Your thoughts on cat food

My mom brought one of the kittens she had to me at school over the summer. She also brought me some kitten food. Then my aunt gave me some canned food for the kitten.

So I had 9 Lives "The Growing Years" dry food, and I think it was Fancy Feast canned food. I would like to switch my kitten to something a bit better, or at least have a better planned out diet for him. I'm out of the canned food for now...I just gave him a can once in a while or mixed some in with his dry food.

Also, I am picking up another kitten this week (the new guy will be about 9 or 10 weeks old). I have seen some food for 'multiple cat homes' but I can't see how having more than one cat should be any reason to change foods. Litter I can understand, but is there any noticeable advantage to getting a multiple cat food?

I guess I'm just looking for what you guys all think about what a good brand/type of cat/kitten food is. I have been doing some research, but I would like some personal experiences as well. ^_^

I personally like the Castor and Pollux Adult Ultramix dry and Avoderm canned, but I haven't done much research on the kitten foods. There may be better canned foods than Avoderm, but I haven't checked it out too much, I just switched from a Nutro Natural Choice formula because they changed their formula.

I used Royal Canin for a while and they liked it. I switched to Wellness for the cats and the dog and have been thrilled. The cats aren't throwing up all the time like they used to. The dog is healthy as a horse (or dog). I like the list of ingredients in Wellness.

I switched mine over to Spa Select (available at some petsmarts), it claims to use human grade ingredients and no corn-based fillers.

I noticed a pretty dramatic change in her activity level, as well as a much more full coat. She doesn't vomit as often, either.

I think that Purina and Nine Lives and all the grocery store brands use a lot of fillers and processed crap that are not good for your animals. The natural brands cost 2x as much, but are worth it IMO.

Thanks for the input so far! ^_^ I know I don't want to stick with the 9 Lives stuff, but I don't want to just switch to something else without knowing a bit more about it....and I still have a good several days before I run out of food :P

In comparing foods, I found the Natura Evo has canned food that is "95% beef" or "95% chicken and turkey/ duck/ venison" (which ever of those three). Has anyone messed with these highly concentrated foods? I don't really see a down side to them, but it almost seems like they would be missing something in the diet if they are just trying to get as much meat in the can as possible...

Some of the best cat foods are Innova, Felidae, Wellness, Premium Edge and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. However, our cats hated, and I do mean HATED Innova and Felidae. Often, they wouldn't eat at all, if it meant eating either of those brands.

They really seem to like the Chicken Soup, it's one of the better cat food (nutrition wise) and it seems like they really like the way it tastes. :)

Cats are obligate carnivores. Meaning that whatever their WHOLE meat diet (including guts, bones, etc) doesn't give them, they can produce with what it does give them. Whole chicken would be fine with other ingredients (cats don't eat one sole prey item in the wild). Carbs are worthless to cats, so rice and such in a cat diet are simply fillers.

I just switched over to Evo and LOVE it! My cat has way more energy, even at 11 years old, and is throwing up much less if at all. None of the hairball control formulas worked nearly as well. She also eats much less of it as well. I couldn't be happier.

Do you guys know when wet food VS. dry food is appropriate? When I was a kid my parents fed a mixture of wet and dry, but then one of my cats used to just pick out the wet food and leave the rest. Thoughts on that?

I feed Evo- cats love it! My oldest, who always had a sensitive stomach, is now throwing up about once a month, when it used to be closer to every few days. I would love to switch to raw but it is just not possible so Evo is the best I can buy. It is expensive, but you feed less (and they poop less!).
As for feeding wet, I used to only give it as a rare treat but mature/senior cats need more moisture so they get a can once a day between the three of them now.
Other than Evo, Wellness is a great food. You can go to www.dogfoodanalysis.com and see how different foods are ranked. Usually the highest dog food brands are the best cat foods as well.

After doing a lot of research on cat nutrition, I have decided to feed a mostly wet diet, with dry out to nibble on during the day.

Since going on that diet, Sammy has lost weight (which he needed to - he was a dry food junkie, and it showed in his body mass) and has much more energy.

Here's an article that I found interesting, written by a veterinarian on nutrition:

http://www.catinfo.org/

A cat needs wet food in the diet. They do not have an adequate thirst drive, so, even with fresh clean water, they can become dehydrated and cause problems. Feeding a wet diet can actually cure several health issues that cats develop, and can save a LOT of pain, hassle and vet bills.

Quote:

---

Since going on that diet, Sammy has lost weight (which he needed to - he was a dry food junkie, and it showed in his body mass) and has much more energy.

