Good Cat Food?

Question

Do you have any good suggestions for diet cat food?


If it has a link could you tell me, thanks ; ]

Answer 1

Hi there… Instead of diet cat food try looking into feeding a canned diet of 5.5 oz. of wet food daily, split into appropriate portions. If that's not an option go with a healthier food dedicated to feline nutrition instead of a food filled with garbage and fillers.

You could also encourage exercise by making your kitty chase a laser light!

As for food choices, 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.

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!

********IMPORTANT*******Don’t forget to switch your Pets food slowly over a period of 10 to 14 days, if you can. Mixing 25% new to 75% old. Then 50/50… then 75% new to 25% old. And finally switch over to 100% new. Take it slow as not to upset their digestive system.

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.

Foods I recommend based on personal experience -

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/




You can find more great foods, and do more research at http://www.onlynaturalpet.com

Answer 2

Don't bother with diet cat food. In most cases, all that has happened is that the calorie content is lowered by upping the carbs. That's just stupid.

If you have a cat that needs to lose weight, put him or her on a good quality canned food - any or all of the ones from the link below (What to feed).

This works - I am doing that myself and I can tell you that it's working.

Also read the Obesity links - they were very helpful to me.

Answer 3

Go to hubpages.com and It is under "Cat Food Safe To Feed After The Cat Food Recall"

Answer 4

Go to: http://www.thepetcenter.com and read their article on feline obesity. There is a lot of information at that site on what foods and diets are appropriate for cats.

At: http://littlebigcat.com Dr. Jean Hovfe also has an article on feline obesity and numerous articles on cat nutrition including one on selecting a good commercial food for your cat.

Answer 5

Taste of the wild and it is rated 4 stars. Both of my kittens and my adult do great on it. I would love to raw feed both my dogs and my cats but I am just not able at this time but later in the future I am def planning on it. They will get water added in to make it wet or they will get Blue Buffalo wet food either or.

Answer 6

First, you need to know that cats are carnivores, they need to eat a lot of meat for protein and for fat, and a cat's system is not designed for carbs, they are to be avoided. After you know what type of food that keep your cat healthy and fit, you need to check the label for the following when choosing the best cat food,:-
-Free of artificial products.
-Low-carb, Grain, and starches –
-Food should meet AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) to ensure it contain the minimum nutrition
-Check the Meat quality.

After that your cat should like it. I recommend the following LOW daily feeding cost Dry/wet food:-

1- Fancy Feast Gourmet Cat Food
http://amzn.to/1jKRXgS

2- Purina Friskies Cat Food Classic Pate
http://amzn.to/1m459Pl

3- Meow Mix Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food
http://amzn.to/1rzPYpD

4- 9Lives Seafood and Poultry Wet Cat Food
http://amzn.to/U678N7

Answer 7

Felidae. It is made with all natural ingredients of US origin. They make a platinum version which is designed for senior and overweight cats. It comes in both dry kibble and canned styles.
You can read about it and find a dealer near you on the Canidae/Felidae website. Incidently none of their products were involved in the recent recalls.
http://felidae.com/#

Answer 8

Purina Fancy feast,I have a cat who is now 17 yrs old, I find which he prefers.and there is always food in his bowl,cats are notorious snackers,he weighs 8lbs. To feed a cat once a day is wrong.

Answer 9

I still get the same cat food, but I put portions in his dish. He eats like a hog including he's overweight. Just put a hand full of food in his cat dish. Only feed him/her once a day.

Answer 10

Royal Canin has good food, Light, Indoor etc are good light foods.

Answer 11

Innova makes reduced fat food in dry form currently, and the wet is coming soon.

http://www.innovapet.com/products/default.asp?id=1407
http://www.innovapet.com/products/default.asp?id=1605