Unlike most other pet food lines, Walmart brands Ol Roy Dog Food and Special Kitty Cat Food do not have a website providing pet food customers with ingredient information or product quality. Instead, these popular discount pet food lines provide customers with a phone number listed on the back of the package. Problem is…the phone number listed on the pet food packaging is to the Menu Foods Recall Information office.
The Walmart.com website provides a limited amount of information to pet owning consumers regarding their popular pet foods Ol Roy and Special Kitty. However, if a pet owner wanted to know more about these pet foods, as example who makes the foods or country of origin of ingredients, detective work is required.
The phone number listed on the dry Ol Roy dog food and Special Kitty cat food takes you to the ‘Pet Nutrition Center’, or Mars Petcare. Mars, who also manufactures Nutro, Pedigree, Royal Canin, and other brands was quick to point out they “ONLY manufacture a few of the dry Ol Roy and Special Kitty foods, not all of them.” Who else makes Ol Roy and Special Kitty dry foods? Mars Petcare didn’t know.
Next, Ol Roy and Special Kitty can and pouch pet food. The phone number listed on the can and pouch of Ol Roy and Special Kitty packaging is not, as the products claim, an information line. Instead, the phone number provided on the pet food packaging is to the Menu Foods Recall Information office. That’s confusing; I was told this phone number was set up after the 2007 pet food recall by Menu Foods. The phone number listed on the packaging of Ol Roy dog food and Special Kitty cat food cans and pouch – that states “Questions or Comments” – does NOT provide any answers to questions regarding Ol Roy and Special Kitty pet foods. In fact, the two times I called the number, the representatives didn’t have any idea why Walmart listed this number and couldn’t answer any questions I had regarding who made the pet food. So…why is this phone number listed on the packaging of canned and pouch Ol Roy dog food and Special Kitty cat food? Furthermore, who makes the canned and pouch Ol Roy dog food and Special Kitty cat food? Is it Menu Foods?
It took a phone call to Menu Foods corporate offices in Canada to learn that indeed, Menu Foods does manufacture the canned and pouch Ol Roy dog food and Special Kitty cat food for Walmart. However, Walmart corporate offices couldn’t tell me this. They didn’t know. The Walmart representative, while polite, had no idea who manufactured their pet foods and had no idea of who or where I should call to ask questions. She informed me that she had ‘no information for pet food customer service’. I was promised a return call with the information within “three to five business days”.
‘Three to five business days’ to answer a simple question regarding a popular pet food. What if my pet was ill? What if my veterinarian needed to know something pertinent about the food in order to provide treatment for my ill pet? Three to five business days would feel like an eternity if I had a sick pet and needed answers.
A return call to Walmart corporate office three business days later still gave no answers. The Walmart representative I spoke with on the follow up call provided me with no new information on who to contact regarding these pet foods.
The only thing we do know is this:
• Some of the dry Ol Roy dog foods and Special Kitty cat foods are made by Mars Petcare; we don’t know who makes other dry foods.
• The phone number provided on canned and pouch Walmart dog food and cat foods for customer questions and comments does NOT provide any answer to questions; it is the Menu Pet Food Recall Information line.
• Walmart Corporate Office doesn’t know who makes their pet foods or who to call should a customer have a question or comment.
• There is no website for Ol Roy dog food or Special Kitty cat food; no online customer support.
‘Save Money. Live Better.’ Just don’t expect any answers about Walmart dog food and cat food.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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claudette Lauzon
January 24, 2016 at 9:06 am
I purchased special kitty can food from Walmart ,I have 15 rescues who were seen by a vet and very well taken care of and indoors always,the day I gave my cats your food they ALL have bloody diaria,I called Walmart they said call you
Susan Thixton
January 24, 2016 at 9:12 am
Hi Claudette – I’m sending you a separate email too. But Walmart told you to contact me? TruthaboutPetFood.com? Please let me know – Susan
CJ Sarinana
October 25, 2017 at 1:16 pm
I purchased a 44 lb. Bag of Special Kitty Outdoor. For 2 adult and 5 kittens they all had the same reaction “BLOODY DIARIA” when i change food they’re all fine withen a day when i try them on Special Kitty again the same thing again the bloody diaria comes back the same day now I’m stuck with. 44 lbs. Of cat food.
Sherry Armstrong
September 11, 2019 at 5:06 pm
I looked online at what was recommended to do when changing cat foods, which was to do a 3/3/3 pattern. To mix 1/3 to 2/3 wet to dry and watch for changes in vomiting and stool changes. Then if they tolerate that a mix of 2/3 wet to 1/3 Dry and look for changes. If they don’t tolerate the change go back to their old food.
Rickie McDonald
April 11, 2016 at 5:58 pm
Almost all of my grandma’s cats died eating special kitty they lost alot of weight and got really sick I had no clue she was feeding her cats that but when I found out I made her switch to a better brand and the ones who didn’t die are healthy and happy now and ol Roy is horrible we used to buy it for our dogs they also were dropping dead left and right we used to breed German shepherds we manager to say two out of twelve puppies I don’t think they should be allowed to sell these brands any more
Pingback: Special Kitty Cat & Kitten Food Reviews & Recalls 2017
Corey smith
October 15, 2017 at 6:20 pm
Did ole Roy Dog Food change color from dark brown to light brown
Rex Cox Jr
February 19, 2018 at 8:58 am
I noted with interest the post of Claudette Lauzon in Jan 2016. I began feeding our 3 cats Special Kitty canned food about 3 months ago. Within a month Our oldest began having bloody very loose stools. This morning I opened a can with a number S01-KGCT2205 on the bottom right of the label that literally erupted while on the can opener. The contents continued to “boil” in the can for at least 1/2 hour. When I called the local Walmart customer service said they would not accept returns of opened cat food. I’m inclined to put the can in a zip-lock bag take the can to the customer service desk and simply walk away. Rest assured that i no longer will buy Special Kitty cat food of any kind!
Deborah Lynn Young
July 24, 2018 at 12:26 pm
By mistake I purchased one can of Ole Roy food. That one can gave my dog horrible diarrhea. He is so sick. About 12 yes ago I bought the same dog dry Ole Roy and it did the same thing. He had diarrhea for days. I know I should have thrown the one can in the trash but I thought it had been so many years that it would be ok. NOT!! Never buy Ole Roy. Never!
Linde L.
April 30, 2019 at 4:21 pm
My cats and dogs have eaten almost nothing but Ol Roy and Special Kitty dry food plus water since 2001 or earlier. We’ve never had any food related problems (that we know of) and the cats have typically lived to be 19 years old, give or take a few months, and the dogs (45 & 60 pounds lived to 12 for the larger dog and 14 for the other one. We currently have 1 outdoor dog, 2 outdoor cats, and 1 indoor cat. So, whatever problems may have been caused by these foods haven’t been universal. The reason I found this site today is that my indoor cat and one of my outdoor cats have begun vomiting a bit in the last week and I wondered if there was something different about the food (Special Kitty Gourmet in the 16 pound bag). I have not found anything yet, but I’ll keep looking.
Steve lawing
August 4, 2019 at 7:23 pm
Feeding special Kitty Outdoors for quite a while I got into some bags food 44 lb bags one bag the cats to do real good gain weight in the next bag they get skinny and starved I thought it was just random one bag, but then I run into it again later and this morning I found one dead this evening by his water bowl has anybody else been having problems with this.