ADDICTION Foods: DaisyMae's taste test

At the beginning of Mom's vacation three weeks ago, Isabel from Addiction Foods, a premium pet food company, contacted us about "shared real-life experiences from pet owners whose pets have benefited from Addiction" an' offered us the ability to taste-test her company's food in exchange for some column inches on my bloggie. She sent us this email:

Greetings! Over the last 6 years, Addiction Pet Foods has built up a steady following of discerning pet owners in America and worldwide who love our foods because they've changed their pets lives. We've been thankful for their support and are continually striving to make our foods even better. We're also constantly looking for more shared real-life experiences from pet owners whose pets have benefited from Addiction.

Like many of your other readers, we have followed your blog and enjoy your posts about your cats. We know you understand how pets are well-loved and very much a part of the family, indeed they deserve nothing but the best. We're excited about our holistic, all-natural premium foods and are sure your cats will love them too! We would love to send you samples of our foods and work with you in sharing about your Addiction experience through your blog.

Do visit us at www.addictionfoods.com to find out more about us, or email me at isabel@addictionfoods.com if you have more questions where I would be happy to chat with you further.
I look forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards
Isabel
www.addictionfoods.com

An' you know me ... I love my food an' I'll eat just about anything that anyone is willing to let me wrap my lips around (I had smoked brisket an' pulled pork at lunch) ... especially if it's bein' offered for FREE. But Mom was skeptical an' 'splained to Isabel that the Feline Americans ... especially Charmee an' Pumpkin ... are furry finicky 'bout their stinky goodness.  Charmee won't eat fish or any other fishy-type seafoods (unless we're talking fish-flavored Temptations).   An' Puffy can't have huge changes made in his diet 'cuz he develops the "bowels of hell" an' tortures our whole household with his odoriferous eminations.  Mom tries to be really careful with our diets, but she doesn't like wasting money, either.  She buys us the best that she can afford ... an' that we'll actually eat.  That means Eukanuba kibbles an' Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys Chicken with Egg Souffle an' Temptations (with table scraps when appropriate) are our typical fare.  But, like Isabel said, try it out ...

Mom visited their website an' found out:  "Addiction Foods is a holistic pet food company featuring dog and cat foods made exclusively from premium proteins and free-range game meats, such as Brushtail, Kangeroo, Unagi and Venison. Our all-natural foods provide healthy, balanced meals for cats and dogs as they contain NO harmful fillers, by-products and chemicals, commonly found in many of today's pet and even human foods, and are especially ideal for sensitive pets allergic to the more commonly found chicken, beef or lamb as we use such novel proteins. We have also been featured in Whole Dog Journal's Top Dry and Wet Food lists. Addiction's foods include dry, wet and raw dehydrated formulas and are made in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and USA."

Since Isabel said that it was okay if not efurryone liked efurrything, Mom agreed to let me be a "taster" an' Isabel put some food in the mail. The man in the brown shorts (with the hot, hot, hot legs) delivered TWO boxes to me last Thursday an' I, of course, wanted to open the boxes immediately. I told the Feline Americans to "back off," but Charmee wouldn't an' that little varmint actually got the first sample out of the kibbles! MY sample! Can you believe the nerve of that little monster?!? I'm supposed to be the first eater! I! Me! MINE!


Can you see Charmee's legs?!?  He was tryin' to grab the food bag an' the container of kitty grass from up on the table 'cuz Mom was distracted by my eating!  Can you believe that little brat?!?  He was tryin' to take the attention from ME!


The big box had eight pounds of Addiction Viva la Venison which is a grain-free kibble with some fruit an' veggies in it along with the ... whispers ... vishus deer. Charmee an' I each had a taste of the food an' things were goin' fine 'til he started picking up ALL of the kibbles in his mouth an' takin' them to the floor to eat. That's when I put my foot down an' demanded that Mom fill my (read: the communal) food bowl to the rim for my eating only.

The little box had six cans of stinky goodness. Two cans each in Unagi (Eel) with seaweed, King Salmon with potatoes, an' New Zealand Brushtail with vegetables. When Mom read the flavors, she said stuff like "yuck" an' "eeewww ... gross," but I was thinking "YUM!"

Things didn't go as well at dinner time when Mom opened the King Salmon can. The inside looked really delicious (I know this 'cuz Mom gagged an' dry heaved into the kitchen sink three times). I got to eat my bowl of stinky goodess up on the counter while Puffy an' Sparky voraciously snarfed down theirs. Pumpkin shook his foot at his bowl an' ate a single small bite. Charmee refused much more than a sniff. He wouldn't taste his dinner an' sat under Mom's dining room chair pouting. He curled his tail tightly around his front legs, hung his head, an' sulked. He didn't want any part of that fishy food an' he'd resigned himself to having no dinner. It was just plain sad. Mom gave him a tablespoon full of Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys Chicken with Egg Souffle an' ... POOF ... he was back to normal. How did that can of King Salmon do in the taste test? Three of us LOVED it an' two wouldn't eat it.

The next day was a repeat of the first: Puffy, Sparky, an' I really liked the featured flavor of the Addiction stinky goodness. Pumpkin an' Charmee ate Fancy Feast. Mom was surprised at how well we tucked into that Eel food, but we really ate it up. We've been eating the kibbles at a pretty good rate for the last few days, but Mom left us our usual Eukanuba, too ... just in case. The bowl levels for the Eukanuba have dwindled at a much quicker rate, but we are eating the Addiction food with regularity, too.

The last flavor of stinky goodness:  New Zealand Brushtail with veggies:  Only Puffy would eat it.  The rest of us looked in the bowl an' then looked up at Mom with a quizzical "huh?"  Mom opened a can of Fancy Feast an' we all had turkey with giblets.  No vishus deer for us.

One improvement has been the stinky factor in the litter box. Puffy used to be BY FAR the smelliest. But since trying the Addiction brand food, he hasn't been quite as foul. The stink king is Pumpkin ... eater of Fancy Feast an' Eukanuba.

Mom said that we'd finish the sample foods that Isabel sent an' then she'd re-evaluate our dietary purchasing.  She quibbled about buying more than one kind of stinky goodness an' having to feed different types to different cats, but she said that that would be a minor inconvenience.  Her major concern was whether we liked what we were eating.  She liked that the kibbles were grain-free and were probably better for our health.  There wasn't a huge price difference between Addiction an' Eukanuba, but shopping at PetSmart was much cheaper than paying shipping.  Eukanuba often has coupons, too.

So, Mom?  What's it gonna be? 

I couldn't get a definitive answer outta her:  Can we or can't we?  I've only got six pounds of Addiction an' three cans left, woman!  There are kibble flavors an' some other kinds of stinky goodness that I haven't tried yet!  You don't want me to starve, do you?  How come the decision comes down to Pumpkin an' Charmee?  I've got seniority!  I'm the girlie!  I!  Me!  MINE!

Well, Isabel ... Until I can get Mom to commit, I'm up-in-the-air ...  Thanks for givin' me an opportunity to taste-test your delicious food!  I give Addiction four enthusiastic paws up!