Update, October 2026: Castor and Pollux dog food, including the Organix and Pristine lines, is no longer available from major retailers and appears to have been discontinued. We have rewritten this review to explain what happened and to help you find a replacement.
If you came here looking for a Castor and Pollux dog food review, here is the short version: the brand is no longer being sold. Its Organix and Pristine recipes have disappeared from retailers such as Chewy, and the Castor & Pollux website now redirects to Merrick, the company that made the food.
Neither Merrick nor its parent company, Nestle Purina, has published an explanation that we could find. Below is what we know, what to do if your dog was eating this food, and how to choose something comparable.
If you just want a shortlist of foods we recommend right now, head straight to our guide to the best and worst dog food brands.
Everything we can check points to yes. Here is the evidence:
Retailers no longer carry it. The Organix recipes we used to link to are no longer available on Chewy, and the Amazon listing we checked shows as currently unavailable.
The brand website is gone. The Castor & Pollux site now sends visitors to the Merrick Pet Care website, where we could not find any Castor & Pollux products listed.
Other reviewers report the same thing. Several pet food review sites now note that Purina has discontinued the line, with reports going back to 2024.
What we do not have is an official announcement or a stated reason. Please treat “discontinued” as our best reading of the evidence and not as a statement from the company. If Merrick or Purina publishes anything, or if the food returns to shelves, we will update this page.
Should You Buy Leftover Castor and Pollux Stock?
You may still see a bag or a case of cans offered by third-party sellers or sitting on a local store shelf. Before you buy, keep a few things in mind:
Check the best-by date. Anything still in circulation is getting older. Skip food that is past its date or close to it.
Be wary of marked-up prices. Discontinued foods are often resold at a premium, and you have no way of knowing how the product was stored.
Do not plan a diet around it. Once that stock is gone you will have to switch anyway. It is easier on your dog to switch now, on your schedule.
If you still have some at home, the best use for it is as the “old food” during a gradual transition to something new. More on that below.
What to Feed Instead
People chose Castor and Pollux for specific reasons: USDA certified organic recipes in the Organix line, responsibly raised meat and wild-caught fish in the Pristine line, no corn, soy or wheat, and food made in the United States. A good replacement starts with the reason that mattered most to you.
If organic was the priority, look for the USDA Organic seal on the bag or can. “Natural” and “made with organic ingredients” are not the same claim.
Match the basics. Choose the same main protein your dog was eating, similar protein and fat percentages, and a recipe made for your dog’s life stage and size.
Look for the AAFCO statement. The label should say the food is complete and balanced for your dog’s life stage.
Talk to your vet first if your dog has allergies, a sensitive stomach or a medical condition.
For specific recommendations, see our guide to the best and worst dog food brands. It covers our current top picks across fresh, freeze-dried, dry and wet food, explains what separates a good food from a poor one, and lists the brands we suggest avoiding.
Two picks on that list will feel familiar to Castor and Pollux fans: Open Farm, which uses traceable ingredients and organic produce, and Merrick, the company that made Castor and Pollux in its Texas kitchens.
A sudden change of food can upset a dog’s stomach. If you still have some Castor and Pollux left, mix it with the new food and shift the ratio over about ten days:
Days 1 to 3: 75% old food, 25% new food
Days 4 to 6: 50% old food, 50% new food
Days 7 to 9: 25% old food, 75% new food
Day 10 onward: 100% new food
If you have already run out, start the new food in smaller, more frequent meals for the first few days and keep treats and extras to a minimum. Soft stool for a day or two is common. Call your vet if your dog is vomiting, refuses to eat, or has diarrhea that lasts more than a couple of days.
What Castor and Pollux Offered
For anyone trying to match what their dog was eating, here is a summary of the lineup and the recipes we previously reviewed.
Organix
Organix was the brand’s flagship: a range of dry food, canned food and treats certified USDA Organic. The ingredients were produced without synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, added growth hormones, antibiotics or artificial preservatives, and the recipes contained no corn, soy or wheat.
