Ahhhhh im going nuts! I was told that Nutro Kitten Indoor Formula is the best dry food?

Question

But now, im reading that its not. I feel like if i get another brand that people say is better, i will hear bad things about that too! I never want my kittys sick, so what can i do about getting a good dry food? Price does not matter. My husband and I will spend whatever to make my 2 little kittys happy & healthy! We wouldnt have gotten cats if we couldnt afford the best for them.

Answer 1

First let me say I understand your pain. A year ago I was feeding both cats dry food (Purina) and was blissfully ignorant of how bad that was. One cat's problems drove me to do some research, and I now feed canned only, with Evo as the occasional treat.

I too was initially baffled and confused but you WILL sort it out in time. It's really not that difficult.

I'm going to leave you a ton of links that you can peruse at your leisure, but I'll also leave you some simple, generic advice.

First, no dry food is technically good if it's the only thing you're feeding your cat. IT DOESN'T CLEAN THEIR TEETH. Never has, never will, no matter how many claim that it does. It does not.

Raw meat diets are technically best, but I don't think you're ready for that! So let's stick to canned foods.

Feed your kitten a good quality canned food, and you can throw in some dry in addition to that if you wish - but don't serve more than 50% dry as a total meal.

So what's good, canned and dry? See the two links below for some excellent choices. Not on the list but also good are Nature's Variety Raw Instincts and Wellness Core. Both are grainless, like Evo.

I won't even get into the fact that you don't need to feed your kitten "kitten" food - unless you'd like to learn more about that? Not yet? Ok, you come back when you're ready!

EDIT: As for Nutro, I have to agree that it's not great. I will list the ingredients below and expand on why I say that. However, if you start adding canned to the kitten's diet, and keep the dry to 50% or less, I wouldn't worry too much.

And as for what's "best," that's completely subjective. There is good food and bad food, but best depends partly on what works for your cat.

1. There's no actual meat in this food!
2. It contains too many carbs (rice, corn, soy).

Chicken Meal (BAD), Ground Rice (BAD), Corn Gluten Meal (BAD), Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil (BAD), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Vegetable Fiber (Carrots, Celery, Beets, Parsley, Lettuce, Water Cress, Spinach), Oat Fiber, Yeast Culture, Potassium Chloride, Menhaden Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Choline Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Taurine, DL-Methionine, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Inositol, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Dried Chicory Root, Cranberry Powder, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Calcium Iodate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid.

Answer 2

I recommend Purina One dry food. To tell what is best don't go but what you hear. Read the ingriedients. On Purina One Chicken and Rice Formula the number one ingriedient is chicken. If you read the cheaper products they will have cereals and cereal by-products and if they do have a meat component in there it will be a by-product. A meat by-product is actually the parts that humans do not eat. Purina One does cost more but they have the best ingriedients. They also have a formula for every type of cat and also cats with certain illnesses that need special diets. Go to www.purina.com.au or call 1800 738 238 to speak to someone (from Australia). They are really nice and helpful. If you go onto their website you can do the Purina One 30 day challenge - if you live in Australia. You buy a pack of this cat food and then they will send you a cheque for the value you paid on your receipt when you send it in with the relevant paperwork. This product is made in the USA so it should be available there too. From experience I will tell you it is great. I got my cat from the pound and she was skinny and her fur was dull. After eating this she went to a healthy weight and her fur is gorgeous. It made a difference you can see. And also if I leave this food out for too long outside it will be attacked by ants. When I left out Whiskers the ants did not touch it!

Answer 3

Hi If you have to feed the best of the worst, then you want innova evo Read the labels. If you want to feed you cat correctly, you will read a bit on nutrtion


Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean?
http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms
The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process them. Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in
Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php

Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html
http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food_vs_Canned_Food.__Which_is_reall

Answer 4

You have to go to the pet store (not the grocery store) and read the labels. Do your research. You are looking for high protein counts and low ash. Look at the ingredients, does it have a bunch of stuff in it that just doesn't seem like it should be there? Wheat? Corn? By-products? Preservatives? Cats and dogs can digest rice better than other grains. I did major research for my cats and my dog. Just like you with your pets, I wanted only the best for them. My conclusion: the only food I will feed my animals is Nature's Recipe and have been for over 15 years. (Note, don’t confuse the name with Nature’s Choice. Not the same company.) I currently have two male cats, one of which was prone to urinary crystals before I adopted him. I feed both of them the Urinary System formula. Since eating this food he has never had another incident of crystals (5 years now) and the other one has never had crystals. Nature’s Recipe has no beef or wheat, no by products or fillers, and no artificial preservatives. And best of all, my pets absolutely love both the dry food and the canned food.

