Food discontinued, what the hell do I do?!? (Harry - with pics)

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Exactly as the title says. Harry will only eat Country Hunter duck or goose flavours and I got an email from Natures Menu this morning saying they discontinuing it.

Now some cats will give in an eat anything if they are hungry, but not him. He's so bloody minded he'll go without rather than eat something he doesn't like. He needs wet food so he can have ipakitine for his kidneys as he won't eat a renal diet (the vet told me to give him what he likes as he was refusing to eat).

I'm going to do one huge order from Natures Menu but does anyone have any ideas what I can give him when that runs out?

No advice. But Snorg sends love!

If he is an older cat maybe worth trying the renal cat food again. Our cat is 17 and had never eaten wet food but think she now has dementia and forgot she refuses it and now will eat the Royal Canin chicken and fish wet food. She views it as additional food and also has tuna in spring water once a day or something like roast chicken or roast pork. She is slightly less fussy now she has lost her eyesight a bit and got dementia.

Hope you can find an alternative.

My extremely fussy cat loves the duck, pheasant & quail varieties from Carnilove so I recommend those: www.carnilove.co.uk/product-category/cat-food/wet-cat-food/
I live outside the UK and can buy single packs of their food. They do seem to have stockists in the UK where you can hopefully buy single packs as buying 24 packs would be too much when you don‘t know whether Harry will eat it.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have just made the rookie mistake of bulk buying his Country Hunter. I'm sure as soon as the 360 pouches arrive (god only knows where I'm going to keep them!) he'll fancy a change!

@Toddlerteaplease Harry waves a little half starved paw at Snorg!

@Silkieschickens Harry has a memory like an elephant and if he doesn't like something first time that's it as far as he's concerned. The vet has told me not to worry about the renal diet if he won't eat it and make sure he eats something.

@Mia184 that looks promising, I'll have a proper look at that.

Why oh why didn't I feed him on Whiskas!

Could you try mixing it with food he likes and new food very slowly?

So 90% and then reduce it week by week

Poor Harry. Poor Pink. This is not going to go well, is it?

Love the picture on the chair with the dirty look by the way.

Poor Harry How about trying to order from an overseas supplier?

A fleet of DPD vans will be arriving on Monday with Harry’s delivery which should last about 6 months. I’ve spent more on his food than hours this months!

Worst case scenario he’ll have to have his James Wellbeloved biscuits while we try and find something else. I’m sure that will make him very happy as he loves them!

Pronefra rather than ipakitine might help with the changeover because it’s so much more palatable (so my cats’ vet says, I’ve not done a taste test) that there’s no risk of the taste/texture of the ipakitine powder putting him off a new food rather than the food itself, even though he’s used to it in the Nature’s Menu iyswim? (Sadly I’m not getting paid to recommend it; I just have a VERY happy cat who has it to thank for moving back to eating the same wet food as his brother in the summer as decent [non-pâté] renal wet food was becoming impossible to get hold of.)

Having looked them up, they’re a pâté-in-a-pouch sort of texture; and the ingredients are as follows:
DUCK:
Duck 56%
Pheasant 40%
Blueberry 1%
Cranberry 1%
Spirulina 0.5%
Catnip 0.01%
Yucca Extract, Green Tea Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Rosemary Extract

GOOSE:
Chicken 62%
Goose 34%
Redcurrant 1%
Cranberry 1%
Spirulina 0.5%
Catnip 0.01%
Yucca Extract, Green Tea Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Rosemary Extract

Feringa’s tinned “Pure Meat Menu” includes Duck with Cottage Cheese & Valerian:
97.8% duck (50% neck, 20% hearts, 20% liver, 10% stomach), 1.75% cottage cheese, 0.25% valerian, 0.1% spirulina, 0.1% minerals.
There’s no indication as to which birds are actually involved in the Poultry with Carrots & Dandelion: 70% poultry (heart, meat, liver, stomach, neck), 26.9% stock, 2% carrots, 1% minerals, 0.1% dandelion.
Wild Freedom is another canned food, but they have a duck that is similar in chicken to duck proportions to the Country Hunter chicken to goose ones:
Wild Hills: 62% chicken (meat, liver, stock), 36% duck (meat, heart, stock), 2% minerals.
MAC’s do a (tinned) Duck, Turkey & Chicken:
Meat (min. 20% duck, min. 25% turkey, min. 25% chicken) and animal-by-products (duck heart, duck liver, duck lung, turkey heart, turkey stomach, chicken heart, chicken liver, chicken stomach), minerals.
Little Big Paw (who, tbh, I’ve never heard of…) do a duck mousse: 70% duck (min 26%), and chicken, minerals, salmon oil, sunflower oil.

