By Nature 95% Meat Cat Food Canned

[merrihart]

I think they added flavors, but they didn't change the beef formula, thank goodness!!

9/16:  Opened one of the new cans.  It's no longer a smooth, sticky pate, but a very coarse blend.  Not chunky, just coarse.  Bella didn't seem to care, ate 2/3 of a can and still begging for more.

[GKit]

Saw these at the store yesterday, and looks like there are some changes to the formulation with the flatter cans (example below is 95% chicken and chicken liver). Looks like a new vitamin/mineral mix plus some added ingredients (blue) and removed some ingredients (orange).  Alfalfa is a no-no for us, so unfortunately I have no feedback on the actual new food, sorry. I haven't bought this in a while, so I am assuming the change happened when they went from the taller cans to the flatter ones. 

NEW FORMULA:
Ingredients: Chicken, chicken liver, chicken broth, calcium carbonate, sun-cured alfalfa meal, flax seed, salt, tricalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, carrageenan, guar gum, choline chloride, taurine, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, magnesium proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin b1), niacin supplement (vitamin b3), vitamin e supplement, d-calcium pantothenate (vitamin b5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), riboflavin supplement (vitamin b2), biotin (vitamin b7), vitamin b12 supplement, vitamin d2 supplement, folic acid (vitamin b9).

OLD FORMULA:
Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Guar Gum, Cassia Gum, Carrageenan, Minerals (Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate,  Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide), Inulin, Vitamins (Vitamin E, A, D3, B12 supplements, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin), Choline Chloride, Flaxseed Oil, Salt, Taurine.

[merrihart]

Yesterday, I was informed this cat food was no longer available at my pet food supply store.  This was the only store in my area that reliably got the food for me.  Today, I went to the web page to complain, and it's still listed as available.  I'm confused, so I submitted a comment on their FB page asking if the food was or was not being made.

This is the only food I can feed to all 3 of my kitties that costs under $1.80/can.  I can still order it from petfooddirect, but I keep hesitating to do so.  I have to order 2 3 cases to get the price the pet food place charges me, and they don't have free shipping right now.

editted to add:  I have reached out to by Nature, and the food is still being made.  yay!  I just need to find a somewhere to buy it that I can either buy 2 cases at a time with free shipping or a store I can physically buy it at.

[mikken]

http://www.chewy.com/cat/by-nature-95-beef-liver-canned-cat/dp/38212

26.99 per case of 24, 5.5 oz.  Free shipping at $49.

I've just started using them and their customer service seems to be quite responsive, even on the FB page.

[petslave]

Did the store say why they were discontinuing them?  Maybe they or another store can special order them for you. 

One of the pet stores here has stopped carrying the large boxes of the raw dog food I like.  The cashier said it was because that size did not have the bar code that the pet food distributor requires for inventory.  She also said they now only have access to one huge pet food distributor, all the small ones are gone now.  Everything is so big box automated now.

[merrihart]

petslave, they were special ordering it for me    They were the only store that could get it for me.  The other two I use tried and never successfully got the food in.  I found it on Amazon for $26.99 but amazon has now upped the free shipper price from $25 to $35 :/  However, I have a friend who is prime member and he said he'd gladly order for me anytime   So for the moment, the issue is resolved.  Hopefully, I can work out a long term solution to this.

It's just so frustrating.  No one stocks this food on the shelves, and special ordering it seems to only work 50% of the time.  Pet Food Direct had free shipping over $49 worth, but that was 2 cases, so I'd have to spend $53 each time I buy it.  I really balk at spending that much at one time on one product.  I dont know why, when 48 cans of cat food would last quite a while, but I can't make myself spend that much. LOL

[petslave]

I've also gotten a lot of denting in the cans the few times I've ordered cat food online.  Most places will replace it, but then there's the wait time.

[merrihart]

I think they have stopped making this.

http://bynaturepetfoods.com/by-nature-cat-food/balanced-diet-dry-cat-food/

I mourn.  It's silly, but I am mourning the loss of one of my 3 safe cat foods.  *sigh*

[Spartycats]

I think they have stopped making this.

http://bynaturepetfoods.com/by-nature-cat-food/balanced-diet-dry-cat-food/

I mourn.  It's silly, but I am mourning the loss of one of my 3 safe cat foods.  *sigh*

I don't understand, merrihart.  This is just released - a new product ?

