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 :D 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 :D

[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:lol: .

[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!! :shock:

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 :D

[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.

[Erin]

Royal Canin is the best food that my budget will allow me to feed my cats, so imo it IS the best food that I can feed them.
If some peoples budgets will only allow them to feed Whiskers,Felix ect, (or if their cats will only eat Whiskers or Felix) then imo they are not feeding them rubbish,they are feeding them the best foods that they can afford.
As MrsH said choosing what to feed your cats is down to personal choice. Dont feel pressurised to spend money that you just havnt got on a more expensive brand if your cats are doing well on another or if somebody else tells you that another particular brand is "better".
Dont let people make you feel guilty for what you are feeding your cats,you know your furbaby better than anybody else and you know when they are happy and healthy.

[nursecroft]

Im a staff nurse and certainly do not have alot of money! :( (wish i did!) i think when you have animals you take on the responsibilty to give them the best. This does not mean my opinion on food is the best, its what i believe based on what i have read and been told, doesnt mean everyone will agree with me. This is why there are threads like this to find out what people think not to pressurise anyone into buying a particular food. Like i said before i had no idea about food until Betz had an upset tummy.

Looks like you have lots of information to mull over anyway! :D

[yola]

I think to align cat food risk to smoking risk is irresponsible - and as a nurse you should know better than to draw that analogy.

I have fed a certain and obviously much-derided dry food for over 10 years and previous tummy upsets completely disappeared with this food.

I have tried nature's menu and it was tollerated for a while. Applaws was left almost untouched by all 3 cats. And these are cats who will eat fresh chicken, salmon and (real) ham.

I'm not paying £1.50 per tin for something that's going to dry out on a plate and I don't care how much I'm told it's good for my cats!

So my opinion would be to go with what your budget will allow and what your cat enjoys!

[nursecroft]

How is that irresponsible?!!!! Maybe i should have compared it to a person having junk food then?! :roll: Whatever you compare it with bad food can harm your cat whether you like it or not! This is my opinion which im perfectly intitled to thankyou.

Im simply explaining the way i see things, just because you dont agree with me does not mean my point is not valid.

Im not getting into an arguement i stand by what i say because it is what I believe.

[yola]

How is that irresponsible?!!!! Maybe i should have compared it to a person having junk food then?! :roll: Whatever you compare it with bad food can harm your cat whether you like it or not! This is my opinion which im perfectly intitled to thankyou.

Im simply explaining the way i see things, just because you dont agree with me does not mean my point is not valid.

Im not getting into an arguement i stand by what i say because it is what I believe.


Goodness - you and your friends are so horribly defensive aren't you?

I have read and re-read my post several times and I really can't see where I have mentioned that your point of view is not valid. Maybe you'd be kind enough to highlight this for me in a clear, rational and non-emotive manner?

[nursecroft]

And you are seriously unfriendly, of course im going to defend my point. You told me i was irresponsible for pointing out feeding cats bad food effects their health. Im not having this silly arguement over the way something is said in a post it really is ridiculous.

Your post was aggresive towards me by underlining the fact apparantly im a irresponsible nurse. Maybe if you tried to get to know us instead of picking at everything we say you'd see we're actually nice people that are passionate about our animals.

I really dont care what you feed your cats, thats up to you, i was posting to the person that started this thread, im sure they have their own opinions and are quite capable at drawing their own conclusion. I did not post my message to be attacked... again! I really cant see how me believeing in feeding my cat what i feel is best offends you so much.

Please can we stop this now and not ruin another thread.

[MrsH]

Nursecroft - may I ask a question in a genuine attempt to understand something which may be rather disturbing?

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!! :shock:

Do you have proof, any evidence to back up this statement? If this is true then it is appalling, if the proof of this statement cannot be produced, then I am very concerned that you have raised it in a public forum, leaving the way open for the manufacturer to sue for libel! I read the article that you quoted but no manufacturers were named in it. May I ask where your information came from?

[nursecroft]

Yeh sure :D You only have to look at the ingredients to see why.

