Community Chat

[Pak5143]

My five year old rescue kitty has no interest at all in canned food, so I want to give her the best dry food on the market. However, I'm confused by all the ingredients listed on the labels. Anyone know which one is considered to be the best?

[mewsmomtoo]

I'm sure there are others out there who are better informed than I am and I'm sure they will reply soon. My best advice is avoid buying anything that lists by-products of any kind, especially as one of the first few ingredients. If you can wait a couple of weeks and you live near a Petsmart, Pet Club, Petz Place or possibly a Petco, I would go there on Sat and Sun and get samples from the vendors that will prob. have tables set up within the store.

Also, if you live in a major metropolitan area, chances are PetSmart will have a PetExpo once or twice a year in your area and you can collect all kinds of samples plus talk to them about any special needs your cat might have.

[FlowershopGirl]

My search for good food took me to a specialty store here in my neighborhood and I found a food my cat really loves not to mention its the only one she doesn't have tummy issues with. Its Orijen six fish and its made with wild-caught regional saltwater and freshwater fish. Its low glycemic and the first ten ingredients are of premium fish source. My MIL is not near a shop that sells it so she went to Pet Food Direct and buys it online and they often offer free s&h and a discount!!

[redtabby]

My cats like Oirjen too, I have to mix it with a Wilderness high fiber dry food because one cat is prone to constipation. The Wilderness foods are very good, if your cat can tolerate the low fiber ones you may find that stools are small and not so smelly.

[Poppet1]

My cats LOVE Blue Buffalo. Withing 2 wks of them eating it, their fur was so much softer and energy is through the roof. You can get it at Petsmart and Petco. Mine love the dry and wet.

[Topaz Gem]

I think that nowadays there are many high quality brands on the market. The key is finding the one that your kitty will like. We have a local pet store (not a national chain) that freely gives samples and if you can find one that does too, you can see what your kitty likes best. It's better than buying a 6 lb. or more bag and then having to donate it because your kitty won't eat it.

[lolakimono]

When I got my two rescue kitties, I followed the advice on this blog.

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

They eat wet food primarily, with dry Blue Buffalo in treat balls.

[JLLH358]

Raw. Dry food is really not good for cats (or dogs, either, but that's another story). Cats need the moisture in their food because, regardless of what humans think, they do not drink enough on their own to keep the moisture level where it needs to be in their bodies: hence the problems with kidney failure as they age. Here are some links from holistic vet Karen Becker on the issue of cats and dry food:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/17/dry-food-wrong-for-cats.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/05/25/wet-cat-food-diet.aspx

You can also check out the nutrition section on holistic vet Jean Hofve's site: littlebigcat.com, but here's another link on problems with dry food and cats:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/

[TootyJane]

We adopted a cat two years ago from the Humane Society. He was fed Science Diet. My son's boss feeds their pets raw food. We decided to give it a try. However, he will have absolutely nothing to do with wet food. We tried for 2 months to get him on the raw food. We decided on Merrick cat food. He loves it and I feel better giving him a cat food that is grain free. I buy Merrick at Petco. HTH

[JLLH358]

On 3/30/2014 TootyJane said: We adopted a cat two years ago from the Humane Society. He was fed Science Diet. My son's boss feeds their pets raw food. We decided to give it a try. However, he will have absolutely nothing to do with wet food. We tried for 2 months to get him on the raw food. We decided on Merrick cat food. He loves it and I feel better giving him a cat food that is grain free. I buy Merrick at Petco. HTH

Yes, sadly, cats become addicted to what they are eating and any change can take a long time, but it's well worth it to get them on a better diet! There are great links on the Mercola site, among others, which tell steps to take to get a cat switched. Some people have had to take up to a year, but when they do and they see the difference in their cat's health -- well worth it!! It can be done!!

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/03/10/how-to-transition-your-cat-to-ra...

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/03/17/how-to-transition-your-cat-to-ra...