Merrick Cat Food Reviews

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About Merrick Cat Food

Pros
  • Positive brand reputation
Cons
  • Inconsistent product quality

Merrick Cat Food Reviews

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    • Our moderators read all reviews to verify quality and helpfulness.
    Page 2 Reviews 10 - 40
    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed July 24, 2020

    I have used Merrick cat food for years. I buy it from Pet Supplies Plus. About five days ago one of my cats threw up after eating some of the canned Merrick cat food and some of the dry Merrick cat food. He threw up and then was not interested in eating for a day. When he started eating again, he seemed reluctant and was very slow. He also was not interested in his food as much as he normally is. I was not sure what was wrong, but I noticed he had softened stools. Then my other cat started exhibiting the same symptoms. I have read some of the comments and I suspect there is a problem with the Merrick food. I am going to return all the Merrick food I bought. I just am not sure what food I can try now that Merrick has made changes to its cat food.

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    Reviewed July 17, 2020

    The wet food is literally one of the only foods my super picky Maine Coon will eat. And she never gets sick of it either, like she will with other foods. Great ingredients and family owned, We love them. ❤️

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    Reviewed June 3, 2020

    I feel very upset what happend with this food, esp been feeding this close to 2 years. Maybe I got a bad batch or got unlucky but I rather share my experience so more people are aware of it. So I bought new bag from Petco and started feeding after week, cat started vomiting, then this moved to intense diarrhea where it became pure liquid form. I ended up taking to vet twice coz I thought it was parasite issue. Feeding medicine helped but diarrhea continued. When vet asked me what I was feeding and suggested prescribed wet/dry food, that's when I realized maybe dry food was causing it. I immediately changed the dry food to different brand, I had no issues with poop/vomiting since then.

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    Reviewed May 7, 2020

    We have been feeding our cat Merrick, both the Cowboy Cookout and Beef Wellington, for about 18 months. The last case I got is not the same. The gravy has been replaced with a gelatinous goop coating the top! I put some in a bowl and set it on the floor. My cat just walked away. I threw that can up and opened another one. Same goop. Thought it was just a bad batch, possibly expired, but the date on the bottom said it was good until 2022. I have read other recent reviews elsewhere, to people saying it's a definite change for the worse. Our cat is picky. Merrick has always been his favorite, but we have had to change to another brand.

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    Reviewed May 1, 2020

    My vet recommended that we feed our cats some wet food along with the dry. We chose Purrfect Bistro pate and the cats ate it but within a week they became sick. They would throw up and then they developed crystals from this food causing them to keep trying to pee and peeing blood. One cat needed to be put down and the other cat is fighting with antibiotics, pain meds and not eating this food. Hopefully she will recover unlike our Stormcloud. I will never buy from this company again....ever. From all the reviews I would definitely not recommend this to anyone.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Dec. 10, 2019

    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.

    Now you would never guess that she had once been so ill - she's such a happy, healthy kitty! I can't recommend this brand enough. I see from some other reviews on here that people have been noticing a change in Merrick cans and/or food formula this year (2019); I've noticed that they're changing the type of can they use, but so far my cats still seem to enjoy their food just as much as ever.

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    Reviewed Oct. 31, 2019

    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.

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    Reviewed Sept. 16, 2019

    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.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 16, 2019

    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.

    Well... when I got my regular delivery of the only flavor actually available at the time I noticed two things. The can is lighter weight and thinner. When I opened it, contrary to what I had been told, there was way more gravy in this formula, and my cat promptly threw it up. I mean projectile. She hasn’t done that in ages and has thrown this up several times. I have to feed her in quarter portions now to avoid that. I’m really disappointed. Looking for a replacement now, and what I’ve found for my 16 year old picky cat is Instinct which is more expensive. Almost twice as much. I’d wish Merrick had charged a little more instead of deciding to skimp on product. But since they’ve been bought by Purina/Nestlé (who claim that Merrick will be run independently... eye roll) I’m going to go with another brand. Nestlé is a water thief, and I’m already boycotting their other products, so as much as I’ve been a Merrick fan for over a decade, I’m prepared now to walk away.

