help with cat food?

Question

Ive been feeding my cat Science Diet Kitten brand food, every pet store recommended it to us, is that good or is there better food? Can we feed cats grilled meats or Tuna, or does it have to be raw? I personally like to eat good, rich, and healthy food, so id like my kitten to get in that habit as well.

Answer 1

Science diet is not the worst food (pedigree, purina etc) , but certainly not the best either. Our pets need quality pet food. Read the ingredients list and learn what the stuff on there is and what it does (or does not do) to/for our pets. A quick pet food 101. If the pet food contains corn/corn products or by products it is a poor quality food. Do not pay attention to advertising, they all say there food is great. Corn is a filler that can trigger skin problems. (allergies, skin problems, itching and excessive shedding) By products is anything from an animal not fit for human consumption, including cancerous tissue. Quality foods have meat as the first ingredient. California Natural, Solid Gold, Innova and Merrick are a few of the best brands available. If you want to learn more check out: http://www.sagekeep.com/petfood.htm www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359& more=1 http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$PetFoodsByRating?OpenForm
My cats do very well on California Natural and Innova. Again, research. Brands that advertise "vet approved" have a vet on their payroll to aprove their product! Good luck...

Answer 2

I hate this topic...every person has something that they think is right. Here is the scoop....
1. Raw food is bad....unless you plan to go catch a rabbit and feed the whole carcas to you cat right away....it is no good. Ideally, you could give your cat whole ground rodents with added vitamin suppliments....the only problem with this is bacteria....transport and thaawing it out can lead to bacteria...also, it can be difficult to get some cat to go for this.
2. As someone else mentioned...canned for is better that dry food. It is higher in protein, and lower in carbs ehich is good for cats since they are carnivores. Chunks in gravy are worse because it is higher is fat.
3. Choosing a brand: a. There is almost no regulation on pet food. Anybody can go out and follow the slim guidelines set out by AAFCO. All they have to do is feed the diet to a test group for 1 day in order to print that it was put through a food trial. Small brands and new brands simply have not been around long enough to know what they will do over long periods of time. Yes big brands like science diet, purina, eukanuba etc. use preservatives and glutens...but we can usually say that (aside from the recent recalls) they are pretty safe. They are well balanced and do not usually cause urinary crystals and other things. I see more cats with crystals that eat brands like wellness, friskies, 9-lives, blue buffalo...etc, than are ever seen with science diet and others like that.
I personally would rather feed my pets science diet or royal canin that any of the smaller or lower quality brands. If you really want to go with something more natural. Evo or Enova are the only ones that I would personally reccomend....although I have seen some cases of urinary crystals with both of those. I really hope that this can help....and remember, if you ever wan to make your own diet for your cat, you can contact UC Davis...they have a department that will customize a diet just for your cats needs....

Answer 3

Good for you!

First, SD is not good food. I highly recommend feeding something better.

Tuna is not good for cats - I don't recall exactly why but it's true.

Cooked meats are ok, but there's really no point in feeding them. Except perhaps as the occasional treat. The reason is because heat kills nutrients. And of course any cooked meats you do feed, even as a treat, shouldn't contain any seasonings or sauces.

Raw meat, properly balanced with the correct amounts of organs and bone or a supplement is the very very best diet for cats.

But it does require research and experimentation. If you want to get into that, which I highly recommend, check out the groups from my 360. There are several dealing with raw feeding and they can point you in the right direction. It would be great to get started as a kitten because they won't have any bad food habits to unlearn.

But if you don't want to try that, there are better foods, as I mentioned earlier. See the What to feed link - although these are adult foods, if you check their websites you'll likely find that at least some of them also offer kitten foods. But if not, you'll at least learn something about choosing a good canned food.

Answer 4

The reccomended pet food by pet store managers isn't always going to be the best one because they're usually payed to reccomend a certain brand. All my cats have eaten Iams and Chef's Blend through their lives, but if you want the healthiest choice I'd reccomend lookingat the nutrition facts on the back of the food bag. My mother puts the cat food in a large plastic bin and throws the bags away so I cannot tell you at this time what the nutrition facts for Iams and Chef's Blend are.
Remember not to overfeed your cat. Fill its about 3/4ths of the way full - he might not even eat all that by the end of the day. Move his litter box away from the food dish because cats don't like to go to the bathroom where they eat! Good luck with raising your first kitten!

Answer 5

You are doing the right thing by feeding your kitten a good quality food, these foods are specially prepared to contain a balanced diet for your cat. You can feed cats cooked meat, just NOT cooked bones. Give them some vegetables as well, this is a good habit to get them in while they are young. Raw bones are great for good dental hygien.

Answer 6

I feed organic food, I'm not sure it's a good idea to feed human food. The cat won't get what it needs. Innova/EVO, Wellness, etc. are healthy. check for fillers like corn. I think Iams and SD overcharge for the same stuff you get in the less expensive brands. On the other hand, my cousin feeds a less expensive "mcdonalds' brand, and her cats are doing great.

Oh- and tuna has a lot of calcium and causes urinary tract infections. Too much mercury.

I feed them organic, and I eat (mostly) organic. But, again, my cousin doesn't and neither do her cats. They are all healthy and happy, too.

Answer 7

It is not a great food. Pet stores tend to recommend any food that they get paid to promote.

Trying to get a cat to eat raw is no easy task. You are better off cooking the meats and feeding them that way.

Are you in the USA or the UK? I can't recommend brands until I know!

Answer 8

Innova dry cat food is the best!
"Innova Cat and Kitten Food contains fresh, natural, whole ingredients from each of the five food groups: meat, dairy, fruit, grain and vegetables, to provide a balanced, nutritious and healthful diet for your cat. Innova Cat and Kitten Food is formulated with added antioxidant vitamins, and is rich in Omega 6 and Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids for a silky coat and optimum health."
For canned food, try Natural Balance.

Answer 9

Science Diet is a very good line. I have always relied on it for my cats and they have been very healthy. Please don't feed your cat human food. The Science Diet has all the nutrients your cat needs. Human food is too rich in salts, etc. that can really mess up their already delicate urinary tract systems. The only other foods my cats get are a few sprinkles of treats like Whiska Lickins in the morning and before bed.

Answer 10

I recommend Purina Pro Plan for kittens...Cats will eat most kinds of meat, my cat will even eat Chicken Koorma (which is like a spicy indian food). I let him try things every now and then but the only human food I will give him as a "treat" is turkey which he loves. Tuna from the can isn't good for cats because it has a bit of sodium in it. Most human food isn't good for cats because cats need taurine for their eyesight, and they can get this from all pet foods but not too many human foods. You should try to feed you kitty a few different types of hard food though because for the first year it's kitten food, but then if he has only been eating that type of food, he may become finicky and not want to switch over to adult cat food. I'd stick to Purina products because they test their foods on animals (which is probably why they didn't end up on the recall list)...

EDIT: Ken, wet food are worse for cats than dry foods...sure they give the moisture, but that's what water is for. Dry foods help cats teeth, and wet foods cause them to decay...Do NOT always feed your cat wet food.