Anyone have experience with Tiki Cat?

zylaai

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I bought Evo cat food for my 1 year old cat, but he absolutely hates the pate formula - (( can you see why?  


I was researching for days for a new cat food that didn't have any icky starches or toxic ingredients; and I finally settled down to getting Tiki Cat food. It has no starch, vegetables/fruits, guar gum (or any gum for that matter), or carrageenan! It's meant to simulate the prey that cats would eat in the "wild" - which was pretty much what I was looking for.

however, Tiki Cat is also made in a human-grade facility in Thailand, which is the only con I could find about this brand. If memory serves correct, the facility in which the cat food is produced in, also makes human food. I also heard that Thailand is more 'strict' regarding their food regulations and procedures.  Tiki Cat also has no recalls for their cat or dog food lines. I'm aware that lots of common pet food brands are also made in Thailand; such as Racheal Ray pet food, Wellness, and Weruva. 

i suppose i'm just nervous to give this brand to my cat simply because it's sourced in Thailand - despite it having 0 recalls, and being made with quality meats. Thailand just reminds me of the tragedy in 2007, with China's pet food issue causing the deaths of hundreds of dogs/cats. but Thailand isn't China.. and maybe i'm worrying over nothing.

anyways, has anyone had any issues with Tiki Cat food? i know my Olive would looooove it, since it's not pate, and all chicken in broth. it actually looks pretty appetizing for myself lol

here's their website if you wanna take a look;

http://www.tikipets.com/

here's the ingredients;

Shredded  Chicken Breast, Chicken Consommé, Sunflower Seed Oil, Calcium lactate.

Contains less than 1% of the following: Tricalcium phosphate, Tuna Fish Oil, Choline chloride, Taurine, Zinc sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous sulfate, Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A acetate, Thiamine mononitrate, Potassium iodide, Manganese sulfate, Copper sulfate, Vitamin D3 Supplement,  Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Folic acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement.  
 

kittymomma1122

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My cats eat Tiki in their rotation and love it. My husbands boss feeds tiki exclusively. I have to order online because no pet shops carry it in my area. Lotus has a close second. I feed turkey and pork. The Lotus is packed in California. No gums or Carrageenan, but it has potato starch and carrots. I also use WeRuVa, they have xantham gum and are also processed in thiland. I have not had any problems with any of these foods.
 

lisahe

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We feed our cats a fair bit of Tiki, too, and they enjoy all the non-fish fish foods, particularly the ones from the Gourmet Carnivore line. Tiki's a good caloric food to keep a young cat filled up!

We feed lots of foods from both Tiki and Weruva, so a large amount of the canned component of their diet is made in Thailand. I think I trust their raw food makers most (Rad Cat and Primal) but feel pretty comfortable with Tiki and Weruva, too.
 
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zylaai

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We feed our cats a fair bit of Tiki, too, and they enjoy all the non-fish fish foods, particularly the ones from the Gourmet Carnivore line. Tiki's a good caloric food to keep a young cat filled up!

We feed lots of foods from both Tiki and Weruva, so a large amount of the canned component of their diet is made in Thailand. I think I trust their raw food makers most (Rad Cat and Primal) but feel pretty comfortable with Tiki and Weruva, too.
I heard that Tiki actually has less calories, and I need to feed more than 2 cans a day to sustain a cat that weighs about 8lbs. Is that true? How much do you feed a day? 

I also heard of RadCat and Primal! I wanted to try RadCat but the shipping is soooo expensive. ):
 

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If you search the forums you'll find several posts or comments about Tiki. It's a well liked food that many of us keep in our rotation. Like Weruva, it is manufactured in Thailand but the company has a good reputation. I use tiki on and off, my cats don't really like the big shreds of meat and prefer a thicker sauce. Tiki is low in calories and the cans are smaller so you do usually need to feed more of it if you feed it exclusively. 
 
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zylaai

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If you search the forums you'll find several posts or comments about Tiki. It's a well liked food that many of us keep in our rotation. Like Weruva, it is manufactured in Thailand but the company has a good reputation. I use tiki on and off, my cats don't really like the big shreds of meat and prefer a thicker sauce. Tiki is low in calories and the cans are smaller so you do usually need to feed more of it if you feed it exclusively. 
thank you! i'm tempted to try Weruva, but there's some frightful reviews regarding it on Amazon. so i may just try to put Tiki, Evo, and some other brand as a rotation; while adding raw/boiled meat in as well a few times a week.

i'll read the cat nutrition forums too, in hopes of finding some topics regarding Tiki Cat. 
 

missmimz

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thank you! i'm tempted to try Weruva, but there's some frightful reviews regarding it on Amazon. so i may just try to put Tiki, Evo, and some other brand as a rotation; while adding raw/boiled meat in as well a few times a week.

i'll read the cat nutrition forums too, in hopes of finding some topics regarding Tiki Cat. 
I feed a lot of Weruva, it's excellent food for the price and I've never had an issue with it. I would not order from Amazon there aren't any reputable sellers on there for Weruva. I order from Chewy.com for Weruva. I do order other foods from Amazon that Amazon carries in their warehouse. 
 

lisahe

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I heard that Tiki actually has less calories, and I need to feed more than 2 cans a day to sustain a cat that weighs about 8lbs. Is that true? How much do you feed a day? 

