Cat food shortage is continuing.

[hamsterjill]

Our rescue group is having a hard time keeping up when the shelves are empty. We have TNR colonies.

I wish they'd get it fixed. We are on the phone with Costco daily asking when they'll receive the next shipment of Friskies cat food, and they can't tell us when. The dog food aisle in both Costco and the local Pet Supplies Plus seems to be well stocked again.

https://marketrealist.com/p/canned-cat-food-shortage/

[XanaDUer2]

1. It's awful

My sometimes-idiotic, cat-owning SO doesn't get that the shelves are empty, so I had to take a picture. No Fancy Feast cat snacks. I told him I had to get Blue 🐃.

I feel for cat rescues. Good luck. It's awful.

[hamsterjill]

2. Thanks.

It's sure evident that dogs outrank cats. I don't want dogs going hungry either cause I love them, too. But the cats are really having to take a back seat right now - at least in my area.

[XanaDUer2]

3. Try Target

They seemed well stocked when I was there

[hamsterjill]

5. I'll try it. Thanks.

So far, we've been able to eek by between Chewy's and what little there has been at Pet Supplies Plus. We've actually supplemented with cooked chicken thighs, too, about once a week when we find them on sale.

I'm just ready for this to end. (Isn't everyone!!!!) I'm so tired of having to stress over whether there will be things we need on the shelves.

[SheltieLover]

7. Thx!

I'll give them a try! I have 40 cans left, but want to be ahead of the proverbial game.

[jimfields33]

12. Can you feed them tuna fish? Seems a reasonable option.

[XanaDUer2]

17. Our cats a weirdo

He only eats Friskies, or, Fancy Feast. He might if he's hungry enough, I suppose.

And he cannot eat seafood-based catfood, either. Doesn't like pate, but he's gonna have to suck it up.

[jimfields33]

31. Sounds like my late cat.

[XanaDUer2]

32. We gave him a small piece of Boars Head roast beef

He sniffed it, then looked up at us like, No way I'm eating that.

Our late dog, however, ate everything. Practically ate the floor

[wnylib]

34. By itself, tuna is not an adequate diet.

Cats have nutrition needs like any living being. They need an appropriate balance of proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. Few people have knowledge of all the nutrients necessary or the correct amounts and proportions of each.

[iscooterliberally]

4. I have been having a hard time getting the Friskies that I buy for my cats too.

I usually order from Chewy, but even the local grocery stores have been out too. All my cats are strays that just showed up at one point or another. There's one feral tom cat that comes to eat as well. It's not that I can't find food, but I usually buy the 40 can variety packs and those have been in short supply lately.

[hamsterjill]

9. If you're like us,

Our group has to make every cent count and we typically buy in bulk to save money. Costco has the 60-cans of Friskies pate for $30, and we use a lot of that. But they've been out now for two weeks and don't have a time frame of when they will restock.

Thankfully, we have kept up by using Chewy and Pet Supplies Plus, but it's costing us money. Chewy's is fabulous. I'm their biggest fan, but for the rescue's needs, I have to shop and compare prices, and the Costco price on the Friskies is the best. We order a lot of other items from Chewy on a regular basis.

Thanks for feeding the ones you do. It is an act of compassion and I appreciate you doing it.

[iscooterliberally]

14. I'm not really a rescue. My wife always had cats and I ended up getting 'adopted' by one.

We have 5 cats now and there are two more that show up for dinner. One is feral. I have found both of the strays inside my house on occasion. They all figured out how to use the cat door and know when feeding time is. One of my favorite sounds is the enthusiastic 'nip-nip-nip' symphony of them all eating their wet food at the same time. We have a Costco that's not too far away but we aren't members. My wife just goes to Walmart when she needs to buy anything bulky for the house. Good luck with your rescue and I hope you find some new homes for your kitties!

[SheltieLover]

6. Just got off phone with Chewy about autoship error

Lady said the Fancy Feast is in short supply because of can shortage!

