When dry Wellness is unacceptable... (stomach, dog, crystals, litter)
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Simply Nourish that petsmart may carry (it's on their website and doesn't say online only. there's an ingredient list lower on the page) that looks possible.
[quote=leanansidhex;22172491]Simply Nourish is a Petsmart owned brand, I'm still trying to find out exactly where/who manufactures it, but it seems a step in the wrong direction to me.
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Second article on this industry site:
•" Private labels are becoming “brands” of their own: Look for CPG companies to dress up their
private label offerings – using package design to create a more sophisticated look for these low-
budget offerings
For certain food and pet items, Costco has even started to command higher prices for its
Kirkland Signature private label brand than for “brand name” competitors."
Oh no, I dropped Wellness long ago -- only to add Nature's Variety recently over last month or so -- but now see they're owned by Wellness-type people. Thus, should I drop Nature's Variety now, period? < snip > Hmmm, this is turning into a nightmare to find safe pet foods.
Actually greg42, Natures Variety is owned by EXACTLY the same company, Catterton Partners, that stripped, I mean, retooled Wellness, and sold it for 400 million to Berwind.
Maybe I should start another thread "WHY, not WHEN Wellness is unacceptable, lol?
Just found this tidbit: Tim Callahan has been CEO of WellPet since October 2008. He moved over from his position at the investment management firm Berwind Corp. when it bought Eagle Pack and Wellness brands and placed them under the WellPet umbrella. Prior to Berwind, Callahan served as an executive for Kraft Foods, H.J. Heinz and PepsiCo, specializing in consumer packaged goods and foods.
This article first appeared in the October 2009 issue of Natural Pet Product Merchandiser
excerpt:
"We (as a company and an industry) must move beyond the natural label to address quality of ingredients; sourcing of ingredients at all levels; quality control during processing (and all other levels) and the human-quality and palatability of the product. Promise then deliver.
Tests need to show (as ours do) that the ingredients’ nutrients don’t lose efficacy through processing. It takes a lot of a careful handling and a lot of effort, because at the end of the day it really comes down to “what’s in the bag.”
< snip >
"We insist that our nutritional labels hold true; it’s an enormous commitment from end to end, but worth it. The heritage holds and so do consumers’ trust."
This article first appeared in the October 2009 issue of Natural Pet Product Merchandiser
Actually greg42, Natures Variety is owned by EXACTLY the same company, Catterton Partners, that stripped, I mean, retooled Wellness, and sold it for 400 million to Berwind.
SO Natures SHOULD be dropped if I dropped Wellness then too?
I don't know why my name got in there exactly, but personally from what I can tell I'm not a particular fan at this point of Wellness or Nature's Variety. My cat has eaten both Wellness Core and Instinct dry foods for short times, but neither seemed to be quite right for reasons I don't remember clearly. I think Instinct actually turned out to be not appealing to Amber, or she was vomiting more than usual.
I still don't believe anyone should sit her and say you should or shouldn't do anything. It's a little tougher in this case perhaps than prodding you in the right direction if you were feeding Purina Cat Chow or whatever. The only one who can truly answer whether you should drop Nature's Variety is you. At this moment I'm not up to speed on what sounds like some kind of common ownership with NV and Wellness? Dunno, just hasn't been on my radar to keep up with those two since I wasn't planning to use their products.
BTW leanansidhex, what's up with Orijen that you heard? A quick look around suggests Champion Pet Foods (Canadian manufacturer of Orijen and Acana) at least seems responsive to issues raised by the Truth About Pet Food site. They had some FDA import refusals this year citing positive test for salmonella. So maybe that's what you meant, not sure. I'm not feeding this food right now and not necessarily planning to, but I personally wouldn't write it off yet. It wouldn't be a good choice for WannaComeHome though because it has fish. It's quite possible there's something up I haven't seen yet though. I sure don't go searching for more info night and day. It usually comes in bursts of a few too many hours spent on reading, followed by weeks of not really looking.
this really isn't leaving much that anyone can get reasonably.
Oh yeah, that is pretty much what I keep thinking. I rarely find that I want to rule in new food options; I keep ruling new ones out though! Part of that is due to the limited type of canned textures my cat will eat. Majority of cans are the ground up pate sort of style which she won't eat. It's got to be chunky. And none of the freeze-dried foods that you reconstitute (a couple of these outfits are pretty good BTW, like Honest Kitchen) have ever measured up for her either. She won't eat that. Anything that's dry kibble is a matter of picking the supposed best options out of an almost completely non-ideal type of food. Best you can hope for with dry is that the producer has some integrity with the ingredients and how they are handled. Usually this will push you towards smaller outfits.
Really we should all be prepping our own food I guess, preferably from known sources. I mean, it would be better, but I know it doesn't feel realistic for me right now so I'm certain the same is true for many other folks. Frozen raw from some sources can be great but then the cost starts to be an issue in addition to the hassle.
well, I found a store -not exactly one my way to or from work (and not close to home) but I can get to it - that carries all these labels you've been mentioning and then some. so: EVO, Innova, Solid Gold, Wysong, Orijens, Weruva, Merrick, Natures Variety, Wellness, Acana, FROMM, Verus & Ziwi Peak. So.. given I've got an age range from 3-13, at least one with fish sensitivity that has lead to colitis, and potentially diabetic, and a couple other fussy eaters.... what on earth do I do?? Since we leave for a week in a month, I want to start transitioning them now onto whatever dry they'll be on - especially in case it doesn't work It looks like somehow I have to find a 'happy medium' even if it's not so happy. if it's even just better than the all-grain stuff I keep seeing that Magnus can't have anymore but won't start up that colitis again (and the others will eat), at this point I'll be ecstatic.
I figure the best thing will be to give them the dry and mix in some wet (I kinda 'cream' the two together, they can't easily just pick it out and ignore the rest), and while we're gone I can load the feeders and have the sitter give them canned on the side.
my eyes are crossing from reading all this all day long!
BTW leanansidhex, what's up with Orijen that you heard? A quick look around suggests Champion Pet Foods (Canadian manufacturer of Orijen and Acana) at least seems responsive to issues raised by the Truth About Pet Food site. They had some FDA import refusals this year citing positive test for salmonella. So maybe that's what you meant, not sure. I'm not feeding this food right now and not necessarily planning to, but I personally wouldn't write it off yet. It wouldn't be a good choice for WannaComeHome though because it has fish. It's quite possible there's something up I haven't seen yet though. I sure don't go searching for more info night and day. It usually comes in bursts of a few too many hours spent on reading, followed by weeks of not really looking.
I'm soo sorry to leave you hanging on the Orijen information I found, (actually awhile back) the cats climbed on me and started purring and I fell asleep.
I've been trying to determine for 2 or so months what Bedford Capitals' (a Catterton-like company) involvement/investment in Champion Pet Foods (Orijen, Acana) will mean for our pets.
I'll collect my notes but meanwhile you could Google, and see what you can find.
well, I found a store -not exactly one my way to or from work (and not close to home) but I can get to it - that carries all these labels you've been mentioning and then some. so: EVO, Innova, Solid Gold, Wysong, Orijens, Weruva, Merrick, Natures Variety, Wellness, Acana, FROMM, Verus & Ziwi Peak.
I would consider Epigen for the dry, it's what I give my cats and if there is a quality problem they will notify you, the consumer directly, as per TAPF program.
You need to find out how to sign up for e-mail alerts via their or TAPF websites.
PErsonally wouldn't feed Evo and Innova, Wellness or Natures Variety.
I'll look into rest tomorrow.
Just my thoughts.
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this really isn't leaving much that anyone can get reasonably.
The only one who can truly answer whether you should drop Nature's Variety is you. At this moment I'm not up to speed on what sounds like some kind of common ownership with NV and Wellness? Dunno, just hasn't been on my radar to keep up with those two since I wasn't planning to use their products.