---

Exactly, it's a "cure"/preventative for obesity, which is especially good for after spaying/neutering your cats (know how everyone blames the spay/neuter for them being fat, well, they're wrong, it's because the animal is on the wrong diet and it simply caught up with them because they're not as active after the spay/neuter)

Ok....I might get flamed for this but you PMed me personally :D We had a debate about this on the cat forums I belong to. There have been millions of cats who have lived to 18+ years on Wal-Mart brand cat food, they seem to live as long, sometime longer, than cats fed a premium cat food diet. Although, I would like to see some sort of research not done by the premium cat food brands.

As for me I was feeding the kitties Nutro cat food, it's roughly $25 for a large bag. One of our kitties didn't fair well on any of the premium foods we tried, his tummy just couldn't handle something about it. And when we reached four kitties the price of cat food was a bit much to handle. So we switched back to Wal-Mart cat food. I chose to feed them Purina Indoor Cat formula. I liked the ingredients for the most part, and especially compared to other brands WM sells.

The main thing is to look at the ingredients list. The first five ingredients are what makes up most of the cat food. You want fewer grains and more meat in those five ingredients (or at least compared to other cat foods). Also, you don't really want "byproducts" to be the main ingredient, but you can't really find that at WM. Trust me, I've spend HOURS at WM reading all the ingredients of all the cat foods. An easy, disgusting, explanation of chicken byproduct is: they take the whole chicken and throw it in a blender, feathers and all. But, if you have ever seen a cat catch a mouse they eat the entire thing, bones, fur, etc. So.....IMO there isn't a terribly big difference.

Its really up to you what you want to buy the kitties, but I just thought I throw in my support for some of the WM brands. I would stay away from the extra cheap brands though, we feed it to the farm cats and it always seems to be a different color and quality :weirdface

The best diet for a cat is raw meat, and I've often heard wet is much better than dry.



And I'm glad you are getting a second kitten! I was going to throw in something about you maybe thinking about getting a second cat! :D Kittens are great in pairs because they need A LOT of attention and exercise and a second kitten will help you out with that! I've also noticed (not through research, just the cat site) that a single kitten often develops aggressive/bad behaviors. In my own experience Enzo was the only one in the beginning and he was very aggressive when playing and would come up and bite me for no reason!


***don't flame me, I'm not claiming to be a specialist, I'm just stating my opinion. And yes I've heard the hole lecture that if I want that many cats, then I should be able to afford them. Well, my response: go talk to all the people that don't spay and neuter their animals, I wouldn't have adopted so many cats otherwise! :D ***

Oh, and Science Diet is CRAP! I'm glad no one gave props to Science Diet, I have NO idea why vet offices love it :confused: The ingredients are no better and sometimes worse than Wal-Mart cat food. Don't waste your money on the stuff! My mom was until I told her about the ingredients :)

Tweets, I can actually help you with this!!!! :D I actually WORK for a premium pet food company, and I work in a natural pet store. I'm not going to reveal what company, but I can tell you what NOT to get. Whole corn, and chicken by-products are not digestible. Premium food companies do NOT put these in their food. And even higher end food companies completely cut out any grain, such as rice. By-products are the leftovers of the cuts of chicken or meat you and I would eat. If you really want EXACTLY what is in there, go to AAFCO. (you'll even get a picture...eww) But basically, it's the beaks, guts, tails, fur,feathers,...etc - whats left after the good stuff already taken. Also, many grocery brands use too much magnesium, which can promote crystals in the urine. If the first 1-3 ingredients is yellow corn and or by-products of any kind, don't buy it. The first ingredient should be meat. If it's a "meal", that's fine too...it's just the dehydrated meat turned into a powder.(to make into dry kibble) Innova,Evo, Wellness, Nutro Natural Choice, and Blue are all good brands. (I'm not being biased with my own company ;)) If these brands are a bit pricey for your budget, then perhaps Max Cat or California Natural. Keep in mind two things though: the less food your cat digests, the more food he "wastes" for you to clean in his litter box. Also, the food chioce you make now will greatly effect kitty's health and how much you spend in vet bills for years to come. ;)
If you want, you can PM me. Hope this helps.

Quote:

---

An easy, disgusting, explanation of chicken byproduct is: they take the whole chicken and throw it in a blender, feathers and all.

---

That is whole chicken, not chicken by-products. As Snakelady said, it's the parts that cannot be sold for human consumption, INCLUDING tumor masses, diseased animals, etc. My grandfather owns a butcher shop, and whatever the customers don't take from their animal, then cannot be sold, and isn't used for anything else is sold to the pet food companies (I don't know exactly who picks it up from him or who it goes to).


The two top grocery store brands to stay away from would be Alley Cat and Meow Mix. At least in my area, these two brands cause the most problems in cats.

You guys are awesome! ^_^ I started to give thanks to the helpful posts....but I would have to run through and give them to all of the posts! I love hearing the stories about the different cat foods, and not just the reviews off of the sites. I'm going today to look at some of the prices on the foods that I'm looking at. I think right now I'm going to start by looking at Evo, Wellnes and Nutro. Right now price isn't a big thing for me, but I don't want to get them started on some super expensive food that I can't keep feeding later on if I hit some harder times.

