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I have a friend who wants to switch her cat food from Meow Mix to something more nutritious(I'm currently feeding felidae). I forgot what the list of things to look for in a good cat food is (Meat first item on the ingredient list etc.). Anyone offer some help?
When you say meat, I think you mean the protein content, which is much higher in cat food than in dog food. "Meat" can mean lots of things, including companion animal renderings. YUCK!
I often refer to this web site:
http://www.doberdogs.com/menu.html
It explains the meanings of the ingredients, which will apply to cat food as well as dog food. (I know, it gives dog food comparisons, not helpful in this case.)
You can also google
cat food comparison
for some good hits.
Meow Mix is garbage, as is most of the junk they sell at grocery and department stores. My cats won't touch Felidae, and there's one other (can't remember the name).
Cost is the one thing I won't skimp on when it comes to my babies. They are healthy and happy. I give them Iams Oceanfish and then split one can between 6 cats. They get abou a teaspoon each. It's baically just a treat, as most cheap canned foods have no nutritional value but does help hydrate them (there's alot water in them cans!!).
They love catnip. I give them treats once in a great while.
I actually feed my guys a raw diet (i.e. I make their food). But the one thing I have learned is to watch out for the corn and wheat gluten content. One of my guys has IBS and the corn and wheat make him VERY sick...besides cats are carnivores and not herbavores, so why would they want corn or wheat :rolleyes:
Too much fish is rough on a cat's system - a little bit is OK now and then, but chicken, turkey, beef, and pork are better sources of protein because they don't leach vitamin E and B1 out of the body. Here's a more detailed explanation.
Love, Columbine
I Am Slowly Changing Over From To A Cooked Food Diet With Premium Dry And Canned As There Are Cats Who Will Not Touch Human Foods Unless It Comes From Our Aunt Janice In Our Subsidized Meals.
I Usually Find That Nutro, Science Diet And Iams Are The Best, Although The Found Cats Have All Had Dental Issues, But That Might Be Age Settling In.
Nutro is the only thing I'll feed my cats. I fostered a cat once with FIV. At first she was ok, but then her kidneys slooooowly began failing. I know that putting her on Nutro help save the quality and length of her life. Her eyes and her fur came back to life. It was so amazing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparklecoon
Also, my current female kitty has long fur and the boy is a shorthair but he sheds a ton. In almost three years I think I've only cleaned up a handful of hairballs. They just don't chuck up their food or hairballs. I know it's the food. I tried switching them to Purina One once to try to save a few $$, but within two weeks I had three gut presents laying on the floor. I gave that bag of food away and went back to Nutro.
It costs a little more upfront, but they eat a lot less of it, so really in the end the $$ is actually about the same.
My only recommendation is stay away from anything with dyes in it, particularly reds, yellows and greens. I've seen SOOO many animals come in at work with awful allergies, ear infections, and skin problems that get traced back to the dyes in the foods.
Dyes are there to look good to humans so we'll buy it. Pets don't really look in their bowls and go 'oh wow reds and greens, this must be good'. LOL
This is a topic I have been researching for sometime and there are sooo many differing opinions it can really get frustrating trying to find the 'best' food for your particular kitty.
I have issues with two of my cats, one being very overweight and the other has allergy problems, so I have really been studying different foods trying to find one that we all can live with.
I came across this very informative website Basics of Feline Nutrition that really helped me understand just exactly what a cats dietary requirements are and how vets aren't always the best ones to get food recommendations from.
Seems kinda funny to say vets aren't always the best ones to get food recommendations from when the site you're getting your info from is written by a vet. :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by snowshoe2
The site it links to about vets and food recomendations are regarding mostly the vets making a business of selling pet food. Basically more or less competing with pet stores, which is a rather despicable practice IMO.
FYI not ALL vets agree with the practice of making their revenue from food/pet supply sales and prefer to stick to the business of pet health instead since they got a degree in medicine not pet supply sales.
Where I work we carry only the absolute minimum of prescription foods only for clients that are already on that food or need to have it ordered. We do not sell regular pet food of any brand, we do not recommend any one brand of food, and we do not usually sell the brands we do recommend (unless it's a special prescription formula then we special order it with very minimal mark up). Our hospital stands no revenue loss or gain from pet food sales or recommendations.
Sorry I just get rather miffed when one vet (or supposed pet expert) gets people to doubt the advice of the person who studied for years to maintain the health of our pets. I figure if you don't trust your vet about the food recommendations then why are you trusting him/her with the health of your pet otherwise?? :confused: I'd say seek a vet you actually trust so you both can work for the best health of your furry little companion.
Since my cat Starr has food allergies, colitis, and IBD problems, now all of my cats are on grain free foods. They currently eat Innova Evo dry and wet and also Evangers Organic Turkey and Butternut Squash for some extra fiber. My holistic told me that cats don't need grains but they do need fiber in their diet.
