? New Friskies formula??

Hi All!
Someone on the FB page has mentioned that Friskies has a new formula and that the pates may be over 10% now! Can anyone confirm or have a new list of friskies pate carb count? Thanks

 

Oh no, I hope it's not true! I just bought two cases of it!

 

Me too! Sonny eats the Mariners Catch and Supreme Supper

 

I don't have the numbers but the CDN Friskies contains rice and is therefore higher in carbs than the US Friskies. Maybe there's just a mix-up on fb. Best check labels just in case.

 

The US does contain rice but almost all pates have always been u der 10%

 

I saw that on the Facebook page as well and I hope it's wrong as much kitty has been doing well on it!

 

I've heard that their formulas change from time to time as well, otherwise I would have tried to switch from FF due to cost.

 

I ran carb counts based on the Guaranteed Analysis numbers on the Friskies website and, much as I hate to have to say it, the pates came in at over 10%...some as high as 12% or 13%. It would have to be verified by getting the as-fed values from Friskies themselves as the Guaranteed isn't always totally accurate, but it does look as though they may have changed them.

 

April that is the same ranges I had come up with. I am in Canada and really only use Friskies for the MC and HC since I make my own regular food. I use the Chef's Dinner as a MC and noticed that the ingredients and guaranteed analysis were the same as with the other pates. That is when I noticed that rice was listed fairly high up on the ingredients list. I don't know when there was a change in Canada but it sounds like the US is now the same as the Canadian product. Unfortunately ANY food company...pet or human...can change ingredients at any time and do not have to inform the consumer.

 

This is where i get confused. I ran carb counts using online carb calculators also. Do we go by the wet matter or dry matter. The wet matter carbs all came in at under 10

 

Does anyone know about "9 lives meaty pates?" Carb count or has anyone fed them. I really dont want to switch to FF because of the small cans. Really bothering me now!

 

I'm with you. To make our lives easier we are now feeding both Max and our non-diabetic Oscar the same food, which is Friskies. They like FF, but we'd have to get double due to the size. So far Max isn't spiking and has good numbers but I want to be prepared in case something changes and get him the right stuff!

 

Yes... I use a lot of 9Lives... here's the link to a chart I worked up last year... using the latest data received from 9Lives (at that time)...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f2fCxyttT_Ivh_nZyJ1Dm9pIBTzHWLc_okeCuFNjkxA/pubhtml
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John and Derek

 

Thank you very much!!

 

I couldnt open it :-(

 

Oh no! Can you view it?

 

I'm at work now... but will be home in a few hours... and will see if there's a problem with the file and let you know...

 

I can open it fine on my home computer using Google Chrome Maybe it is just the work computer that won't let you open it,

 

Probably...i will check again! Thanks!!

 

Uh oh...now I'm going to confuse you even more - sorry. We actually don't use either - we run one more calculation to get the percentage of calories from carbs. If you use this calculator http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html it will tell you how many actual calories are coming from carbs (and will also give you a calculation of the total calories in 100 g of food which you can use if the manufacturer doesn't list a calorie value for the food) - then you need to calculate that as a percentage of the total number of calories in 100 g of food.

 

It's infuriating Mary Ann, but unfortunately Friskies have become one of the worst for removing product lines and changing things up. As it happens, I'd already had to take Friskies out of the mix here because it's fairly high in phosphorus but I know just how annoyed I'd have been if I was still feeding it to Rosa and potentially messing with her OTJ status while still on paper doing everything right.

 

Someone on the FDMB FB group has sent a message to Friskies asking for clarification. Hopefully she will get real information and not the usual canned response.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1391528450864047&set=gm.10154166831540202&type=3

 

First they dropped the low phosphorous line and now they are messing with the formulas. My post above is about someone who has approached them for more information

 

I was one of those people on the FB page that has sent a message to Friskies! I am waiting to hear!

 

I'm interested to know how this turns out. I emailed Purina a while ago asking for the as fed values for Friskies, to which they responded they would send it to me by regular mail. I thought that was odd. What I got was a sheet listing the guaranteed analysis. I wondered why the sent me the wrong thing but was frustrated with the experience and didn't pursue it. I probably should have..

 

I emailed them back at the beginning of this year to request as-fed values on various Friskies varieties and was emailed back values on a few of the flavours I was curious about - like Tanya (@Catticus Maximus) above, I was sent back the guaranteed analysis numbers that you would find on the can, with the addition of carb values and phosphorus values.

Dr. Pierson notes on her food chart (http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf) under the Fancy Feast (also made by Purina) category, that the numbers she received were a mixture of guaranteed analysis and typical nutrient composition, so those may be the same types of values that people receive this time around. Dr. Pierson notes that the same is true of the values she received on Friskies.