Oh, and last night I looked at the ingredients on the 9 Lives stuff that I have...that's just gross! In the first handful (6-10 or so) of ingredients there isn't any actual meat, just 'chicken fat' and 'natural chicken flavor'! Poor kitten isn't getting any meat!

I know that some of the Wal-Mart brands can be fed and the cat can be just fine. We have had cats (mostly outdoor cats) for years. They ate whatever my mom bought, and always did just fine. But I figure, this is my first furry pet of my own (I don't have any problem picking what brand rats for my BP :P ) and I want to start early and keep him healthy. And some of that stuff just doesn't sound healthy.... =/

I think I am picking up my new kitten today! ^_^ Today or tomorrow. A quick question about the shots...the kitten I have now has had his first round of shots, and has an appointment to get his others. This new kitten doesn't have any of his shots yet....Neither of them have been outside since they were born (both moms were just wild cats) so I was going to go ahead and pick the new guy up, but has anyone had any problems bringing a cat that hasn't had it's shots into the house?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 4theSNAKElady

Tweets, I can actually help you with this!!!! :D I actually WORK for a premium pet food company, and I work in a natural pet store. I'm not going to reveal what company, but I can tell you what NOT to get. Whole corn, and chicken by-products are not digestible. Premium food companies do NOT put these in their food. And even higher end food companies completely cut out any grain, such as rice. By-products are the leftovers of the cuts of chicken or meat you and I would eat. If you really want EXACTLY what is in there, go to AAFCO. (you'll even get a picture...eww) But basically, it's the beaks, guts, tails, fur,feathers,...etc - whats left after the good stuff already taken. Also, many grocery brands use too much magnesium, which can promote crystals in the urine. If the first 1-3 ingredients is yellow corn and or by-products of any kind, don't buy it. The first ingredient should be meat. If it's a "meal", that's fine too...it's just the dehydrated meat turned into a powder.(to make into dry kibble) Innova,Evo, Wellness, Nutro Natural Choice, and Blue are all good brands. (I'm not being biased with my own company ;)) If these brands are a bit pricey for your budget, then perhaps Max Cat or California Natural. Keep in mind two things though: the less food your cat digests, the more food he "wastes" for you to clean in his litter box. Also, the food chioce you make now will greatly effect kitty's health and how much you spend in vet bills for years to come. ;)
If you want, you can PM me. Hope this helps.

---

That's some good info right there. Right now I've been trying out different food mixes.

I always stay away from the brands that have any veggies or rice product. I don't live real close to a store that carries Innova, EVO etc... but Petsmart I believe carries Blue and a couple other brands that are okay by me.

I tried out the weird brand they carry, like carnivore or something, it has a bob cat on the front of it. The cat was not wild about it and it had a strong fish smell to it.

My little kitty is growing a paunch. He is high activity still, but I want to settle on a good diet, so that was very informative to read.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tweets_4611

I think I am picking up my new kitten today! ^_^ Today or tomorrow. A quick question about the shots...the kitten I have now has had his first round of shots, and has an appointment to get his others. This new kitten doesn't have any of his shots yet....Neither of them have been outside since they were born (both moms were just wild cats) so I was going to go ahead and pick the new guy up, but has anyone had any problems bringing a cat that hasn't had it's shots into the house?

---

I've brought several cats into the house without first getting shots. Your biggest concern should be fleas because they are really hard to get rid of. Three of our four cats came home with eat mites, but those are easy to take care of and don't spread (from my experience). The only thing I've ever worried about was Feline Leukemia because it is eventually fatal and the cats need medications for majority of their lives. It is spread from blood contact, which in most cases is hard for cats unless they are really aggressive. I had all four of mine tested for Feline Leukemia and all of them have tested negative, although, I would have kept them either way. Good luck and have fun with the kitties!

I'm glad you read the ingredients on 9 Lives, lol, that stuff is nastey! :D And I'm glad you are choosing to go with the premium brands! That's what I would do if I didn't have so many gosh darn kitties and wasn't still in College :D

A tip for the future, if one of the cats develop UTI problems, check for a food that doesn't have fish, and up the wet food percent in their diet and you shouldn't have anymore problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Isis

Oh, and Science Diet is CRAP! I'm glad no one gave props to Science Diet, I have NO idea why vet offices love it :confused: The ingredients are no better and sometimes worse than Wal-Mart cat food. Don't waste your money on the stuff! My mom was until I told her about the ingredients :)

---

I know!! At the vet tech facility for my college the animals are fed Science Diet, all their poops are orange and either runny or soft, cats and dogs