Whiskas wet food pouches:

Ingedients: Chicken, Liver, Meat by-products, Modified Corn Starch, Colour, Natural Flavour, Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Gums, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Salt, Taurine, Vitamins and Minerals, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Nitrite (for colour retention), BHA/BHT, Water Sufficient for processing.

- chicken and liver but no word on what grade of meat.
Meat by-products are not meat - they're parts of an animal not fit for human consumption
Look - it also has BHA and BHT - both are chemical preservatives and carcinogenic (cause cancer)... I believe they've banned both from human products.
Sodium tripolyphosphate - sure it's good... for CLEANING PRODUCTS.
Disodium EDTA - this is TOXIC
Salt, modified cornstarch and artificial colours?!

Correct me anyone if im wrong i got the ingredient list from the net as i dont have any actual packets.

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

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

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/7Secrets.html

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/redflag.html

http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1

http://alter-idem.smartmonkey.org/cats/goodbadandugly.htm

http://hubpages.com/hub/Whiskas_Temptations_Chicken_Flavor_Cat_Treat


Like i have said before i knew nothing about food before i had problems with Betz, i had moggies before that i fed on whiskas/felix because i didnt know any better. I dont want to offend anyone I have been really shocked at what they put in the food i used to feed my cats and feel people should know.

Mummsy has spoken to alot of cat manufacturers, she knows way more than me so ask her if you like.

I hope this is useful?

[MrsH]

Thank you Nursecroft, that was very interesting. I know you feel strongly about ethically produced pet-food, however you did not direct your answer to my specifically highlighted words from a previous post of yours.

Where is the evidence that Whiskas ( named directly by you) does actually use "road kills including cats" None of the articles you quoted specifically states that this company carries out this practice. Unless you have direct evidence to support your specific claim, then I repeat that you are leaving the way open for the manufacturer to sue for libel.

[bobbie3917]

i think you should feed what you can afford, if you are not happy with prepacked food then maybe make your own, i have done this with the dogs for many years and yes they were much better on it but sometimes when defrosting large amounts of meat in this heat its not nice to live with, or to keep large amounts of meat as i dont have the room any more (i know it wont be such large amounts with cats).

at the moment the cats are on wet and dry, i am thinking about changing the wet for raw but i want to get rosie very settled first. the dry is royal canin and at the moment both are fine on it.

were ever you look online you will find that dry is bad then go to a different site and wet is bad then on to another site and raw is bad, its up to you to feed the best you can afford and at this time where money is getting tight for a lot of people the middle run foods will just have to do

[nursecroft]

Thank you Nursecroft, that was very interesting. I know you feel strongly about ethically produced pet-food, however you did not direct your answer to my specifically highlighted words from a previous post of yours.

Where is the evidence that Whiskas ( named directly by you) does actually use "road kills including cats" None of the articles you quoted specifically states that this company carries out this practice. Unless you have direct evidence to support your specific claim, then I repeat that you are leaving the way open for the manufacturer to sue for libel.

:cat19 Fair point, i would edit my post to some commercial food, rather than naming whiskers, but dont think i can as i posted it a while ago? Thanks i should have thought before i posted. I get abit over excited!:cat34

[EmmaG]

I seriously cannot believe that any manufacturer of pet food would go to the trouble of collecting animal carcases from the roadside to include in their food????

1 There wouldn't be enough roadkills to actually make this practice profitable to the said company.

2 You will find that the council clean up a lot of the roadkills on Britain's road NOT some pet food manufacturer.

[Elaine]

I think the thinking behind it is that roadkill and euthanised animals are taken to a rendering plant and from there they some how end up in pet foods.
http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=73332426806406&mkt=en-GB&lang=en-GB&w=1df86be4,88282259&FORM=CVRE

[EmmaG]

Elaine that article said that it is a myth??? or am I missing something?

