Starting with a packaging problem affecting a number of Blue Buffalo dog food cups, 2017 involved three unique recalls. Shortly after the packaging problem in February, Blue recalled several cans of Homestyle Recipe dog food due to possible aluminum contamination. In March of 2017, Blue Buffalo dog food was recalled due to potentially high levels of beef thyroid hormone. Blue Buffalo works with a wide variety blue buffalo cat food of pet food manufacturers and suppliers. According to a brand profile published by the Whole Dog Journal in 2012, these were Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, ANI/Vita-Line Products, CJ Foods, ProPet, Triple T Foods, and Tuffy’s Pet Foods. It receives high marks for affordability and offers decent product variety, but many of the recipes aren’t species-appropriate and customer experience varies greatly.
Blue Buffalo doesn’t provide specific information about the sourcing of their ingredients either. This may be because they work with a wide variety of suppliers. We’d love to have more information in this area, but transparency about manufacturing and ingredient sourcing just isn’t part of Blue Buffalo’s brand. In addition to these partners, Blue Buffalo also manufactures some of its own products. It appears that the company operates manufacturing facilities in Joplin, Missouri and Richmond, Indiana. While we don’t have exact details on Blue Buffalo’s manufacturing, it appears their products are made in the U.S.
We do our best to help you better understand your cats, but the information on this blog is not a substitute for veterinary guidance. If you’re looking to switch to one, though, we’d suggest Wellness. It boasts almost all the selling points that Blue Buffalo can offer, but without a history of potentially shady advertising or deadly product recalls. Both Wellness and Blue Buffalo have complicated recall histories, although Blue Buffalo’s is definitely worse. However, it has a meager 10% protein, and it uses cassia and guar gum. These are added to the food to make it easier to eat, but they can interfere with protein synthesis.
Like so many dry foods—especially those marketed for indoor cats—this recipe is a plant-heavy, carbohydrate-rich product that fails to honor your cat’s needs as a carnivore. It has all the nutrition your cat needs, but it’s not the species-appropriate ideal. As an economical dry food, this recipe is one of the better ones you can buy. It doesn’t contain any animal by-products or vaguely named ingredients.
Each formula is gluten-free, completely natural, and does not contain any amount of corn, wheat, soy, or poultry by-products. Another product is the Blue Wilderness High Protein dry cat food friskies shreds which has all-natural ingredients and is a single source of animal protein. It is a gentle cat food that is very sensitive to a cat’s stomach and can be used for cats with food allergies.