The best diet for a cat is a raw/whole prey diet. Cats are obligate carnivores and do not benefit from ANY plant material in their diet. I'm currently working with someone online to switch all three of my cats over to a raw/whole prey diet. Since my ferrets are on a raw/whole prey diet, I was upstairs feeding them and my cat, Ramman, basically sat in my lap and demanded pieces of raw chicken. You don't have to worry too much about bacteria as a cat's digestive system is short enough that they get rid of the bacteria before it has time to become dangerous. Raw meat, bones, and organs are the best possible diet. I've noticed a big difference in my cats' responses to food now that I am feeding them raw. Ramman will try anything once and he is hooked on raw. He won't leave me alone when I bring it upstairs for the ferrets. Tyran was hesitant at first, but between her and Ramman, they consumed an entire chicken wing and loved it. Miki, who normally turns her nose up at any new food and doesn't like taking food from you, reached over and took the wing from me in order to get a bite.

Kibble is terrible for cats as well as other obligate carnivores. Because it is a dry kibble, it does not clean the cat's teeth properly. Only the tips of the teeth are cleaned and that leads to gum disease. Ramman was on kibble when we got him and at 9 months old had already developed gingivitus(spelling), and we were told by the vet to brush his teeth. The reason kibble does not clean their teeth is because a cat's teeth are not designed to grind food, only to tear, shred, then gulp down. So when they bite into kibble, the kibble splits instead of crunches, which only scrapes at the tip of their tooth, not all the way to the gum line. When a cat bites into meat, it is moist and their teeth sink all the way into the meat, which cleans the tooth and stimulates the gums. Not to mention, meat provides them with 100% digestable matter which is packed with nutrition, nutrition they can absorb and use with ease since it is meat based. With dry kibble, the plant matter makes up the bulk of the pieces causing them to only absorb small amounts of nutrition from the kibble. With meat being readily digestible and usable by their bodies, they get all the nutrition they need and they end up eating less, letting them fall into a normal weight.

If you are able to feed a raw/whole prey diet, then I suggest going that route. Its not that hard and the kitties love it. Mine currently enjoy boneless beef, chicken wings, and turkey necks.

(Actually, all carnivorous animals in my house are going to switch to a raw/whole prey diet. :) )

I had thought of the raw type of diet, and I'll have to look into it a bit more before making any decisions about it. I'm pretty squeamish around raw meat (what a wimp, eh? :P ) but I could deal with that if it seemed to be a plausibly route other than that.

I brought my new kitten home last night!! ^_^ He is such a sweetie. He was kinda the 'tough guy' of the litter, but he is really the only one that seemed active enough to keep up with my Little Bit. And the new baby (I think I may go with Lyle) is huge! He's only 10 weeks and almost as tall as 5 month old Lil Bit. He doesn't have the size otherwise, but he is very tall.

A problem though...I realized when I went to pick the new baby up that I haven't ever brought a new cat into the home of a cat that is already settled. Lil Bit won't quit growling/hissing/general puffing up at the new baby, and when given the chance, takes some pretty serious swipes at the little guy. The new guy is more brave than Lil Bit, and just ignores most of it, but when he gets swiped at, or hit, he does tend to hiss back. Last night and while I'm not home, the baby is in the bathroom with a small litter box (so I know it's him that is using it) and some soft food and water, while Lil Bit has run of the rest of the apt.

I guess I should be asking, is there an easier way to introduce the boys? I gave Lil Bit a flea bath just before I got the kitten, and had plans to give the baby a flea bath, to see if the similar smell on each of them would help ease the transition. But other than that, I don't have any idea what to do, other than just watch them, and don't let a full fight break out....

When I brought my new kitten home a few years ago, I put the kitten in the bathroom and the settled in cat in the bedroom that was attached to the bathroom. This let the settled cat investigate at her own will. After she was comfortable with the kitten being in the bathroom, I let the kitten out for supervised interaction. As long as there was no fighting I kept the kitten out. At night, I would put the kitten back in the bathroom so there would be no unsupervised interaction. After about a week of this, the settled cat tolerated the kitten's presence and I was able to keep the kitten in the main house full time. After about 2-3 weeks they were grooming each other and sharing beds.

And you think I'm not squeamish about meat....I'm vegetarian slowly transitioning to vegan. I can't stand looking at the stuff, but its all over my hands by the time I'm done feeding everyone. Its gross, but its what is good for my babies.

That is what I did last night and today while I was at class. The new baby was in the bathroom and my other kitten had run of the house. But when the baby is in the bathroom, my kitten pays no attention to him at all. The second I let him out, he puffs up and starts growling. I left them both out when I fell asleep earlier (who wants to do homework....) and they hadn't killed each other yet... :hmm: They had started to "play" earlier. It was still pretty rough, but I was watching and there was no growling or anything. I guess I'm just going to put the baby up again for the next couple of nights and see how things go:oops: