merricks cat food

[budgrrl]

i havent tried a great deal of different foods for aslan (5.5mos old) as the second brand of wet food i bought for him, he fell in love with
i am buying merricks for him and while i know it is a good quality food, are there flavours of it that are better in quality than others? there are some that he likes, and others that he goes nutso for (specifically any of the seafood flavours)...is there a flavour i ought to feed as a staple, or others that ought to be more of a special treat? or are they all about the same in nutritional value?

i do work shift work and work in such an environment that while my shift may be 8hrs in length, i do risk the chance of being ordered over to stay for up to an additional 8hrs (doesnt happen often, but can and does happen) - so i do provide him with a small dish of orijen when i know i will be working long hours, or when i suspect i will get ordered over as a 'just in case' meal for him. most of the time he doesnt touch it, or may have a mouthful or two, but i do like to have it there in the event i am not home from work.

thanks in advance!!

[rainbow]

I know alot of people on this forum feed Merrick's and love it but I am still on the fence as to whether or not Garth Merrick uses rendered meat from his rendering plant that is pretty close to where his pet food is manufactured.

I posted some info here awhile ago ...I'll go see if I can find the thread.

[rainbow]

Here is the thread ....

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....hlight=merrick

[rainbow]

Also, in case you are feeding your dog canned tripe, Merrick's 100% tripe is NOT 100% green tripe .....

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....hlight=merrick

[budgrrl]

oh my! i had no idea! i did just send them an email asking them to explain to me where they get their ingredients from and to explain to me what their rendering plant is for exactly.

so next question: what would you recommend as a wet food for him?

"""""""" <---aslan typed that!

thanks for the info rainbow!!

[rainbow]

Awww, aslan wanted to say hello.

From what I've read on the internet they will say that they do not use rendered meat. I wish I could find the info I had on the court case. The link I had saved about it does not work anymore.

As far as what to feed Wellness and EVO are both good brands. Sugarcatmom, growler and Love4himies are three of the best members to help you about cat nutrition.

[rainbow]

Here's some more info about Merrick that I found on the old Itchmo forum ....

http://www.itchmoforums.com/news-rec...7.5.html;wap2=

[rainbow]

And, some more but I haven't clicked on all the topics at this forum ...

http://letstalkpetfoods.org/merrick-pet-foods-f55.html

[mona_b]

With me I switch it up a bit..I use DVP Natural Balance, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, Wellness..And I switch the flavours also.

With my two cats only one gets the canned...My other has had a sensitive tummy since he was 12 weeks old, he is 6 now..And trust me, he has gone through every test, xray and ultrasound..He just can't stomache it.He will throw up every time. He is very healthy otherwise. So he has the dry(free fed) and drinks very well.

I too do shift work and work long hours..I can be gone for up to 15 hours depending on the schedual..And knowing the dry is down is knowing my cats won't starve..

[ancientgirl]

I was feeding my gang Merrick for a short time, and they all became ill around the same time shortly after. I don't know for sure if maybe I had a bad batch of food, but I won't take any chances on feeding them that again.

Right now they get EVO Venison canned.

[budgrrl]

i just called 2 of my local pet supply stores, one doesnt sell EVO, the other did, but wont be carrying it anymore due to problems with the distributor so...it appears my options are:

- merricks
- wellness
- nutrience
- eagle
- nutro
(maybe a couple of others i missed in writing down)

i think from reading on here, wellness would seem to be the most popular choice out of all of these?

*on a funny side note, i took a chance and called petsmart to see if they carried EVO. the girl i spoke with told me of a few stores she had been to to buy cat and dog food, and she listed several that didnt carry EVO anymore....a worker at petsmart is shopping elsewhere for pet food! even considering she probably gets a notable discount at her store! haha!

[rainbow]

Wellness and Eagle Pack are the two I would pick from that list. Can you get DVP's Natural Balance ....it is another good one.

[budgrrl]

i wil be sure to look for natural balance too! thanks!!

here is the response i received from merricks:

Hello,

Mr. Merrick owns and operates several companies. However, Merrick Pet Care does not use rendered products in any of our pet foods or treats. Merrick uses only the highest quality, all natural, human grade ingredients in our products. We purchase all our meat from USDA inspected facilities to provide animals with nutritious and healthy products.

