Quality cat food thread

Hannys_Papa

Hannys_Papa

AC Members
Aug 31, 2005
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Upstate NY
Well this came up in the "Truth about fish food thread" so instead of hijacking that thread any further i thought i start a new one.

We recently adopted a "handicapped" cat. He is black (handicap #1) - was shot in the eye (#2) and has a hip injury and limps (#3). He also is a bit on the heavy side (possibly #4???). My wife said he was on his way to be put down because he was in the petsmart adoption center for a while and nobody wanted him. :sad:

Well back to the topic. What are your experiences with cat food ? Whats a good food to feed ? Roan (Eileen) already made some good suggestions in the other thread but i'd like to hear more.
Are there any places online that compare cat foods for their quality ? (i looked at the WCJ one of Roans links mentioned but their website doesn't have any articles about food).
My wife also says its better to keep him on dry food - her mom had a cat refusing to eat dry food once it got canned food and pretty much ended up weighing 3x as much as a normal cat.

I didn't want to join a "cat oriented" forum just for this question so i am looking forward to tons of opinions from all the cat owners on this page. Thank you.
 
Lots of good info and comparisons

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/comparisonatoz.htm




Innova is what all 3 of my cats eat. It's as close to a raw BARF diet as you can get, with out the raw BARF part :eek: My husband and I are vegetarians, so feeding our cats raw meat everyday is out of the question.

As to feeding dry or wet... I feed dry only. Same nutrition as wet food without the water, and no cat food smell. It also helps with keeping the teeth clean and reduces tarter.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab
 
I think that cats need to have canned food (wet food or meat) in their diets. Afterall, they are carnivores. They don't live on bones and other "crunchies" in the wild, they are more predatorial than scavenger. I always wonder when a vet tells me to put a cat on k/d dry food for kidney problems when with the kidney problems they NEED to have that extra liquid in their diet. My 2 cents.

What you want to look for in cat food. Stay away from by-products. These are the miscellaneous parts of animals that they don't use for anything else, although alot of people think it just means bones, feathers, fur, beaks, scales, etc., too often it includes diseased organs, tumors, etc. This leads to goal #2. Try to find foods that use "human grade meats" or meats graded for human consumption. Goal #3. Rice is generally a more accepted filler for cats than corn. It is easier on their digestive system. And then #4. Do not use foods containing BHT, BHA, and ethoxyquin. However, most of the foods that fall into categories 1 - 3 do not use these chemical additives. Finally, just like with human foods, look at the first 5 ingredients. These usually compose the majority of the food in the 1 - 5 order, just like in human packages.

Good brands... Innova, Wellness, Wysong, California Kitchen, Merrick, and there are others. I just can't think of the brands. I feed my cats all of the above, and I mail order them Flint River Ranch dry food. They have FRR available to them all day, then for dinner each night I divide a 5.5 ounce can of food between the 5 of them. When I am in a pinch, I will buy them Nutro if I can't make it to the local pet food shop. Nutro is pretty good, but not the best.

Feel free to PM me if you want more information or anything. And congratulations on the adoption! That is one VERY LUCKY kitty! >^..^<
Take care,
Mary.
 
I feed my cats Chicken Soup for the Catlovers Soul formula. Its great stuff.
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
I avoid all foods that contain Corn.



Fresh, Pure, Wholesome Ingredients

Chicken, Salmon, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), oatmeal, whole grain white rice, potatoes, cracked pearled barley, millet, turkey, duck, flaxseed, egg product, natural chicken flavor, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, kelp, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, methionine, potassium chloride, taurine, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 30% minimum
Crude Fat 20% minimum
Crude Fiber 3% maximum
Moisture 10% maximum
Magnesium 0.1% maximum
Taurine 0.1% minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids* 3.4% minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids* 0.6% minimum

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profile.

Calorie Content
3,922 kcals/kg (367 kcals/cup) Metabolizable Energy

AAFCO Statement
Animal feeding tests using Association of American Feed Control Officials procedures substantiate that Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul™ Adult Cat Formula provides complete and balanced nutrition for all life stages.
 
mduros has her ducks in a row, Hannys_Papa -

Those are pretty much the foods I suggested.

