Supply chain issues with cat food?

ColoradoCat

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I went to PetSmart today to pick up some things and hoped to get some Royal Canin canned kitten food for my girl (literally the only canned food she'll touch) and they were completely out. There were actually stickers up on the shelf saying that it was currently unavailable from the manufacturer. I can't get it on Chewy either. I'm concerned because even though Cassie has a nice big bag of dry food in the pantry, that will eventually run out and I'm worried what will happen if I can't get her more. She's extremely picky and won't eat just anything. Has anyone else encountered any issues like this? I know there are supply chain issues, but I don't think I realized just how bad it's gotten.
 

Boris Diamond

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I was at PetSmart tonight. Many shelves were empty. They had some Royal Canin, but only a small percentage of what they usually have. Other brands were low and some were out. It is the same at the grocery store. And prices are rising. PetSmart did have what I wanted for my somewhat finicky cats.

I have read that manufacturers are low on metal for making cans. I know that in some areas at least, metal recycling stopped during COVID, reducing metal availability.

Hope you can find what you need. Have you contacted the company directly?
 
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ColoradoCat

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I was at PetSmart tonight. Many shelves were empty. They had some Royal Canin, but only a small percentage of what they usually have. Other brands were low and some were out. It is the same at the grocery store. And prices are rising. PetSmart did have what I wanted for my somewhat finicky cats.

I have read that manufacturers are low on metal for making cans. I know that in some areas at least, metal recycling stopped during COVID, reducing metal availability.

Hope you can find what you need. Have you contacted the company directly?
A metal shortage would make a lot of sense, especially since the dry food supply seemed to be more or less normal. I have not contacted the company, but I probably will.
 
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ColoradoCat

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So I checked out Royal Canin's website and they do have a message about product availability. I will probably email them and ask them where I can find the food I'm looking for, but here is the message in case anyone is interested:

"ROYAL CANIN® has experienced incredible growth in demand for our products at a time when a broader global crisis is putting additional strain on all of us. Despite our best efforts to supply enough of our diets to meet the increased demand, we recognize that we are not meeting your expectations, nor ours.

Our entire team is committed to getting your cats and dogs the tailored nutrition they deserve. In the meantime, we will be prioritizing the diets we believe are most critical to the health and wellbeing of pets for the time being. Because of that, you may experience difficulty purchasing certain products in the coming months."
 

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I work in a store that sells pet supplies for a living. When I did the order on Monday, it looked like some of the larger pate cans will be back in stock, but not the little ones with the slices in gravy. Royal Canin has been up and down like a yo-yo for months. I weaned my little guy off of it because of this, and I've tried to tell everyone who brought Royal Canin to the counter to use the time to try to find a back-up. If you have any sort of a supply left, try hiding some Wellness slices in gravy in it and see if she'll just eat through. The consistency is the same and she may go for it if you can do it in very small amounts at first. Purina Pro Plan makes very palatable wet recipes, and Science Diet makes pouches that are chunks in gravy. My little guy weaned onto Science Diet Light and Perfect Weight wet food, though he has a definite preference for the Light and is obviously missing his Royal Canin as I've had to employ nutritional yeast sprinkles a bit more often these days.
Call them. Get a human on the line. They're usually good to talk to. If you e-mail you'll just get a form letter.
 
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ColoradoCat

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I work in a store that sells pet supplies for a living. When I did the order on Monday, it looked like some of the larger pate cans will be back in stock, but not the little ones with the slices in gravy. Royal Canin has been up and down like a yo-yo for months. I weaned my little guy off of it because of this, and I've tried to tell everyone who brought Royal Canin to the counter to use the time to try to find a back-up. If you have any sort of a supply left, try hiding some Wellness slices in gravy in it and see if she'll just eat through. The consistency is the same and she may go for it if you can do it in very small amounts at first. Purina Pro Plan makes very palatable wet recipes, and Science Diet makes pouches that are chunks in gravy. My little guy weaned onto Science Diet Light and Perfect Weight wet food, though he has a definite preference for the Light and is obviously missing his Royal Canin as I've had to employ nutritional yeast sprinkles a bit more often these days.
Call them. Get a human on the line. They're usually good to talk to. If you e-mail you'll just get a form letter.
I probably will call them up. Thankfully, I do have enough dry food to get her through until at least the end of the year and probably beyond (I bought a huge bag and she really doesn't eat that much). The wet food is just something I like to give her as a treat because she loves it so much and it's completely adorable watching her get so excited about it (and I have a coupon!).
 

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The outage of the kitten food you are looking for must be somewhat based on area/location. I just checked Chewy and it said it was in stock. Amazon stated that it will be back in stock soon and if I ordered it they said it would be delivered to me by 11/7 - 11/12. This was for the RC Feline Health Nutrition Loaf in Sauce Canned Kitten food, 3 ounce cans, but Chewy said the 5.8 ounce cans were in stock too.

Maybe check Amazon and see what they tell you for your area, that is if you are not one of the folks who are opposed to buying from Amazon.
 
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ColoradoCat

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The outage of the kitten food you are looking for must be somewhat based on area/location. I just checked Chewy and it said it was in stock. Amazon stated that it will be back in stock soon and if I ordered it they said it would be delivered to me by 11/7 - 11/12. This was for the RC Feline Health Nutrition Loaf in Sauce Canned Kitten food, 3 ounce cans, but Chewy said the 5.8 ounce cans were in stock too.

Maybe check Amazon and see what they tell you for your area, that is if you are not one of the folks who are opposed to buying from Amazon.
That could very well be the case. I live in a relatively small mountain town. We're not completely isolated (Denver's only about an hour's drive), but we're pretty out of the way. I do also use Chewy from time to time, so this is incredibly helpful.
 

rubysmama

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Has anyone else encountered any issues like this? I know there are supply chain issues, but I don't think I realized just how bad it's gotten.
Unfortunately, yes. I haven't been able to get Ruby's veterinary canned food since June. And the shortages started even earlier than that, for some products, as there was a thread on the topic started in April. Royal Canin Food~Shortage Warning

It's really frustrating, especially for those of us with cats who will only eat certain foods, or have digestive issues. Hopefully we're getting closer to things getting back to normal.
 
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