Customer Reviews

Castor & Pollux Ultramix Adult Feline Fomula Dry Cat Food, 15-Pound Bag

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have 4 cats ranging in age from 2-10 years old. We previously fed them Iams Multi-Cat dry food which we purchased in 20lb bags at our local warehouse store. About 4 months ago, the warehouse store discontinued stocking Iams cat food, so I went looking for another, better quality dry cat food that was reasonably priced (my preference was to make my own cat food, but the reality is that I don't have time to do so).

I stumbled on Castor & Pollux on Amazon & decided to give the blue bag (adult feline) a try. We've now gone through 27lbs of the adult feline dry food and like the Castor & Pollux dry food enough to make this our cat food of choice (so I have to remember to order ahead of time to not run out). We are now trying the green bag (indoor cat), so that review will come later after we go through a bag or 2 (15lb bags).

Since it is not listed, and I wanted to know this information before I purchased, here is a full List of ingredients straight from the back of the blue bag:

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Oat Groats, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), Salmon Meal, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Potatoes, Cultured Whey, Dried Carrots, Dried Bananas, Dried Apples, Natural Chicken Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Sodium Bisulfate, Potassium Choloride, Salt, Dried, Blueberries, Dried Papya, Choline Chloride, Taurine, DL-Methionine, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydroxcholoride (source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Caronate, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyes Cerevisiae), Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophuilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longbrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract and Fermentation Solubles.

My older cats (8 & 10 yrs) had a hard transition from the Iams. We cleaned up a lot of carrot-filled cat vomit for the first 2 weeks. The younger cats transitioned with no issues whatsoever. We have since gone to the indoor feline and are not experiencing the daily upchucking (whether this is because they are already accustomed to the food or not, I don't know, but would assume that it plays a part). All cats love the food. We did find that they eat a little less of the Castor & Pollux, so maybe they are getting more quality with each bite. Iams uses by-product and Cator & Pollux uses meal, so I assume this may be the case.

I did research on by-product vs meal & found the following information from various websites:

Protein, in the form of quality meat ingredients, is the most important component of a pet's diet. As animals with a carnivorous background, their digestive tract is designed to utilize primarily meat and fat. It is also the most expensive ingredient for a manufacturer to buy and the profit margin on a product is drastically affected by the amount and quality used. Ideally, the first ingredient of a food should be either a specified meat meal, or a specified fresh meat type followed by a meal.

Meat sources in "meal" form (as long as they are from a specified type of animal, such as chicken meal, lamb meal, salmon meal etc.) are not inferior to whole, fresh meats. "Meal" consists of meat and skin, with or without the bones, but exclusive of feathers/hair, heads, feet, horns, entrails etc. and have the proper calcium/phosphorus ratio required for a balanced diet. They have had most of the moisture removed, but remember that meats in their original, "wet" form still contain up to 75% water.

Byproducts of any type are less desirable and only acceptable if they do not make up the main source of animal protein and if the name of the species used is also defined in some manner (e.g. "chicken byproducts" or "beef byproducts" but not "meat byproducts" or "poultry byproducts"). Byproducts consist of anything but the quality cuts of meat.

Castor & Pollux has a Pet & Soul Foundation that supports various pet organizations & charities. Look on their website & do the daily free kibble game to donate free kibble to pet shelters.

All in all, I think that I could probably come up with a better homemade cat food, but, given time constraints and solid know-how, I think that this Caster & Pollux dry food is a good choice. My cats, all indoors, love the food, their fur is shiny & their skin appears to be healthy. We do not have dander issues & all the cats seem to be feisty & healthy.

This is a reasonably priced dry food with a good list of ingredients as compared to other commercial foods. Castor & Pollux claim that they fully & unconditionally guarantee their food, so if you order & don't like it, you can call them.

Best of all, Amazon ships it to my doorstep. RECOMMENDED.

10/3/11 (EDIT): I am still feeding my cats this food & they are doing well. I now supplement with a little wet cat food (have tried many brands/varieties & a still trying to find a "hit") daily, but the majority of their diet is this Castor & Pollux kibble.

I bought this food on sale on a whim since a while ago, Amazon was selling this kind of cat food for ~$15 for 5 3-lb bags (I wish it still cost that much!). Long story short, I wasn't expected much from this pet food. I have two young cats (both ~7.6 months) who typically never ate their dry food unless I mixed wet food in with it or soaked it in Cat Milk. However, my cats LOVE the Castor & Pollux Ultramix. They happily eat it (including the little fruity bits),even in meals where I don't mix in wet food, and they've have so much fewer digestive issues. They've never had any hairballs and the size of the little bits is perfect for young animals making the transition to adult foods.

I looked up good cat food for indoor cats and this was at the top of the list. The ingredients are appropriate.

We call this crack for cats because our cats love this food so much.. they are always screaming for more of it ..

i've been feeding my cats wellness for over six tears. i tried for a change. they weren't at all fond of this food. and as i read in other reviews they tended to leave the chunks of fruit and veggies behind in the bowl. i only fed them about a fourth of the bag, bought wellness again and gave the rest of the bag to my neighbor. i wanted this food to be well liked by my kitties, but it wasn't. they weren't into the soft food, either. but, they do LOVE the organix cheddar treats. sorry i couldn't say better things. i wouldn't recommend this food and will never purchase it again.

