Answer: I am assuming you have tried the Halo Spot’s Stew for cats….some cats find it a bit too brothy and chunky. I have had success with those picky kitties by putting it briefly in a blender to reduce the chunk size. You can also try heating up the food a bit…some cats really love the aroma that the fresh wholesome ingredients give off.

You can also sprinkle Halo’s protein powder (called Dinner Party) on top to make it more appetizing! Another diet you might try is the Evo 95% canned cat food line. Many of my pickier cat friends like that one.

Hope that helps. Take care.
Dr. Donna Spector

Answers provided to pet owners by Dr. Donna Spector should be considered information and not specific advice. Answers are to be used for general information purposes only and not as a substitute for in-person evaluation or specific professional advice from your veterinarian. Communications on this site are very limited and should never be used in possible cases of emergency. Halo, Purely for Pets will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any information or content contained in a blog or article post.

Little Doll you are doing a great service to be taking care of so many kitties and I salute you. Here are some thoughts on how to make it easier and more affordable…

If you have to use dry (for a variety of reasons) you’ve picked a quality brand so the higher the protein and a named protein source as the #1 ingredient, the less worrisome it is to feed dry food. But it must be without corn, wheat, soy, powdered cellulose (which is SAWDUST!!) etc. I like HALO because they use actual real meat, muscle meat, in their kibble which no other company does.

Click over to my original blog on “Little Doll” Says Don’t Worry about the Crazies on Catster for the whole story!

Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible, guest blogs here every Thursday on healthy, natural choices for pets.

So the clear winner of any kibble out there is Spot’s Stew. Every bag is sealed with a company’s code of ethics; to do the best they can to nourish the pets of America. Honestly I am kicking myself that I didn’t learn this earlier, because I have three huge dogs who have been eating kibble as a portion of their meals without my knowing the difference between Spot’s Stew and other high-end brands.

Click over to my original blog on “Breaking the Silence on a Good Dry Food for Cats” for the whole story!

Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible, guest blogs here every Thursday on healthy, natural choices for pets.

Then, upon closer inspection, his eyes widened. “Why, Gordi, you do look fabulous! Between the Halo and the exercise routines you’ve transformed. You’re absolutely brilliant.”

I filled him in on the details of the meal and exercise plan I have been on the last several weeks…

Please remember, while these products are wonderful, they are not the same as what you can buy at the store. You’ll find earlier formulas, old labels, or short-dating. Short-dating means that the product will reach its “Best if Used By” date within 1-2 months of purchase.

Click here to read the blog.

But a series of earnest inquires from her loyal followers led Tracie to the conclusion that some cat lovers must feed dry food. And when that’s the case, she felt she owed it to her audience to make a recommendation. In her own words, “if circumstances require dry food, it’s time I told you what you’ve been waiting for: which dry food is best?”

I’ll quote Tracie at length:

“I have recently been singing the praises of Halo’s Spot’s Stew. In fact, for the first time I have chosen it as the DOG food kibble that is head and shoulders above the others and which I am now feeding to my dogs as part of their daily meals. And the reason for the tap of the “Tracie Wand” is all about ingredients. For dogs we want a kibble made with the cleanest possible ingredients and with as high a protein content as possible – with cats this goes double, since their digestive systems are not designed for carbohydrates and they need real meat. Well that is what makes Halo’s Spot’s Stew in a class by itself. … Halo uses only meat that is “fit for human consumption” in their foods. Halo has made a moral decision that they will only use meat that people could eat…”

We’ve long been honored that Tracie Hotchner recommends Halo, and have recently become proud sponsors of her hugely informative web site. But this is an honor that we never expected. Thank you as always, Tracie, for helping consumer read (and understand) ingredients to make the best choices for their pets!

Read the whole story here on Tracie Hotchner’s blog.

You’ll even find the recipe for our flagship product, Halo Spot’s Stew, so you can make it at home.

We believe that ideally, pets should eat healthy, homemade foods every day. But if the thought of cooking them a huge meal seems like a chore . . . just open a can of Spot’s Stew! Let our gourmet chefs prepare the healthiest food in the world for your dog or cat. We won’t mind if you take the credit!

The man turned out to be Alan Kerzner, Halo’s president, visiting the store with other Halo employees. During this chance meeting, DiMatteo told Kerzner she was a volunteer at Sayreville Pet Adoption Center, a no-kill animal shelter in Sayreville, N.J. She told him that the center was always in need of food, and that when volunteers brought in cans of Halo, the cats went wild.

Kerzner, impressed that people were donating Halo, decided to make a much larger gift: Soon after that fortuitous meeting, Halo donated 100 cases of dog and 300 cases of cat Spot’s Stew to the shelter. “As animal lovers it makes us feel great,” Kerzner says. “It’s good to help any animal, and especially gratifying to help those in need.”

Barbara Keegan, director of the shelter, was ecstatic when a truck pulled into the shelter driveway. “That was such a blessing they gave us that food, beyond belief,” she says. “This is over and above anything we’ve ever been given.”

This good fortune for Sayreville almost didn’t happen. DiMatteo planned on shopping earlier in the day but a stroke of luck put her in the aisle with Kerzner. “It would have never have crossed my mind he was so high up in the company,” says DiMatteo, noting Kerzner never told her he was Halo’s president. “He was so down to earth.”

Sayreville, a privately-owned shelter, is completely dependent upon donations; one of its biggest expenses is for food at over $10,000 annually for the approximately 25 dogs and 170 cats that are there at one time. “So far this year,” says Keegan, “we haven’t had to spend a cent on food, which is awesome.”

When the cases of Spot’s Stew arrived in late January, so did a homeless American bulldog that the shelter staffers named Halo. “We really wanted to honor the company,” Keegan says. “And he was the number one lover of the Halo food.”

DiMatteo says that the shelter’s normally noisy cats now quiet down when it’s feeding time. “It’s so funny,” says DiMatteo, “everyone shuts up and eats. The cats are in heaven with the Spot’s Stew.”

The Halo donation has helped Sayreville care for what Keegan notices is a tremendous rise in homeless pets. “It’s very bad, especially now,” Keegan says. “We’re seeing more abandoned pets, animals being found in parking lots, animals that were clearly someone’s pets.” Why? “Because of the economy,” says Keegan, who has seen a spike in owners whose homes have gone into foreclosure come in to give away their pets. “It’s horrendous.”

Still, at least these strays will be well fed. One top feline aficionado of Spot’s Stew is Big Boy, a toothless Siamese mix cat with feline AIDS. Says Keegan: “He has no teeth left but he loves the Halo.”

Q: The Manual of Veterinary Dietetics states that a safe weight-loss for a cat is less than 2% of starting body weight per week. I’d hate for pet owners to think that “speed dieting” is healthy for cats, given the risk of hepatic lipidosis. It would be nice if you’d at least address this issue, and remind cat owners that a weight-loss race isn’t safe for a cat unless it’s closely supervised by a veterinarian, and it’s not something they should try at home without consulting a vet. I like Halo’s food, but I think this contest is irresponsible without a few warnings about the risks.

A: Thank you for your question. Please take a look at our February 19 blog post titled “Have a Fat Cat? How to get rid of extra pounds.” In this post, we did recommend only 1-2% of body weight loss each week. We can assure you that this weight loss challenge with Bideawee is being monitored carefully to avoid any chances of hepatic lipidosis.