Rendering is a recycle process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, value-added materials, such as fuel, soap, rubber and plastic. Rendering solves what would otherwise be a major health and disposal problem.

We also have our own testing labs and we test for many things to ensure the safety of our products.

Please be assured that no rendered materials are ever used in Merrick foods or treats.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.



Thanks,
Cyndi
Merrick Pet Care

whatchya think??

[rainbow]

What do I think? .....

As I said in a previous post, I'm on the fence about the Merrick controversy, but I figured you would get a response like that.

I haven't read all the posts from the let's talk pet foods forum yet but from what I have read elsewhere a lot of people think that Merrick lies and/or twists things around. He owns Tejas Industries and Karem Inc and gives a lot of money to political parties so do people and the authorities turn a blind eye as to what is going on?

Hmmmm, tough question ....I really don't know.

[budgrrl]

i suppose its not worth wondering about - i will finish the cans that i have, then shop around for something different perhaps

thanks for your input rainbow, mona, and ancient!!

[sugarcatmom]

My take on commercial pet food is that every single one of them has "issues", so unless you're willing to make your own food, you have to decide for yourself what issues you can live with and which ones you can't. On paper, Merrick canned cat food looks good (not too high in fat, most are low-carb, no by-products *listed*). And there are a heckuva lot of cats on the feline diabetes message board that I frequent which do extremely well on it (although Aztec isn't one of them cause he doesn't like it ).

The rumour-mill is rampant when it comes to pet food companies, so it's hard to sort through what's real and what isn't. For me, if my cat likes a food and does well on it and the ingredients are decent, I'll include it in my rotation (and sometimes even if the ingredients aren't so decent, like the occasional can of Fancy Feast). I'll never feed any single brand or flavour exclusively for a couple reasons: it mitigates the risk if that product ends up having issues, and it helps prevent a cat from getting addicted to one particular food, which can make it difficult to change if the need arises (i.e. an illness or allergy; product becomes unavailable; there's a recall, etc).

So basically, if you don't feel comfortable feeding Merrick, don't feed it. Or maybe just feed it occasionally. Or even better, thumb your nose at the whole sordid pet food industry and make your own!

My

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by budgrrl

i am buying merricks for him and while i know it is a good quality food, are there flavours of it that are better in quality than others?

To answer your original question (if you do decide to keep feeding Merrick), I would stay away from the California Roll flavour, which is too high in carbs. And fish flavours of any brand should really only be fed occasionally (couple times a week), and not at all if you have a cat with allergies or that's prone to bladder/urinary tract issues. Fish can be addicting to cats because of the strong smell, and it's a major hassle to try to convince a fish-addict that there are other types of food out there (which may be necessary if said cat develops a health issue related to fish). Plus, the fish used in pet food tends to be higher in toxins (like mercury) than other protein sources.

[budgrrl]

thanks for your input scm! i really appreciate it
those are some great points and reasons to not stick to a single brand and/or flavour!
i will choose a few and roate through flavours and brands
so far he doesnt seem to snub any flavour in particular, but texture seems to be a bit of an issue - but perhaps because he is a baby still and some of the larger chunks in in some are too big for him.


thanks again!!

[kathryn]

My store has a great relationship with Merrick. I feed their canned foods to my cats all the time. I've mentioned before that I use Innova Evo for a 'base' food and mix in a more expensive but flavorful food on top for variety. Merrick is one of my and my kitties top picks.

TECHNICALLY, they do use by-products, but not in the actual day/canned food. Their treat line is pretty much entirely 'by-prouducts'. They aren't rendered though. You really can't say all their products are human grade either. I'm sure their is no such thing as human grade pig snouts or beef hooves. They should really clarify about that.

All in all I find Merrick to be a respectable company. I rarely have anyone say anything bad about them. The major complaint I get is their canned foods are too rich for some dogs but hey you can't please anyone. As far as quality control I've never had anything wrong with a Merrick product I've bought, and same with the customers where I work.


I just know from feeding my cats the canned food that when I open it up it looks and smells very real and my kitties very much enjoy it


Oh, and about the petsmart employee buying food at other stores, that happens where I work as well We had one come in to buy some dog food and others to buy feeder mice/bugs. I can't say I haven't stepped foot in a petsmart before to grab something my store didn't have though Atleast I don't come in in full uniform! lol