 

And just because I can, this was what I just posted on their FB page

"Come on Friskies. I call BS. Yet again people with cats with medical conditions (in this case diabetes) are having issues with your product and are asking you a very simple question "has the formula of the classic pates changed". And yet again, just as you did with the Special Diet debacle last year, you are asking everyone to private message you. Confirmation or denial of a formula change does not need to be, nor should it be, handled by PM - if you've changed the formula you should straight up answer the post and tell people so that everyone can see your answer. BTW...I emailed you via your website about the Special Diet discontinuation last year - I received a standardized reply on 6/16/15 stating that I would receive a full reply within the next 48 hours...still waiting over 13 months later. Doesn't matter to me anymore - I haven't bought a single Purina cat food product since you pulled the Special Diet and tried to recommend me products that were completely unsuitable as replacements - but if that's the level of customer service you offer, don't be surprised when you continue to lose customers. Not everyone can afford to switch to Purina DM, which is presumably going to be your 'replacement' option nor will all cats eat it. I might not buy your foods anymore, but I am furious on behalf of all the people who have continued to buy the classic pates thinking they will keep their diabetic cats safe and are now finding issues with them."

 

So aside from FF...what are some of the best store bought pate foods for my cat....he loves turkey chicken and some fish

 

The biggest problem is that the other options are often a bit more expensive Barri. If your cat will eat 9 Lives, there are some decent pate options in that range. The turkey, chicken and fish options I use are Max Cat Chicken Supreme, Wellness Grain Free Turkey, 9 Lives Tuna & Egg, Avoderm Chicken, Pinnacle Chicken and Ocean Fish and most of the BFF range that all seem to contain some fish together with chicken in a lot of flavors (though there are a whole bunch of low carb foods I can't use because of the high phosphorus content). I wouldn't recommend buying online for your first attempt as you'd likely have to buy a whole case of something he might not like, but there are definitely savings to be had by shopping around when you do find something he likes. Chewy.com often has some good deals, as can Amazon.

 

I added my own FB comment to yours April:

With two diabetic cats I have also been finding that Friskies pate is causing higher glucose levels. The diabetic cat forum I belong to used to promote Friskies as a low carb food that was safe for diabetic cats, but now a LOT of people are complaining that it is making the numbers go up. With 1000s of members on that one forum alone Friskies really needs to answer this question.

I thought a little more stirring of the pot couldn't hurt.

Anyone else want to have a go???

https://www.facebook.com/Friskies/?fref=ts

 

I already wrote to them also!

 

Yes...i buy his friskies on chewy now. Was wondering about theb"9 lives meaty pates" may try that

 

Thank you Mary Ann. I reckon the more of us the better complaining to them. They may not change the formula back, but if nothing else a little transparency about their products wouldn't hurt. It's difficult to trust any company that tries to hide what they're doing and hopes no-one will notice...it immediately makes me think they're including more cheap, low quality ingredients in their food and trying not to let us know!

 

It's definitely worth a try. I think @JohnZ posted the link to the spreadsheet he'd made to calculate the carb content based on the numbers they gave him when they changed up their formula - and the good thing is that if he likes the 9 Lives, they won't break the budget for you.

 

I seriously doubt that we will get any real information on changes to their formula. Pet food companies are one of the WORST for transparency. I have followed pet food issues for almost 10 years now, since the melamine incident that killed thousands of cats and dogs. There was ZERO transparency then and it really hasn't changed much.

 

I doubt it too Mary Ann. Even with the prescription foods, the FDA pretty much ruled that all of us pet owners are on our own in deciding whether or not the food is OK for our pets and stated that there is really nothing that special in the foods to warrant the prescription label. If they won't control the over-priced 'prescription' foods then there's no hope of them legislating over the budget brands.

 

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HI... just checked... I can also open it fine on my home computer (using Google Chrome)... must be a work thing

 

I ws able to open it on my home computer John! Thank you! Since this is pretty recent, it looks like the 9 lives are meaty pates that I know Sonny would like are all under 10%. May have to go to the store tomorrow to buy one can of each kind to test. I cant risk sticking with Friskies if we cant get an updated carb list. Seems like the 9 livwes are the closest to the Friskies I can get

 

The FDA and CFIA in Canada don't give a rat's ass about the quality of pet food. They are only concerned about food suitable for human consumption (people food). I wonder if Purina is purposely making Friskies less "diabetic friendly" with the hopes that they can sell more of their Purina DM products. I am sure their profit margins are higher with the prescription foods.