I hope that something in there is useful, or, failing that, the ingredients lists inspire someone else & they can tell you about another food that happens to be just exactly like the Country Hunter.

@TheBalletCats thank you so much for that, I'll read all the info later on.

Regarding Pronefra, Harry is very odd and refused to eat food with it in. The vet was amazed and said it doesn't happen, but it did. One of the nurses who had known Harry longer called it the Pronefra Protest! They then gave me something else to try him on and apparently had never known a cat to refuse it. There's a first time for everything! That's how we ended up on Ipakitine, it's the only thing the little sod darling will take! I had to argue with the vet to get it as she was insistent that there were better options but they are only better if he'll take them!

You’re very welcome @PinkSparklyPussyCat: I hope you find something in there (or someone else swoops in with Genius Idea) that Henry will find acceptable. Has also occurred to me that if you can find a UK stockist, Hermann’s Organic do both goose & duck; & the pouches are the right sort of texture. Annoyingly, it’s one of the umpteen things no longer available from ZooPlus.

I am hugely impressed by Henry’s level of stubbornness + determination to march to the beat of his own drum. Apparently the previous vet of a cat who moved to my cats’ veterinary surgery had kept right on telling people ipakitine was It in this situation. And, on top of that, that had to be purchased from the veterinary surgery. Apparently not the only time he’s heard of similar, which is grim. I was incredibly relieved when Balanchine was fine with the Pronefra. He’d been really good about eating renal food while Nijinsky gromphled Pure Deliciousness, but it was just getting impossible to find non-pâté foods that don’t have sugar in. He’d to have teeth out after I, like an eejit, trusted food sold by the vet would be healthy (sugary food atop genetic dental issues) & though I stopped feeding it quite soon… ach. I’m aware I’m very lucky that when it comes to normal food he (& indeed his brother) are incredibly easy: am keeping everything crossed for you that you can find a new food - ideally new foods! - Henry is willing to accept.

Might it be worth emailing the company to ask if they are permanently withdrawing the products or if they are currently planning to/might ever reformulate & re-launch either or both of them. If you explain about it being all Henry eats & the ipakitine situation they might even send you some for free…

(Attached photo = Lansipuss Maximus the other day: he likes to sleep like that )

Have you tried just fresh mince, human grade? My cats have always liked that.

My cat loved the County hunter duck and we used to bulk buy from the natures menu website. I was also disappointed at the email saying discontinued. There are a few smaller chain pet shops near me where I can get the last of the stock from.
My cat has recently started on lily's kitchen organic fish and the beef one he will eat and I order it from pets at home.
Another food he liked which was Wilko own natures feast was discontinued.

Hi PinkSparklyPussyCat,
There are still many online websites that sell the Country Hunter Natures Menu, duck and goose flavours:

www.petshop.co.uk/Cat/Cat-Cans-Pouches/Brand/Natures-Menu?display=list

www.timeforpaws.co.uk/p/country-hunter-cat-pouches-6-x-85g

www.amazon.co.uk/Natures-Menu-Country-Superfood-Selection/dp/B01B2YGLWI?th=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

naturalcornishpet.co.uk/collections/natural-wet-cat-food?page=2

www.waitrosepet.com/brand/natures-menu?filters=Wet%20Pouches

www.monsterpetsupplies.co.uk/cat/wet-cat-food?filters=natures%20menu

petsmagnet.co.uk/collections/cat-cans-pouches-foils-trays/brand-_natures-menu

www.portonaquapet.co.uk/shop/Wet-Cat-Food-C200510

I have a similar problem over Country Hunter. Natures menu suggested Natures Variety (seems to also be made by them) and some of the flavours are the same as country hunter. They do a chicken with goose. I am lucky my cats will eat other things and will probably switch to Canagan pouches (they do one with duck) when the CH runs out. Hope this helps.

Similar problem here. My girl has Country Hunter but doesn’t much care what she has. I just want to get her a good quality food.