Quote

Pet foods contain euthanased pets, zoo animals and road kill.
This may be a myth started by raw food advocates to stop people feeding commercial pet foods. Although some studies in the US claim that pet food contains levels of phenobarbitone (the chemical used for euthanasia) this has not been seen in UK pet foods.
Pet owners wanting to know the type of meat used in a pet food should choose one that lists the source by name rather than a more general term such as 'animal meat' or 'animal derivatives'
All the ingredients in Burns are labeled and we only use chicken, fish, pork, venison, lamb and duck in our diets. Burns is made in the UK.

[Elaine]

According to Burns, they say it may be a myth. I love conspiracies but I think that it is a myth personally.;)

[Archer]

Whiskas wet food pouches:

Ingedients: Chicken, Liver, Meat by-products, Modified Corn Starch, Colour, Natural Flavour, Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Gums, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Salt, Taurine, Vitamins and Minerals, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Nitrite (for colour retention), BHA/BHT, Water Sufficient for processing.

- chicken and liver but no word on what grade of meat.
Meat by-products are not meat - they're parts of an animal not fit for human consumption
Look - it also has BHA and BHT - both are chemical preservatives and carcinogenic (cause cancer)... I believe they've banned both from human products.
Sodium tripolyphosphate - sure it's good... for CLEANING PRODUCTS.
Disodium EDTA - this is TOXIC
Salt, modified cornstarch and artificial colours?!




I ca understand the worries with additives etc but I assume by-products would mean feet,beaks etc....surely cats/dogs would eat this in nature?Cats eat the whole of the animal they kill to get a balanced diet and excrete any waste.

[Daisy-Doo]

I ca understand the worries with additives etc but I assume by-products would mean feet,beaks etc....surely cats/dogs would eat this in nature?Cats eat the whole of the animal they kill to get a balanced diet and excrete any waste.

I agree. It also includes feathers, hair etc...Which I'm not particularly thrilled about, but don't have a problem with most ABPs. And personally, I'm more concerned about the high grain/carbohydrates in some cat foods.

Offer me a food that has no by-products, but is high in grain, and another that has by-products listed with no grains added....And I'll go for the grain-free anytime:)

[dandysmom]

Cats in the wild do get some grains/vegetable matter. partially digested, I assume. when they eat the intestines. Some cats pluck the bird before eating, but do get some feathers too.....just a passing thought after reading the above

[Fiorella-Bella]

Since I'm from the states... I feed Fiorella Innova.
Innova or Wellness Core, Chicken Soup for the cat lovers soul,and EVO are just a few of the really good ones out here to use!

[nursecroft]

Wild cats eat primarily protein. Domestic cats eat more carbohydrate as cereals (cheap) are processed to make them as digestible as meat (expensive).

"Processed cereal and other vegetable proteins are cheap fillers. The items used include wheat, soy, maize, peanut hulls, rice and potato. The amount and type of carbohydrate in pet food affects the nutrient value the animal actually gets. White rice is highly digestible, even for cats, but other grains must be processed to make them 75%-80% digestible."

"Some "harmless" chemicals are toxic to cats due to the way their livers work. The preservative ethoxyquin used in dog food has never been tested for safety in cats, another reason cats should not eat dog food. Ethoxyquin is no longer used in human foods. It was developed as a rubber stabilizer and herbicide similar to Agent Orange and may cause liver/kidney damage, skin cancers and leukaemia, hair-loss, sight loss, foetal abnormalities and chronic diarrhoea. In animals it may also cause immune deficiencies, spleen, stomach and liver cancer.

Cats have limited ability to taste sweetness, but sweeteners are still found in cat food: beet pulp sugar, glucose, sucrose, corn syrup or molasses. They are not necessarily used to make the food taste sweet. Corn syrup is a "humectant and plasticizer" i.e. makes food moist and chewy. Diabetes is increasing in cats and may be linked to the over-consumption of sugar. Added sugar also affects the absorption of other nutrients and can affect bowel fauna. Artificial sweeteners may be linked to aggression and hyperactivity. It is alleged that unscrupulous cat food manufacturers rely on sweeteners to "addict" cats to dry foods in the same way that one company was alleged to add amphetamines to addict cats to a brand of canned food.