 

I don't doubt it for a moment. When they pulled the Special Diet, they were trying to get people onto either a ProPlan urinary formula (at 4x the price per gram of food) or the Purina UR prescription food (no doubt every bit as expensive). This will be the exact same situation - they're going to direct people to the DM food...never mind that out of 6 cats here not one of them would touch the stuff when we did try a can when Rosa was first diagnosed.

 

Considering that the prime meat source in Purina Dm wet is liver I am not surprised that many kitties will not eat it or go off it quickly. I personally do not think that liver should be used as a primary protein source. Liver can be used in food, but it should be used in proportion to what would be the normal % in prey. When I make my food I use liver and heart but it only constitutes about 8-10% in total for both the liver and heart.

 

I understand Friskies has synthetic vitamins from China in its formulas; when they say "by-products" anything, it can be anything. Please check out The Truth about Pet Food website for the scientific evidence about brands and what's in them; some of it is very troubling. And no one is exempt, it seems. I feed Merrick, but it was bought by another big kahuna: Purina.

 

Purina is the overall owner of both Friskies and Fancy Feast, but hopefully they'll leave the Merrick alone - I'd imagine that's a more profitable brand per can for them anyway as it's sold at a rather higher price bracket.

 

I am so angrily with Purina. I had been feeding Callie the DM. I tried some of the Friskies Pate and she loves it. I planned to alternate the cans so she could have a variety. Years ago, before the grain free pet foods were available, I started making my own raw cat food for my Gizmo. Once I started feeding it to him, all his digestive problems went away. I can make up a bunch for Callie also. I learned to freeze it in ice cube trays and store it in zip lock bags. I could also can it in my pressure canner so I don't have to worry if the power goes out (we live in the boonies) . While I am doing that, I might as well make enough for all 4 cats. If enough of us did that, the pet food companies might hurt a bit.

 

All pet food use the vitamin premixes in their forumulas...both the wet and the dry. These premixes are made by separate companies and sold to the pet food manufacturers. A lot of the ingredients used in the premixes do come from China, regardless of which pet food it is, since China has the cheapest prices ( for many reasons...not all good ) Many of the smaller brand pet food are made in the same plants as the larger pet food companies. If you remember back in 2007 with the melamine scandal, people found out because of the recalls that even large companies like Iams were made by Menu Foods (which of course no one had heard of) Menu Food made pet food (cat and dog) for many different pet food brands. Some of the larger companies now have their own facilities, but getting real information on the pet food companies is like trying to pull hen's teeth...totally impossible. I started making my own food at the time of the recalls, but I still need commercial foods for MC or HC foods when my kitties numbers get too low.


In 2014 in the US alone the pet food industry brought in over 15 BILLION dollars. That figure is rising every year.

 

These big businesses don't care about the health of our pets, only how much money they can make.

 

So has anyone fed their cats the 9 lives meaty pates? Thinking of mking the switch because i cant trust Friskies anymore. Wondering if anyone has any luck with those??

 

John...someone on the FB page just ran some carb counts on the meaty pates...they were coming in at over 10% using the guaranteed analysis using the dry matter carbs....this makes no sense to me because im just not a mathmetician...but just wanted to let you know. Maybe you did it the right way...

 

IIRC, there was a discussion about this last year (or maybe early this year...I forget now) when 9 Lives did some repackaging and reformulating. I had also had them coming in as fairly high in carbs (on a percentage of calories from carbs basis, not the dry matter basis which isn't the right number to use) but when @JohnZ contacted them for as-fed values, the carbs calculated as much, much lower. I don't know if they haven't changed the guaranteed analysis on their website or if it's just hideously inaccurate, but the as-fed values definitely brought them in at acceptable levels as per John's spreadsheet.

 

9 Lives was originally owned by Heinz. It was later sold to Del Monte who eventually in 2014 restructured their pet food division and Renamed it Big Heart Pet Brands. What has happened since then I am not sure of, but companies will often sell off portions of their holdings and although the product name stays the same the production and ingredients could very well change. There is really very little transparency in the pet foods industry,

 

Yes...i was so happywhen i read his sheet yesterday...hoping its still accurate

 

Oh come on... I'm trying to remember now (hoping we made notes) what happened when we tried to put Tasha on 9 Lives. I'm sure we tried because of the lower phosphorus.

Friskies just ticks me off. Both for changing formulas and for not giving answers. I still miss the Special Diet varieties. And these "concoctions" make me gag a little every time I see them on the shelves. Forget Tuna and Cheddar - give us the varieties we need for our kitties!