Autoships get 1st dibs so get your orders in!

My kitty will only eat 1 flavor & gets cranky if she doesn't get her 1 can/day.

[hamsterjill]

11. Yes, I was told that the can shortage was part of, if not "the" issue.

Seems weird to me, but what do I know.

We have some older kiddos who are very picky about which flavors they will eat. One kiddo eats the Fancy Feast Salmon & Shrimp, and that's it. She won't touch anything else.

[SheltieLover]

13. Mine will only eat beef & chicken classic pate

Weird about the cans.

[hamsterjill]

25. LOL I am well versed in the "tender beef & chicken" pate!!!!

It's a favorite around here.

I wish that Fancy Feast would put numbers on their cans in addition to making the varieties different colors. I have a hard time telling the difference between the classic chicken pate, the tender beef and chicken, and the salmon sometimes when the cans are high up on the shelves!

[SheltieLover]

27. Great idea!

I'd bought her a great variety, but that's the only one she will eat. Cats...

[chia]

22. Supposedly the Claussen pickle shortage was due to a glass pickle jar shortage, not pickles,

so that can shortage seems legit. I didn't realize there was a canned cat food shortage because my cat only eats dry food, but when I walked down the aisle with canned cat food at the store I was shocked at how empty the shelves were.

[hamsterjill]

26. I didn't realize there was a pickle shortage!

Jeez, what next?

It truly IS shocking to walk into a store and see empty shelves, isn't it? Very sobering.

[chia]

29. Since I always bought Claussen, I was affected greatly :) I've been able to buy them recently though

The availability of Claussen pickles has been inconsistent due to the unpredictability of their glass jar supply. Unfortunately, if the COVID-19 pandemic persists, there may be unforeseen tier-based shortages up and down grocery supply chains."

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/pickle-shortage-burger-king-chicken-sandwich-delay

[hamsterjill]

30. I totally understand.

I'm a bread-n-butter pickle lover and I bought a great big jar a couple of months ago. I'd be lost if I couldn't snack on them.

Time for things to get back to normal!!!!!!!

[XanaDUer2]

33. Good to know

I was looking for them

[happybird]

8. I was in Dollar General the other day

There was only 5 small bags of Purina One dry food and not a single can of wet food on the shelves. The dog section had a little more stock, but not much.

Whenever I run by DG, I pick up some cans of Friskies. They haven’t had any for at least a month, maybe even two months. Harris Teeter was well stocked, but much more expensive.

[hamsterjill]

28. I went to a 99-Cent store here in town a couple of weeks ago.

They usually have some canned cat food and there was nothing. They did have the cheap litter scoops that we use, so the trip wasn't for nothing, at least.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

10. The have Friskies at Costco near you? Only seen Kirkland, 2 kinds of dry, at mine

Speaking of that I just bought a 25 lb bag of the purple bag Kirkland Maintenance (hell of a deal and the ingredient list is like that of relatively high-end dry food) and started mixing it into the last of his current kibble, which came from my Aunt's ... now he's thrown up 3 times in the last day (although I started him on it on Sunday so odd it took til yesterday if this food is the problem?).

Since I'd already mixed all that was left with the Kirkland, I just now went and bought some Iams which is the crap he'd been eating before I got him (well, not CRAP but it ain't great ... bunch of corn, and chicken by-product ... not something I'd ever choose to feed him but I need to see if it settles his stomach) ... but it's not the same shape so maybe it's a different variety of Iams (I just received the leftovers in a bin and was told it was Iams). Hope that gets him feeling better either way.

Anyways ... yeah, the cat food/treat section at Walgreens was pretty decimated.

[hamsterjill]

16. I'm in San Antonio

Yes, Costco typically stocks the 60 can carton of Friskies pate for $30.

It's funny that you say that about the Kirkland dry. As you indicate, the ingredient list sets it above some of the others and it's priced competitively. But the last bag of it that I bought didn't go over well with my brood. They'd been eating it quite well on occasion in the past, but they just en masse refused it the last time.

