Meat baby food in Canada?

[tpapictures]

I'm seriously asking.. is meat baby food available in Canada? EVERY body in the cat nutrition world mentions it at some point and my wife and I literally can not find it anywhere. We don't have kids so we're not exactly well versed in where to buy baby food but every supermarket or similar store we've gone to has never had the meat flavours. So can someone in Canada please tell me where they buy it? It may not even work, but we're curious.

 

[Antonio65]

So, if it's not meat, what is it?
Do pharmacies sell baby food in Canada? You could try in there.

 

[tpapictures]

So, if it's not meat, what is it?
Do pharmacies sell baby food in Canada? You could try in there.

It's every fruit and veg under the sun and oats. But never, like...NEVER, have we seen meat. Anyway, like I said there are other things out there to use for our cat to eat more but I just find it funny how much people say "meat baby food" and we can't see it anywhere.

 

[Antonio65]

Did you ask the staff at some supermarket if they have ever seen or heard of such a thing?
How's the situation online?

I live in Italy, and baby food (meat, fish, fruit and veg) is being sold just everywhere, from different brands. The only thing to really look for is that the baby food you are giving to a cat does not contain any onions and/or lemon.

 

[FeralHearts]

Hello fellow Canuk! You are not alone. I gave up trying to find it here. Amazon sold some but it had corn starch in it as yeah, no to that.

If you have a bullet - honestly - make it if you ever need it. I cook Ham (plain ham not glazed etc etc), chop in into little pieces and add a tiny bit of water and into the bullet it goes. Same with chicken and turkey - if your kitty doesn't have a food allergy to it.

Trick is it can have nothing else added, no spices, glazes - NOTHING. Add water as needed for texture. I start with the tiniest bit and add as needed.

I've often read about how it's used in ER situations where a cat in simply not eating, of not eating enough etc. etc.

It's not recommended for daily use under normal conditions / circumstances as it does not have everything needed for nutrition for kitty - in an ER situation though - yup - it will help.

I hope this helps.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The baby food meat mentioned above that contains corn starch is Gerber Stage 2 and I feed that to my cat for extra calories. (I even add a supplement to it to make it nutritionally complete for a cat.) If you can find Gerber through Amazon Canada, I think it would be fine. There are more questionable ingredients in some cat foods, so I don't consider the corn starch to be a deal breaker.

The Gerber website suggests using iHerb.com to order their baby food meat online outside the US, apparently, they sell it to over 180 countries. Although the price may vary depending on the country, this site showed the cost to be about $2 per 2.5 oz jar. Here in the states, it ranges from about $1.20 to $1.40 per jar. So, a little more expensive through iHerb.

 

[Alldara]

I'm seriously asking.. is meat baby food available in Canada? EVERY body in the cat nutrition world mentions it at some point and my wife and I literally can not find it anywhere. We don't have kids so we're not exactly well versed in where to buy baby food but every supermarket or similar store we've gone to has never had the meat flavours. So can someone in Canada please tell me where they buy it? It may not even work, but we're curious.

They used to sell the chicken one at Loblaws but I honestly haven't seen it in a LONG time. Trying dollar stores might be best as they don't cater to different dietary restrictions.

Gerber's says it still sells in Canada. But I couldn't find it on any store near me on Instacart. Where I live, I am by two provinces.

I DID manage to find a case on Amazon.
Amazon.ca

Cornstarch is safe for cats. It shouldn't be an issue unless your cat has a (rare) corn allergy.

 

[tpapictures]

Ok, thank you A Alldara , F FeralHearts and everyone else, we thought we were going nuts. We have literally looked everywhere and it's not like we live in some small town. We're starting to think that there is maybe some Health Canada thing about selling meat in baby food because the massive amount of this food in the baby food market and the seemingly complete non existence of it in major retailers tells me this is more than just a market thing. Either health standards/regulations make it too hard for the producers to bother with selling here or there is some law against meat in baby products or some configuration that makes it not worth selling here. But there is definitely something because it's just too much of a coincidence that none of us can get it and that none of about 15 stores here in Montreal had any, all major chains.

 

[FeralHearts]

Ok, thank you A Alldara , F FeralHearts and everyone else, we thought we were going nuts. We have literally looked everywhere and it's not like we live in some small town. We're starting to think that there is maybe some Health Canada thing about selling meat in baby food because the massive amount of this food in the baby food market and the seemingly complete non existence of it in major retailers tells me this is more than just a market thing. Either health standards/regulations make it too hard for the producers to bother with selling here or there is some law against meat in baby products or some configuration that makes it not worth selling here. But there is definitely something because it's just too much of a coincidence that none of us can get it and that none of about 15 stores here in Montreal had any, all major chains.

Nope you are not insane. It's incredibly dumb IMHO. My mom and I call it "granny government" lol trying to protect us from ourselves... I say let darwin handle that! ;-) ...

but yes, that probably is the case, or our population is too small - supply / demand? I do think it's more what you've said though. We tend to make things harder than they need be in some cases. Not all... but quite a few.

Side note: Montreal is beautiful and the people are so nice. You are so lucky!

 

[rubysmama]

Another Canadian here, and I too have looked and not been able to find a baby food with just meat. Frustrating, as that is what is always recommended to try for a cat that's not feeling well, or being fussy about food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

As I mentioned above, Gerber suggested using the iHerb.com website to order it.

 

[Alldara]

Ok, thank you A Alldara , F FeralHearts and everyone else, we thought we were going nuts. We have literally looked everywhere and it's not like we live in some small town. We're starting to think that there is maybe some Health Canada thing about selling meat in baby food because the massive amount of this food in the baby food market and the seemingly complete non existence of it in major retailers tells me this is more than just a market thing. Either health standards/regulations make it too hard for the producers to bother with selling here or there is some law against meat in baby products or some configuration that makes it not worth selling here. But there is definitely something because it's just too much of a coincidence that none of us can get it and that none of about 15 stores here in Montreal had any, all major chains.

Honestly, I think it's just that meat baby foods leave out the growing vegetarian and vegan market (not to mention that the chicken would need to be kosher and/or halal to sell to two other markets). So it makes more market sense to put another flavour on the shelves that everyone can eat.

I'd think you're likely to find the chicken baby food in smaller towns than big cities. My mum says she can get it at Walmart near Lake Simcoe, and the Heinz one too at the grocery store.

 

[srpjuly]

I know this was posted awhile ago but came across FeebysOwner 's suggestion to try iHerb and I can confirm they sell it!
Gerber, Mealtime for Baby, 2nd Foods, Chicken & Gravy, 2.5 oz (71 g)
Just got my order, it was reasonably priced (tho every individual jar was in a ziplock plastic bag and bubble wrapped...I get it why but mother nature is crying hahah)

I was looking for it FOREVER in Montreal after reading suggestions on here to get my cat to eat. I checked every single store, pharmacy, baby store, mom and pop shop to no avail....Some stores have baby food with meat but it has onions and garlic as well as a bunch of fruits I was unsure about :/ So odd that Canada is like this.

 

[lisamarie12]

Vitacost has Beechnut, stage 1 (no cornstarch), turkey, chicken and beef baby food, two ingredients.

https://www.vitacost.com/beech-nut-baby-food-puree-4-months-turkey-turkey-broth

They ship internationally, below is the info for Canada:

https://www.vitacost.com/international-faqs-canada

I've been using this baby food as a means to give my 14 year old cat her liquid thyroid supplement as well as a topper for her regular food, works like a charm.