Purina Cat Chow, Friskies, Fancy Feast?

Question

I've had cats my whole life and have fed them these brands. I have heard things about these foods and how they are not good for your cat. However since i'm just a college grad w/ a not so huge income i would like to know if these are any good (specifically which is the best?) and if there is anything better for the same price (or just a little pricier) thanx

Answer 1

Natural Balance, Eagle Pack, Solid Gold are all good foods made with human quality meat. Not by-product meat which is in the foods you mention. By product meat is the feet, entrails, heads, feathers etc. from chickens. Those pet food manufacturers are in the human food business and they found they can make tons of $$$ using this "waste" by putting it in pet food. These by-products are also by law required to be treated with chemicals (some known carcinogens) and declared unfit for human consumption. Your cats really deserve something better. You don't say how many cats you have to feed so I can't tell you how much more it might cost you. There are many ways to save money these days - paper and cleaning products, sales on meats and stuff at the supermarket and you CAN afford to give your cats the best food possible.

Purina cat chow is 2/3 corn and by-product meat. The foods mentioned have 2/3 quality meat and higher quality fillers such as brown rice, millet, oats, pea, etc.

Answer 2

I have been caring for cats for about 40 years. Long before they came out with the higher priced cat food, there were basically two choices...Purina and Friskies.

Until I started buying the higher priced stuff....translated - kids raised, educated and just me and hubby and cats to spoil....I used Friskies and my cats did just fine. By the way, I've never met anyone who had a cat who liked Science Diet.

I don't like Purina products, because they gave my cats diarrhea. You don't need to feel guilty about feeding Friskies. It is a darn sight better than feeding store brands or generics. You can always fill in around the edges with treats of people chicken, some boiled hamburger. That will provide treat time and extra meat protein nutrition for you cats.

I found that when I started feeding the higher priced food, I didn't use as much, and my cats didn't fill the litter box so quickly. But you don't need to apologize for feeding either of those brands, if your cats tolerate them well.

Answer 3

Between those three.....there probably isn't much of a difference as far as quality.

If you want a food that's better but still around the same price (or maybe just a bit more) check our Nutro Max Cat. I found it at PetSmart and it's the best quality I've seen for the price so far (I buy Wellness, but it's much more expensive).

Cats actually do better on canned food. Check out http://www.catinfo.org

There are low ash canned foods. Just like dry food, you have to look for quality.

Iams and Science Diet aren't very good foods, either.

Answer 4

One of the biggest advantages of higher priced foods is that Science Diet, and higher priced foods have more of a constant formula. Store brands vary their recipe based on what the cheaper grain is at that time. If your cats don't have problems with allergies to food ingredients, they probably are fine.
I feed mine Purina One. Good quality and not much more expensive than Friskies and the like.
Just an FYI - I do not recommend Iams products. Believe it or not, they still do experiments on animals. I don't mean seeing which flavor they like best, I mean painful, unnecessary testing.
Other food manufacturers are now using computer programs and the like to find out what the experiments are used for.

Answer 5

I have been feeding all of my cats purina and friskies brand
and not once have i had a problem with them eating any of
those brands. The oldest, now is no longer with me (11 Yrs.)
survived on all the types they put out. Cat chow- chefs blend-
ocean fish- etc. So if you have heard thier not good for cats
then why are mine still living and healthy. Good luck on what
you decide on whats best for your cats.

Answer 6

I feed my cats Wellness haven't got a clue if it's really 'better' for them.. all I know is that my older cat was getting fat because there were ingredients like Animal by-products, wheat and etc. in friskies/fancy feast ... Wellness doesn't have that and I've noticed my cat looking a lot leaner.

Answer 7

My veterinarian told me that as long as the label on the bag says "complete and balanced" it is nutritionally safe for your cat. He has always recommended Purina products, unless you want to get into Science Diet or Eukanuba or the other higher priced brands. My cats have always eaten Purina products, indoor forumula, weight management, etc. and have never had any problems. Just stay away from 9 Lives, it has a lot of junk in it.

Answer 8

i feed my cat Nutro brand. she likes ocean fish flavor. I have done reseach on cat food. The more whole food brand like Nutro has no fillers in the food. So the cat feels fuller longer, and that saves you money. I feed my cat 1/2 a cup a day, and 15$ bag lasts me over 2 months. In the long run you save money on vet bill and food bill. A lot of store brand foods have fillers and then your cat is hunger. and your cat could develop allergies to thoes kind of foods.

Answer 9

I belive out of all those that purina is a good brand, some foods are filled with fillers. My cat is old and he just does not like the good stuff.

Answer 10

Hi Lexi, I'm a pet sitter and pet loss grief counselor. I've had too many of my own pets to count from child up to adult. I have 4 cats now. One of my best friends is retired and was a vet. In order to do my training for pet sitting, I had to review pet foods and listen to Dr. Alan Schwartz's lectures.

It's a combo of experience, training, and personal trials that I give you my best advice.

My cats right now are the healthiest I ever had. They are all 2 years old and have never been sick or to the vet other than to be fixed/vaccines. I don't believe in alot of vaccinations either because in reviewing all the facts my conclusion is that they don't really know how long they last. I get my cats rabies, leukemia and distemper, they are all house cats.

For food recommendations, you do not want to stick to 1 food only, you want to vary a few kinds and consistancies. I had a cat that ate 1 food, Special dinners dry, they stopped making it, I fed him Fancy Feast Sardines, it became hard to get where I live, the cat ended up hyperthyroid and refused to eat anything except that 1 flavor, I finally lost him to the disease. When talking to vets and my friend about it, I realized that you needed to feed a few kinds and actually the best food is homemade without all the preservatives in it. Cats were meant to have some "wild side" in them and the hunting instinct and are carnivores. Meat home made is the best source but it's inconvenient and costly. The alternatives are canned, moist treats, and dry.

Feeding people foods spoil cats. I would say for treats buy the dry or moist treats and make them special for very good behavior or holidays. Feed your cat canned food and dry. Leave plenty of water out and a little dry food for nibbling in the daytimes, and feed 1 teaspoon of canned in the morning and one at night. This lets your cat become accustomed to both kinds so later in life you need to just do 1 kind, she/he will not balk at eating it. For dry food, the Iams, Hills Science Diet, and Purina One are the best content. Fancy Feast dry and Chef's blend and Whiska's dry foods are next on the list. For canned, the Iams, Friskies, and 9 lives are the best. alot of the natural cat foods have fruits and things cats will turn their noses up at.

I feed my cats Iams, Friskies, and 9 lives canned foods, 1 teaspoon morning and 1 at night. The I leave dry foods out usually Iams, Hills, or One. For treats I feed a few peices of Fancy Feast, chef's blend or Whiska's dry. For very very special times they get Temptations dry food. Once a year on their combo birthday they split 1 can of real tuna fish.

Iams canned is usually 79 cents a big can or 2 littles for $1.00, Friskies canned generally runs about 3 for $1.29, 9 lives is 3 for $1.19. The ultimate canned food which can spoil them is Fancy Feast and Elagant Entrees by Fancy Feast or the little Meow Mix deluxe which run 1 tiny can for $.89 cents. Real tuna for a treat is the cheapest at Dollar general stores 2 sometimes 3 cans for $1.00.

Dry food is the cheapest usually at Walmart with Purina One for a bag about $6.00, Whiska's about $4.00, and Chef's Blend $3.00+. You can get the Iams a tiny bag at Dollar Tree stores sometimes for $1.00, otherwise small bags are around $4.00 and larger higher priced. Hills Science you usally have to get at a pet store like Pet Smart and it's about $8.00 a bag.

Good luck!