Salt increases palatability but excessive salt intake causes hypertension and kidney problems. A balance of sodium is vital for cellular health, but excessive amounts are damaging. Salt is added to dry food to stimulate the cat to drink and reduce likelihood of urinary blockages. Iodised salt may also be linked to the increase in hyperthyroidism in cats.

The feeding of cat food which is incomplete (not nutritionally balanced) will cause disease. Taurine deficiency leads to blindness and, if not rectified, death. Taurine-deficient cat foods occur because animal protein ingredients are decreasing and carbohydrates are increasing. Cats cannot make taurine in their own bodies and taurine comes from meat. Hyperthyroidism in cats is on the increase and may be linked excess iodine in cat foods. There are claims that hyperthyroidism first surfaced in the 1970s when canned food arrived. "


This is taken from articles i have read when researching what to feed Betz. I certainly do not feed Betz the 'ideal' diet feeding a raw diet is just not practical for me so i give her what i believe is the best i can with commercial food. Theres so much to read about good and bad ingredients in cat food, quite overwhelming! Sorry for long post :roll: the articles i listed in my previous post are quite interesting to read, well i think they are :lol:

[Daisy-Doo]

Cats in the wild do get some grains/vegetable matter. partially digested, I assume. when they eat the intestines. Some cats pluck the bird before eating, but do get some feathers too.....just a passing thought after reading the above
True, but nowhere near the amounts that they're consuming on a daily basis in most dry foods.
From what I've heard the consumption of gut contents often depends on the size of the prey....As in, a mouse being a small prey meal, would likely be consumed 'whole'....Where as a rabbit would be a huge meal, and unless the cat was seriously hungry, the gut is often left behind....

Can't speak from personal experience, as my two cats' won't eat whole prey...However, the ferrets (another obligate carnivore) do eat 'whole' mice. I haven't tried them with anything larger yet, so don't know whether they'd discard the guts, but certainly this is what other raw/whole prey feeders have observed them doing.

[Tracyjane]

As a newcomer to the site, I have just read this thread and I think there are some interesting points of view. Looking after cats, dogs, in fact any animal is a bit like having kids - everyone has their own opinion about how to rear them and of course the so-called 'experts' have their own guidance, usually backed up by research. Years ago, people fed their pets on scraps, and that was OK then, in the same way that people brought up in the war years had a high fat diet which was considered healthy then (not to mention the 'benefits' of smoking!). Times change, and with that comes research and new products. Thirty years ago, dry foods like Go-Cat were considered innovative, although we now know that many cats fed solely on such products were prone to kidney problems. So the pet food manufacturers learn from this and develop better foods, after all it's in their interests for us to keep our pets healthy so that we buy more of their products!!! When I was a child, cats were fed mainly on tinned cat food (I can still remember the awful smell), but all the cats we have had in our family have lived long lives (apart from those who were run over). My cats have always been fed on Hill's Science Diet, with occasional soft food pouches (Whiskas, Tesco, or Gourmet if I'm feeling generous!) or even cooked chicken or fish for a treat. They have still eaten mice, voles, birds etc. (apart from the pancreas/gall bladder which is always left very neatly behind). Similarly, our dog was fed on Science Diet from a puppy, with leftovers and gravy to add a bit of flavour, but he was also rather partial to the remains of dead mice, as well as cat poo and horse muck etc etc.! The reasons I chose Hill's, were because of ease of feeding by my children, less mess to clear up (after the dog), and because I felt it was a good quality nutritional product for my pets. We only have one cat now, he is 12 years old and in excellent health. Our new labrador puppy is having Hill's Science Plan for large breed puppies (they should have lower calcium to prevent too rapid bone growth), and he is thriving on it. I don't intend to slave over a hot stove preparing home cooked dinners for the dog when I could be out walking him!

