Best foods

[Archer]

What do you all suggest is the best cat food....dry and wet?

[nursecroft]

I feed Betz dry and wet, that was what she was used to when i got her, ive changed them from royal canin and felix (both terrible) to nature's menu and orijen, shes doing much better on this diet and has firm poo's yay we had a problem with her having an upset tummy for ages, having gradually weaned her onto this better food it has worked

What you should look at is
No corn no gluten no soya no beet no garlic no onion no wheat and no dairy.
You must have taurine in there whether it is added or natural. If there is a high natural chicken content including offal you will probably have enough occurance naturally.

This is interesting

http://messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm

[Erin]

Mine are also fed wet and dry. They have natures menu which they all love. And ill have to disagree with the last poster,my 3 are on royal canin sensible and are all doing very well on it. We went onto royal canin from james wellbeloved as Jerry has a sensitive tummy and we havnt looked back since,we also have firm poos and their coats are looking better than they ever have

[MrsH]

The problem with recommending particular foods is that it's really down to personal choice and there are many factors to take into account.

Mine are fed dry, they like it, it's convenient and doesn't smell so doesn't cause a problem if they just eat a little bit, go away, come back later, eat a bit more and so on.

Whatever food you choose, it's a good idea to avoid artificial additives, colourings, flavourings and sugars so make sure you study the labels carefully.

Mine are fed JWB (James Wellbeloved), their poo is firm, their teeth and gums are good and healthy. As Erin said, Royal Canin is also a good one and has the advantage that it's available in a range of varieties for different dietary requirements.

There are also lots of excellent wet foods out there too, but the most advertised ones, commonly stocked by all supermarkets are not generally the most recommended.

[Az]

I feed my cat Whiskas because I was assured it was completely natural and free from additives etc

I think we need some kind of watchdog that would actually look into these claims, because I do find it hard to believe myself..

[Archer]

Thanks everyone.
I feed a mixture of wet and dry and a mixture of any premium food.I have a large airtight container(holds about 10kg of dry food)..I buy whatever premium dry is on offer at the time and mix it with whats in the cat food bin.(ROYAL CANIN,HILLS,JWB,JOES ETC).They also get a variety of premium wet foods....natures menu,hilife etc.Never have any problem with lose 'waste'
Does anyone see a problem with this?The cats all look great and have lovely coats.

[Elaine]

Hi Archer, my two are currently fed on a mix of wet and dry. I am often looking at whats best to feed them, and was looking into raw feeding for a bit but after a lengthy discussion with my new vet, I have decided against this in the mean time. Since living with a CRF cat and talking alot with other CRF cat owners, I am now looking at reducing their dry food in order to not put so much pressure on their kidneys. But thats just my personal aproach to feeding my own cats. I have switched from Royal canin to Orijen, dry food, for the time being and although the cats are enjoying it, their waste is much smellier. I am now reducing this and feeding more wet food, which is not going to be an easy transition for Eva coz she loves her dry food more than the wet. Bernie remembers a time of having no food and so he eats anything .

[nursecroft]

I think it does depend on your cat, like it or not royal canin does contain fillers that arent great for your cat, however some cats do fine on it, this doesnt mean its the best food for them in my opinion that is Betz has a delicate tummy so this showed in her stool. Whiskas is one of the worst offenders, it contains some pretty awful ingredients and the little meat that is in it is often road kills including cats!!

This is a scary article:

http://www.azmira.com/ToxicFoods.htm

I know people who have lost their cats to conditions caused by bad diet and for some loose change i am not willing to take that risk with my animals, she may live to 20 on felix but then i know she has a delicate tummy and chances are she would have problems. Its like saying you wont die from smoking, not everyone will but the risk is much higher. That is my opinion on the subject

I think whatever you do its great to get opinions from people and read some research on what is good and bad in cat foods and then decide what you think. This is what i did

[Kim]

I feed my cats a mixture of wet & dry food. I do feed them natures menu & hi-life, but they also get whiskas and felix 'as good as it looks' because they like it! They are all good ages and healthy and my cats in the past have been feed these food and again been healthy and lived to good ages. I agree that it is down to personal choice and budget! For dry food I either feed Royal canin sensitive which they absolutely love, have fed this food for many years now, but I also buy James wellbeloved too.

[EmmaG]

James Wellbeloved and Natures Menu for my two they seem to thrive on it. No waste, never turn their noses up to it.