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    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2019

    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.

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    Price

    Reviewed Aug. 25, 2019

    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.

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    Reviewed Aug. 13, 2019

    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.

    In the beginning, you could open a can and see carrots and peas inside but now it looks like processed food. I read where Nestle bought out Merrick last year. Of course they changed things. I'm not a fan of Nestle because of their CEO saying things like "water is a privilege and not a right." And I boycott Nestle as much as possible. I stuck with Merrick because they had integrity and it was a good product. Now it's one more Nestle thing I am not going to be buying. I can't imagine how many other upset consumers there are over Merrick changing everything.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed April 13, 2019

    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!!

    Another thing I observed is, the food was filled to the brim in every can and in the past 8 mo. it is missing a good 3 tablespoons of the product. And an air bubble is on the bottom of the food with a brown silver dollar sized flap of something indescribable stuck to the bottom of the can. Very weird!! I called customer service to complain about this odd finding and they sent me a voucher for a free flat (24 ct.) of canned food. But this doesn’t please me that it won’t solve the problem. My cat and I used to be happy, but all that has changed. It’s too expensive of a product to be skimping on the quantity and the quality. Time to look for another company with good integrity.

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    Reviewed April 2, 2019

    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.

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    Reviewed Dec. 7, 2018

    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!

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    Staff

    Reviewed Dec. 7, 2018

    My cat has been raw-fed since he was a kitten (he is now 2 years), but when I am traveling I buy the best quality canned food I can find and transition him over in the week before I leave. I made a 2 week trip in August 2018 (my cat LOVES road trips), and I bought an entire flat of Purrfect Bistro Chicken Pate from my local pet store (he's a big cat - he eats 8-12 oz per day, depending on his activity). He was eating it for 2 weeks no problem. On the very last day, mid-morning, my cat became VIOLENTLY ill. Constant diarrhea and vomiting. It was eventually just clear fluids coming out both ends, very scary. He was lethargic and isolating himself hunched up in a corner. I took him to the emergency vet: he had a fever and was mildly dehydrated. We did a bunch of tests which came back fine, but they kept him for 3 nights on IV because he wouldn't eat anything.

    The vet suggested an allergy to his food, which I didn't think made sense since he had been eating it for nearly 2 weeks and was fine, though he did have a runny poop the day before. I thought he had gotten into something poisonous while we were stopped at a rest-stop. To be safe, I stopped giving him the Merrick and fed him a grocery store brand that had good ingredients until I could switch him back to raw (after he was through all the antibiotics etc.). He was great for months (good appetite/good poops).

    Two days ago, I was looking at the 1/3 of a case of canned Merrick I had left, and thought - maybe I can see if he will eat this again, so it doesn't go to waste. I trialed him with 1/2 a can (~3oz). Within 2 hours he had pure liquid diarrhea. Now, I'm not a vet, but I am a scientist, and that kind of cause-effect seems pretty clear. I will NEVER feed my cat this crap again. NOT WORTH THE RISK.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Nov. 26, 2018

    This food is not good. I do not know what they are putting in it, but my cat has lost quite a bit of weight and is now very underweight. I also found from Amazon reviews that other people's cats have been losing weight on this food to the point of starvation, which I feel is also happening to my cat, and she eats constantly. I also purchase from Amazon and realized other people are having similar problems with weight loss. I couldn't figure out why she was losing weight. It is very crumbly and gives my cat bad breath, and gets all over her face and stays there. She was a very happy cat and now is very lethargic and tired. I am changing her food immediately, after realizing she has lost weight with this, even though she eats constantly. Bad food. I don't know what Purina is pulling, but it is not good.

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    Reviewed Oct. 27, 2018

    The last couple of bags of Purrfect Bistro chow I have used is filled with crumbled chow dust. The cats stopped eating it because of all the crumbs that sit on the top. I have to keep shaking their bowl to make it settle. I used to buy Merrick because they had their own processing plant so their food didn't get mixed with everybody else's. With all the crumbled kibble dust I can't buy this anymore. It's a waste of money. Things have sure changed at Merrick since they sold out or supposedly did. What a shame... Happens every time when Big Corporations take over. They ruin everything! No more...