They've all been on this food since around June of last year and I've noticed that they seem to have much more energy, look better, and just seem to be in better health. Pearl used to break out on her lips and have some eye infections and now she's been a very healthy girl.:)
Storm used to be on Royal Canin Urinary S/O for his crystal and urinary problems but now he's on the same food as the others and he's doing very well. He also loves this food much more than his prescription diet. Both my regular vet and holistic vet said that it was okay to feed him this diet as long as I make sure that he gets plenty of moisture from the wet food. My holistic vet also told me that the grains are what causes the urinary problems.
From what I've read in the past, cats need to be on high protein diets with little or no grains. They don't need all of the carbohydrates that are in most of the commercial cat foods these days. I think that you should try to feed your animals the best food that you can afford and what works the best for them.
I have lexie on royal canin, so urinary as well, recommended by the vet and so far she is doing very well, her coat is extremely shiny, although being black it does indeed show up more, the other cats love excellence by virbac, not sure if you get it over there, but be warned they do intend to get fat on it.
I always look for something that will keep their urinary systems in order, it must have that,i am restricted financially on what i can afford to buy them,but so far they all seem to be thriving,maybe a little too much if you know what i mean, little fat butterballs of fluff. :)
Catlady by no means did I mean to offend you or anyone else here about what I have learned from researching cat foods. I also didn't mean to classify all vets. While many vets are extremely knowledgeable in feline nutrition, many of them have had very limited training of the basics of feline nutrition. Some have relied for years on advice or knowledge only from the pet food industry and nutritional education has not been an integral part of their training.
My point in posting the link was to pass on the information to others that may be considering switching their cats food to something more appropriate and I felt this site was a very educational. Yes it was written by a vet, apparently one that has studied a great deal on feline nutrition and lists excellent sources for her findings.
It's not that I don't trust my vet, this is just another tool to help anyone with a cat that may be having dietary issues and I feel an informed patient is better able to understand and interact with their vet.
Again sorry if you felt this was an attack on you or anyone else in the animal health industry. :(
I am feeding my four NÖW! Grain Free Cat Food as well as Merrick wet food and GO! Natural Grain Free wet food. They have been doing really good on it, they have so much more energy now. My orange tabby, Amadeus, hardly ever played before, now he is up half the night chasing the other kitties around. The only downfall is that they have all gained weight from this food. I have cut there servings down to 1/2 cup per day, and they are maintaining their weight (of coure baby Theodore gets more). I have never fed my boys anything but premium food, but our budget allows that.
I firmly believe that premium foods don't cost any more than grocery store brands. They eat less premium food compared to the "junk food" brands. So a 10-14 pound cat eating Cat Chow needs 3/4-1 1/4 cups of food per day, while a 10-14 pound cat only needs 1/2-1 cup per day of NÖW! Grain Free.
Petcurean makes a good, low cost premium cat food that is available in America. The food is called Summit, check out their website.
Here's a good tip.
Buy small packages of what you think your cat may like, and when you serve it look for the cat's head in the dish! :D
Recently Smudge decided he just didn't like canned food any more, so I tried Newman's Own (the salmon & chicken flavor) because A) it lists its magnesium content (0.03, not too bad), B) the grocery store has it (most of theirs don't list magnesium percentage), and C) it was on sale. The only way I can get his vitamins & antihistamine into him is mushing it up in canned food, so I was relieved to see that he likes it! He's still a kibble-cruncher at heart, though - he gets c/d (an anti-crystal prescription food) and he absolutely adores it.
Love, Columbine
I had to post this when I recently found a thread in which people were noticing their animals were getting very sick after eating the brand Nutro. I'd been giving this to my cat, (the Senior formula) for about two years thinking he was getting superior or at least good enough nutrition. Well I started to notice an unsettling pattern, near the last quarter of the bag he, Gizmo, would start to vomit up his food quite often. He's always had a sensitive stomach (he's a Persian) and I at first attributed the vomiting to his sensitivities. I also considered that maybe the food by that point was 'stale'?... Then with this latest bag, near the last THIRD of the bag, he really started throwing up much more it seemed. Then this past week there was a crisis where I thought he was seriously ill, unfortunately on a Sunday morning when the clinic I go to was closed, he actually brought up some watery blood which sent me into an extreme state of horror. Then amazingly enough within minutes he WANTED food. Thereafter he kept it down. Oh! how could I forget?! At that point I had suspected the Nutro and had purchased another dry food the night before.
So has anyone else noticed a problem like this? I thought he had swallowed something, had an obstruction, cancer etc. But changing the food seems to worked.
Sorry for the long-winded post!
PS If his behavior had continued I would have had him taken to an emergency vet.