I also heard of RadCat and Primal! I wanted to try RadCat but the shipping is soooo expensive. ):
Tiki has a nice chart on its website (here) that shows calorie content and lots of other information. I certainly wouldn't consider Tiki's non-fish foods low-calorie: a 2.8-ounce can of Puka Puka, which is just chicken, is 104 calories. The beef liver and chicken (today's breakfast) is the same. By comparison, Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen Chicken Frick a Zee, also just chicken, with cans that are pretty packed with meat, is 147 for six ounces.

I don't honestly know how much Tiki we would feed a day if that's all the cats got: they get a combination of three or four foods each day and every day is different, depending on what's next in the rotation rack and what's left in the refrigerator.

If you have independent stores close by, you could ask if they'll order Rad Cat. I buy locally and get a great deal!
 
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zylaai

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Tiki has a nice chart on its website (here) that shows calorie content and lots of other information. I certainly wouldn't consider Tiki's non-fish foods low-calorie: a 2.8-ounce can of Puka Puka, which is just chicken, is 104 calories. The beef liver and chicken (today's breakfast) is the same. By comparison, Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen Chicken Frick a Zee, also just chicken, with cans that are pretty packed with meat, is 147 for six ounces.

I don't honestly know how much Tiki we would feed a day if that's all the cats got: they get a combination of three or four foods each day and every day is different, depending on what's next in the rotation rack and what's left in the refrigerator.

If you have independent stores close by, you could ask if they'll order Rad Cat. I buy locally and get a great deal!
I'll try to feed him two cans a day, one in the morning, and one at night. then feed him pieces of chicken/duck mixed in wet Evo food and see if i can get him to eat it. I think that would be ideal for an 8lb cat. Olive is pretty active, too.

One thing that's concerning me right now is that he's being very, very picky right now. I'm left with just Evo wet food, and some chicken. And he hates this food so much despite it being pretty healthy for him. he's usually not a picky boy. it's usually me being picky about what he eats! 
 Tiki Cat arrives tomorrow in the mail, which is great. Hopefully he won't dislike this food. I'm pretty confident he'll enjoy it, considering it's not pate.

i'll see what i can do about the Rad Cat food! - thank you again for the suggestions. 
 

2bcat

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Tiki Cat is a very high quality food.  I don't really get too nervous about the ingredients since there isn't filler or such in there, and when you see the consistency of the chicken (shredded chicken pieces) you'll see why it would be fairly hard to hide something.  Not that it couldn't be done, but the quality of the food is very good.  It's processed in a human food plant, another reason why it has less chance of being an issue.  They have to keep up to those standards, not just a more lax pet food standard.

My cats get Tiki's Puka Puka chicken once a day.   This chicken is a big favorite of my two cats, with no sign of that changing despite having been fed it daily for over a year.  The calorie density of that is really fairly high even comparing among most canned foods.  The fish varieties may be lower, and although the Weruva mentioned is similar in appearance, their chicken variety calorie density is notably lower.  You would not need to feed an unusually high amount of the Tiki chicken to meet a cat's food intake needs.

I fret a bit over things that have nothing to do with food quality, such as the fact that it's shipped halfway around the world, or the stories I've read about slave labor in Thailand, most notably in the fishing and fish processing industries. Not sure if it slips into other food processing, certainly the plant itself is on the up and up but I occasionally wonder about suppliers and how well they are checked out for these practices.  At the moment, though, I continue to feed it anyway.  I have no reason to believe that Tiki Cat's owners aren't also as concerned about such practices and acting to make sure their food is not processed by such labor. 

The biggest knock against Tiki is the cost!  This is on the pricey end of cat food to be sure.  I have justified it because at its calorie density I have figured out that it costs similar to some other cans that on the surface cost less.  Because my cats are small, their morning meal of the Tiki chicken is only 1/3 of the 6oz (large) can each.  The leftover is fed the next morning, and they enjoy it all the same even as leftovers (I warm it somewhat by immersing in warm water, but I think they would just as easily eat it cold out of the fridge!)