Pristine
Pristine was built around responsibly sourced ingredients. The first ingredient was always responsibly raised meat or poultry, or wild-caught fish from fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, paired with fruits and vegetables grown without chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
Good Buddy
Good Buddy was the treat line, which included grain-free sausage cuts, patties and rawhide chews.
Organix Tiny Feasts Chicken, Quinoa and Carrot Stew
Wet
8%
3.5%
Organic chicken, organic chicken broth, water
Pristine Grass-Fed Lamb Stew Small Breed
Wet
9%
6%
Lamb, beef broth, water
Pristine Grass-Fed Beef Bone Broth
Topper
0.5%
0.05%
Beef broth, beef fat, salt
Good Buddy Sausage Cuts Real Chicken
Treat
41%
29%
Chicken, sweet potatoes, dried cultured skim milk
Use these numbers as a starting point when you compare labels. Keep in mind that wet and dry foods cannot be compared directly, because wet food is mostly moisture and its percentages look much lower as a result.
A Short History of the Brand
Castor and Pollux Natural PetWorks was started by Shelley Gunton and Brian Connolly, the owners of a lab and pointer mix named Joey. The name comes from the twin brothers of Greek mythology. What began as a homemade dog food recipe launched in 1999 as a premium line of natural pet products.
2003: The Organix line of organic pet food and treats is released.
2006: The Natural Ultramix line debuts. It was later discontinued.
2012:Merrick Pet Care acquires the company and moves production to its certified organic facilities in Texas.
2015:Nestle Purina acquires Merrick, and Castor and Pollux with it.
2017: Organix becomes a fully USDA certified organic range, and the Pristine line is introduced.
2024 onward: Products begin disappearing from retailers, and the brand website is folded into Merrick’s.
Even before the food disappeared, some longtime customers felt the brand had drifted from its small-scale roots after the changes in ownership. The recipes themselves held up well in our reviews, with organic meats, digestible carbohydrates and healthy fats throughout the lineup.
We found no recall connected to the brand’s disappearance. Its most recent recall was in May 2018, when Merrick voluntarily recalled limited production codes of two Good Buddy treats, Prime Patties Real Beef Recipe and Sausage Cuts Real Beef Recipe, because they could contain elevated levels of a naturally occurring beef thyroid hormone. You can read the FDA notice here.
High levels of that hormone can cause increased thirst and urination, a faster heart rate, weight loss and restlessness. The Organix line itself was not recalled. For current alerts on other brands, see our dog food recall page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Castor and Pollux dog food coming back?
There has been no announcement that it will. With the brand website now pointing to Merrick, we would plan as if it is not returning.
Who made Castor and Pollux dog food?
Merrick Pet Care made it in Texas. Merrick has been owned by Nestle Purina since 2015.
Is Merrick dog food the same as Castor and Pollux?
No. They came from the same company, but the recipes are different. If organic certification is important to you, check each label for the USDA Organic seal and do not assume a Merrick recipe is a like-for-like swap.
My dog did well on Organix. What should I look for?
Start with the same main protein and a similar protein and fat level, choose a recipe for the right life stage, and make the change gradually. Our best and worst dog food brands guide is a good place to begin your search.
A Final Word
Castor and Pollux earned its reputation as one of the first complete lines of certified organic pet food in the United States, and plenty of dogs thrived on it. Unfortunately, it is no longer a food you can rely on finding.
The good news is that there are more high-quality options today than when the brand launched. Decide what mattered most to you about Castor and Pollux, use the label details above to compare, and take a look at our best and worst dog food brands guide to find your dog’s next food.
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Noreen possesses a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree from Informatics International College. While this credential might not elucidate her passion for pets, it does demonstrate her technical expertise and diverse character.
We watch the FDA and every major brand so you don’t have to. The moment a dog food is recalled, you’ll get an email with the brand, the lots affected, and what to do. Nothing else, no spam.
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