Best Cat Foods - How do you pick them?

[Tazicket]

Is there a good website out there that can help you pick a healthy cat food? I've done some searches and am having some trouble picking out the good, solid advice from all the results.

Right now, we're feeding our (almost) 2-year-old cat Iams (the kind that is supposed to help with digestion, b/c regular Iams upset her stomach when we first tried to put her on it after her kitten food). She's been putting on some extra weight and we're wondering if her food has something to do with it.

I saw a thread not long ago about how Iams dog food is so dreadful and I'm concerned that their cat food might not be much better. Are there any guidelines to refer to when picking out a good, healthy cat food? Any guidance would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Imzadi]

I need a good cat food too. My cat is allergic to fish. I got her off that, but she might also be allergic to corn or wheat or...? I finally got her on a good feeding schedule to slowly lose a couple pounds. Now, I'd like to get her on a better food that does not irritate her.

 

[ThanksForNoticingMe]

Innova, Wellness, Evolve, and Newmans Own.... are all brands of cat food that have all natural HUMAN GRADE ingrediants; which are the healthest and safest.

 

[Imzadi]

I would still like a website that actually lists them by ingredients, if possible. Newman's Own actually has many fish products in their cat foods. Fish is not a food indigineous to cats. They do not go in the water to fish for their food. Many cats are actually allergic to fish. All those corn & grains aren't necessarily good for cats either. So just because food is "human grade" does not necessarily mean it's good for cats.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

I did a lot of research back when the tainted cat food issue came to light. I started feeding my cats Merrick canned cat food and Felidae dry. I would use Merrick dry if they made it for cats, unfortunately they don't. We tried the Felidae canned and my cats didn't like it.

These are a little cha-ching...so since I have become unemployed we've had to start using Friskies again. But I'm looking forward to switching back when we can afford it.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

A good rule of thumb is to check the ingredients. If a food is chicken flavor, the first ingredient should be "chicken", not chicken by-product or chicken meal. If you are concerned about weight, try adding in some canned diet. Can food is more similar to what cats would naturally eat. Also consider portion control. For a standard size cat, a level 1/4 cup of dry food morning and night should be sufficient (or one 3 oz can morning and night, or 1/2 of a 5 oz can morning and night with a level 1/4 cup of dry for the day).

Dry food is generally higher in carbohydrates. Just like a cake needs flour to hold it together, dry foods need flour or corn or something similar. This is unnatural for a cat. Compare it to our high carb foods - chips, pretzels, cookies - we can eat them all day and never feel full. A housecat will eat out of boredom just like we do, and may not feel satisfied on dry food, and end up overeating. By the way, regular dry food is not better for their teeth. The only dry food that can actually make a difference when it comes to tartar and plaque are diets that are specially designed to do so (t/d, oral care, dental health, etc.)

Canned food is higher in protein and generally has fewer carbs. If you think about what cats would eat in the wild (mice, birds, lizards - mostly muscle/protein and fat) it is a more natural diet for them. The higher protein will leave them feeling more satisfied, just like when we eat high protein foods. Think of steak and eggs - you can only eat so much before you feel full and can't take another bite. Also canned food has more water content, which is good b/c cats originate from desert creatures and typically don't drink enough water.

Dry "diet" and "light" foods tend to be high in fiber - the bulk may make them feel fuller, but it may need be meeting their nutritional needs.

In general, finding a good food is a challenge. No one company knows everything there is to know about cat nutrition. How ridiculous would it be for someone to hand you a bag of crackers and say "Thse are fortifed with everything you'll ever need. Eat this and only this for the rest of your life." You would look at them a little funny, wouldn't you?

Now if you are looking for unprocessed, organic way-of-life type foods that's a little more difficult. That's even fairly difficult and inconvenient when humans try to do it; unfortunately that's just the world we live in. But for the most part, any higher quality food you can find at reputable pet supply stores should meet your cat's nutritional needs.

Keep in mind, too, there is "ideal" and there is "reality." Reality is that not every pet owner can afford state of the art medical care, or the most expensive organic food, or has time to prepare specialty raw diets (I am not an advocate of raw diets, btw). If all you can afford is Iams and Fancy Feast, well so be it. It's like people eating Doritos, Wendy's or ice cream. Sure it's not the best thing ever in the long run, but it won't kill you. I'd just try not to buy the cheapest thing in the grocery store, as those tend to have lots of fillers and little nutritional value.

