Cat food supply shortage: Why can’t you find food for your kitties

The latest product shortage may be hitting your cat’s dinner bowl.

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Pet owners across the country may be finding cat food shelves bare or with limited choices.

WNCN reported it started last year when it was difficult to get stocks of canned dog food. At the time it was hard to find beef and lamb flavors for Fido.

But that shortage has expanded to cat food, the news station reported.

North Carolina is not alone in the pet food shortages.

Canned food was nonexistent at Pet Smart locations around Los Angeles in early March, KTTV reported.

A supply chain professor in Iowa said it’s happening even to retailers like Chewy.

Jonathan Phares said supply chain issues started by the COVID-19 pandemic are to blame and that the issues have two different reasons, KCCI reported.

First, the meat used in cat food is in short supply.

Most of the popular food comes from overseas, and was delayed due to shipping issues, KTTV reported. Plants that make both human and animal food also put a priority on human food.

The price of meat has also gone up over the past few months, according to KTTV.

Second, aluminum that is used to package processed cat food is also in short supply, KCCI reported.

Chewy and other companies changed from cans to pouches to make up for that, KTTV reported.

Finally, there was one other side effect of the pandemic that people may not realize is contributing to the lack of available food.

Cat adoption increased during the pandemic and after, Phares told KCCI.

Most pet adoptions spiked during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have since dropped off, except for in the case of cats. Cats are still being adopted at the same rate as they were during the pandemic, KCCI reported.

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