Warning for those who feed Evo to their diabetic cats

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Caitlyn and Molly

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So I actually posted this originally last night, but deleted it a few minutes later because I decided to wait to hear back from Natura first. I changed my mind, because this morning my girls BG was 106 BEFORE breakfast. Never, ever has she been that high before a meal or even in the middle of the day since she went OTJ. There has been nothing unusual about this morning, so it was not from stress. She was 86 when I tested her yesterday afternoon after she had had a stressful car ride.

I switched my cats to Evo 95% canned cat foods a few days ago, but am already stopping. Last night I found a whole peice of RICE in their canned chicken &turkey formula. There is no way this was cross contamination on my part. The knife and plates for their dinner were clean, and I hadn't eaten rice in days. The peice of was in the middle of her food, and unfortunately I didn't find it till after she had started eating. I also found what appeared to be small bits of ground up rice as well.

I have no idea if this was just some random cross contamination at one of the factories that makes Evo, but I'm not happy. Molly slept under by parents bed last nigh (typical for her), and so I wasn't able to get her to test her after she had eaten to see how high her BG went. I'll be keeping a close eye on her numbers to make sure they return to the normal range.

I know other people use Evo because it's low in carbs, so I thought I'd let other diabetic cat owners know so they can be on the look out for anything odd. I'll post what Natura says when they finally get back to me, if they ever do.
 
Are you sure it was rice and not a small piece of fat or gristle? Did the food actually raise her BG?

EDIT: I see that the high BG number that concerned you was the 106. This is still well within a non-diabetic range. I understand that it might be high for her, but every once in a while Bandit gives me weird higher number for no reason.
 
Julia & Bandit said:
Are you sure it was rice and not a small piece of fat or gristle? Did the food actually raise her BG?
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At first I thought that's what it was, but then I took it out of her food, and it had the very distrinct look of a peice of brown rice, and did not squish like how fat or gristle would. Like I said, this may be a completely random occurance, but I thought I'd let others know to be on the safe side.

Her blood sugar was 106 this morning. She's never been that high OTJ, especially just before a meal. The only change was the Evo, so I don't know what else could have cause such a high number for her.
 
Remember, your meter also can have a +/-20% variance, so that 106 doesn't necessarily mean she was high. It could just be a coincidence. I don't think it's absolutely impossible that rice got into the EVO formula, but I do think it's unlikely given that none of their foods have ever contained rice, so it's not like some could have been mistakenly added at the factory.
 
Julia & Bandit said:
I don't think it's absolutely impossible that rice got into the EVO formula, but I do think it's unlikely given that none of their foods have ever contained rice, so it's not like some could have been mistakenly added at the factory.
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Most small pet food companies do not can their own food. Natura used to be canned by Menu Foods, the company that was deeply involved in the melamine contamination. Many brands that did not list gluten in their formulas were found to be contaminated, presumably by Menu Foods not cleaning their equipment between batches. So, even though no EVO products contain rice, cross contamination is still quite possible.

Also, Natura was purchased by P&G in Jan 2010. It is possible that they have changed the formula. Pet manufacturers are allowed 6 months to change their labels AFTER they have changed the formula. It is very possible that the BG reading was a coincidence but I think Caitlyn did the right thing contacting the company.
 
The only Evo that Cedric will eat is the one with the purple label, which is not one of the 95% ones. He eats other stuff too, but he had the Evo yesterday and I did not notice anything in there that looks like rice. Idid test him a couple of nights ago, and he came up 59, which is his typical range (updated spsh this am). I would like to know the response you get though. Thanks for the heads up.
 
My expectation was that we would see a formula change once P&G bought Evo. Will be interesting to see if you get an answer from Natura.

Claudia
 
I don't think adding rice to the EVO formula is going to happen--it's whole selling point is that it's grain free. Innova has rice, EVO doesn't. It would make no business sense whatsoever.
 
i feed EVO and have been since about may and have not noticed any rice in their food. i do notice what looks to be fat at times
i recently started adding in the beef flavor to.
 
i used to use evo 95 until i got a case and found pieces of potatoes in the cans. i saved the potatoes, sent that along with two cans for them to test (at their request) only to get a letter telling me that nothing was wrong and they never commented on the baggy of potatoes i sent

i decided after getting that nonresponse that i was done - that was over a year ago and before they sold the company
 
the natural pet store that i go to gets their EVO and other brands directly from the supplier, they told me that they were told even up to a few weeks ago that the only thing that changed is the company, the ingredients were staying the same due to them being a grain free food that alot of pet owners use for that reason, she even said why would they change a ingredient to lose customers.
 