 

You and me both! I had an affordable option for Rosa (and, at the time, Shadow too) with the Special Diet. Since they pulled that I've been stuck with paying for much higher priced brands...with the number of cats in our house, cat food costs me more than people food at the moment! I completely get that a lot of cats like cheese, but I'd much rather they give us a formula we can use and let us add the cheese ourselves! The not giving answers is just infuriating. It might not directly affect me any more because I can't use their food anyway, but the withholding of information that could mean the difference between maintaining remission and ending up back on insulin for a number of cats is just incredibly annoying.

 

We're feeding Friskies pates right now (I think she wasn't a fan of the 9 Lives or anything else we've tried to give her) but if they've increased the carbs, this fluffy princess may have to try something else again. Sigh...

 

Sorry if I missed it in the thread: Has anyone actually received confirmation from Purina regarding a formula change or specific as fed values? Purina didn't respond to my inquiry.

Also, if you haven't checked Friskies' FB page lately, there are several visitor posts showing pics of molded food. Everyone double check your cans before feeding and keep your kitties safe!

 

I read the label. It has rice in it. I bought several cans for my Callie. At least I can feed it to our other cats. I will look and see if I can find some 9 lives that is low carb. Callie is not a picky eater.

 

Hi, I haven't been able to get this link to work... it keeps saying... 'Sorry, this content isn't available right now'... anyone else having the same problem?

 

You would have to be registered to use Face Book. That is where the post was originally from. Also you would have to be a member of the FDMB FB group since it is a private group.

 

I couldn't get that link to work, either. Maybe try this one to go to visitor posts.

 

That one is from the Friskies FB page and should have the posts that members from the FDMB FB page posted

 

Thanks for that- I'm not registered with them...

 

Thanks- this one works...

 

This is the company's response to my inquiry for as fed values for the Friskies pates:

Hi Shelly,

We apologize for the delayed response.

We'd be happy to assist you. Most of our Friskies have undergone no recent formula changes. The Friskies Classic Pate Turkey & Giblets Dinner is one of our lowest carb% canned cat foods out of the entire Friskies line. The can is 1.8% carbohydrates.

If you have any further questions or concerns please give us a call at 1-800-778-7462.

Thank you,
Tracy​

 

At least you got a response! I posted on their fb page, sent them 2 private messages and emailed them...NOTHING!

 

Good to know since I got some of this this morning

 

I'd be very skeptical of that 1.8% number. If they say they have undergone no recent formula changes... why is this number so low compared to the 8% on the www.catinfo.org site? Just thinking out loud here?
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@JohnZ

Yeah, I really wish they would've provided a full nutritional breakdown. I don't like their vagueness (e.g., "Most of....") on the formula changes, either.

 

It's probably the % of carbs in the can as it is...so wet matter. Once you take off the 78% or so for moisture, you're actually looking at only having 22% actual food - so the 1.8% carbs immediately becomes 8.1% or so...and that's before you start figuring out how many of the calories in the food come from carbs!

 

I just found a pate that according to the online calculators has 4.5% carbs (11 calories from carbs). If I can rely on the calculator I am moving from Fancy Feast and Purina to this food. It's "I and Love and You" Chicken Lickin' recipe with fruits and veggies. Would love to know everyone's thoughts on this.

 

@Barri & Sonny

It's been awhile... does anyone know if Friskies has indeed changed their formula and if so the carb count of their pates?

I feed Derek a combination of Fancy feast Chunky Chicken, Friskies Mariners Catch and 9Lives.

His numbers have been all over the place lately and am wondering if the Friskies Mariners Catch could be causing it.

Would be great if we (FDMB) could come up with our own up to date/accurate wet food carb listing/chart...?

Thanks
.

 

I know some people have called the company and they have said they havent changed any formula. I have emailed the company 2x now with no response. How does your kitty like the meaty pate (9 lives) and what flavors? I bought a few cans but unsure! Thanks

 

This is the food I feed (because the big cans are available just a 3 minute walk from my apartment.) And I haven't noticed any issues with it. I also feed 9lives pate when they get sick of the friskeies turkey and giblets. I'm hoping this info is accurate.

 

It has rice in it. I bought some for Callie, saw that it had rice a.d gave it to my 3 civies.

 

Hi @Barri & Sonny ,

Sorry I haven’t replied sooner… Derek probably likes the 9Lives Meaty Pate with Real Chicken the best… but he also likes the Ocean Whitefish, Seafood Platter and Salmon a lot… I alternate them to keep things interesting for him (and my other cats).

At testing/insulin time… I always feed him a partial can of Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken… this is his absolute favorite and I know he’ll eat it at shot testing/insulin time...

Since I also have 9 other cats… what I then do is leave out multiple plates of 9Lives Pates as well as a couple plates of Friskies Mariners Catch (which Derek also likes).

If you haven’t already... give 9Lives Pates a try… your kitty may really like them… and they’re low carb and quite inexpensive.
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