My cat is 5 yrs old, indoor and overweight with recent joint problem. I need some suggestion on good quality food, both dry and canned, regardless of the price. Thanks.
2007-04-07 17:40:25 · 18 answers · asked by Kitty07 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
Hi there… I’m glad you’re looking into a new food for your cat.
It's time for pet owners to wake up and take responsibility for what they feed their animals and quit trusting what those great big money hungry companies tell you. Research for yourself, learn, read the ingredients and make an informed decision for the health and safety of your beloved pet.
With the recall, wheat gluten is the big suspect in cat food that everyone is trying to avoid, and it SHOULD be avoided. It should have been avoided all along. It’s nothing more than a cheap protein source used as a binding agent by pet food companies.
Corn should always be avoided as well. It’s a huge filler worth NOTHING. Corn as an ingredient in cat food is a joke. Ever seen a cat chewing on a corn cob in a field? No, you haven’t.
Cats, despite thousands of years of domestication, remain strictly carnivorous. True and honest meat eaters and that is what they need most. Protein from meat!
As you search for your new pet food, be aware that there are three Categories of Pet Foods:
-"Grocery store" foods – (Generic Brands and cheap name brands) Those foods found in grocery stores and mass-market retailers are made with lower-quality, less-digestible, inexpensive ingredients and are therefore a cheaper alternative. While easy on the pocketbook, "grocery store" foods normally do not provide your cat with the healthiest, most nutrient-dense ingredients.
-Premium foods – (Iams/Eukanuba, Purina One, Hills Science Diet, Nutro and such) Foods often found in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices that contain higher-grade ingredients, but still include many elements of "grocery store" food, such as artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and "filler" ingredients such as corn and wheat products, by-products and even animal digest. Yuck! Premium foods are usually more expensive than "grocery store" foods because their ingredients are sometimes of a higher quality, and are therefore somewhat more beneficial and digestible. But don’t be fooled, some of those same so called Premium brands are sometimes worse than grocery store foods, but they charge prices like they are better. They aren’t!
-Healthy foods – (Wellness, Eagle Pack, Drs Foster and Smith) The newest addition to the pet food market - provide pets with the highest quality, healthiest, and most nutritious ingredients. They are typically available for purchase online or direct from the manufacturer. Some better retailers are starting to carry them now. Complete Petmart carries a few healthy brand foods. Foods in the Healthy class - contain nutrient-rich ingredients. Formulated to provide optimum health benefits for pets, these foods often use real meat as the primary protein source, carbohydrate-rich whole grains like brown rice and barley and whole, fresh fruits and vegetables. They should not contain artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. They will almost always be fortified with additional vitamins and minerals, and will use the best natural sources for fatty acids to help build healthy skin and a beautiful coat. Because healthy foods use high quality ingredients, you should expect to pay a little more than you would for other types of pet food. Remember, though, with healthy foods you can feed less since healthy foods are more nutrient-dense than other types of food so it often evens out or cost’s les than feeding foods filled with cheap non-nutritional by-products fillers.
With all that information in mind, when you are choosing a new cat food, study the ingredients. All ingredients on pet food labels are listed by weight. Meaning whatever ingredients are listed first on the list, there is more in there. The first ingredients listed should be whole meat ingredients, protein sources, such as Chicken or Turkey. NOT just the word “meat”! Who the heck knows what that is? The word Chicken Meal is ok, but it should be a secondary ingredient, not first. Meal is the meat dehydrated and ground into a powder.
The ingredients also should NOT include any by-products or animal digest whatsoever. Those are disgusting left over animal parts that are scraped off the filthy floors of meat and poultry plants. They should just go into the trash but they put them into pet food instead. EW!!!!
Also make sure there are no artificial colors or flavors. And make sure there is no BHA and BHT used preservatives. These preservatives have been shown to cause cancer in both cats and dogs. Bad Bad stuff and it’s in almost every cat treat on the market. :(
So, in summery of the ingredients… if you see the words by-products, Animal Digest, the word “meat” alone, Corn, Corn Gluten, Wheat Gluten, or BHA or BHT… stop reading, put down that bag and move on to the next.
