Cat Foods - WHAT is good??

[Russian Blue]

I've always been curious as to what cat foods are good and which are "bad" so to speak. I notice I see a lot of people saying Science Diet, Purina, Pedigree, etc. are good and their cats love it. However, I would never consider feeding those brands of dog foods, unless my dog had a medical condition and needed SD.

What do you all feed? What do you consider the highest quality cat food?

For most cat owners, I don't think raw feeding is popular. I think many become raw feeders because they have encountered medical issues with their cat and needed another feeding option.

I have been researching all the food options for a couple of years because of Nakita's medical issues. What I consider to be high quality cat food are companies that do not use BHA/BHT, artificial colours and preservatives. I also stay away from high ratio of grains to meat and unidentified meat sources noted on ingredient label. I also try to stay away from new foods on the market. Many people love Innova Evo (a fairly new product), but I've seen many discussions regarding poor results with various cats and dogs.

I have researched raw feeding because of Nakita's medical problems. If I can't solve them with her current vet I will be adding a holistic vet to discuss raw feeding or home cooked option. Right now Nakita needs to stay away from all grains as well as rice, beef, fish, turkey, chicken and any extra added fruits or vegatables. Believe me, after the last few months I have had to check almost every cat food on the market to see what I could feed Nakita. My head right now is spinning!

If you don't produce the food at home I don't believe any 'one' food on the market is perfect or the best. My family has a manufacturing background and we've seen what goes on behind the scenes and how standards can be nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

Right now Nakita is on Wysong Rabbit (meat only canned food) along with her Prescription food. I believe the prescription foods are good for getting your pet back on a right track but I would never feed them long term. In the past we have used Wellness dry and Nature's Variety and Merrick's canned foods. I just received a sample of frozen Nature's Variety rabbit so I'll be trying that out next.

I liked California Natural's dry/canned cat food since it was simple and not full of veggies and fruit. I think many cat foods are adding veggies/fruit to the labels as a human marketing ploy and not for the sake of cat health. Cats are meant to mainly eat meat...not foods full of grains, veggies or blueberries!

Also, from all my research I believe at least 50% of a cats diet should be from raw or canned since dry food is shown to raise the incidence of obesity, diabetes, renal failure, UTI etc. Cats need the moisture that an all dry food diet does not provide. Dry food in my mind is a human convenience - it is cheap and can be stored for months. It's not exactly the best offering when considering which food to give your pet the best of health.

Would you want to eat something that has sat in a bag on a store shelf for a year as your main food source? Again, just my opinion.