What is the healthiest kind of cat food for my three cats?

Question

Generally speaking. They currently get Friskies wet and dry. Two of the three are overweight and they all seem almost addicted to the Friskies dry. Any opinions?

Answer 1

Hi there... most commercially available cat food contains the ingredients corn meal or corn... one of the factors which has contributed to obesity in our feline family members. Friskies is in the category as well. The corn or corn meal are used as a binder to help prevent the dried kibble from breaking down into crumbs.

Consumers are being duped into believing that they are feeding their pets healthy foods, when in actuality they are feeding nothing more than inferior meat meals, cheap grains (including corn and soy), fillers, by-products, pesticides, preservatives and toxins. Soy is one of the top allergens— substances that cause allergic reactions. (See website link below.)

Cats are obligate carnivores and require a diet in high protein. An affordable premium product is Royal Canin, however there are a variety of higher quality products widely available: Innova EVO, Nature's Variety Prairie, Wellness, Wysong, Life's Abundance, Chicken Soul for the Cat Lover's Soup and more.

Cats who are overweight can be best treated by switched from being free fed (leaving food available at all times) to scheduled feedings. The reason this is suggested is that 8/10 indoor cats eat out of boredom. Therefore, it's best to serve 3/4 to 1 (depending on the normal healthy weight of the cat) cup of food per day per cat. This amount is better to be served by dividing the portions in half so that the cat doesn't feel starved throughout the day. If they appear more hungry by dividing this total amount can be done in 3 times a day and later reduced to twice a day (1/2 cup in morning and 1/2 in the evening before humans go to bed).

Weight management involves decreasing the total free feed intake gradually to the recommended amounts. Done suddenly can cause stomach distress.

Answer 2

I use Hill's Science Diet Oral Care. It's expensive, but worth it (it also helps keep their teeth clean, thus taking care of the "smells like anti-freeze" breath ) They also make kitten food, if they're kittens...

"Store bought" pet food contain fillers that can actually be bad for your cats (though the companies won't tell you that) One of my kitties died because of that -he actually got a blockage in his urinary tract that I didn't catch in time :((
(where's the good lawyers when you need one?)

You'll have to change them over to the new food little by little- start with about a 50/50 mix, then slowly increase the amount of the new food. Give them half in the morning, the other half at night instead of giving them the option of eating throughout the day (they'll complain at first, but they'll get used to it)

Answer 3

Cats - so familiar at first glance, but completely alien by closer observation. There is very little we as humans have in common with cats. Our social structures, means of communication, eating habits, and physical appearances and functions are at near opposite ends of the scale. It is striking that most of us can relate to them so well nonetheless. Cats have become part of our everyday lives: part of our language and culture, and the embodiment of man's most noble virtues. As a companion they have no match.

Cats have roamed this place for the past 40 million years - ever evolving and adapting to be living on nearly every continent and in nearly every climate; taking their place on top of the food chain as the perfect predator. It is imperative to understand cats' unique adaptation to life, if we desire to understand their nutritional needs. Using our own nutritional needs as humans as a template for how to feed cats would be ill fated.

Cats are carnivores. They meet their nutritional needs entirely by consuming other animals. The ideal diet for our domestic feline companions would resemble that of wild living cats. A variety of small prey animals, such as rodents, birds, reptiles, insects and occasionally amphibians would meet all the their nutritional needs. Regrettably, such foods are rather inconvenient to obtain in our domestic setting, but the raw meat diet offers a convenient and satisfactory alternative.

The raw meat diet is a concept which Feline Future has pioneered for over a decade. Over the years we are glad to have witnessed an increasing trend of caregivers becoming more pro-active in understanding their feline companions' nutritional needs. Quality and whether a diet is appropriate to meet the cat's biological needs are more important aspects than mere adequacy and cost effectiveness when selecting a nutritional regiment for a creature entrusted into our care.

Feline Future's cat food InstinctsTC is a true revolution in feeding today's domestic cat. Reflecting cats instinctive needs, our cat food formula is the result of many years of research. The observation of wild-living small felines, the analysis of their prey and the application of the cat's nutritional requirements all contributed to the development of InstinctsTC.

Over the years, caregivers and Veterinarians alike have come to know and trust InstinctsTC for its quality and effectiveness in meeting the true nutritional needs of companion cats. Because cats are first at Feline Future our research never ends. We are continuously striving to give you the best cat food next to mice.

Answer 4

Friskies and other lower quality foods, have animal byproducts and fillers, wich inturn make your animal poop more. I would suggest Nutro ( not the best but it is still rather cheap and not compleatly horrid) If you want to go the compleatly natural rute Orijen(Kitty) and wellness are great kitty foods, as well as Chicken soup for the cat lovers soul. These should help her not poo as much, as they don't have fillers and all that. edit: Also you SHOULD feed wet food, cats need lots of water/liquids.

Answer 5

i would recommend science diet. it very balanced and has different ones for different problems, you can get it at usually any pet store, vet office or feed store. so many of the cats foods like dog foods have fillers in them and can cause over weight animals, it is not as cheap as friskies but is much better for them the older cats and the less active they are ...the less they need, i would recommend not very much wet food. as it can cause excess weight and a steady diet of wet food can lead to teeth problems.

Answer 6

Natural Choice Complete care indoor formula

Answer 7

Meow Mix has 37 healthy ingredients. thats what i feed my 9 kittens

Answer 8

mice and rats is by far the healthiest

Answer 9

As long as they are healthy why change?