Answer 5

Wow are your kitties lucky!

Do not go by pet stores unless you have some kind of Holy Grail of Highest Almighty non biased stores nearby...

Here's what I did several years ago in a not so disimilar stuation. Mind, my deal was that my beloved kittie (now 18, pushing 19 years old) had developed FUS from the cheap food I was giving her. Sad baby.

I called my vet. She was a cat specialist. She must have given me 20 samples of food that she swore by for Sadie's needs and took weeks with me to find just the right one. (Large samples) She carefully explained the benefits of each (lower ash, easy to digest, best for urinary, hairball, indoor, etc.)

A non-biased vet will have at least 10 brands/types of food for you to try. A great vet will stand behind the ingredients and nutritional value and high quality of any food they offer. If you feel your vet is shilling - Call them on it! If you see a huge display of one brand (like science diet) find another vet.

A good vet needs to prove to you that they know what they're talking about. And if they do, like I said, they will have at least 10 brands for you to sample. And 10 more if the first 10 are not to the cat's liking.

I won't recommend a food - there are just too many variables. That said, whatever food I use I supplement it with good home kooking of unseasoned chicken breast mixed with rice. But that's for the old kitty's FUS.

Corner any vet on this subject - and demand to know why they like a certain brand.

Hope this helps and I wish you good luck in the maze of pet foods!

Answer 6

There are as many opinions on cat food as there are stars in the sky. Just because a brand is expensive, doesn't mean it is any better than another. If you're allowing e-mails, you will start to get multiple messages quoting certain "studies" or "tests" that one thing is better than another or than a certain food is "bad" for your cats. Realize that the figures can be made to say anything the person wants to say. Figures DO lie, depending on how you slant things. "Facts" are not always facts. It is incorrect to think there is one "best" food. However, the crackpots will argue with you on that one.

What do you want in a cat food? You want it to satisfy all your cat's requirements for nutrition, be affordable and not easily spoiled. You also need it to be easy to feed, store, and most of all the cat should like it. I have been raising cats all my life and currently breed Scottish Fold cats. I am feeding IAMS because the nutrition is satisfactory, the litterbox is less stinky and the cats seem to love it. My personal experience is that the dry food promotes better muscular development and is better for the teeth. Dry food is more enviornmentally responsible for me because I don't need to get rid of all those cans. Also, I know owners who feed their cat a nationally advertised brand from the grocery store and the cat is thriving. So I'm not telling you what brand to feed. You decide based on what you think is best -- or get an opinon from your vet.

My cats do NOT "crave" variety. Only owners crave variety. The variety I give my cats is in the treats they get, one per day. They are very healthy, beautiful cats with silky fur, bright, shiny eyes and are extremely active. I have NO vet bills other than for normal spay/neuter and immunizations. My cats are 100% indoor cats, too. Contrary to popular opinion, cats are not usually "finicky" about what they eat. Again, owners perceive them as finicky because their eating patterns may be different. If the cat is hungry, the cat will eat.

I think more than what you feed your cat, it is the environment the cat has. Anyone who allows their cat to go outdoors can't blame the cat food for any problems the cat has.

Answer 7

My kitten,Batty,was rescued from a bad situation two months ago.She was very skinny,had worms,and ringworm,and was just very unhealthy- looking.Of course I had her ringworm and worms treated,but she looks so much better now! Her fur is like satin,and her eyes are very bright and she's chubby! She has been eating a mixture of Purina ONE and Whiskas kitten foods as well as a small amount of canned ( Friskies,9-Lives) I also had two kittens dropped on my porch on Friday,and they have been eating the same thing,along with some Just Born kitten milk replacer,as they are only 4 weeks old.They have already gained weight,too.Here are some photos of my kittens.Batty is the black and white one,so you can see how good she looks. You really don't have to spend a fortune to have a healthy kitten,my cats won't even eat Nutro.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n85/Luna810/summertime2007646.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n85/Luna810/summertime2007641.jpg

Answer 8

Purina Cat Chow (sea food):)

Answer 9

nutro was one of the major brands in the recall