Just in case it is any consolation to anyone, I do feed Fancy Feast consistently and have had no problems with the Tender Liver & Chicken flavor Jenny mentioned for any of the months.  I use primarily 3 flavors of the non-gluten varieties - Tender Liver & Chicken, Turkey & Giblets, and Gourmet Chicken Feast.   Over the years, once in a while there may be a run that is a bit less "juicy" and has more of a gel substance.  I just chalk that up to a normal variation in ingredients or processing.  It doesn't seem to do any harm. 

Jenny,  Glad your kitties are doing okay now.  I think that during shedding season there can be a temporary decrease in appetite because of excess hair in the system and a dose of hairball remedy usually clears it up when the hair passes through in the stool.

Barbara,
     I hope your kitty will soon return to her normal self.  Boarding can be very stressful for some cats, especially older ones.  I had an experience some years ago where I had boarded 2 cats while visiting my daughter out of town.  One collapsed on the day I was to pick them up.  Fortunately, she was still there at the vet's and they were immediately able to do what was necessary to bring her around.  She came home later in the day and eventually fully recovered in a few days.  The other cat seemed to be okay when I brought her home, but within a few days started having diarrhea.  The vet diagnosed acute colitis from the stress of being boarded.  She also recovered uneventfully after some medication for the diarrhea.  I have tried to have someone come and stay at my house ever since then instead of boarding.  So, perhaps because of her already fragile health and her age, the stress over-whelmed her.

Hi,

I have a question.  I think in previous posts people talked about getting the FF that was problematic allegedly---from certain plants like 1160 or something like that---how do you know?

Yesterday when I shopped, I got other brands at Walmart since the crate that my cats did not want and threw up after---was from Petsmart.  I did go to Petsmart for my litter and dry foods.  Ok.....I read the labels that are scanned for price.  It's odd because the two crates I had trouble with---just from memory as we threw out one crate yesterday something like 50000 004080 and 5000 04060.  I still have the crate that ends in 4060.   

Now, the part I don't understand is - the cans in both Walmart and Petsmart now are completely different numbers----such as 50000 42994 or various larger numbers.
Can someone explain what the 42994 means?    There are no more ending with 4060 or 4080 anyplace anymore!...........does that sound like those two crates were older foods or do they stand for a location of a warehouse? 

I am still keeping the 4060 crate because a few cats will nibble on that one without throwing it up.  Not sure what is going on.

Thanks.  I thought of sending this as a separate thread, but I have rambled on long enough on this thread.  Ha ha.  Oh....all of the cans I get say St. Louis so maybe that is the home base of the company.

Barbara, Larry, and Cats

Barbara,
     The numbers you referred to that start with 50000 followed by 5 additional numbers are the UPC code.  They are found both on the case on a label attached to the plastic wrap and you will also see that UPC code on the individual cans.  In both cases they are above or below the bar code.  Those numbers are really only for the store's inventory purposes and ordering, and is what is scanned into the register when you pay. 
     The numbers you really want to look at are the Best By date, which is on the bottom of the can.  It will be a month and a year.  Beneath this number is a number something like this (I'm taking this from a can of FF Tender Chicken & Liver I presently have):  81001160L21780015.  The "1160" is the plant number. The other numbers relate to the flavor of the food and the lot number, production code and run numbers, but I do not know exactly how to interpret them.  Except for the plant number, the other numbers will vary from case to case.  Plant 1160 is located in St. Louis, Missouri.  The other Purina plant that makes Fancy Feast is plant 1162 and it is located in Jefferson, Wisconsin.  These are the only 2 Purina plants that manufacture Fancy Feast according to a Purina rep I talked to during the recall period.  There actually has been no proven "bad food" that has come out of either of these plants, as Fancy Feast was not involved in the recalls.  There was a rumor about plant 1160 circulating during the recalls, but nothing ever came of that.  There have been anecdotal reports of cats having problems with various flavors of Fancy Feast, but, to my knowledge, nothing has ever been tested (except for the food mentioned on this thread).  There is no way of telling if the food was a problem, or if the cats were just having an "off" day.  And, I am certainly not the one to judge the validity of those reports.  However, I can relate that my personal experience has been that I have been using Fancy Feast for years, even through the recalls, without any problems.  Yes, there are days here and there when my cat decides that a particular flavor will not be eaten with enthusiasm, but it does get eaten, albeit slowly.  But, the next day, all will be fine again.  With no physical symptoms to indicate a true problem with the food, I can only assume that maybe she just wasn't so hungry that day.  I know I have those days!     Anyway, I hope this information about the numbers is helpful.
     By the way, I have no connection at all to Purina or any other pet food company.  I just happen to be someone who has used Fancy Feast successfully.  I actually did not switch to anything else, except to be sure to use only the non-gluten flavors of FF, because I was too scared to do it in light of all of the companies that kept coming forth on the recall lists.  I just prayed a lot and stood my ground!  I did e-mail Purina a couple times and each time a rep called me on the phone and answered all my questions and was very thorough and professional.  I have to say that this gave me a bit of confidence as I stuck to what I was doing.  I'm sure that there was a lot more "customer service" going on during that time frame than what one might ordinarily get!        I know a lot of people don't like Purina, or trust many pet food companies for that matter.  But, since my experience thus far has been good, I still don't want to go looking for trouble.  Some "good" companies that people turned to during the recalls have proven to be "not so good" afterall.  My cat is thriving and healthy, so, for now, I am satisfied, and will pray that down the road I will not be proven to have been wrong.   
 

