What would you reccomend as a "High Quality Cat Food?"?

Question

I currently feed my cat Science Diet Indoor Cat, and some people on here are saying that it's a "Low Quality Cat Food," it comes strongly reccommended from my Vet. What do you all feed your cats?

Answer 1

High quality foods include Innova, Felidae (what I feed my kitty), Natural Balance, and there are some others. If you have a feed type store close by, visit that rather than just a typical pet store or grocery store. When shopping, look for foods that do not contain corn and/or wheat products. There will almost always be a grain in the food (i.e. rice) but rice is a better grain than corn or wheat. Look for meats as the first several ingredients. Proteins should come from meats not wheat gluten. I did a LOT of research on the subject when I first started, and I found a lot of valuable information on the net.

Answer 2

I guess I'll answer your last question first. My personal view hasn't really changed after reading your write-up simply because you're preaching to the choir on this one. I have 2 cats and I began doing a lot of research on cat foods. Luckily, my cats are picky and absolutely refused from the beginning to eat anything cheap. They seem to know that most of it is simply filler. I absolutely refuse to feed them dry food for the exact reasons you already stated (low thirst drive, etc.) My guess is that most cat owners simply don't realize that cats are meat eaters; dogs are omnivores. Cats simply don't have the enzymes to be able to properly digest the filler material in some wet food and all dry food which of course leads to serious health problems futher down the road. Your write-up is excellent, including the external sources as well. The only thing that I would add is that to properly feed a cat, is to mimic what they eat in the wild. My main problem with traditional wet food is that it is cooked. I've been doing a lot of research on raw food diets for cats and am in the process of transitioning my cats to one. They've taken to very well. It takes time and research to make sure that you're giving them the proper balance of meat, organs, and bone-meal, but once you get the hang of it, it's relatively easy to prepare a weeks worth of high quality meals in about a half hour. Plus, even if you're using good cuts of meat, it's still cheaper than buying canned. Unfortunately, I think most cat owners stick to the dry stuff simply because it's cheap. And then wonder, of course, years down the road why their cats have shorter life expectancies, numerous health issues, etc. It's a shame.

Answer 3

For canned food I use: Natural Balance, Lick Your Chops, Wellness, Avoderm, Innova, sometimes Prairie, By Nature's Organic or Felidae.

For dry food: CA Natural, Natural Balance (both the chicken and the venison and pear), Solid Gold, Nature's Logic (duck).

Blue is also a quality food - not available to me locally. All these foods are also available through www.petfooddirect.com. Shipping charges add considerably to the cost of the food. I can get them all locally.

These foods are 60% high quality meat protein (Science Diet uses by-product meat) and do not contain ANY corn as filler or "wheat glutin" I might add.

My cats also eat a raw meat diet I prepare with a supplement powder using organic turkey with turkey liver and heart and organic chicken with chicken liver and heart.

Answer 4

I think that Natural Balance canned cat food is pretty much the best stuff out there. They have an indoor formula, check it out. Wellness is also really good too, both the dry and wet cat food. My kitties gobble it up, but they aren't too picky honestly...

I think people rip on Science Diet because SC claims it is a high-end pet food yet most of the options in the store all contain meat by-products (some are the first ingredients ie. the dry food has a "by-product meal". At the same time though, if you have an outdoor cat, he/she catches and eats all sorts of "by-products" from their prey. I have indoor cats so I stick to the non by-product stuff.

Answer 5

You can decide for yourself, you just have to know what cats need in their diet. A lot of wet foods contain a lot of water and little nutrients. I also recommend using some dry food, either mixed in or separate, to help with dental health. Also, remember that cats need fat in their diet because they can not produce it on their own. I found this article helpful:

Answer 6

9 lives

Answer 7

Nothing with a corn filler or by product! Wellness is all natural human ingredients... It is the best you can buy! I currently have both my cats on Nutro and once that is gone they are starting wellness (found there is corn/by-products in the ingredients of Nutro and none in wellness)... Check out the website and see for yourself!

http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/index.html

Very informative site!

Answer 8

SD isn't "junk", it's a good food. It's a hard thing to say because everyone "knows" what food is the "best", right? Well, we feed our cats Friskies canned and dry as well as Friskies Special Diet dry for urinary tract health in my boys. My vet tells us that our cats are incredibly healthy. They are not overweight and have never had any health problems. The vet suggested getting a Urinary formula since we have boys and we did that but we've never had crystals or anything. My oldest cat is 19 and in perfect health aside from some hearing loss due to old age. The funny thing is, my cats love the "junk" food and won't touch the Science Diet or organic stuff! They are also indoor/outdoor cats so God only knows what they catch and eat out there... In short, I have 5 cats right now and have been feeding Friskies since we got the first one in 1988 without a problem.

Some people will tell you that better food makes better cats but I must disagree. Unless your cat is diabetic or has digestive issues or other health problems there's no need to spend oodles of money on costly "gourmet" or "high quality" foods. If the brand you choose is part of a brand family that's well known then you should be okay. Friskies is part of the Purina family. The only thing we've ever been told to avoid are "store brand" pet foods.

Good luck!!!

Answer 9

Flint River Ranch cat food. You can find it on the internet. My six year old cat loves it.

Answer 10

My vet told me that Purina Cat Chow was good for a grocery store brand HOWEVER, my cats were always throwing up hairballs (at least twice a day), my male was always with a stubborn UTI and my female always got the runs. One of them threw up food on a semi-regular basis too but I never figured out which.

I switched them to Nutrience Holistic (made by Hagen) and everything has cleared up (maybe they had allergies, I don't know). They poop 1/2 what they used to and they don't smell as bad. Maybe 1 hairball a week from my himmie/persian which really isn't so bad. I get it from the pet store. It costs a lot but the vet bills are lower and I'd rather spend more on food than vet bills.

Science Diet is what my vet sells in their office.