended).
LOL Anjali!
I smiled as I saw this post. Tom and I are in the process of putting our five cats on a better food. We plan to cook food when we can but money is an object that won’t last forever. We just bought some of the Natures Varity grain free canned food. Saul as Tom has told you has lots of issues with digesting food and has had lots of problems with diaria since he was little. Not even 24 hours after being on the new food he is a totally different cat. I cannot strongly enough encourage people to take a good look at the articles you have here that we just read yesterday. One thing is for sure, our cats by far are eating better then us humans. Grin!
We are sure glad we found your site.
Mary Beth, Tom, Saul who loves his new food, and the other four who can’t wait to start eating their new food as well starting tomorrow.