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New Sheba brand food?

4K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  Jet Green 
#1 ·
Apparently our store is going to be part of a test run of a new Sheba cat food. We just got it in today, it is radically different from the usual Sheba. It is in new 2.8oz can-like metal bowls and get this: it has only 4 to 5 ingredients. For example, the chicken cat food ingredient list is water, chicken breast, tapioca starch and guar gum. That's it. No by-products, no additives, no supplements. The container specifies that is is a 'complimentary food' only, which I guess means it is to be considered a treat, not a staple. I will be sure to mention that to customers who had fed the original Sheba as a big part of their cat's diet. What do you guys think of this new development? I know you won't be able to test it out for yourselves yet unless you're in an area where it's being sold now, but what do you think of the ingredients? There is no information on Sheba's website about it, so I can't get more details about the quality of the meat and fish in this new food. Do you think this is a step in the right direction for a pet food company, or is it something that might lead to health problems for cats, a 'treat' food being packaged and marketed like a staple wet food?

I will be buying some on Friday when I get paid, so I can post pics of the containers and labels, and the food itself. It's pretty pricey for a small can of cat food: 99 cents for 2.8oz! And only to be fed as a treat? I think I might even conduct a 'feeding test' with my own cats on Friday, to see how they like it. Stay tuned...
 
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#3 ·
True...I'm just wondering what they are wanting to create here, a higher grade 'treat', or maybe they will go on to make a better quality staple canned food if the new Sheba sells a lot? I'm really worried that regular buyers of the old Sheba will consider it a staple food like they did before.
 
#5 ·
Sky Eyes Woman said:
True...I'm just wondering what they are wanting to create here, a higher grade 'treat', or maybe they will go on to make a better quality staple canned food if the new Sheba sells a lot? I'm really worried that regular buyers of the old Sheba will consider it a staple food like they did before.
Wysong has such complimentary food also. I wouldn't be worried. A lot of people oversupplement their babies with multivitamins anyway.

I think it would be a nice treat. It is certainly priced as a treat. At such prices I wouldn't worry about people feeding it as a regular meal.
 
#6 ·
At such prices I wouldn't worry about people feeding it as a regular meal.
Heh. You got that right! When I went in this morning, not ONE container sold. I didn't have anyone come through my register that bought one and neither did my husband. He told me one lady said she wasn't buying anything else at our store until we got the old Sheba back! Day 2 of the test isn't going so well.

I know what will happen when I get some of it on Friday. Dude will bolt it down, he eats anything.* Kit N. will eat some of it and I'm not sure about the DustBunny.

*"Anything" includes the little oxygen absorber packet that comes with beef jerky. We came home Monday to find he chewed up an empty jerky bag he pulled out of the trash, and the torn up packet that says "Do Not Eat". I called my vet and asked her what to do, she said give him 1 tsp. of peroxide and wait 15 minutes. If he didn't throw up, do it again. Well, he didn't throw up. At all. 8O

I'm wondering if he's half billy goat or something. He has eaten many, many strange and gross things and never thrown up.
 
#11 ·
Belgium has three languages: two are on the food: french and dutch.

ingredients: chicken (50%), bouillon (don't kwow if that the right translation) and cereales. It doesn't say anything about starch and guar gum.
I saw it the first time round Christmas, and bought it a few weeks ago.
We have 4 flavours: chicken slice(?) (on the photo), chicken mousse, tuna, tuna with shrimps.
Don't know if people buy it a lot, but I'll ask in the store. I'm going there this evening.
 
#13 ·
I don't think it's a good product because there are a lot of people not intelligent enough to read product labels so they may assume it's a balanced diet. They way I see it if you're going to feed anything out of a can or a box it should meet AAFCO standards for complete and balanced nutrition. Otherwise if you really want to feed your kitty a supplemental treat, why not feed fresh chicken or turkey? I have a cat care book that says that the most convenient way to make sure your kitty is getting a balanced diet is to feed a canned food from a reputable manufacturer, however once or twice a week you can feed a meal of fresh food to add interest and variety to your cat's diet. And the listed once or twice a week fresh food meals are not complete and balanced. They consist of a plate of cooked poultry, minced ground meat, meat balls with a tiny bit of pasta or cooked veggies, fresh fish with the bones removed, a scrambled egg and also the occasional can of tuna or sardines(of course the canned stuff is not really fresh). It's kind of like if we have a day once per week where we're not getting all of the nutrients we need in the right ratios and proportions it's ok as long as we eat a balanced diet most of the time. Whenever my boyfriend and I have 3 days to eat a turkey or a chicken I always share it with my cats and I feed it as an in between snack, very rarely as their dinner although I know it wouldn't hurt if once in a while it is their dinner. But why treat them to a can of Sheba that isn't even nutritionally balanced when you can give them something that you like to eat like scrambled eggs or turkey breast, freshly made? Just my opinion but I consider that a step down in quality, rather than a step up with the new Sheba can. Because too many people will feed it as a staple.
:wink:
 