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    Customer ServiceCoverage

    Reviewed Oct. 22, 2018

    I went to feed my cat today and opened a can of the Merrick grain free chicken pate. She’s been eating the same brand for 2 years. I order it from Amazon. Well today I went to open the tab and it exploded in my face & went all over me and on the wall. The smell was horrible. I immediately jumped into my shower. Thank God I had my glasses on because it covered my face and hair. I still can’t get the smell out of my house and it smells like something died. On top of it my cheeks feel like they are on fire and burning. I’m sure it was a faulty seal in the can and a build up of gases. This happened an hour ago. I’ve tried contacting Amazon and I’ve tried contacting Merrick. This product needs to be recalled.

    This could’ve been so much worse. If the burning on my face doesn’t improve I will be going to the ER. This happened about an hour ago. When I say exploded I don’t mean I open the tab and it popped. It literally exploded with a loud bang!!! I’m so angry that neither Amazon nor Merrick will respond to me or much less care. I put the rest of the cans outside on my back porch and tripled bagged the exploded can. I want this product removed from the market. I will never buy it again!!!

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    Reviewed Oct. 17, 2018

    Have been using Merrick chicken kibble for 10 years. Have noticed, particularly the last 6 months my 3 kibble loving cats are getting chubby, seem unsatiated and have considerable congestion issues...then I found out that the company was sold to a multi corporation focused on money, not pet care. I have 7 cats...we depend on excellent quality in pet food to facilitate good health and reduced vet bills. I am angry that I wasn't informed sooner. NO MORE MERRICK CRAP.

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    Reviewed July 12, 2018

    Just opened a can of Merrick's COWBOY COOKOUT. Instead of the usual meaty contents, I got ONLY GRAVY and a VERY small quantity of solid food. Are you kidding? At $1.69 per can? I've purchased COWBOY COOKOUT for years which DID have excellent vet recommendations as high quality food. Is this the "new" Merrick? I am so shocked and disappointed!!! I will call the pet store AND your company to complain.

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    Reviewed July 5, 2018

    My cat (5 years old) refuses to eat Merrick Purrfect Bistro. I tried mixing with regular brand, by itself, with water added. She would rather go hungry. Now she smells the Merrick and walks away. I had to make a trip to get her old brand (FROMM) since she refuses to eat Merrick the last 2 days. I had picked Merrick because I liked the ingredients, same as in other cat foods she is used to. However, no more Merrick at our home.

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    Price

    Reviewed March 31, 2018

    Purrfect Bistro - Kitten (dry & wet) - I've read all of the reviews and have had none of the problems others have described. My 5 month old Short Hair goes nuts when it's time to eat! Mowing, purring, & prancing while I'm mixing it up. I purchased 2 cases of wet cans & a bag of dry from Amazon. I notice no off-flavors in either. I am a Professional Brewer who has gone through a rigorous sensory training program so my nose is definitely honed to detect off-flavors. And both taste fine. Yup I taste my animal’s food. I've had cats, dogs, & rabbits my whole life of 43 years and by far Merrick is the best smelling & tasting pet food.

    Regarding the Nestle\Purina acquisition, it's true. And sad. But I have friends who brew for Lagunitas which was acquired by Heineken, and Goose Island which AB-InBev (Budweiser) acquired. Their products and the company cultures have not been compromised by big money. Yet. If anything their products have gotten better with more money and access to better & more expensive testing & qa\qc procedures. I give 4 stars because everything could always be better! If I noticed any fluctuations I'll update this review.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed March 7, 2018

    Wow! After contacting Merrick Pet Food Customer Service about an unknown, hard lump object inside their canned "Rabbit Recipe" cat food that could harm a cat's teeth, the best they offered was UPS delivery pick up to examine the object. Not even a "Sorry this happened" or "We'll send you some coupons to make up for this."