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/by-nature-unveils-new-active-defense-dog-and-cat-foods-300030908.html

[merrihart]

No one in my area stocks the 95% foods to sell.  I rely on chewy and petfood direct.  Neither of them have 95% by nature in stock (at least, not chicken).  I went to the by nature web site and the only food i can find is the new food. 

I wrote them an email, they have not responded yet.

[GKit]

Whoa. That's quite a change; it looks like they've discontinued making the 95% wet food and all their other wet foods? All I see under wet cat food is "coming soon".

Merrihart- have you tried Natural Planet Organics? It is pretty similar ingredient wise. The byNature got a better reception here, but the other was my fallback.

[merrihart]

Gkit, no I hadn't seen this food before.  I'll add it to the list to try. 

[merrihart]

I finally got an email from By Nature:

Hi Sheila,

Thank you for contacting us with your inquiry.  We are sorry for the inconvenience you have experienced with the lack of availability of our wet food due to ongoing issues we have been experiencing with the cannery which manufactures our product line.

Like most pet food companies, we do not own our own cannery and the production of canned foods in the United States is in a difficult situation today, both for us and for all marketers of canned foods.  We are working hard to alleviate the out of stock situations by approaching canned food differently.  We are diligently working on finding a new manufacturer for our wet food but because none of our products have been put back into production, there will not be any availability of our wet food, other than what is remaining for quite a while as we remain hopeful we will soon get back on track.  Our hopes are to have a new line of wet food in place by Spring.  (Sheila, although we can't confirm at this time what flavors we will have with what ingredient decks, we can tell you that our 95% line is a priority focus to have in place as soon as possible.  We will strive to stay consistent with what we have in place at this time but please feel free to check back with us on updates.)

Unfortunately our Online Retailers have been going out of stock for quite some time however, we encourage you to review the direct links to all of our Online Retailers which you will find at the bottom of our RETAILER LOCATIONS page as follows:  http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/retailer_locator/.  Also, if you have not done so already, you may want to review area Retailers you may not be familiar with and call them to see if they have any remaining product.

We are grateful for your time in relaying this feedback and if you have any added questions or comments, please feel free to let us know and please feel free to check in with us for updated status as well.  Additionally we have recorded your feedback for our records as we work through this challenging situation.

Thank you for your support of By Nature® pet food although again, we apologize for this overall inconvenience.

Best regards,

BECKY ANSON
Customer Service Representative
World's Best Cat Litter™ | By Nature®
cid:image002.jpg@01CDA6F6.D1E342F0
OFFICE:  563.264.4791
FAX: 563.264.4788

[merrihart]

So, I have not seen a return of my chicken & chicken liver cat food.  They introduced the new line a couple months ago, and I can't use it for Sir, because it contains cranberries, but I could use it for the other kitties, but the ingredient list has me hesitating.

Here are the ingredients of the Active Defense + Grain Free 95% chicken & chicken liver food:

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken Broth, Vegetable Broth, Sweet Potato, Potassium Chloride, Tricalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Agar-Agar, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Carbonate, Cassia Gum, Carrots, Apples, Cranberries, Broccoli, Spinach, Turmeric, Fennel, Blueberries, Pomegranate, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate

I am hesitant over the vegetable broth (not in the beef & chicken flavor) because what veggies did they use?  And I am not sure why there is so much fruit in it.  Can anyone see anything beside cranberries that might be harmful?

[GKit]

There's conflicting thinking about spinach. It's used in a lot of cat foods, so I wouldn't assume it is bad per se, but the sites that tell you not to feed spinach worry about the oxalic acid content and formation of calcium oxalate crystals in kitties that are prone to it.

I don't remember if you've looked at Hound & Gatos? Their formulation is pretty close to the old byNature one as well. Website: http://houndgatos.com/beef-catfood.aspx

Lastly, just so I can get it out of my system : WHYYYYYYYY? I don't understand why pet food manufacturers feel the need to run out and add smorgasbord of veg to cat food. It makes life for those of us with Kitties with Allergies To Everything difficult if the formulation keeps getting changed every year.  Pffffft.