I've been giving them Purina Gentle (yes, it's crap, too), but it's what we can afford that they will eat. We supplement about once or twice a week with either the rotisserie chickens from Costco, or else throw some chicken thighs in the crockpot and cook them.

I hope your guy feels better soon. If he keeps throwing up, let me know. We have a few tricks up our sleeves as to cat illness - again, to save money. We have a great vet group that works with us and they've taught us a lot over the years. We save every penny we can and typically try to treat things at home for a few days. If there's no improvement or the cat declines, we don't mess around and take it to the vet. But if we can save a few by giving one a pill we have on hand - we have to do it. There's always another one that needs to be fixed, fed, etc.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

21. Thanks for the offer, and I will hit you up if it doesn't improve!

And will let you know if getting him off the Kirkland fixes things.

I had also changed his wet food (he gets a little of the wet stuff for AM and Bedtime).

Apparently he'd been on Friskies but I had a leftover case of FF so put him on that when he arrived, that went smoothly. But that ran out and they didn't have more at the store so I bought some Sheba and started him on that which also kinda coincided with the puking (though his first throwup was a good 8 hours after the Sheba and was full of kibble so I think the kibble was the issue?).

I've probably just tried to change too much at once is the truth. I really don't want him on Iams Dry and Friskies wet like he was on before, it's just really not all that good of quality but if that's what it takes to make him stop being sick ...

[hamsterjill]

23. Yeppers. Cats don't like change! LOL

For better quality, I like Wellness. We get coupons sometimes, and with those, it's not exorbitant when you buy the big cans. But some of the cats won't touch it. A vet tech explained it to me one time like this: If you were hungry and you could have a bowl of broccoli or a hamburger, which one would you pick? I've had some literally almost starve themselves when I was trying to move them to a healthier food for a specific medical issue. And, of course, it's dangerous for them to go for very long without eating.

They do keep us guessing, don't they???!!!

[SheltieLover]

18. Not sure who makes Kirkland, but

I've read that Merrick, a former super premium food, has been making cats sick since Merrick sold out & manufacturing was moved to KY.

I looked this up because I'd bought a bag of dry kitty Merrick for "treats" & cat was barfing.

All I could think of was coal ash in KY. Just a random thought of mine, but I'll never buy that brand again. 😓

Maybe get your pupper something for sensitive stomach until he feels better?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

20. It's a kitty :)

And I tried some of the Merrick with my last cat when it first came to PetSmart (which I would imagine coincides with that sale but not sure) a couple years back and SAME THING.

This cat did NOT have a sensitive stomach, I changed his dry food like all the time, without even mixing ... because he never had a problem.

That Merrick switch was the FIRST TIME it happened in his life (about 15 years at that point) where he started barfing all the time. And it's not like it's way 'better' stuff, I was feeding him other premium food his whole life. Blue - Wilderness, Wellness, that kind of thing.

The Merrick did not agree with him.

But that was my previous cat I had since kittenhood. This current issue is a 12 yo cat I just inherited w/o much of an instruction manual.

Kirkland is made by Diamond, not a bad brand.

[chia]

24. The few times I've tried to gently integrate a new cat food into my cat's usual food didn't go well,

he either refused to eat it or he got the runs. So I stick with the same food, Iams and am afraid to try again.

[avebury]

15. Have you tried Sams Club?

I feed cats on a regular basis (one who moved in a few years ago and three neighborhood cats - we have a lot of cats around where I live). My indoor/outdoor cat will accept the other three I feed but draws the line on any other cats trying to come around.

I buy the 25 lb bags of Purina which has gotten more expensive but is a better deal then the 20 lb bags bought anywhere else.

[hamsterjill]

19. Yes, I called them this morning.

Same story as Costco. They are out and don't have a time frame for when they will restock. They stock two types of the Friskies down here. The 60-cans of pate, and the 60-cans of shreds. Both for the same price as Costco - about $30.

It's all gone way up in price, right? We are struggling to keep up.