Stella & chewy freeze dried

[space1101]

I have been feeding Stella & chewy freeze dried chicken to my cats in the morning.  They really love it, and they have been happy for like 3 months.  But about 3 weeks ago two of my cats started having running eyes, the eyes constantly had lots of tears, and they kind of stopped liking Stella & Chewy as much.   As soon as I stopped feeding Stella & Chewy, there was no more tears.   I thought it was coincidence.  Yesterday and today I gave Stella & Chewy again, and the tears are back to their eyes.  Has anyone have similar experience?  Does anyone know why cats get running eyes?  Now I'm not sure if I should give Stella & chewy any more.

Any suggestion and ideas are appreciated.

 

[klag]

That's strange, I feed my cats Stella and Chewy's as part of my rotation about two times per week and have not noticed watery eyes.  Keep us posted with whatever you find out, many of us here feed Stella and Chewys.

 

[carolina]

That's interesting...... Bugsy can't deal with their chicken..... He has explosive diarrhea when he eats it, so it's a here. He was sensitive to chicken before going on raw, and only eats free-range vegetarian-fed chicken - he is fine this way..... S&C however....... b-a-d for him :dash:

 

[pat]

Very interesting!  I never carried their chicken - just their bison and beef. The beef wasn't very popular, the bison was..then they discontinued it

and I dropped the line. 

 

[space1101]

I wonder if it's just this bag.   They really liked Stella and Chewy, so I gave them as breakfast every day.  This is the third bag.  After 2/3 of this bag is gone, I started noticing running eyes, really lots of water.  I wiped it like every hour or 40 minutes, but the tears didn't stop.  It continued for like 10 days.  As soon as I stopped feeding it, the eyes are clear and dry the next day.   

I think I will buy another bag and see if they still have the same problem.  I will keep you posted.

 

[feralvr]

I also feed S&C to my cat's almost every night at bedtime. It has taken place of the kibbles before bedtime. Although, Perla, has been eating S&C for a long while as she loves it and it is practically the only raw food she will eat willingly. Perla also got a watery eye last November, about the time she started eating FD S&C. Could that possibly be the culprit??? OMG, I never thought of it before. Perla and my other cats eat the FD S&C "dog" patties. They are supplemented with taurine and are fine for cats to eat. She eats the Chicken, Duck, Surf nTurf, and the Lamb. I will be taking her off of the S&C for now to see IF her eye clears. That would be incredible for me if I could have an answer to her one watery eye.

Do your cat's both eyes water ?? If so, then it might not be the cause for Perla. She only has one eye watering. But I will still eliminate the S&C right now just to see. There goes the last part of raw food she was eating Thanks for posting about this, I never thought it could be the problem. Will let you know about Perla's watery eye.

 

[space1101]

Feralvr, please let us know if the eyes are clear after you stop giving S & C.  My cats sometimes have one  watery eye, sometimes both eyes.  No matter what I do, the eyes were constantly runny until I stopped giving S & C.  This is very odd.   They liked the food in the beginning, and wouldn't get tired of eating it every morning, but ever since the eyes started running, they stopped liking it.   I'm curious what normally makes cat's eyes water.  I thought maybe they needed more taurine or fish oil, but those didn't help.   I wonder if the eyes watered because certain body part was hurting.

 

[feralvr]

Feralvr, please let us know if the eyes are clear after you stop giving S & C.  My cats sometimes have one  watery eye, sometimes both eyes.  No matter what I do, the eyes were constantly runny until I stopped giving S & C.  This is very odd.   They liked the food in the beginning, and wouldn't get tired of eating it every morning, but ever since the eyes started running, they stopped liking it.   I'm curious what normally makes cat's eyes water.  I thought maybe they needed more taurine or fish oil, but those didn't help.   I wonder if the eyes watered because certain body part was hurting.

Well, it could be allergies :nod: But Perla did have a couple of Herpes flare-ups - and I assumed her tearing eye was a Herpetic eye. BUT I am certainly willing to try anything and everything to see if I can stop the weepy eye. :shame: I will definitely let you know. :nod:

 

[ldg]

Wow - so strange! It sure sounds like it would be a batch problem, as there wasn't an issue the first few months though. I do remember now, however, that there was someone that had a kitty that took a long time to switch fully to raw... CatMom2Wires. Let me go find the thread... http://www.thecatsite.com/t/240101/whoda-thunk-it

When she switched Ziggy to 100% raw, his eyes stopped tearing. She makes home made, not commercial. So maybe there is something in the S&C that COULD cause it? :dk:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

All I can tell you is that I just opened a brand new package of S & C freeze dried chicken patties today, and none of mine will even touch it!  Seems awfully strange, because they love the chicken/salmon.  Maybe there IS something wrong the the chicken?  Have you contacted S & C?

