A cat food question

[Freedom]

Cats are lactose intolerant.

If Cassie is OK w/ half a teaspoon of yogurt, keep it up!

We (Dad and I) are also lactose intolerant, so the only milk I ever buy is Lactaid. That is fine for the cats and dogs too.

[mrspunkysmom]

I finally went to the pet food rating site for cat foods. Most of the food ratings were about where I thought they would be. The site doesn't address Blue for cats, though. And just because a company makes good dog food, doesn't mean it make good cat food.

I do read ingredients and Blue is a good food.

I haven't tried mine with yogurt.

[maerlyn]

Right off, let me say that I had been feeding Purina O.N.E. and my cats were doing fine on it - no medical problems. However, reading forums, it seemed to me that grain-free was the way to go; however, on a very limited income (SS and investments - no pension), switching to a higher-end food seemed impossible. I did, however, find Taste of the Wild to be approximately the same price as the Purina, so I switched to it a couple of years ago. I've since found that buying it in the 15-pound bag makes it cheaper than Purina from the grocery store. What I've noticed is that 16-pound, almost-10-year-old Mordred seems to me to be more active than previously. I can't imagine that being caused by his aging! So I guess it was the change to grain-free. He didn't lose any weight on it, though.

Wanting to add some canned food at least occasionally, I was again stumped: I simply can't afford the high-end cans when feeding three. However, on another forum, someone mentioned Dave's Pet Food. I checked it out: good ingredients, no gluten, no grain - and surprisingly affordable. My three now get some of Dave's canned each evening.

On the other hand, years ago, before premium food was ever dreamt of, I fed grocery store food because that's all there was. Cassandra lived to almost 17, and Kalli made it to almost 20 on that food. Kalli would get seriously sick every few years, although the most serious - myocarditis - had nothing to do with food. Cassandra was never ill; I had her sent to the Bridge when she threw a clot. So, feeding grocery store food will not kill your cat; as long as it has the AAFCO seal, it has all the proper nutrients - although the sources of those nutrients may not be the best or most efficient.

I do have one "pet peeve" that I didn't see here but will throw it out there anyway: some people simply do not have the finances to buy the premium foods; they do the best they can and feed grocery store food because *that* is the best they can do. If they come to a forum where that food is called "junk," "crap," or "garbage," - as I've seen on another forum - they're made to feel inadequate, unworthy pet parents. I know that's how I felt when I was feeding Purina; to call the food I was feeding by derogatory names is to berate *me*, not just the food. The compassion we extend to our furchildren should teach us to extend it to others who may be less financially secure.

[cheche]

Many years back I had a cat that I only bought grocery store brands and never read the ingredients. This cat also like some of our foods, especially veggies. Then we hit a road block and she started having digestive problems. She was about 16 years old at this time. I switched her over to Fancy Feast (consider premium at this time) and saw a marked improvement. The next problem showed up when we gave her corn and then the problem with dry cat food. I started reading the ingredients and much to my dismay almost every brand had corn gluten. I went to every specialty pet store trying to find something without it. At that time (about 12 years ago) I found Sensible Choice. I switched my cat over to it and she did well. She lived to be 20 1/2.

Since that time I've tried to go with corn free cat food. It's been a challenge. Brands that didn't use it, started to. It's a cheap filler. Right now I feed my kitties Costco's "Maintenance Cat". It's a premium food(chicken based) with no corn gluten and actually it's inexpensive and my kitties love it.

FYI I saw a show awhile back that compared a three different brands. Iams came out on the bottom. Turns out it has the highest filler content. Sorry but I don't remember what the other brands were.

[cassiesmom]

Cats are lactose intolerant.

If Cassie is OK w/ half a teaspoon of yogurt, keep it up!

We (Dad and I) are also lactose intolerant, so the only milk I ever buy is Lactaid. That is fine for the cats and dogs too.

Dear Auntie Freedom -- Thank you for telling meowmie I may have yogurt! Could you please tell her to keep up the tuna, too? I am VERY okay with that!

Purrs, meows and head bumpies,
Cassie

p.s. from Cassie's food lady: She would be content if I served her tuna, pureed baby food meat, a bit of deli turkey, milk and cut-up chicken white meat on a regular basis I keep telling her that I need to give her a balanced diet (veterinarian's orders), but she just looks at me and meows.