Nature's Variety Instinct canned Rabbit vs. Addiction canned Rabbit

[kittymeowmeow7]

Hi everyone,

I've been researching these two products for my kitty. He loves the Nature's Variety,

which has become a staple, along with their chicken flavor, and beef on occasion.

I've read that the pork liver in the Nature's Variety brand is a negative. The Addiction

label only says 'liver'. I also haven't been able to find out what the correct phosphorus

level is for the Addiction brand. Cost aside, I'd appreciate any advice concerning

which brand to feed my kitty. He hasn't had the Addiction brand, but I'm sure he'll

like it. I'm trying to find the very best well balanced canned food possible. He developed

an allergy to Wellness core canned, and wouldn't touch Nature's Variety Chicken

Medallions. He's never had the raw Rabbit flavor Medallions though. I could use some

good advice from someone who knows their stuff, which I know a couple of people

here do. I've found Catinfo.org to be a priceless website, which I recommend to

everyone within hearing distance, still feeding their kitty's dry food. Anyway, thanks

everyone. I've never met a cat person I didn't like. I'm convinced that the Lord will have

mine waiting for me in heaven.

Update: I apologize. I meant the label on the Addiction website. I haven't ordered any

           yet, but he'll eat anything if you cook it right. Actually, you could cook something

           wrong and he probably wouldn't complain to much.

 

[catspaw66]

We will be waiting to hear your cat's opinion on them.

 

[vball91]

Why is pork liver a negative? I hadn't heard that, and we seem to be at the same level of obsessiveness about researching cat food from your post. LOL we're a special subset of people for sure. I had read on naturalcatcareblog.com that the rabbit from Nature's Variety Instinct is processed in China and given the many problems with pet food processed in China, I excluded that one from my list. I do really like the Addiction brand ingredients, but my cat was not a fan of any of them except for Lamb. She tends to be picky though (and maybe spoiled just a tad).

 

[smitten4kittens]

Why is pork liver a negative? I hadn't heard that, and we seem to be at the same level of obsessiveness about researching cat food from your post. LOL we're a special subset of people for sure. I had read on naturalcatcareblog.com that the rabbit from Nature's Variety Instinct is processed in China and given the many problems with pet food processed in China, I excluded that one from my list. I do really like the Addiction brand ingredients, but my cat was not a fan of any of them except for Lamb. She tends to be picky though (and maybe spoiled just a tad).

It says that Nature's Variety Rabbit is sourced from China on their own web site. I stopped feeding it when I learned this too. I got some Artemis Turkey canned today. It's one of my new favorites.

 

[kittymeowmeow7]

Not sure if it's true, but I ran across the statement below on the web. Also, Addiction has yet to provide Catinfo.org with their phosphorus levels. Just FYI for anyone reading my post.

"Pork - Fat is generally beneficial to cats, but the fat globules in pork are larger than the fat globules in other meats, and can clog the small blood vessels of a cat. Avoid any pork products, especially bacon, which contains the hazardous preservative, sodium nitrate."
 

 

[vball91]

I saw that as well and researched it but could find no research to back it up. There are several threads on this site discussing that same statement. As you've seen, pork is used in some commercial cat foods and many raw feeders including myself feed pork. I thought it was pork LIVER in particular that you had an issue with in your original post.

 

[korina]

My older cat (pictured in Avatar) favorite food is NV Rabbit.

Cute tradition, she always got it on Sunday (esp when it jumped to 2.50 a can)

Yes the meat comes from China, it always has. Yes they use pork liver, at some point rabbit liver cost too much, or human demand was greater.

If you think the meat is any safer in America, go to Japan and see the signs in resturants that say "NO AMERICAN BEEF", our congress bought by agriculture lobbyists (amongst every other industry) BLOCKED farmers from implementing madcow testing:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131629&page=1

Add to that ZERO transparency in canned food business.

Just feed your cat what she likes, and try the NV lamb, my cat loves that.

I hadn't heard of the fat globules being bigger, and possibly cloging small vessels, we need a quote or link to that.

That sounds very presumptious and not scientific.  You can't say that the pork fat can be beneficial, but could also kill.

And how do those globules compare to beef fat, chicken fat, etc.

Personally I think the aversion to pork is the reputation for that bacteria (has only been discovered a few times in last decades, thought to b wiped out), and I think in general American's do not view pork as pet food for some reason.