#14 ·
I was worried about that too, I thought many people would just assume it's a new formulation of the same old Sheba which did have added vitamins and all that. It hasn't been selling well at all, but this is the first weekend we've had it in, so it might sell then. Oddly enough my husband did NOT want me to buy any, even just to show everyone here and try it out on my cats to see if they liked it. I know several of our regular customers are not happy with the switch and they said they were going to let the company know about it. I think I'm going to email them too and ask them why are they selling a 'complimentary treat food' packaged and marketed just like a nutritionally complete staple food. They should have just went the rest of the way and made it into a balanced food without the by-products and other crap and they would have had something that might actually be worth 99 cents a serving. :roll:
 
#17 ·
XE.com says €.89 equals out to about $1.08 USD. A few more cents than what they are selling it for in my store. They also have it on the shelf by the other cheaper canned cat food. I'm going to tell anyone I see buying a lot of it that it is to be considered a treat only and it has no vitamins added to it. It doesn't seem to be selling well so far. I emailed MasterFoods last night and voiced my concerns about how it is made to look like a complete cat food and it's shelved by the other canned cat food when it is really a treat. I told them it would have been better if they had made it into a nutritionally complete food and then it might actually be worth 99 cents+ per can. I didn't get any response probably because it's the weekend, but if I do I'll bet they'll send me some coupons for it like Del Monte did when I asked them why their Nature's Recipe cat food has synthetic vitamin K in it. :roll:
 
#19 ·
I have been buying this food in the UK for about 6 months now - it literally looks good enough for me to eat and the puss cats adore it. I hadn't looked that closely at the ingredients so I didn't realise it was literally a "treat" but as that is all I give it to my cats for anyway about once a week I'm not too concerned. Toby and Willow usually have it when I take them to shows and Smudge has had it a few times after a trip to the vet (but then again she is 15 and losing a lot of weight these days so I'm happy just to see her eat anything).

I am going to check the ingredients when I buy the next batch at the weekend though just to see if we are getting the same stuff here in England.
 
#20 ·
I have a cat with a tongue ulcer. Obviously this makes it hard to eat. So I bought some enticement--Sheba chicken, and Sheba chicken and duck. The ingredients were listed as: water, chicken breast, tapioca starch and guar gum.

I opened a can last night, and I have to say that it looks like shredded chicken pieces, in a bullion sauce. I cannot stand the smell of canned dog/cat food, but I totally would have eaten what was in that can.

As an enticement, do you see anything wrong with feeding her 1/3 can a couple times a day? The vet also told me to offer her milk (1 Tblsp) a few times a day.
 
#21 ·
First I would try it on it's own to see if she likes it. If she does...then I would use it as a topper over a better quality wet food (Wellness, Natural Balance, Innova, etc.). Higher quality foods have more nutrition per ounce. Since she has a hard time eating...giving her something that she has to eat less of would be a help.
 
#22 ·
That makes sense. It seems like it's easier for her to eat slices rather than paste. Do all the brands have slices as well as the paste?

I come from a long line of dry food cat owners. It's difficult to switch over. I hate the way it smells. I hate the messy bowls. I hate the cost. But if it's better...
 
#24 ·
The brands I mentioned are all ground or paste as you call them. I think Merrick has some that are chunkier...you can kind of tell from the pictures.

http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/canned_cat_food.php

Nutro Natural pouches may be chunky...maybe someone else will know.

In the long run, wet food is much better for your cat and while more expensive per meal, is likely to result in less medical issues, so lower vet bills and lower emotional cost.
 
#25 ·
Since your cat seems to have a hard time with the patte style foods, I was also going to suggest trying Merrick. "Grammy's Pot Pie" variety is a hit with all of my cats, its not a paste, and it smells pretty good too.

If you can't find a good brand that your cat will eat (Wellness, Innova, Natural Balance, Felidae, Solid Gold, California Natural are some. I've found that Innova and California Natural smell pretty good) then I would suggest Fancy Feast over Sheba. Its not a great food (definately not premium), but its better than most others you'll find at chain stores or the grocery store. Many of their foods are not the patte style but shredded or chunks, and it is nutritionally complete. Most cats find it very enticing, even addicting.
 
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