 

[feralvr]

All I can tell you is that I just opened a brand new package of S & C freeze dried chicken patties today, and none of mine will even touch it!  Seems awfully strange, because they love the chicken/salmon.  Maybe there IS something wrong the the chicken?  Have you contacted S & C?

hno: Seriously, I wonder IF there is a batch problem :dk: I don't have any chicken here and actually have not used the S&C chicken for awhile. I have Lamb and Duck right now. Sally, I would call S&C OR return that bag for another, if you can. If all of your kids refused and you know they like it, then it might be bad...

 

[space1101]

I haven't contacted Stella & chewy, cuz I don't have evidence that the food caused the tearing eyes. I'll have to try one more time, but I'll give them a rest for a week.   Today, their eyes are completely clear.  It's weird that   big drop of tears came down their faces after eating Stella & Chewy for 2 days.  

Yes, very strange that they didn't have problem the first 2 or 3 months, maybe a bit, not enough for me to notice.   There is possibility that something in their bodies were depleted over time when they were on Stella & chewy, and by the third month, the sympton is obvious.  Another possibility is allergy,  I'm not sure if my vet could answer this queestion though.  

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

All I can tell you is that I just opened a brand new package of S & C freeze dried chicken patties today, and none of mine will even touch it!  Seems awfully strange, because they love the chicken/salmon.  Maybe there IS something wrong the the chicken?  Have you contacted S & C?

Seriously, I wonder IF there is a batch problem

I don't have any chicken here and actually have not used the S&C chicken for awhile. I have Lamb and Duck right now. Sally, I would call S&C OR return that bag for another, if you can. If all of your kids refused and you know they like it, then it might be bad...

Well, in my case, my furkids had never had just the plain chicken before...only the chicken/salmon.  And today, naturally, they actually "pecked" (get it

) at it, although didn't chow down like they normally would.

 

[klag]

 That would be incredible for me if I could have an answer to her one watery eye.
Do your cat's both eyes water ?? If so, then it might not be the cause for Perla. She only has one eye watering. But I will still eliminate the S&C right now just to see. There goes the last part
 

Clogged tear ducts are pretty common in cats, might be both eyes watering, just one clogged duct.

I'm still watching this thread closely as Stella and Chewy's is the only raw I can get all my raw eaters to eat without toppers.  Would hate to have to remove this from my rotation.  My cats don't eat enough to have watery eyes at this piont (only 2 days per week).

 

[feralvr]

Clogged tear ducts are pretty common in cats, might be both eyes watering, just one clogged duct.

I'm still watching this thread closely as Stella and Chewy's is the only raw I can get all my raw eaters to eat without toppers.  Would hate to have to remove this from my rotation.  My cats don't eat enough to have watery eyes at this piont (only 2 days per week).

It is possible that her tear duct is clogged but the vet would have to sedate her to find out and both vets I took her to said that the ducts do not appear clogged. Plus she gets conjunctivitis symptoms too.....

Do not worry too much about the S&C.... I am taking Perla off of it for a week to see. So far she has not had S&C for three days and no improvement in the weeping. My cat's all love S&C FD too

 

[nerdrock]

I'll be honest, I didn't read all of the responses so I'm sorry if this was posted already. 

One of my dogs has a beef intolerance, when she eats beef her eyes get all teary, once she's off it she's fine. Could be something similar. 

 

[space1101]

So maybe there is something in there that my cats are allergic to.  That makes sense actually.  

 

[space1101]

OK, I opened a new bag of Stella & Chewy chicken, and they had it for breakfast yesterday and today, and there is no tears so far.  So maybe it was a batch problem.   They like it again!  

 

[feralvr]

Well Perla STILL has the weepy eye. And she has had no S&C for almost a week. She is getting some tonight It was worth trying though . I was hoping..... btw... she is seeing an eye specialist on Monday.