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- Nov 15, 2014
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Hi all,
My three kitties have been on Lotus Just Juicy pretty exclusively since April or so of this year (all canned, no dry diet). This happened because one of my cats has digestive issues (bouts of diarrhea) and seems to react to all foods with the other gums, thickeners, etc. He actually did okay with some of the flavors of Nature's Variety Instinct (now just Instinct), until their formula/label change at the end of 2017, at which point I started hunting another food he could tolerate and was thrilled to find Lotus Just Juicy due to the limited ingredients (and he has tolerated the agar-agar well).
I opened the case this Saturday I ordered and realized the label had changed on the chicken. I now know that label changes nearly always come with changes in formula and/or ingredients. I held my breath and compared the ingredients and guaranteed analysis on the one can of older label I still had. Fortunately, the ingredient changes are minimal--the order of some items is different, and they replaced the olive oil with salmon oil. It appears that the potato starch is reduced, which reflects in more of a broth than a gravy--but still substantial meat in the can. The guaranteed analysis somehow is the same. HOWEVER, THE CALORIC CHANGE IS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION, SO I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE. The old formula had 150.75 calories per 5.3 oz. can, and my kitties have been eating half of those cans (75.375 calories) three times a day to keep them at a healthy 8 pounds each. This new formula has reduced the calories in a 5.3 oz. can to 113 calories, which means half a can is 56.5 calories. That reduces each meal by nearly 19 calories or 57 calories a day. In order to keep my cats at their healthy weight, that means me going through an extra 1-1/2 of 5.3 oz cans a day (45 cans a month) for an added cost of roughly $135! Honestly, we have had a reduction in income, and this expensive food has had me stressed over the budget, but my cats, especially the one with the issues with diarrhea, have done so well, gained needed pounds, and looked and acted so healthy, that I felt it was worth it. But $135 more a month is just not possible.
Even if I could afford the extra food, the other challenge is how to get that extra food in my kitties. I would to have time to feed them another small meal a day because my cats will barf up food if I increase the volume per meal, which just means expensive food ends up on the floor, the furniture, etc.
There is no info on the internet right now on this change--nothing on Chewy, nothing on the Lotus site, nothing on the Lotus Facebook. I assume this change will affect all flavors of Lotus Just Juicy for cats--no idea about other Lotus canned foods. I saw on Chewy that Lotus now has a canned rabbit pate formula (not even showing on their website yet). It does not contain fish like the other Lotus cans (and two of my cats got diarrhea after a slow-increase trial up to about 1/3 of their food on the duck flavor of the pate which may have been due to the fish), so I might try it. It is so new that I doubt they would alter that formula again.
Ever since my cats have been basically dependent on this one food brand, I have feared a formula change or even a recall that would leave them with no food. I am hoping the slight change is at least tolerated in a digestive way. I have enough of the old formula turkey and pork to keep enough calories in them for hopefully a couple of weeks, at which point Chewy may get their stock down to all new label.
I welcome any comments or suggestions from others about other foods to try. Amazingly, regular probiotics have not helped my cat with diarrhea bouts, but his last two bouts caused by him stealing human food off a plate (loves cheese but it does not love him) were helped with plain Greek yogurt, so maybe that will help during a trial--maybe I will try Tiki Cat Succulent Chicken again, since it has no gums or thickeners or maybe the Lotus Rabbit Pate. which has 95 calories in a 2.75-oz. meal but more fiber than Tiki or Lotus. Any other ideas? Unfortunately, feeding raw is really not a safe option for the family at this time.
I hope this information helps someone else. I hate when the companies change formulas. I am sure they will say they lowered the calories to help with feline obesity rather than to help the bottom line.
Sorry for the long post.
My three kitties have been on Lotus Just Juicy pretty exclusively since April or so of this year (all canned, no dry diet). This happened because one of my cats has digestive issues (bouts of diarrhea) and seems to react to all foods with the other gums, thickeners, etc. He actually did okay with some of the flavors of Nature's Variety Instinct (now just Instinct), until their formula/label change at the end of 2017, at which point I started hunting another food he could tolerate and was thrilled to find Lotus Just Juicy due to the limited ingredients (and he has tolerated the agar-agar well).
I opened the case this Saturday I ordered and realized the label had changed on the chicken. I now know that label changes nearly always come with changes in formula and/or ingredients. I held my breath and compared the ingredients and guaranteed analysis on the one can of older label I still had. Fortunately, the ingredient changes are minimal--the order of some items is different, and they replaced the olive oil with salmon oil. It appears that the potato starch is reduced, which reflects in more of a broth than a gravy--but still substantial meat in the can. The guaranteed analysis somehow is the same. HOWEVER, THE CALORIC CHANGE IS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION, SO I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE. The old formula had 150.75 calories per 5.3 oz. can, and my kitties have been eating half of those cans (75.375 calories) three times a day to keep them at a healthy 8 pounds each. This new formula has reduced the calories in a 5.3 oz. can to 113 calories, which means half a can is 56.5 calories. That reduces each meal by nearly 19 calories or 57 calories a day. In order to keep my cats at their healthy weight, that means me going through an extra 1-1/2 of 5.3 oz cans a day (45 cans a month) for an added cost of roughly $135! Honestly, we have had a reduction in income, and this expensive food has had me stressed over the budget, but my cats, especially the one with the issues with diarrhea, have done so well, gained needed pounds, and looked and acted so healthy, that I felt it was worth it. But $135 more a month is just not possible.
Even if I could afford the extra food, the other challenge is how to get that extra food in my kitties. I would to have time to feed them another small meal a day because my cats will barf up food if I increase the volume per meal, which just means expensive food ends up on the floor, the furniture, etc.
There is no info on the internet right now on this change--nothing on Chewy, nothing on the Lotus site, nothing on the Lotus Facebook. I assume this change will affect all flavors of Lotus Just Juicy for cats--no idea about other Lotus canned foods. I saw on Chewy that Lotus now has a canned rabbit pate formula (not even showing on their website yet). It does not contain fish like the other Lotus cans (and two of my cats got diarrhea after a slow-increase trial up to about 1/3 of their food on the duck flavor of the pate which may have been due to the fish), so I might try it. It is so new that I doubt they would alter that formula again.
Ever since my cats have been basically dependent on this one food brand, I have feared a formula change or even a recall that would leave them with no food. I am hoping the slight change is at least tolerated in a digestive way. I have enough of the old formula turkey and pork to keep enough calories in them for hopefully a couple of weeks, at which point Chewy may get their stock down to all new label.
I welcome any comments or suggestions from others about other foods to try. Amazingly, regular probiotics have not helped my cat with diarrhea bouts, but his last two bouts caused by him stealing human food off a plate (loves cheese but it does not love him) were helped with plain Greek yogurt, so maybe that will help during a trial--maybe I will try Tiki Cat Succulent Chicken again, since it has no gums or thickeners or maybe the Lotus Rabbit Pate. which has 95 calories in a 2.75-oz. meal but more fiber than Tiki or Lotus. Any other ideas? Unfortunately, feeding raw is really not a safe option for the family at this time.
I hope this information helps someone else. I hate when the companies change formulas. I am sure they will say they lowered the calories to help with feline obesity rather than to help the bottom line.
Sorry for the long post.