The link I gave you to the Wellness web site, not WCJ. I dunno what the Whole Cat Journal link is -- couldn't find it.

Go to that Flint River Ranch link I gave in the other message:
http://www.rachaelresk.com/frr-dog/petfood-articles.htm#Top Ten Dry Dog Food Recommendations-

And check the makers of the recommended foods on the list at the bottom of the page. Most of those companies will also make cat foods as well and if they have dog foods on the WDJ Top Ten, then their cat food will be pretty darn good.

Anyone have a list of the WCJ Top Ten?

Roan
 
I have 5 cats and feed them all purina cat chow indoor formula. They are all very healthy and active and have very few medical problems. The only one that has ever had a huge medical crisis is my manx and he got fatty liver b/c he decided he didnt want to eat when we had to have another cat put to sleep. I know there are probably better foods out there, but this has been working for me for a long time now. When I worked at the no kill shelter, they strongly recommend against any foods with that red food dye in them. This can cause bowel problems in some animals. I always stay away from that with my dogs too.
 
jodimartin2003 said:
I have 5 cats and feed them all purina cat chow indoor formula. They are all very healthy and active and have very few medical problems. The only one that has ever had a huge medical crisis is my manx and he got fatty liver b/c he decided he didnt want to eat when we had to have another cat put to sleep. I know there are probably better foods out there, but this has been working for me for a long time now. When I worked at the no kill shelter, they strongly recommend against any foods with that red food dye in them. This can cause bowel problems in some animals. I always stay away from that with my dogs too.
Click to expand...
Jodi,

Purina Indoor DOES have red dye in it:

Corn meal, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, soy flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), cellulose, salmon meal, soybean hulls, malted barley flour, brewers dried yeast, natural flavors, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, salt, taurine, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, l-alanine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), niacin, added color (red 40, yellow 5, blue 2), manganese sulfate, parsley flakes, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, citric acid, folic acid, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.​

The top two ingredients in that stuff is corn. Then poultry "by-product" meal, which doesn't mean meat. It means *any* part of poultry at all. There isn't a lot of meat in it at all.

Just IMO and I don't want to start a fight, but that stuff really isn't good for any animal.

Roan
 
It's also a good idea to give your cat some organ meat 3-4 times a week. Liver and heart are excellent foods and you can mix them in with their regular food.
 
Roan Art said:
The top two ingredients in that stuff is corn. Then poultry "by-product" meal, which doesn't mean meat. It means *any* part of poultry at all. There isn't a lot of meat in it at all.

Just IMO and I don't want to start a fight, but that stuff really isn't good for any animal.

Roan
Click to expand...
From what I have read as well is that Corn is one of the leading causes of Allergies in people. It changes the animal's PH and that causes the funky stuff with thier dander.
 
Tricksterpup:

That stuff looks good and sounds yummy!

I haven't done as much research into cat foods as I have the dogs foods because we've had a lot more dogs than cats.

We raised our first two collies on Hill's Science Diet. We lost one to a horrible case of cancer -- 9 tumors and all inoperable -- at the age of 7. Our other collie, a year younger than the first one, had skin problems from the day we brought him home. He developed hip dysplasia at a very very young age -- 1 year (NOT the fault of the food) and had been on Rimadyl since then.

Anyhow, a year after we lost Gaelan to cancer, we bought two more collies to keep Kahless company. These puppies were from a different breeder and she feeds her dogs a BARF diet. We kept the puppies on BARF and switched Kahless over to that as well.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

In 1 week his skin cleared up. No more skin problems at all! After a few months on BARF we switched them all over to Breeder's Choice and Neura and kept them on. Kahless's hips and his overall health improved after we stopped feeding Science Diet. He would run once in a while and even try to get up the stairs without me carrying him :)

Eventually, of course, he started to deteriorate. In August he couldn't walk on the kitchen floor without falling and he was very wobbly. I knew it was time. He was my bestest buddy :(

We put Kahless down in September at the age of 9 years. Our vet said it was the worst case of hip dysplasia he had ever seen and was amazed that Kahless lived as long as he did. So were we.

Roan
 
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