What is a good cat food that's easily found?

Question

My cat is currently on ''By Nature, Organics''. By all means, there's nothing wrong with it, but she just doesn't seem to have the shiny coat I'm used to cats having. Are gray tabbies just that way? Anyways, if you could give me your ideas of good quality food, that's easy to find (Petco/Petsmart, preferably, since they're EVERYWHERE), that'd be great.

So, what food brand(s) does your feline fancy, and that also has a nice effect on their skin/coat? Or even a nice type of treat that's known to help out?

P.S. Here's a couple pictures of my cat (Hurricane Katrina rescue):
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Ok, how about some mature answers? She's not going to eat live mice (I own rats!), the vets tend to offer Science Diet and I want something better than that.

My cat is 100% healthy, she just had her vaccinations a few weeks ago, and along with that, was a general check-up. Trust me when I say my cat doesn't DISLIKE any type of food. She is addicted to food. She was obese when I adopted her a year ago, because the foster mom allowed her to free-feed, and she's the type to just keep eating. I know better than to do a quick switch. I've owned cats for my entire life time, so I know how to care for them, I just want peoples' opinions on the new foods that are out now, and which are actually good quality.

She started off on Blue Buffalo, but once the ''recall'' situation occurred, I switched her to By Nature, because Blue Buffalo was having problems with their manufacturer adding ingredients without listing them.

Can't ''check on the breed'', when she probably isn't any one breed in particular. She's a rescue cat, and I have no history on her before the rescue got her. (I work with the rescue).

How about this......no Friskies, Meow Mix, Fancy Feast, Purina Cat Chow, Science Diet, IAMs, etc.

I want real good quality food for her.

Answer 1

Mice.

Answer 2

See my what to feed link - most of these have store locators. All are quite good foods.

Personally, Wellness, Evo and Natural Balance seem to be the brands most easy to find. NB is sold in Petco stores in Wisconsin and perhaps in other states as well. You'll have your best luck in indy pet stores rather than chains. Drive right past PetSmart - I haven't seen a good food there yet.

Organic markets carry some good brands, as might your local Humane Society. (The one in Milwaukee has a little store inside it.) Some vet offices sell food - my holistic one does. You don't have to be a client to shop there.

I feed Nature's Variety Instincts but it's $1.79 for a 5.5 oz can. I used to feed Natural Balance. Both girls' coats are beautiful, and both get regular brushing.

The vet I just saw recommended fish oil to improve coat condition, particularly for Poppy who still has some trouble reaching her hind end (she's "big-boned.") This is a quite safe and good thing to add to your cat's diet. I bought Nordic Naturals, but I just saw someone recommend Grizzly Salmon Oil. I may try that when I run out of the current stuff.

I've started slowly with it - just a drop or two once per day since last Saturday so I haven't noticed any change yet.

EDIT: My last cat was named Martha - she came with it and I grew to like it on her.

Answer 3

My old one (18 years) had FUS, so I was cautious when changing his diet. He has been quite happy with Iams. Only the dry Iams. I feed canned 9 Lives for breakfast and dinner. Neither were ever on the recall list. And Karl is still playing with the Pit bull and the 2 year old 'kitten.' For more shine, and your photos show that you don't really need to worry about that, a good hand rubdown will work wonders. I'm sure you know how to do that. If not, experiment. When the cat purs, you got the right technique.

Answer 4

Well first off, your cat's coat looks gorgeous in those pics! She's a mackerel tabby with a ticked (note the hairs are black on the ends) very short coat. So it probably IS shiny it's just not as easy to see in a short coat.

What you can do is get some salmon oil (they do sell it at PetSmart) and squirt some on her food (Grizzly's the one we use). It's loaded with fatty acids which not only will make her coat nice and silky but promote better health overall.

I've found the best cat food for keeping my cats coats in the best condition is Innova Evo. It's 50% protein and contains NO grain. So it's much more like a natural diet. I looked up the food you're feeding and though the NAME sounds healthy it's really not:

First five ingredients in By Nature Organics Cat with 31% protein (note two of them are grain):

- Chicken Meal
- Ground Barley
- Chicken Fat
- Ground Oats
- Chicken

First five ingredients in Innova Evo with 50% protein:

- Turkey
- Chicken Meal
- Chicken
- Herring Meal
- Chicken Fat

You can't find Innova Evo at PetSmart or Petco but if you have higher end pet stores in your area you can find it there. You can also order it online.