I have 4 indoor cats ranging from pre-teen to senior. We previously fed them Iams Multi-Cat dry food which we purchased in 20lb bags at our local warehouse store. About 4 months ago, the warehouse store discontinued stocking Iams cat food, so I went looking for another, better quality dry cat food that was reasonably priced (my preference was to make my own cat food, but the reality is that I don't have time to do so).

I stumbled on Castor & Pollux on Amazon & decided to give Castor & PolluxUltramix Feline Fomula Dry, Adult, 15 Pound Bag (blue bag) a try. We went through 27lbs of the blue bag and then switched to this indoor version (green bag). Now that we've gone through about 20lbs of the green bag, we are quite pleased with the Castor & Pollux cat food and it is now our cat food of choice.

The one thing not listed on the website is the ingredient list, and I wanted to know this information before I purchased, so here is a full list of ingredients straight from the back of the green bag (note the ingredients are slightly different than the blue bag):

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Cellulose, Brewers Rice, Rice Protein Concentrate, Ground Flaxseed, Chicken Fat preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), Natural Chicken Flavor, Cultured Whey, Dried Beet Pulp, Salmon Meal, Sodium Bisulfate, Dried Carrots, Dried Bananas, Dried Apples, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Dried Blueberries, Dried Papaya, Choline Chloride, Taurine, DL-Methionine, L-Carnitine, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydroxcholoride (source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Caronate, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyes Cerevisiae), Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophuilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longbrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract and Fermentation Solubles.

My senior cats had a hard transition from the Iams to the blue bag and we ended up cleaning up a lot of carrot-filled cat vomit for the first 2 weeks. The younger cats transitioned with no issues whatsoever. Now that we have gone to the green bag, we are not experiencing the daily upchucking (whether this is because they are already accustomed to the food or not, I don't know, but would assume that it plays a part).

All of our cats love the food (both versions), and run to their food bowls when they hear us fill them up. They seem to eat a little less of the Castor & Pollux, so maybe they are getting more quality with each bite. Iams uses by-product and Cator & Pollux uses meal, so I assume this may be the case.

While I can't pronounce many of the ingredients on the cat food bag list, I did research on the protein ingredients (by-product vs meal) & found the following information from various websites:

Protein, in the form of quality meat ingredients, is the most important component of a pet's diet. As animals with a carnivorous background, their digestive tract is designed to utilize primarily meat and fat. It is also the most expensive ingredient for a manufacturer to buy and the profit margin on a product is drastically affected by the amount and quality used. Ideally, the first ingredient of a food should be either a specified meat meal, or a specified fresh meat type followed by a meal.

Meat sources in "meal" form (as long as they are from a specified type of animal, such as chicken meal, lamb meal, salmon meal etc.) are not inferior to whole, fresh meats. "Meal" consists of meat and skin, with or without the bones, but exclusive of feathers/hair, heads, feet, horns, entrails etc. and have the proper calcium/phosphorus ratio required for a balanced diet. They have had most of the moisture removed, but remember that meats in their original, "wet" form still contain up to 75% water.

Byproducts of any type are less desirable and only acceptable if they do not make up the main source of animal protein and if the name of the species used is also defined in some manner (e.g. "chicken byproducts" or "beef byproducts" but not "meat byproducts" or "poultry byproducts"). Byproducts consist of anything but the quality cuts of meat.

This is a reasonably priced dry food with a good list of ingredients as compared to other commercial foods. Castor & Pollux claims that they fully & unconditionally guarantee their food, so if you order & don't like it, you can call them. Additionally, Castor & Pollux has a Pet & Soul Foundation that supports various pet organizations & charities, so our purchases go to help needy animals. Look on their website & do the daily free kibble game to donate free kibble to pet shelters.

All in all, I think that I could probably come up with a better homemade cat food, but, given time constraints and solid know-how, I think that this Caster & Pollux dry food is a good choice. My cats, all indoors, love the food, their fur is shiny & their skin appears to be healthy. We do not have dander issues & all the cats seem to be feisty & healthy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

My cats love the flavor of Ultramix, and eat it all up happily. I love that the ingredients are such high quality meats, veggies and fruits and grains. You can see the chunks of fruits and veggies in the food.

One of my cats has food allergies and I was having to buy bags of food from the vet for exorbitant prices. I decided to try a natural diet instead for all my cats for savings and to get away from preservatives. My cats enjoy this food and my allergic cat no longer exhibits symptoms. I like being able to see the actual pieces of dried vegetables and fruits, it makes me feel good about giving it to my animals.

This cat food is really high quality and my cats love it. I have one cat with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and this food has been the easiest on her stomach of any food I've given her. Very satisfied.

I love the idea that I could buy this in bulk and the price was very good. My cat tends to go through a bag a month and the pet stores are very expensive about $16.00 a bag so this was worth it.