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    Reviewed Oct. 23, 2017

    I adopted a beautiful ragdoll Siamese cross type cat from the shelter... Changing cat food frequently to try to get away from dandruff and the poor Kitty vomiting. This is the only food that I found that she is not vomiting anymore. It's a sheer blessing. This is probably the reason why she went to the shelter to begin with. I went through minimum of 6 different types of food Kitty wouldn't even eat moist food. So that wasn't even an option. I was lucky when she liked the salmon formula and even eats the freeze-dried kidlets. Which she would not do in other formula. This works for my cat. Took me over a year to find it but we will continue to buy this food. Thank you.

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    Reviewed May 13, 2017

    Two months ago, I purchased, through Amazon, 4 cases of the Limited Ingredient Diet, Real Chicken Recipe. The first 4 cases were great, good moisture and color of the product. My cats loved it. Cost per case, $33.08. The next 4 cases that I purchased for this month are not good. Dry, very little moisture, a dark color and does not smell well at all. My cats will not eat it. So THAT puts me into a bind, thought I had a good source of quality food, NOT... Being I am low income, I am stuck with 3 and one half cases, $115.78 worth of useless canned cat food. I will be contacting Amazon to see if I can return these and get a credit. Merrick was a good choice for cat food, years ago but being they have sold out to the Nestle corporation I truly doubt they care about pet health and only about MONEY.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed April 2, 2017

    I have been a long-time Merrick canned food buyer. I have 4 cats, I buy from Petco. I am considering changing to a different brand now because I have noticed that my cats are now turning their noses up when I open different flavors. I open one can (chicken and duck mostly) the cats will eat it, I open another can, the color is different and the cats ALL 4 won't touch IT!! What the heck is going on? This brand sure isn't cheap!!

    Oh - by the way I had a recent experience when I opened a can of DUCK and OH MY GOSH... my whole kitchen & dining room STUNK SOOO BAD, I don't know what the heck was in that can. IT was terrible!!! I put it in a plastic baggie and took it to Petco. They were in SHOCK! THE SMELL COULDN'T EVEN BE CONTAINED IN THE BAG. They hurried and took it in the back and said they were going to contact Merrick. GOOD LUCK. Poor customer service!!! Thank goodness my cats are OK!! But, BYE-BYE Merrick!!! They lost a BIG-time spender!!!

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    Reviewed Feb. 23, 2017

    We feed our cat the Merrick's brand of Diet Kibble for cats. It does the job of keeping Percy's weight down while feeding very good ingredients. My only problem is that we have to order online as I cannot find it in the stores.

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    Reviewed Nov. 17, 2016

    I am extremely unhappy with this product for one main reason... fraudulent packaging. My cat actually enjoys most varieties of the food. But when you open a can it is far less than full. There's a gap around the edges and an empty hole (sometimes large) in the middle. It results in there being about 1/4 less food than there should be. Other cat food companies, like Blue, also have a packaging issue and I've complained to them as well. In fact, I've complained to the NY attorney general's office and stopped buying their product. I've stopped buying the Merrick cans that I know have this issue. Some of them do not. This is outright fraud, IMHO, and I'm really ticked off, without anything I can do about it. You can.

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    Customer ServiceCoverageSales & Marketing

    Reviewed May 9, 2016

    This company has very poor quality control and customer service. I have 3 cats, 2 barn and 1 indoor. I feed them one meal of human grade raw meat and one meal of a grain-free canned daily. I rotate each brand of canned food for 3 months and purchase by the case. My last case of the Chicken Pate smelled fine but the cats were turning their nose up at it. Very unusual. Then, when spooning the food onto a plate I noticed something it the food. It was dark brown, approx. 3" long, covered with hair and smelled like poop.

    I immediately contacted the company and the FDA, sending photos to both and offered to send them the specimen. (They didn't want it). Today (5/9/16) I received a letter stating that "I hope your issue was addressed to your satisfaction" with 2 coupons, each for 1 can of 5.5 oz of Purrfect Bistro. That is it! No apology, no explanation... nothing! Do I want their stupid coupons that expire 8/4/16? NOPE!! Poorly run company!! Will post on every blog, website and FB page possible.

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    Merrick Cat Food Company Information

    Company Name:
    Merrick Cat Food
    Year Founded:
    1988
    Country:
    United States
    Website:
    www.merrickpetcare.com