Your thoughts on cat food

[rabernet]

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/

[Bettacreek]

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.

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)

[SlitherinSisters]

Ok....I might get flamed for this but you PMed me personally 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

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! 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! ***

[SlitherinSisters]

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 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

[4theSNAKElady]

Tweets, I can actually help you with this!!!! 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.

[Bettacreek]

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.

[tweets_4611]

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 ) 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?

[littleindiangirl]

Tweets, I can actually help you with this!!!! 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.

[SlitherinSisters]

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! 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

[Bettacreek]

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.