Innova EVO canned for cats/dogs
 

I have a questions for those of you here who are more food savvy.

I've been buying my gang the Innova Evo canned and so far they seem to enjoy it. The cans they like the most are the Cat & Kitten Turkey & Chicken formula. I went this morning and they didn't have any of the 12 oz cans. The sales girl steered me to the Dog food section, to the same Turkey & Chicken formula, but for dogs.

The can has the exact same ingredients and nutrient percentage. The only difference is the dog food can contains Selenium Yeast, and says contains less than 12% carbs as opposed to the less than 7% for cats.

I wanted to know if any of you have had any experience with this particular brand. I got some Merrick and the Evo beef formula. I also got two of the dog labeled formula.

The sales girl told me if I still felt iffy about giving it to them or if they didn't like it I could bring back the unopened can, but she'd credit me for two.

My main concern is that Selenium yeast. I just don't know if that's anything that would be bad for them, seeing as it's not included in the cat formula but in the dog.

The sales girl also said many of the higher quality food companies basically make the same formula, but for obvious reasons change the packaging. I wonder how true that is.

Any thoughts?

[QUOTE=ancientgirl;716504] The cans they like the most are the Cat & Kitten Turkey & Chicken formula. [/quote]

Just to clarify, there is Evo [url=http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1501]Cat & Kitten[/url] formula, and then there is Evo [url=http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1662]95% Chicken & Turkey[/url], which is a different product. Are you talking about the Cat & Kitten or Chicken & Turkey, or both?


[QUOTE=ancientgirl;716504] The sales girl steered me to the Dog food section, to the same Turkey & Chicken formula, but for dogs. The can has the exact same ingredients and nutrient percentage. The only difference is the dog food can contains Selenium Yeast, and says contains less than 12% carbs as opposed to the less than 7% for cats.[/quote]

As far as the canned Evo Chicken & Turkey formulas for dogs and cats, they are indeed the exact same food. The selenium yeast is just an organic, supposedly more "bio-available", form of selenium. May not be the best choice if there is a yeast allergy but should otherwise be fine.

Are the carbs you're quoting the Guaranteed Analysis on the side of the can? Or are is that from the Innova "Cat & Kitten" formula? Because according to the Innova website, the nutritional profile of the Chicken & Turkey formulas for both dogs and cats is the same.

[QUOTE=ancientgirl;716504]
The sales girl also said many of the higher quality food companies basically make the same formula, but for obvious reasons change the packaging. I wonder how true that is.[/QUOTE]

Yup, it is common. Nature's Variety and Wellness also do this.

[QUOTE=sugarcatmom;716567]Just to clarify, there is Evo [url=http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1501]Cat & Kitten[/url] formula, and then there is Evo [url=http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1662]95% Chicken & Turkey[/url], which is a different product. Are you talking about the Cat & Kitten or Chicken & Turkey, or both?

[COLOR="Red"]I'm talking about the Cat & Kitten which comes as a Turkey&Chicken formula. The regular Chicken & Turkey is very thin and watery and they don't like it at all.
[/COLOR]

As far as the canned Evo Chicken & Turkey formulas for dogs and cats, they are indeed the exact same food. The selenium yeast is just an organic, supposedly more "bio-available", form of selenium. May not be the best choice if there is a yeast allergy but should otherwise be fine.

[COLOR="Red"]As of yet, I don't think any of the gang has any kind of allergy so I can give it a try. I mainly wanted to try it just as an option when the regular one I buy them, the cat formula one wasn't available. Knowing I can buy the same thing in a pinch, that's a few aisles down is good.[/COLOR]

Are the carbs you're quoting the Guaranteed Analysis on the side of the can? Or are is that from the Innova "Cat & Kitten" formula? Because according to the Innova website, the nutritional profile of the Chicken & Turkey formulas for both dogs and cats is the same.

[COLOR="Red"]The carbs were listed on the can.[/COLOR]


Yup, it is common. Nature's Variety and Wellness also do this.[/QUOTE]

I didn't know Wellness did the same.

I'd never try this with a supermarket or lower quality brand. Apart from the quality, the ingredients are very very different.

Thanks SCM. I knew you'd be able to shed some light on this for me.

[QUOTE=ancientgirl;716588][COLOR="Red"]I'm talking about the Cat & Kitten which comes as a Turkey&Chicken formula. The regular Chicken & Turkey is very thin and watery and they don't like it at all.[/COLOR][/quote]

Hmmm, but the dog Chicken & Turkey is the same as the cat Chicken & Turkey, so if they don't like the cat version then the dog version probably won't go over well either.

[QUOTE=ancientgirl;716588]I didn't know Wellness did the same.[/quote]

I should clarify that it's only their 95% meat flavours intended for supplemental feeding that are okay for both dogs and cats.

Oh wait a sec. I get it now. You're talking about the plain ole Innova Evo [url=http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?panel=na&id=1489]Dog food[/url], not the 95% Chicken & Turkey. So confusing. Yup, that one is also the same as the Innova Evo Cat & Kitten.

[QUOTE=sugarcatmom;716591]Oh wait a sec. I get it now. You're talking about the plain ole Innova Evo [url=http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?panel=na&id=1489]Dog food[/url], not the 95% Chicken & Turkey. So confusing. Yup, that one is also the same as the Innova Evo Cat & Kitten.[/QUOTE]

Yes, that's the one. I give them the cat & kitten one a couple of times a week, as well as the 95% beef. I also give them the Evangers Braised chicken and they also like the Merricks Turducken. I found they were getting tired of just the Evo all the time so I started adding Evangers and Merrick to their diet. The place I get the Evo has lots of these great brands. They even have Fromms, and one called Tiki Kat or something like that. This place isn't exactly conveniently located, but it's worth going out of the way a little if I know they have some really great quality brands to feed the gang.

Fromm is a good brand and Tikicat is made in Thailand but I specifically asked my boss about foods from Thailand and he said yes, they are absolutely fine and stuff over there is totally regulated. Another brand made in Thailand is Weruva, which is also GREAT.

Merrick is privately owned and they make everything in their own factory. I really wish they would make dry food for kitties, but only for dogs so far.

My cats have been on the Evo Cat&Kitten Chicken+Turkey for years. They love it. I don't really feed them any red meat.. just fish and poultry for the most part. I especially won't feed them any beef in any form.

I would mix half evo and half a flavor from Merrick, Tiki Cat or Weruva. I always do that.

My cats rather like the Turduken :)

Evo cat and kitten is $1.69/can (big can), Merrick is $1.09/can (5.5oz), Weruva varies, but is usually about $1.89/can (5.5oz) and Tiki cat only has the little cans from what I've seen and those were like, $.99/can. Just incase you were wondering if you are paying a good price or not.

If you were wondering of some good brands, you can visit my stores site
[url]http://billswonderlandofpets.com/[/url]

go under cat, then go under food and view a list of brands we sell. That might be able to help you out. We won't be carrying Max Cat (Nutro) anymore though.

Kathryn, over here I pay a little more. The Evo is about $1.95 for the big can, and the small cans of Merrick and Fromm are $1.25.

Not a terrible price, I'm still paying way less for the Evo than I was for the Wellness. I was paying $2.38 for the Wellness big cans.

For canned food, evo is the better choice compared to Wellness. Evo (Natura Pet) has better quality control and is made in their own factories and everything. I'm not entirely sure where Wellness is made. I do prefer the Wellness Core dry food to the Evo dry food. The evo is too crumbly and gives my cats diarrhea. They also don't like the taste of the dry that much.

I feed Wellness cans as treats though. They have more flavours compared to Evo. Evo also does not have any fish based canned food. So when I want to give my cats something fishy I will buy something like Wellness Turkey and Salmon for a snack. TikiCat has alot of fish based food as well. Weruva stuff I think is all grain free, but has some freaky flavours (calamari etc).

Halo Spots Stew is also good, but very price. It's $1.99 for their 'big' can. :rolleyes:

I like the Wellness Pouches. They are the only true holistic pouch on the market. They are nothing too spectacular but my cats really enjoy the gravy it comes in. And it has no wheat in it so it's win-win!

[QUOTE=kathryn;717158]For canned food, evo is the better choice compared to Wellness. Evo (Natura Pet) has better quality control and is made in their own factories and everything. I'm not entirely sure where Wellness is made. I do prefer the Wellness Core dry food to the Evo dry food. The evo is too crumbly and gives my cats diarrhea. They also don't like the taste of the dry that much.

I feed Wellness cans as treats though. They have more flavours compared to Evo. Evo also does not have any fish based canned food. So when I want to give my cats something fishy I will buy something like Wellness Turkey and Salmon for a snack. TikiCat has alot of fish based food as well. Weruva stuff I think is all grain free, but has some freaky flavours (calamari etc).

Halo Spots Stew is also good, but very price. It's $1.99 for their 'big' can. :rolleyes:

I like the Wellness Pouches. They are the only true holistic pouch on the market. They are nothing too spectacular but my cats really enjoy the gravy it comes in. And it has no wheat in it so it's win-win![/QUOTE]

I was giving them Wellness, but Petco raised the price on me within a month of starting to sell it. So that's when I started looking around. I remembered this pet store from when my friend had to buy her senior cat special food. The food was Innova fat free, so I went to this place and found all these amazing brands.

This place doesn't sell Wellness. What I do is I get my gang Evangers chicken and I also get them Solid Gold fish. They love it.

But, they go nuts over the Wellness pouches. It's the only time when they eat everything on their plate. I'd buy that for them more often, but each pouch is $1.00, so I can't buy that for them on a regular basis in large amounts.

I don't give my gang any dry food, other than their treats.

[QUOTE=kathryn;717073]
Merrick is privately owned and they make everything in their own factory. I really wish they would make dry food for kitties, but only for dogs so far. [/quote]

Merrick does make dry for cats. It's their [url=http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/bg_dry_cat_food_1.php]Before Grain[/url] line. I really really really (and one more for good measure - really!!) don't think cats should be eating dry, but I guess if one absolutely insisted, BG wouldn't be as horrible as some other options.

[QUOTE=kathryn;717073]They love it. I don't really feed them any red meat.. just fish and poultry for the most part. [/quote]

Careful with too much fishy feeding. I would limit it to once or twice a week at most. Here's some info on why: [url]http://catnutrition.wordpress.com/2007/09/22/eight-strikes-against-fishy-feeding-for-cats/[/url]

I don't feed mine a lot of fishy stuff. I used to give it to them several times a week, but Vlad and Oksana started itching a lot. When I stopped, their itching stopped. Now I just give them fishy food maybe once a week, or every couple of weeks as an afternoon treat.

Mhmm I know about the fishy stuff. That's why their diet is based on chicken and turkey but with fishy stuff from time to time to spice things up a bit.

D'oh! I forgot about Merrick making before grain. Pretty silly of me since that's what my kitties are eating now :rolleyes: Yeah my kitties get dry but I do feed them a decent amount of wet food for dinner and snacks inbetween.

I wish Merrick made dry food for cats in the interesting flavours though.

[IMG]http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/images/20274_icon.jpg[/IMG]

Like that stuff.. all their canned foods in a dry variety (for cats!) would be awesome! Unless it had too much grain, cause then I wouldn't buy it.

SCM, I made my cats a 'stew' one day and they liked it. Would it be okay to feed them home made stuff as like, lunch but give them canned food for dinner? (ontop of dry... socks still won't eat wet).

I mashed up peas in chicken broth into this disgusting green goop and added some broccoli, carrots, green beans and chicken. The only vitamin I added was lysine. They liked it :shrug: but I will need to add more meat in the future. Are peas okay? And the broccoli was just in there because Maxwell loves broccoli :rolleyes:

I've heard green veggies are okay for them if they ate them. I know Vlad will take a nibble of broccoli now and then, as well as chew on a green bean.