Be aware that when switching to a Healthy, Holistic or Organic food, you will pay for what you get. Good foods are not cheap. They are pricey and will cost you on a per bag basis much more. Just like steak costs more than hotdogs. But again, you will be feeding a better food and improving the over all health of your pet. Which in turn leads to less vet visits for illness now and more importantly later in life in their Geriatric years. You will also feed less of this food on a per animal basis because a smaller amount of food contains what your cat needs. Overall healthy foods are well worth it, if only for the piece of mind that the ingredients are safer.
What are some good foods I recommend? I feed my cats Drs. Foster and Smith Holistic Adult Lite Dry cat food along with a mix of Wellness Dry. I also feed Merrick Canned.
I purchase Drs. Foster and Smith online and have it automatically delivered to my door so I never run out and never have to go get it. It’s one of the best foods on the market and has no “fillers” in it. It is also very reasonably priced compared to other holistic foods. And when you’re feeding as many cats as I am, price is as important as ingredients. If you can't afford it, you can't feed it. So buy the highest quality you can and feel good that you are doing the absolute best you can for your pet.
If you want to buy in a store, Complete Petmart is a good store and carries quite a few natural, organic, and holistic blends. Also check with your local feed stores. Old Mother Hubbard Wellness Brand is a great holistic food I feed. As is Eagle Pack Dry Cat food. Merrick canned is also a great source of nutrition and they will be coming out with a dry line this summer. Some brands, not all, of Nutro cat food are semi-ok if you want to spend less money, however I personally would never chose their food for nutritional value.
I highly recommend people take the time to research for themselves, but the information I have given should get you off to a good start. Good luck choosing a new food for your cats!
Side note… Please don’t feed Iams / Eukanuba. It’s ALL fillers, byproducts, animal digest and CRAP. Read the ingredients! There is nothing good for your cat in that food. Not to mention they conduct the most appalling animal testing you have ever seen. http://www.iamscruelty.com to see the terror they create.
Drs. F&S Food Link - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+6000
Wellness Food Link - http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html
Eagle Pack Holistic Select - http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Home.html
Merrick Foods: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
****DO NOT FEED IAMS!**** http://www.iamscruelty.com
2007-04-08 05:38:15 · answer #1 · answered by Kat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, make sure your cat is eating safe food. I have listed a wide variety below - some are for dogs.
Second, read the label to make sure the food is high in protein with no growth hormones - go with organic. Growth hormones in food are for making animals grow. Cats are meat eaters - avoid foods with fillers. Natural Balance has a great wet food that my cats love with fish. The ingredients are good too.
Third, get your cat to play - getting her a playmate from a shelter would help. If you do this, get her a half grown active kitten that she can take care of and play with. This worked best for my overweight female.
I would suggest some wet food - a third of a small can - in the morning and unlimited dry food through the day. If she knows the food will always be there, she's less likely to over eat. Fresh daily water is essential. Put more than one bowl around the house so that she stops to get a drink along the way. If she's filling up on water, she's not going feel as hungry.
Current Safe Pet Foods List supplied by PETA.org:
Active Life Pet Products
1-877-291-2913
www.activelifepp.com
Amoré Pet Services, Inc.
1-866-572-6673
www.amorepetfoods.com
Animal Food Services
1-800-743-0322
www.animalfood.com
Artemis Pet Food— NEW
1-800-282-5876
www.artemiscompany.com
Azmira Holistic Animal Care
1-800-497-5665
www.azmira.com
Burns Pet Health, Inc.
1-877-983-9651
www.burnspethealth.com
Canusa International
519-624-5697
www.canusaint.com
CountryPet Pet Food
1-800-454-7387
www.countrypet.com
Dr. Harvey's
1-866-362-4123
www.drharveys.com
Dry Fork Milling Co.
1-800-346-1360
Dynamite Marketing, Inc.
208-887-9410
www.dynamitemarketing.com
Evanger's Dog and Cat Food Co., Inc.
1-800-288-6796
www.evangersdogfood.com
Evolution Diet, Inc. (entirely vegan)
1-800-659-0104
www.petfoodshop.com
Good Dog Foods, Inc.