Mandycat, catbird, and Lesliek(?)---

Hope I got the names right----Gosh, glad you all told me about bottom of the can.  I think the Rep I talked with at FF said "down there at the bottom" and I read the UPC codes.  I wonder why he didn't tell me it did not sound right.  I read those numbers like 50000 004080 or something like that.  He just said okay.  Then later said that location had no problems.   

Wow---okay the cans I still have that they don't like are 1160.    The ones that seem to be just like they always were are 1162.  Both are dates in 2010.

Mandycat - I was just like you - I never had a problem with it and thought it was the best thing in the world.  Which maybe it is.  But when this happened, I still think it's a possibility that it was something different about that crate.  I am telling the truth - the one day I had 7 hungry demanding cats who turned down two plates of it.  Then I gave 2 cans, one cat seemed violently sick and Charky seemed ok.
Then the boarding.  Then another can to Charky - she was so hungry I know as I had slept longer than usual after the trip - she fought another cat for it.  A couple of hours later she couldn't do anything & we think she was the one that threw up violently tho we weren't in the room.  .....Maybe not the food, true.

Before this happened, I was just like you.  Even with the recalls, I did not even listen to some of the petowner reports.  They seemed exaggerated.  Now, I have one cat who still insists on FF Gourmet Chicken Feast - so I got her a few.  Very few cans.  I had been buying oh 4 crates of 24 a week and now I only got her 5 cans at Walmart.

Lesliek--Yeah, I think you are right.  When we do go up to Louisville, there is Feeder Supply which is great.  We thought we might buy some foods there from now on.  We only go up once every 3 months.
I might look into a Farm store near here as I haven't lived here all my life, just 3 yrs. 

By the way, the man I spoke with a Petsmart said to ask for a free crate a certain way, but to be honest, I didn't want a crate from there.  Just got dry foods and didn't ask for it.  I didn't think either person really believed my story or maybe they hear things like that a lot.  Nobody seemed stressed out or freaked.

No, I've had them like foods, not eat flavors, etc....I'm 64 and over 64 years, various cats go off a flavor. This was pretty drastic.     Yet, there is always another side to the story.   So I'm feeding mostly Friskies now to the 2 cats who can't chew the dry----also am trying to do table scraps, real meats, tuna, and different things like that. 

Barbara, Larry, and Cats

Barbara, I am so sorry to hear of your problems with your kitty....I am not surprised however about the lack of concern with the rep and store clerk.  I am afraid that either they do not understand the concerns we have now as pet feeders or they just are not trained properly.  I was recently at a Petco for the first (and last) time and mentioned the pet food recall and China imoports and the look on the cashier was "what recall?"...and I do think the Purina rep would need more than the UPC but I could be wrong.  I have read and try to practice this .....watch what your pet is telling you-if they don't want to eat a particular item...don't force them or leave it for later...I say this as I have baggage from the '07 recall and smothered uneated and unwanted food with "lavish" juices so the cats would eat.  I don't think that it is always "poison" in the food, but maybe something just not right in the processing and some cats are more sensitive than others....proof of that with the recall..not all cats were as sick as others or did not pass on...go with your gut...
There are many posters here who use FF (me included) and have had no problems and many with health problems after eating....who knows what may happen in the future but to stay in touch with other pet feeders like us all across the country is not a bad idea....I love knowing what is going on in other households and welcome the info-good or bad.   
 

Barbara,
     If your diabetic kitty doesn't like the W/D, ask your vet about using Purina DM.  I have read some opinons that the Purina DM works better than the Science W/D and the ingredients are better.  I have a niece who is using the canned DM for her diabetic cat and he is doing fine.  The canned is only 2% carbs and is high protein, which is what a diabetic cat needs.  Here is a link for you to read about the product.  Also notice on this page a link to Purina's glucose testing system that you might want to check out. 

       http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/FelineProductDetail.aspx?prod=233


     Also, just for information, the last 5 numbers in the UPC code on Fancy Feast is related to the FLAVOR of the food.  Checked several months on cans, including a few cans I kept during the recalls last year "just in case", and the numbers are consistent for each of the flavors.  So, really, the only thing the rep could have known on the phone by the numbers you gave him was the FLAVOR of the food you were complaining about!     I think you got a very inexperienced rep who obviously didn't know what he was doing.  If you still want to make a report, I would try again and give the information on the bottom of the can of the flavor you think may have caused a problem.