I'm so sorry to hear this.:( I hope that he'll be okay. I used to feed my cats Nutro a long time ago before my cat Storm had urinary tract issues and became blocked. I'd call the company if I was you. So what brand of food are you feeding him now? He may still need to see a vet just rule out any kind of obstruction.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lorifrances
Thanks for your reply and your concern for my Gizmo. I'm embarassed to say that out of desperation I ran to the store and bought a Purina brand called "Natural" or something to that effect. I'm almost kind of leery to try anything else for now as he has been eating this with no problems. Whatever was in the Nutro really did a number on his digestive system or something. As for an obstruction, I noticed to my great relief that he has been going to the bathroom with no problem. (that's the benefit of having one cat, I used to have six at one time and to regulate their bathroom habits would have proved impossible!:). I think I had better contact Nutro, at first I worried in case their food wasn't the culprit but it has to be.Quote:
Originally Posted by krazyaboutkatz
Is there a food you would recommend, one that would be good for sensitive stomachs? I've actually considered making my own cat food but haven't a clue. Maybe there's a link that shows how to feed them what I saw one person refer to as the "BARF" diet??
Thanks again for your kind note, I really appreciated it, Lori
Here is one of many sites with step by step instructions for making your own cat food.
http://www.catnutrition.org/pictorial.php
You can also google BARF and see loads of hits.
RICHARD IS RIGHT, THE BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD IS NOT MUCH GOOD IF THIER LITTLE HEADS ARE NOT IN THE DISH EATING IT.
THE ANIMAL WELAFRE BROUGHT ME CANS OF WELLNESS THAT HAS ALL THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS, IS PERFECTLY BALANCED BUT THE FOUND CATS SIMPLY DO NOT CARE FOR IT.
ITS A GOOD THING THAT THE PORCH ANGELS DO.
ITS A SHAME AS I GOT IT FOR 75 CENTS FOR A 404 GRAM CAN, A REAL BARGAIN.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ats1012364.jpg
WE WANT OUR WHISKAS PURRFECTLY FISHY PLEASE!!!!
Sorry to hear about Gizmo. I'm in the process of getting all my cats off Nutro and over to Purina Pro Plan. Last year my vet recommended I feed Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach to my senior kidney failure cat because he was throwing up a lot and having diarrhea. The Pro Plan has worked like a charm for almost a year now. In fact, he had been losing weight and not doing well but at 16 years old he has gained back a couple of needed pounds and is doing well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lorifrances
I had been feeding my other 6 cats Nutro weight loss and Nutro Adult but over the past several months I've been changing them all over to Pro Plan and everyone is doing great. In fact I notice less litterbox waste and the couple of cats that used to throw up from time to time rarely do it now.
By the way, my vet says Purina is one of the only brands that wasn't involved in last years contamination recalls.
Oh - my name is Lori too!!! Welcome to Pet Talk!
Hi Lori! (most 'Lori's' are spelled differently so it's nice to see this 'rare' edition of Lori:)Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzcat
Thanks for the welcome. I think these boards are such an incredible source of support and information. I have bookmarked this site and will be coming here much more often. THere's a great atmosphere of positivity and kindness. I am shocked you said Purina was the only brand not contaminated. My Gizmo is still doing better, he's feeling more and more normal with each day and his body is regaining some of the heftiness he'd had before the vomiting. I wonder if I should contact Petsmart where I bought my Nutro? Maybe also Nutro.com. Glad to hear your senior cat is doing so well with your new food. Is that Pro Plan one you need to purchase at a vet's office? Sounds like it is a good formula, one I might want to try eventually. I'm so glad you're getting your cats off the Nutro, I truly believe there is some ingredient in it that wreaked havoc on my cat's system. I wished I had kept the last bag so I could have a 'lot' number to report to Nutro, Maybe they got a tainted shipment.
It sure feels great to see all the subjects and read the posts on the forums, I feel like there's a wealth of information!
Have a great day and talk to you soon, Lori
You can pruchase Pro Plan at Pet Smart or Petco (and likely at other pet stores). I have seen the regular Purina in the grocery stores, but not the Pro Plan. If that doesn't work for Gizmo you can try going with the grain free cat food. One of my guys can NOT tolerate the dye and corn in commerical cat food (I get projectile vomiting from the highest place in the house if he eats it :rolleyes:). But there are plenty of options out there for you, so don't worry
Here is a link at Pro Plan's website to get a $3 coupon. I buy mine at PetsMart and Pet Supplies Plus (who is a little cheaper).
http://www.proplan.com/products/requestCoupon.html
Glad Gizmo continues to do better. I would definitely contact Nutro just in case there is something to it. My cats have eaten Nutro for years with no problems but just like with people food I'm sure you can sometimes get a bad batch.
Hope the Pro Plan works for you if you decide to try it. It cost about the same, maybe a little more than Nutro.