As if that's not long winded enough, in any discussion about cat nutrition I need to add that cats are obligate carnivores. They MUST eat meat. Vegitarian diets will NOT meet their nutritional needs. I've never met a vet who disagreed with this.

Good luck finding foods for your little guy.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Just look for the ones stamped, "Made in China"...

 

[MomofKatie]

This site has GREAT info regarding nutritional info for different dry and canned foods- http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html

A vet wrote this- it contains a lot of information about the "whys" and "hows" of good feline nutrition- http://www.catinfo.org/

Hope they help!!

 

[denisem]

jwhtewolfd - I'm interested in why you don't advocate raw...?

 

[Tina]

I second the recommendation to read this site: http://www.catinfo.org/index.htm

I switched my babies to Wellness grain-free after reading here. The changes in them have been amazing.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

jwhtewolfd - I'm interested in why you don't advocate raw...?

It's more a lack of faith in the owner's ability to execute it properly for me than anything else. There's so much that can go wrong. People don't even want to take the time to scoop a litter box once a day, but they expect me to believe they will put in the time and effort to gather the proper information, ingredients, proportions, etc.

You know that saying, "people are smart"? I don't buy it. People are dumb (myself included). Which explains why I prefer to work with animals. What the heck do I know about cars or plumbing or the proper way to process food for extended storage, etc, etc, etc? Many more people are much more knowledgeable than I am in many areas. And I benefit from their expertise. I can't stand when a Mr. Know It All thinks he knows more than the professionals/experts.

In this case, I think animal health professionals and reputable companies dedicated to researching animal nutrition are better prepared to meet a pets needs than the organic-obsessed owner who gets some recipes off the internet. You know that saying, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"? THAT one I agree with.

Now if someone really wanted to put in the time and effort and consulted with their veterinarian who was experienced with raw diets, more power to them, but that is not usually the case, IMHE.

 

[flying_babyb]

mine eat meow mix and natures choice. I buy meow mix alot due to price and the fact my little pigs can handle digesting it (sensitive tummys). Im not sure its the most healthy but then again my cats eat vegitables from the garden too.

 

[themarquis]

We feed Iams Multi-Cat. It's a little different than some of the other Iams. It has a higher amount of protein, and the ingredients are better than other iams foods -- chicken is the first or second ingredient.

A while back, I went through this crisis of conscience where I dcided to switch their multi-cat because iams is so bad for them blah blah blah. There is a lot of info online about the major cat food brands and how evil and toxic they are and blah blah blah and to be honest, after reading a ton of stuff, I am not really convinced anymore. There's just way too much woo-woo pet food stuff online on random people's geocities pages or whatever ... anecdotal information about someone's pet whose health problem was magically cured by woo-woo organic food, etc. ... it's just not a credible source of information. (not saying it's false -- just not credible enough to base a decision on).

So long story short, I did briefly get convinced and switch their food and then switched back. Didn't seem to make a difference. Their Multi-cat has an acceptable ingredients list and gives our boys nice, shiny coats. Seems pretty good to me, but what do I know?

 

[ThanksForNoticingMe]

I would still like a website that actually lists them by ingredients, if possible. Newman's Own actually has many fish products in their cat foods. Fish is not a food indigineous to cats. They do not go in the water to fish for their food. Many cats are actually allergic to fish. All those corn & grains aren't necessarily good for cats either. So just because food is "human grade" does not necessarily mean it's good for cats.

Some cats certainly have problems with fish... and it is true that fish are not part of the natural diet of cats. However human grade foods are still the best choice for a pet's diet.

For one thing testing protocols for human-quality ingredients are far more stringent than they are for feed-grade ingredients. Secondly, human-quality ingredients do not include any waste or out-dated fragments of anything not fit for human consumption. They are screened for contaminants, visually inspected, and tested for nutritional content before entering the human food chain. This insures that human-quality ingredients are robust and chock-full of naturally-occurring nutrients and enzymes.