732-842-4555
www.gooddogfoods.com
GreenTripe.Com
831-726-3255
www.greentripe.com
Halo, Purely for Pets
1-800-426-4256
www.halopets.com
Happy Dog Food
1-800-359-9576
www.happydogfood.com
Harbingers of a New Age (entirely vegan)
406-295-4944
www.vegepet.com
Holistic Blend
1-800-954-1117
www.holisticblend.com
The Honest Kitchen
858-483-5995
www.thehonestkitchen.com
Know Better Dog Food
1-866-922-6463
www.knowbetterdogfood.com
KosherPets, Inc.
954-938-6270
www.kosherpets.com
Kumpi Pet Foods
303-699-8562
www.kumpi.com
Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc. (has vegan options)
1-800-829-4493
www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Natural Life Pet Products, Inc. (has vegan options)
1-800-367-2391
www.nlpp.com
Nature's Variety
1-888-519-7387
www.naturesvariety.com
Newman's Own Organics—NEW
www.newmansownorganics.com
PetGuard (has vegan options)
1-800-874-3221
904-264-8500
www.petguard.com
Pied Piper Pet & Wildlife
1-800-338-4610
www.piedpiperpet.com
PoshNosh Inc.
613-747-1542
1-866-893-4006 (Outside Ottawa-Outaouais)
Raw Advantage, Inc.
360-387-5158
www.rawadvantagepetfood.com
Rocky Mountain Natural Products
1-877-768-6788 (Eastern U.S.)
1-800-665-5521 (Western U.S.)
www.rmtnp.com
Sauder Feeds, Inc.
260-627-2196
www.sauderfeeds.com
Stella & Chewy's LLC—NEW
718-522-9673
www.stellaandchewys.com
Timberwolf Organics, Inc.
407-877-8779
www.timberwolforganics.com
V-dogfood LLC (entirely vegan)—NEW
1-888-280-8364
www.V-dogfood.com
Veterinary Nutritional Formula
1-800-811-0530
www.vnfpetfood.com
Wow-Bow Distributors Ltd. (has vegan options)
1-800-326-0230
www.wow-bow.com
Wysong Professional Diets (has vegan options)
1-800-748-0188
www.wysong.net
2007-04-07 18:06:43 · answer #2 · answered by Naturescent 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have made the right decision to feed your cat a top quality food. The best kind to get are those which are grain-free or almost grain free (a little rice or barley or oats is still OK). But absolutely no corn; no wheat; no soy because these are unusable nutrients for the cat and their carbohydrate gets stored as fat. You need a diet high in protein. If you feed you kitty a little less than the recommended on the label, your cat WILL lose weight and you will see it in as little as a month (I tried it and it does work). I recommend:
1. Solid Gold Blended Tuna canned cat food (has the highest protein percentae I have seen even among top brands)
Ingredients:
Tuna | Water Sufficient for Processing | Tapioca | Canola Oil | Cellulose Gum | Calcium Iodate | Biotin | Calcium Sulfate | Tricalcium Phosphate | Potassium Chloride | Choline Chloride | Ferrous Sulfate | Zinc Oxide | Nicotinamide | Vitamin E Supplement | Taurine | Thiamine Mononitrate | Vitamin B12 Supplement | Vitamin A Acetate | Manganous Oxide | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Calcium Panthothenate | Folic Acid | Riboflavin | Vitamin D3 Supplement | Copper Sulfate | Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex |
Protein, Min 13.84%
Fat, Min 2.01%
Fiber, Max 0.01%
Moisture, Max 79.57%
Ash, Max 0.99%
Magnesium, Max 0.011%
2. Solid Gold "Katz-N-Flocken" dry cat food
Ingredients
Lamb | Chicken Meal | Millet | Brown Rice | Ocean Fish Meal | Cracked Pearled Barley | Canola Oil | Natural Flavor | Salmon Oil (source of DHA) | Flaxseed | Potassium Chloride | Choline Chloride | Taurine | Dried Chicory Root | Amaranth | Parsley Flakes | Spearmint | Almond Oil | Sesame Oil | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Kelp | Thyme | Blueberries | Cranberries | Apples | Lentils | Quinoa | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Zinc Proteinate | Copper Proteinate | Ferrous Sulfate | Zinc Sulfate | Copper Sulfate | Potassium Iodide | Thiamine Mononitrate | Manganese Proteinate | Manganous Oxide | Ascorbic Acid | Vitamin A Supplement | Biotin | Calcium Panthothenate | Manganese Sulfate | Sodium Selenite | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Vitamin B12 Supplement | Riboflavin | Vitamin D Supplement | Folic Acid |
Protein, Min 34% (most dry are only between 28 - 30%)
Fat, Min 12%
Fiber, Max 4%
Moisture, Max 10%
Calories per cup, 323