I think also pork has a reputation for being a "cheap" meat, and assumed to not be healthy (for humans).

As to addiction vs NV, per my kitten addicition was hit or miss.

The color is COMPLETELY different, like dark grey (vs NV's reddish hue), and it's dry. 

It is cheaper, reason I bought it.

I would say go ahead and try it, but realize that most wet foods are scams, tough language but true.  A little google will show you who makes that can of Addiction (forgot the name) in the USA.

As to NV, I have no idea who cans their food, it could be them, but it's probably Menu Inc (anyone know).

Out of all canned companies I feel they are the best.

When my cat switched to them, she went nuts.

I met a rep once and she said something about something smelling good, I said "your food smells terrible, and that must be why my cat loves it so much"

She gave me 10 5$ coupons.

Also, NV has a new variety, Pork

  and they have other new cans, marketed as Limited Ingredient (ie no eggs, no flaxseed)

I might sound like a smart as

 

[meuzettesmom]

Not sure if it's true, but I ran across the statement below on the web. Also, Addiction has yet to provide Catinfo.org with their phosphorus levels. Just FYI for anyone reading my post.

"Pork - Fat is generally beneficial to cats, but the fat globules in pork are larger than the fat globules in other meats, and can clog the small blood vessels of a cat. Avoid any pork products, especially bacon, which contains the hazardous preservative, sodium nitrate."
 

I was disappointed with all the pork in that food too. That isn't good. But cats are scavengers, eat mice. So I guess it is ok. I don't buy it anymore. Wish there were a good rabbit in a wet food. My cats and dog love it.

 

[vball91]

Just to be clear, I have found no research that validates that statement on petco's website. There are a lot of members here who feed raw pork with no ill effects. Pork is also used in commercial cat foods.

 

[Willowy]

Pork is also used in commercial cat foods.

There are very few foods that specifically say they contain pork (possibly catering to the Jewish and Muslim populations? I don't know any other reason the pet food companies wouldn't use such a cheap protein source). But "meat by-products" and "meat and bone meal" have a lot of pork, I'm sure. So even if it doesn't say it has pork products, the cheaper foods almost certainly do.

 

[korina]

vball91,  so funny how people trust what labels say on pet food cans.

If Meutz wants to cut out NV rabbit because they are transparent enough to say their rabbit is from china, and that they use pork liver, there are plenty of others.

They actually have alot of credit to be as responsive to customers as they are.

Man, if NV was smart, they would just write: "Rabbit, liver, x, y, z"   That way the word pork isnt there, but liver is, so it's true, even though there is no regulatory committee to guarantee anything.

I might sound like a smart ass, but I have fed premium wet cans since the recall.

My main goal was quality and safety, and caloric value.  NV fits the bill.

If you don't want to serve the rabbit, your wallet will thank you, but if your kitty loves it as much as mine you are depriving them.

My cat got the full rotation of NV except the duck (even my new kittens hated the duck), along with wellness and natures something pouches.

She also liked Chicken Soup which was great because it was only a buck.

Also I really want a link stating that pork products will give my cat corraded arteries.

Maybe Catinfo and truthaboutpetfood should make an effort to establish who the wet food MANUFACTURERS are and which brands they smack on the cans.

If we had watchdogs, we could get some images or video of how the "sausage is made"

In closing, like I said, NV has a new variety called, PORK,  I will buy it and test it out on Korina, I will even film it and post it here.

 

[shasta]

I use Nature's Logic's canned rabbit in my cats' rotation; Nature's Logic sources its rabbit from Italy. If you haven't checked into that brand, it might be worth a look. My girls love it. 

 

[teeveecat]

 
My older cat (pictured in Avatar) favorite food is NV Rabbit.

Cute tradition, she always got it on Sunday (esp when it jumped to 2.50 a can)

Yes the meat comes from China, it always has. Yes they use pork liver, at some point rabbit liver cost too much, or human demand was greater.

 

[vball91]

Have you tried the Hound & Gatos line? Also, while Tiki Cat only has chicken in non-fish varieties currently but it is supposed to be coming out with other non-fish proteins this fall/winter.