Right now the cheapest reliable place to get Tiki, at least the Puka Puka chicken, that I know of is PetFlow.com.
 

lisamarie12

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Well as you mentioned, Thailand is not China - Thailand actually has very strict government control and oversight protocols.

When I used to work with Natl Balance, we were trained on their line of Delectable Delights, made in Thailand. We were shown a video of the "hand crafted" food, where the workers wore little masks and gloves. Surprisingly there was even FDA oversight every three months (despite being outside the US).

My only concern, as 2bcat astutely pointed out, would be the issue of slave labor in Thailand, primarily within the fishing industry. Fancy Feast / Nestle got hit with a class action lawsuit last year bc of their hiring of a supplier in Thailand which uses child / slave labor.

When the lawsuit was made public, Weruva immediately put out a detailed announcement on their site indicating their fish supplier in Thailand did not engage in such criminal and illegal practices.

I didn't follow TC's reponse to the suit, or if they made an announcement but you could certainly contact them or see if there is info on their site somewhere about TC's fish supplier.

Aside from it also being a pity that more foods are not sourced and manufactured here in the US, other than some meats, e.g., vension and lamb which are more plentiful in New Zealand, I have no reservations feeding my cats any foods from Thailand.
 
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zylaai

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yes! thank you both.

i feel much more confident giving Olive this food. i do hope that Tiki Cat does not partake in the cruel practices in their fish industry, either. i'm sooo tempted to try Weruva, too. i'm loving Tiki Cat though. i just want to scoop some of it up on a cracker and chow down lol. .. but really, it looks just like human food! which is great. 
 

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I feed a lot of Weruva, it's excellent food for the price and I've never had an issue with it. I would not order from Amazon there aren't any reputable sellers on there for Weruva. I order from Chewy.com for Weruva. I do order other foods from Amazon that Amazon carries in their warehouse. 
Amazon does sell Weruva themselves. I have bought it from them without issue. I wouldn't buy it without the Prime shipping. 

 
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zylaai

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Amazon does sell Weruva themselves. I have bought it from them without issue. I wouldn't buy it without the Prime shipping. 

Amazon is usually where i purchase Tiki Cat as well! isn't Prime great?

i may just give in and buy some Weruva after all; while still sticking to my guns about not buying any fish related foods. 

it's just this review that throws me off about it. apparently their cat died from kidney failure from eating Weruva.

i had an outside kitty i cared for everyday, until she died from kidney failure. alas, she ate poor quality dry food & mice, and lived the majority of her life outdoors.. but i still felt like i could have prevented her death. if Olive goes out from kidney failure as well, i don't know what i'd do. which is why i don't want to risk it, i suppose.
 

lisahe

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Not all of Weruva's foods have fish or menadione! We feed a bunch of Weruva foods that don't have either.
 

ellag

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my cats get tiki as an occasional treat and they love it! i trust it and have never had any issues with it. i just wish it was a bit cheaper..
 

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Ghibli loves Tiki cat succulent chicken! It honestly looks good enough for me to eat! I hope you kitty approved!
 

lisahe

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Ghibli loves Tiki cat succulent chicken! It honestly looks good enough for me to eat! I hope you kitty approved!
That reminds me of how a guy at the local store that sells Tiki said, "Add some mayonnaise and you've got a sandwich!" (I don't remember which food we were talking about: chicken/egg or chicken/salmon!)
 

ghiblithecat

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That reminds me of how a guy at the local store that sells Tiki said, "Add some mayonnaise and you've got a sandwich!" (I don't remember which food we were talking about: chicken/egg or chicken/salmon!)
If I ever run out of food and there is a huge disaster or something, I'm splitting our Tiki Cat stash with Ghibli! 
 I feel like it would make a decent chicken salad sandwich. 
 
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cat r me

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Not all of my kitties will eat the Tiki Cat (or canned food), and I only offer Chicken and Duck because of the cautions issued regarding seafood flavored foods causing hyperthyroidism in cats.  I have discovered a great "dry kibble" that all of my cats seem to love.  It is Young Again Pet Foods, and I even had a diabetic cat eating it, and after a couple of months he was off of all insulin.  It is very expensive, and even though a free feed, my cats only eat a small amount as they seem satisfied.  It seems to even out to cost as much as feeding the high end foods, but is grain free, pure meatbased protein, low and no carb forumula, etc....  Small company in Minnesota that does not outsource, and have had no recalls that I can find.  Great Quality Control.  I just like that ALL my cats will eat this and I have not had any UTI's or Bowel Issues since I started feeding it.
 
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