Community Chat

[emerald1010]

Hi Everyone,

I've been on this site before and find fanatastic information, especially when it comes to our furbabies. I've adopted a 2 yo female cat and would like to know what brand of cat food you use and if you would fill me in on any information you know about each brand.

I have posted on this topic before; however, it's overwhelming in finding the best quality food for our little furbabies because of where the ingredients are sourced, where the food is made, and having ingredients that shouldn't be in the food. I know that a lot of people recommend a raw food diet, but is that diet ok for a cat with a sensitive stomache and is it difficult to follow?

In researching, I've thought that maybe I should just go that route. I've been giving my cat Wellness and Merrick (given by the cat agency/plus it's what she's used to), and tried a few cans of Lotus and a can of Fromm. I've also tried the Wellness Signature Select. I like Lotus but am concerned about the agar-agar they have in it. Fromm only comes in the big cans and has so much carbs. I've read that cats don't need carbs, but you cannot get away from it because all brands are using it. Furthermore, Precious is slighly overweight, so I'd like for her to lose a few pounds. Friends have told me that they give their cats Wellness, but now I'm reading posts on the Internet on how cats have recently gotten sick and the owners think that the formula has been changed, although the company has told them that they didn't change anything.

Any information you'd like to share, is highly appreciated.

Thank you.

Anna

[NickNack]

Anna, I was going to recommend Wellness. I have fed it to my dogs for years because I think it's such a high quality food. Their coats have always been nice and shiny and beautiful. I have a friend who feeds it to her cat, and he's doing well on it. I would stick with that.

[Topaz Gem]

When I get new kittens (usually 2 at a time), I go to the pet store and buy one small can of several top natural brands and see what they like. They weren't too impressed with Wellness, Science Diet, or Iams, but they loved Natural Balance and Halo, so that's what they get. They also eat Halo dry cat food and they love that as well.

[denisemb]

Anna, we fed a homemade raw diet from the recipe located at catnutrition.org. You might want to read through there to see if you're up to it. Sounds more complicated than it really is, the more you do it, the easier it is. My husband could knock out 6 lbs. in about 45 min. which would last our two bengal cats over a month. (We froze it in small "daily" plastic bags packed into a container.)

I don't know what you mean by sensitive stomach, but we switched to raw because our early generation bengal couldn't tolerate commercial foods. (To be blunt, can you say explosive diahrrea? LOL) Another plus of a raw diet is virtually odorless litterboxes.

I understand there are companies that sell a frozen version of raw diets, so you might want to look into that, also.

[jaxs mom]

Have you been to catinfo.org? If not I'd go there. She has a wealth of information on cat nutrition.

Personally I find feeding my cats very frustrating. IMO there really is no perfect commercial food. To me the priorities are, firstly wet food not dry. Secondly no fillers like grains, or potatoes. Thirdly, preferably no ingredients listed as "meal", by products are ok. Fourthly don't pay for a bunch of water for example in Weruva ( which is a good food but the cost per calorie due to all the water is astronomical). Fifth, as much as I love the concept of 95% and 96% such as Merrick Before Grain 96% and Evo 95% they are high in fat so I'm paying for fat instead of meat. I don't like that either. Then there is the carrageenan ingredient issue.

If only my cats would eat prey model raw exclusively like my dogs. But they won't. They skip meals and look around and then I worry because they aren't eating. I've fed all the canned foods I listed in the past. I've tried feeding commercial raw also but my cats won't eat ground raw. Which is odd because they have no issue eating canned pate style food. So at this point, I'm feeding Fancy Feast Classic chicken, classic tender beef and classic turkey and giblets along with prey model raw. I wouldn't feed any of the other Fancy Feast foods. I'm an avid label reader and catinfo is what convinced me that the FF was ok to feed. At least they are getting meats and organs instead of grains, vegetables and fillers or too much fat.

My dogs have been on prey model raw for about 10 years so the fact that I have not been able to completely convert my cats is really frustrating for me.

[lolakimono]

I started here:

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/

[emerald1010]

Everyone, thank you for your replies, I highly appreciate it. I do agree that there is not perfect commercial brand. Thanks for the link to the blog. I want to provide a link regarding Wellness and also go onto their FB page, people have been posting how their pets have gotten sick (look at the comments of the link I provided, too). http://petfoodtalk.com/catfoodreviews/wellness-cat-food/

Furthermore, as stated in my original post, I also just recently bought the Wellness chicken formula pate and the Signature Select brand, which I just recently learned is made in Thailand. Are food made in Thailand safe and of top quality? I have read that Tiki Cat and Weruva are made in Thailand, but have good reviews. With the scare a few years ago and the recent controversy with Beneficial, it has me worried.

Thanks again!