 

[teeveecat]

 
Have you tried the Hound & Gatos line? Also, while Tiki Cat only has chicken in non-fish varieties currently but it is supposed to be coming out with other non-fish proteins this fall/winter.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'll watch the Tiki Cat site for their new line.  The Hound and Gatos cans look like those manufactured by Evangers, but I read on another site that they use the Lotus canning facilities.  If anyone has more information, please share it.

I just checked the Hound and Gatos site and the ingredients look pretty good except for the  guar gum, xanthan gum and  salt cassia gum.  I don't know why they need so many thickening agents in the food.

I noticed that they refer to their rabbit as "American Rabbit", probably because Nature's Variety may be the leading  seller of the rabbit formula as they also sell a frozen raw variety as well as kibble, and most consumers know they have to source their protein from China.

Other than the thickening agents, the major differences I see between Nature's Variety Instinct Canned rabbit and Hound & Gatos' rabbit are:

1) NV instinct uses pork liver while H&G adds duck liver  

2) NV states its cans contain 95% rabbit and pork while H&G's is "98% rabbit" according to Petfooddirect.com.  I can't find that claim on the Hound and Gatos site page:

http://houndgatos.com/rabbit-catfood.aspx

3) NV Instinct contains fruits and vegetables while H&G is just meat.  NV Instinct also adds montmorillonite clay

4) NV Instinct Rabbit 5.5 oz can is 220 calories while Hound and Gatos 5.5 oz can is 161 calories. 

What I can't figure out is why NV Instinct has 37% more calories per can than H&G.  1 g of protein and 1 gram of carbs each have 4 calories so  the added fruit and vegetables in NV can't account for that.

The only thing I can conclude is that there's more water added to the H&G rabbit.   Their respective sites indicate a 75% moisture max in the NV and 78% in the H&G.

Has anyone here tried the Hound and Gatos canned rabbit?

 

[krysta]

I recently tried the Hounds and Gatos rabbit.  My 2 boys love it.  I can get it at my local pet food store cheaper than the Nature's Variety, and I like that it has less "extra" stuff in it.  They also liked the H & G pork, and tonight tried the lamb and seemed to like it. They did not like the beef. Do you think it's the slightly higher fat content of the N.V. that accounts for the calories? or maybe a combination of that and less water?

 

[jclark]

Agreed. The funny thing about the statement from Petco is that they sell NV canned which contains pork liver!

Now I'm concerned because I've been feeding my 3 fellas NV exclusively.

 

[jclark]

UPDATE: I contacted Petco regarding their comments and how it runs counter to the cat food they offer for sale because much of it (canned) contains pork liver or an unknown species of liver.

Received a reply that they forwarded my question onto Management. I'll let everyone know what I find out.

 

[happybird]

What an interesting thread! What I want to add is that I noticed that Hill's Prescription Diet (the high calorie one) has the first ingredient as pork liver, also. I was suprised to see this when I was advised to feed it to my cat after a long illness. In my totally non-scientific way, I figured maybe pork liver has different properties than regular pork meat, so maybe that's why it is ok? I've always been told pork can cause pancreatitis, so it was concerning. Now I realize I am a dummy for not asking my vet more questions about it.

It will be interesting to see the response from Petsmart. Will it be thoughtful and informative, or corporate speak out of both sides of their mouth? We shall see

 

[sweetpea24]

vball91,  so funny how people trust what labels say on pet food cans.

I know this thread is older but I was reading it and came across the above and wanted to comment. I don't think it's funny at all that people trust what's on the cans. I find that insulting.

I understand that the food industry, human or otherwise, is full of bulls*** and henceforth, food companies can market their foods ina certain way while not having to list all ingredients or specify ingredients on the label. It's deceitful and conniving the way these companies (along with ghe FDA, AAFCO, etc) can play on consumers' love for their pets and desire to feed them the best food possible yet in the end, it's all the same crap.

What I find funny is that the industry is allowed to deceive consumers. Consumers should be able to read a label and trust that chicken is chicken and pork ispork and that all the ingredients on the label is in the food in the stated proportions. What I find funny is that these regulatory bodies (i.e. AAFCO) ostensibly exist to provide guidelines but who do they really exist for? The consumer? No. The AAFCO doesnt even have any regulatory power.

If I am going to spend $3.50 (that is the price of NV canned Rabbit where I live) on a can of cat food, there should be a true label on it. However, I know the reality of the situation. I just don't think you shouod be laughing at the consumers who believe the labels on a can. Consumers are the reason these companies can exist.