2007-04-07 17:58:53 · answer #3 · answered by Phoebhart 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have two cats...one is about 3 and the other is 4 years old, we feed them fresh fish, prawns, red meat and veggies... (and the odd can of cat food) and it is the healthiest and it is actually cheaper than buying expensive can foods that the quality and nutrition is no-where near the same! and they get their fish baked(some raw) raw lean red meat, veggies they love corn, pumpkin, broccoli and peas. They are indoor cats as well...so we make sure they do not have a endless bowl of cat biscuits and portioned it out to about three small feeds... (about 1/8 of a cup per serve) then with their night meals they have a portion of biscuits and that does them very nicely till their breakfast! We keep them entertained with games and changing their play areas around and we have an open area for them to play in... the main thing with keeping the weight down on your cat is...not over feeding them! and give them activities and toys to stimulate them(Try a catnip ball-the catnip stimulates them to act like kittens sometimes and a ball is easy to knock around providing a great toy!) Good Luck :-)
2007-04-07 22:45:52 · answer #4 · answered by QT 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
buy some dried food for senior cats chicken is better for joint problems, and canned food get some with cheese and vegetables instead of fish and beef which is high in fats and will contribute to weight gain. cut down on the canned food give more dried food with plenty of water. suggested dried food is 1/2 cup if cat is 4.5 kilos or 1 cup for 5-6 kilos. try dried food for 2 days then one day of canned food. some cats go well with this others take a few days to get used to, hope this helps you out.
2007-04-07 22:56:59 · answer #5 · answered by kymm r 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
hi! i use purina fancy feat for dry food and gormet delite' for the wet food for my cat. She is very healthy but is an idoors cat. The dry food cost around $4 for 250 grams and the wet food cost about 80 for 100 grams i think. Hope this helps
2007-04-07 17:52:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
May I suggest Hills r/d. I'm a veterinary nurse and run weight clinics at my surgery, and I get excellent results with r/d. I hear people say bad things about Hills on here, and I'm astonished, I find they're excellent. I'll also direct you to the Hills website for some great advice on weight loss:
http://www.hillspetslimmer.co.uk/index.html
Hills do dry and canned r/d for cats.
Chalice
2007-04-07 23:17:09 · answer #7 · answered by Chalice 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, the brand I've been feeding my cat since I've adopted her (helped her lose weight, too.) is Blue Buffalo. It has both dry & wet food, and contains no wheat, corn, or soy. Very good quality, for a pretty agreeable price.
2007-04-07 17:44:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I feed all of our Pets IAMS Dog and Cat foods. It's highly
recommended by our Vet and doesn't have all the fillers and other garbage that a lot of companys add to their foods.
2007-04-07 17:55:54 · answer #9 · answered by Lisa R 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm feednig a Pinnacle food to my cat. It's holistic and has very healthy ingrediences. Here it is: http://www.breeders-choice.com/cat_products/pinnacle_dry.htm
2007-04-07 20:30:17 · answer #10 · answered by Mik T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i give my three cats.. nothing but purina.. trust it with everything.. wouldn't give them anything but.. its high grade food that doesn't put a hole in my pocket... plus they have a vast array of types for different cats.. they have an indoor formula that i frequent.. but if your cat is a bit older and is having joint problems.. try vitality 7+... a blend for older cats.. whether or not you change to purina.. make the change of brands slowly.. mix the different brands together... cat tummy's are sensative.. make the transition an easy one... hope that helps.. =)
2007-04-07 20:11:43 · answer #11 · answered by the critic!! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