I've started giving Mitzi "Pet Promise" cat food after Jen had luck with Braveheart with it. It has no animal "by products" - it's the good stuff. Mitzi took to it immediately. Recommended by Dr. Weil, sold at Whole Foods and it costs less than the Science Diet that she was eating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snowshoe2
Sorry it took so long to find this thread again.
No problem. I just hear so many people that doubt everything thier vet says and I've seen WAY too many of our client's pets suffer because they believed a book, the internet, their neighbor over the vets recommendations.
Some days I guess I get more riled up about it than others. I'm sorry on my part for getty ornery in return. I guess sometimes it's hard to separate myself from work. lol
Interesting comments on Nutro... I've been feeding that for the past few years, and I just switched out the regular lamb and rice for the Weight Management, and actually I think I bought the Nutro Max cat Weight Management the last two times, and I have had more cat barf than I can keep track of since buying it. I'm not sure if they've changed their "recipe", but something is definitely not right.
I had been using California Natural before the Nutro, and that had worked well also. Maybe I just need to go back to Lamb and Rice. Not sure. I was hoping to cut back on a few of the cats weights because they just seem to be getting chubbier.. :rolleyes:
Not sure about doing the raw diet for my two with sensitive stomachs and gastro issues. That's the only thing holding me back from doing that. Has anyone using a raw diet noticed how their sensitive stomach cats have reacted to it??
Absolutely brilliant link Snowshoe2 thank youQuote:
Originally Posted by snowshoe2
TopCat3
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenn_librarian
Yes Jen.
Colette has a sensitive stomach. I find she does well on cooked chicken or canned salmon/sardines/mackerel with some cooked mashed pumpkin and leafy greens mixed in and a little raw meat with it e.g chicken hearts chicken liver and a bone to gnaw on once a week (lamb chop or chicken neck) I toss the latter in butter in a pan to give it some extra flavour and appeal.
I also give her 1/2 tspp of a 1:4 mix of slippery elm and flaxseed suspended in 4mls of water by syringe and this keeps her innards very happy! I have found since giving her a few Optimum dry biscuits for dessert (Eagle pack is hard to get in Oz at the mo) she has reverted to barfing.Eagle pack does not have this effect and pls be aware the dry is only a few little bikkies as dessert as I go out the door to work to distract/settle her. However I note and respond to her request to be let out to eat potted catgrass (too bad she prefers my pot of LEMONGRASS herb lol):)
I think it's great to give them raw food - it's just not practical for me to do all the time - cooked has longer shelf life and has more appeal and is in many ways safer I feel.
After having one of my guys diagnosed with IBD (i.e. a VERY sensitive stomach), I switched almost everyone over to a raw diet. I was amazed at the decrease in barf piles and projectile vomiting that happened with a couple of weeks. What I found interesting was that it just wanted my sensitive guy, but everyone decreased. It is also much easier to maintain their weight.
Hmmmmm.... maybe I'll have to give something like this a try in the summer when I have more time. In the meantime I'll see if I can do a switchover to one of the dry kibble "raw" diets like EVO. It would be nice to have less barf piles around the house. I really do think there was a change in the recipe for the Nutro the more I think about it. I have to go cat food shopping today anyway, so I can buy some EVO or something and start mixing it in today.Quote:
Originally Posted by emily_the_spoiled
Jenn, since I've had to switch all of my cats over to a grain free diet, I've noticed that they've all become leaner and I wasn't even trying to get them to lose weight except for Starr.:) My vet said it's because they're on a high protein diet. I've been using Innova Evo dry and also the cat/kitten Turkey/Chicken canned food. I feed them 4 small meals a day,2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. Sunny will still barf if I wait too long to feed him or if I feed him too much at once. You also don't want to feed them too much canned food at once because it's very rich and some cats will barf. Luckily my Storm can eat a good sized portion without any problems because he's the main one that needs the extra moisture.;)Quote:
Originally Posted by jenn_librarian
I also found out that now Innova Evo makes 95% meat canned food in Turkey/Chicken, Duck, Venison, and Beef flavors. I tried the beef and duck and they love the duck but didn't really like the beef. Some cats are also allergic to beef and I'm not supposed to feed this to Starr. The duck is much more expensive of course.:rolleyes: I wasn't able to try the venison or turkey/chicken because the pet store didn't have any available. I just ordered 2 cases of the 95% Turkey/Chicken since Starr can also eat this kind of meat and they already like this flavor in the cat/kitten canned food. It's supposed to be more like a raw diet but the meat is cooked.
Here's a link about it:http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp. Just scroll down towards the bottom to see the different varieties of cat food. The 95% canned food also has a little more fiber in it than the original Turkey/Chicken cat/kitten canned food. I've also noticed that since I've been feeding Sunny the duck canned food, he's been barfing much less often so I hope that this will continue.:) Good luck.:)