Another product pet stores has that goes a LONG way to healthier coats is feeding your cat a raw diet instead of canned foods. Mine love one called "Nature's Variety". I was surprised to find it's actually quite inexpensive - about $10 for a bag full of 48 frozen medallions of the ground mixture - which amounts to about 48 small cans of cat food! Here's a link to that product if you want to check it out: http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?page=1509&-session=naturesvariety:4C164ED41ae7f27697igkK5E82F9 It's also nice that it comes frozen as you don't have to worry about it spoiling and only need to take out a medallion or two, defrost in the microwave and serve. And all three of my cats love it.

Answer 5

Ok...first you should check w/ your vet if your concerned w/ your cats coat. Switching food isn't the best thing to do - your cat may not like the food, or your cat could get sick...and if your food is good why change it? Do you brush your cat regularly? That would help w/ the shiny coat. Also, you should check on your cats breed to find out what the coat should be like. But perhaps your cat is sick or something? It's always best to check with your vet about your pets nutrition and especially if your concerned about your cats health - and her coat is a part of that. So, check in iwth your vet before you make a decision.

Answer 6

My cats didn't like the By Nature Organics, nor did they care for Artemis. They like Evanger's and Nature's Variety Instinct (lamb more than chicken). They like CA Natural salmon and sweet potato and not the chicken in that line.

My cats have a can of food in the morning and then a home-prepared raw meat diet for their dinner.

I have ordered cases from PetFoodDirect and the shipping charges add considerably to the cost though occasionally I have gotten discounts to offset some of that. I don't think any of the quality pet foods are "easy to find". We have a couple of stores in my area that carry ONLY the best cat foods.

Answer 7

Aww, pretty kitty!

I've never seen a (something) and black tabby that was shiny and silky looking. It's just a quality of their fur and how its colored. I think it's called "ticked" or something.

Anyway, my cat usually doesn't mind the regular brand stuff like Whiskas and Meow Mix. He's nice and shiny, but then again, he's solid black. His diet's also supplemented by occasional treats and (ew!) rodents and birds he sneaks up to in the night.

Your cat looks healthy and happy, and that's what's important. If you're concerned, take her to the vet.

Answer 8

Try calling your local pet stores that aren't petco or petsmart and see what they sell. I've had great success with Wellness, Merrick and Innova Evo. I've never had a problem with shiny fur on my cats but it got even better on the Wellness, etc. If you don't have a local place you might try ordering online (I like petfooddirect.com). Petco and Petsmart don't have the best foods but my favorite from there is Royal Canin. Good Luck to you.

Answer 9

Myself and my parents have always used Purina Cat food, the adult in the blue bag. I had a female tabby for 5 years and that is the only cat food that she ever ate. Her coat, eyes and fur was shiny and always beautiful. I have looked at the more expensive brand but Purina has always worked for my kitty's. My parents had a Siamese that lived on Purina for 20 years (on the dry cat food) and her last year on moist cat food... she had a hard time the last year of her life eating hard cat food. I have two male cats, one is solid black and the other black and white...the black and white one is my ex-brother in laws cat...he is in Iraq and i am foster his cat for him...But when Camshaft "Buddy" first came to my home his coat was not shiny at all...He was eating Iam's...switch him to Purina and a few weeks later his coat was shiny as could be....my boy's have beautiful black shiny coats...It is cheap enough to try for a few weeks....good luck...Purina does animal test also....I don't think their are many that don't...unless you buy off the internet for no animal testing...
Danette
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Answer 10

To tell you the whole truth. The only brand I trust is meow mix. When my 10 year old cat was dying, we were trying to see what food she would eat (she had to have the food mashed and then mixed with water) we tried everything from ims to fancy feast. I'm not quite sure about science diet though but the rest of the foods were rubbery and fake and chunky. The meow mix was really food that is smothered in gravy and such. it was like human food that you and I would eat , but it is healthy for cats.

Answer 11

Many thanks to you for rescuing your baby!!!
I know you said no Iams, but that is what my cats truly prefer. I have fed lamb and rice for the last 14 years, and they all like it and thrive. In an effort to do better, I got 2 kinds of dry Felidae and a bunch of Fel. cans. They won't eat it. So it's back to Iams, and all kinds of different cans, because 'new is better' to them it seems. Mine are all beautiful with shiny coats.