Bradie96 wrote:
the natural pet store that i go to gets their EVO and other brands directly from the supplier, they told me that they were told even up to a few weeks ago that the only thing that changed is the company, the ingredients were staying the same due to them being a grain free food that alot of pet owners use for that reason, she even said why would they change a ingredient to lose customers.
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Large companies do what is profitable, which isn't always in the best interest of their customers. That's how they got to be large companies who can swallow up smaller companies.

For every 5 of us that won't buy a grain-filled cat food, there are 30 people who will.

Once a major pet food manufacturer like P&G buys a smaller company like Natura, all bets are off. They will change ingredients as they want to be more profitable. They just spent money buying a brand, they have to make sure that brand is profitable.

Yes, I'm a cynical sort. I hate for people to believe any large pet food company has their pets' best interest and health in mind when making ingredient decisions.
 
Vicky & Gandalf said:
Once a major pet food manufacturer like P&G buys a smaller company like Natura, all bets are off. They will change ingredients as they want to be more profitable. They just spent money buying a brand, they have to make sure that brand is profitable.

Yes, I'm a cynical sort. I hate for people to believe any large pet food company has their pets' best interest and health in mind when making ingredient decisions.
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I'm also very cynical, but..Innova/EVO already has a grain filled cat food that's marketed under the Innova brand. The whole marketing push behind EVO is that it's grain free (hence their name and their motto). They make their money selling to people that won't buy Innova because it has rice, which is why the two separate brands exist. If all of a sudden they decided to add grain to the EVO formula, it would kill the brand, which would cut off a huge number of sales. That's why I'm not inclined to think they are adding rice to the formula.

Of course, you can never underestimate the short-sightedness of pet food corporate executives, so I wouldn't say it's impossible. Just improbable.
 
Julia & Bandit said:
Of course, you can never underestimate the short-sightedness of pet food corporate executives, so I wouldn't say it's impossible. Just improbable.
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Let's hope you're right. I've boughten EVO Cat & Kitten before and have thought it's a pretty good food. It worries me that we have recently seen a rash of larger companies buying these previously independent food brands, almost as if they are trying to eliminate the competition.
 
Still haven't heard back from Natura, and I really doubt I will. I'm cat sitting for my neighbors, and I gave their two cats the rest of the open can for a treat tonight, as I know they don't have any health issues (plus, are fed a dry kibble that has multiple forms of corn listen in the ingrediants, so it's not like a bit of rice would hurt them). I found even more bits rice while I was feeding it to their cats. I thought about saving a bit of the food incase Natura ever got back to me, but I figured they'd just say nothing was wrong like with Hiliary & Maui, so didn't bother.

Molly stayed higher than her normal range all day yesterday, and was a bit high this morning before breakfast, though not by much, but was normal tonight before dinner. I'm very glad her numbers went back to normal on her own, otherwise Natura would have been paying her vet bills :mrgreen:
 
Federal Court Grants Preliminary Approval of Natura Class Action Settlement

Posted: July 18, 2011, 7:20 p.m., EDT





A federal court judge has preliminarily approved a $2.15 million settlement to a class action lawsuit against Natura Pet Products that alleges the manufacturer misrepresented the quality of its pet food.

Natura admits no wrongdoing in the case but considers a settlement desirable because it “will bring to an end the expense and burdens associated with continued litigation,” according to court documents. Natura officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2009, alleges Natura’s website and labeling contain “a large number of misleading and false statements relating primarily to assertions concerning the human-grade quality of its food.” The plaintiff alleged that these statements included such claims as “We only use ingredients you’d eat yourself,” “All of our human grade dog and cat foods are carefully cooked and tested…” and “Natura’s products use only human grade ingredients.”

As part of the settlement, which U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel preliminarily approved earlier this month, Natura would stop promoting its pet food products as human grade, human quality or as something that “you would eat yourself.”

Natura also would establish a $2.15 million settlement fund. The settlement fund will be used to make payments to class members, as well as cover attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses.

Class members include all U.S. residents who purchased any Natura product between March 20, 2005, and July 8, 2011. These products include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma dog and cat food.

Members may be eligible for a payment of up to $200. To be eligible for a payment, class members must submit a claim form, available at PetProductsSettlement.com, by Jan. 8, 2012.

A final fairness hearing is set for Feb. 17, 2012, at the District Court for the Northern District of California. At that time, the court will determine whether to grant final approval of the settlement.
 
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