Merrick Cat Food

I'm so glad I discovered Merrick over 4 years ago. I started feeding it to my two cats when they were kittens; they will be 5 years old this May, and they are still fit, trim and full of energy! I give them a combination of both wet and dry food (each cat gets strictly 1/2 can of wet and 1/4 cup of dry per day). My one cat developed an illness when she was a kitten that lasted for months - I don't know what caused it, but she was lethargic all the time and had little appetite; the vet gave us a 'special formula' cat food to feed her, but the ingredients were awful - full of fillers and things cats should not be consuming! I was very aware of cat health already, so I tried a couple different healthy brands to see which one my currently picky cat would actually eat - and she would only eat Merrick.

My cat is finicky on new foods, and she tends to puke here and there, but not crazy. They were out of the normal food and suggested this Merrick food. Cat seemed to like it alright, cleaned her dish. We use an automatic feeder since we spend weekend at the grand kids. I had four meals a day with a double serving at 6pm set. This Merrick, I set 6 meals and two were doubles. Instead of 5 servings, she was up to 8 or more if she was really pushy. Huge poops. HUGE. And enough vomit to choke a horse. I just cleaned up a hallway wall to wall puddle that was insane. Tomorrow I will hit the pet store to see if the other stuff is back in stock.

I changed to Merrick adult cat food in attempts to give our Cali a better quality food but during the 4 or 5 days she was fed this brand she kept vomiting. Now occasionally she would vomit but this was consistently after each time she ate this particular brand. At first I thought it was because she was eating too much so I decreased the quantity, then thought she was eating too fast but she refused to eat it after the 4th or 5th day. I gave her real chicken for one day to be sure it wasn't upset stomach, parasites or something and she kept it down so figured I'd try another brand. She ate the new one, with no problems, hasn't vomited once so it had to be the Merrick brand, not sure what it is but hopefully they'll look into it.

I had a hard time for a few weeks to get the specialty flavors my finicky cat will eat and it was frustrating enough that I called the company. During the course of our conversation I found out one of those flavors was discontinued (to my dismay), and the other was out of stock. Then the customer service rep said that from time to time they like to change things up and also had updated some recipes to add more gravy. I questioned why they would do that. It seemed like they were adding gravy to the detriment of the actual meat because how would they fit it in the can otherwise. She assured me the other two flavors I was used to buying had not changed.

My first clue something might be up was when it took my local co-op 2 weeks to get my usual case of this cat food. I switch off every 2 days with another kind of cat food, so I bought 3 cans at Petco to tide them over. That's when I discovered it now comes in aluminum cans! The ingredient list is longer, but not a lot different from what I've been able to discern so far. My 3 rather finicky cats all still like it, so changing would be difficult, but I'm not happy about the aluminum cans.

Purchased at Petco because it was discontinued and price reduced. Thought I was getting a good deal on a quality cat food. I have 5 cats rescued from a colony from one abandoned pregnant cat. I have never cleaned up so much vomit! I blame the food.

We have been feeding our 2 cats Merrick their whole lives. Recently, within the last couple of weeks, my 8 year old has decided that he doesn't like their wet food, and he's not so keen on the dry food either. My 14 year old (who is very active) will still eat it but they are not as anxious about eating it as they had been. I know the formula changed. I can see it when I open the can. It doesn't look as natural and it is a different consistency than it used to be.

My 2 yr old cat has been eating Merrick Cat Food since I adopted him 2 yrs ago and eats 4 or 5 flavors of the grain free pâte. He always looks forward to his meals but these past 2 weeks he’s been turning his nose up!!! The last time a cat that I had did this, the food company had been taken over by another owner. And, obviously changed the formula. Something tells me Merrick has changed the ingredients or quality of the food too. Why would they be so foolish to do this? If it’s not broken, don't fix it!!

I've been purchasing this product since it replaced the previous 'New England Boil'. The quality has gone downhill since then. The batches are very hit or miss. Some batches are fine, others (most lately) are 2/3 water. They say that they want feedback, but nothing has changed in the past year. I'm trying to get my cat to eat something else, but he is, unfortunately, extremely finicky.

Pet store recommended Merrick about 6 months ago over another brand because he said they were a better company and made better food. I believe this WAS true since my dog and cat both started eating better after the switch. We buy food about every 2 months, so 2 months ago cat was still eating fine, but with this new batch, my cat is refusing to eat it. I tried switching to a different formula "minimal ingredient recipe" and still he won't touch it. Just found out the company sold out by reading these reviews. Obviously something has changed and not for the better. On with the search for a better product. Might have to start adding my animals to my grocery budget and just start feeding them from the kitchen if a company can't stay pure!