Hi Jason, thanks for the comment. I wouldn’t be too worried. I’m still in conversations with Dr. Elsey’s and the lab, so I can’t give you a final answer, but we do know a few things. One, it was confirmed that the units were supposed to be mg/kg, but our report was misprinted. I’ve chased after the lab and should be getting a corrected copy soon, and we’ll replace it on the site. It’s worth noting that cyanide is expected in foods containing flaxseed, and flaxseed meal sold in the human food market can safely have up to 250 mg of cyanide per kg, which is significantly higher than what we’re seeing here. Furthermore, I’ve been told that the testing method the lab used may have not been appropriate for this food type, meaning that the presence of other compounds in the food may be inflating the perceived cyanide content. Overall, I would not be too concerned by the presence of cyanide here, but I can’t give you a complete answer yet. Apologies for the confusion and long wait.

Hi Maggie, I’m still in conversations with Dr. Elsey’s and the lab. It’s worth noting that cyanide is expected in foods containing flaxseed, and flaxseed meal sold in the human food market can safely have up to 250 mg/kg cyanide, which is significantly higher than what we’re seeing here. Furthermore, I’ve been told that the testing method the lab used may have not been appropriate for this food type. Overall, I would not be too concerned by the presence of cyanide here, but I can’t give you any solid information just yet.

Hi Mallory, any news on the Cyanide that was detected? My kibble loving kitties love Dr Elsey’s kibbles and there really isn’t another low carb alternative that they like so I am very concerned. Thanks in advance for any updates you can offer!

Lining this up for an update. Thank you!

Unfortunately, I can’t help much at this time. Our lab has not been of help; we still don’t have units for the cyanide measurement, and the method used to detect cyanide may not have been appropriate for the food type, which also calls everything into question. I apologize for the slow flow of information—still trying to figure it out.

The article provided in the original posts states “It is likely that all known commercial dog and cat foods or supplements containing ground flaxseed should not be of any concern to the pet owner or veterinarian.” The article also states “Scientists have developed ways of treating flaxseed to prevent cyanide production” along with “Ground flaxseed is widely used in pet foods, as well as in veterinary health products and various types of supplements” Im not a scientist or a vet, just logical. If this article is saying all of these things, I think it’s safe to assume that the cyanide found in the food is a safe for a cat. If it weren’t, the product would have gotten recalled. I can imagine this isn’t the only test run to ever have been done on the food. Im not familiar with all of the cat foods cats.com has sent to labs, but I can also imagine this isn’t the only food they’ve tested with cyanide present, judging by what the article linked says.