[nursecroft]

As a newcomer to the site, I have just read this thread and I think there are some interesting points of view. Looking after cats, dogs, in fact any animal is a bit like having kids - everyone has their own opinion about how to rear them and of course the so-called 'experts' have their own guidance, usually backed up by research. Years ago, people fed their pets on scraps, and that was OK then, in the same way that people brought up in the war years had a high fat diet which was considered healthy then (not to mention the 'benefits' of smoking!). Times change, and with that comes research and new products. Thirty years ago, dry foods like Go-Cat were considered innovative, although we now know that many cats fed solely on such products were prone to kidney problems. So the pet food manufacturers learn from this and develop better foods, after all it's in their interests for us to keep our pets healthy so that we buy more of their products!!! When I was a child, cats were fed mainly on tinned cat food (I can still remember the awful smell), but all the cats we have had in our family have lived long lives (apart from those who were run over). My cats have always been fed on Hill's Science Diet, with occasional soft food pouches (Whiskas, Tesco, or Gourmet if I'm feeling generous!) or even cooked chicken or fish for a treat. They have still eaten mice, voles, birds etc. (apart from the pancreas/gall bladder which is always left very neatly behind). Similarly, our dog was fed on Science Diet from a puppy, with leftovers and gravy to add a bit of flavour, but he was also rather partial to the remains of dead mice, as well as cat poo and horse muck etc etc.! The reasons I chose Hill's, were because of ease of feeding by my children, less mess to clear up (after the dog), and because I felt it was a good quality nutritional product for my pets. We only have one cat now, he is 12 years old and in excellent health. Our new labrador puppy is having Hill's Science Plan for large breed puppies (they should have lower calcium to prevent too rapid bone growth), and he is thriving on it. I don't intend to slave over a hot stove preparing home cooked dinners for the dog when I could be out walking him!


Good post :) alot of valid points. However I personally consider feeding poor quality foods such as whiskas as bad as feeding your children Mac Donalds the whole time. Thats just my opinion based on what i have learnt. Most dry cat foods contain a huge amount of grain/cereal/maize/corn thats not good for your cat. Yes they may live til their 20 odd but they also may end up with a diet related disease. I wouldnt risk my childrens health with feeding bad diet and so i choose to feed my cats the best diet according to my knowledge that i can.... i to dont have time to slave over a hot stove for my animals so i do the best i can with the commericial food that i know has good ingredients. Its abit of a mine field cat food and alot of people have very different opinions, i think its all about reading info and then making your own mind up :)

[dandysmom]

Both excellent posts! Valid points indeed.

[northern lass]

Oh mine goodness, feeding cats is certainly a confusing topic.

As a novice cat owner (nearly a year !!) you can get very confused with all the claims and counter claims being bandied about. Surely there are some standards for Pet Food production ! - but then the companies are only there to maximise profits (but that's another debate for another day ;) )

I just look at what my two moggie like to eat and give them variety, often the tinned wet food (Felix, Whiskers et al) get bearly touched, where as the scraps from the Sunday dinner a woofed down :) - they love some of the dried food which is always available and every now any then have tinned tuna (in water only) and the odd cat treat.

Both are fit an well and I believe variety is the key and you are what you eat, so if the base is sound a few treats won't do any harm. ;)

[Tracyjane]

I wholeheartedly agree that it's good to give a variety of foods, so long as the basic dietary needs are met, and as with humans and other pets, everything in moderation. I wouldn't give a cat exactly the same flavour/type of food all of the time, as I have mentioned before I use Hill's Science Diet as the main staple, with one soft food pouch a day, or some fish or chicken leftovers perhaps. I wouldn't dream of giving my cat the same Whiskas pouches every meal, no more than I would let my kids have chips every day (but once in a while won't harm them). However, I think it's important to remember that we are talking about animals here, and I'm not sure they are too worried about having the same food every day, so long as it tastes good! Our responsibility as owners is to make sure they are well looked after, in every sense. I know people who are really fussy about what their animals eat, but their living conditions are less than ideal...... say no more!

[Lorna]

Mine have come to me on whiskas, they are eating it, but I will probably change it when they have settled, gradually of course x