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-   -   My First Post ^.^ Cat Food Crisis! (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=22845)

jettsmeow January 10th, 2006 05:21 PM

My First Post ^.^ Cat Food Crisis!
 
[SIZE="2"][FONT="Georgia"][COLOR="Purple"]First I would like to say hello, and I love this site! keep up the good work
I have 5 cats :pawprint: I just always seem to stumble on homeless cats :love: I think I have been talked about on the kitty streets they know I am a softy...

so my question is I had a trip to the vet recently and was told to change the brand of cat food I was using (catchow) I was told that brand has to much ash in it...Now I am in my cat food isle in the grocery for over an hour trying to read whats on the back pertaining to ash...I started the Iams ,,,,,but I just cant afford it...these guys go threw alot of food :eek:
I would love a suggestion if anyone has one,and maybe some brands I should be staying away from as well


Thanks to anyone who reply's
Jett
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:ca:

chico2 January 10th, 2006 05:30 PM

Jettsmeow,first of all Welcome to the Forum,secondly,thank's for taking in stray kittys!
Cat Chows is junkfood,as is IAms and really anything you buy in the grocery-store,I am sorry to say!It's not only ash you don't want,but also corn and cornmeal,which is just empty fillers.
Try to find a store like Pet Smart or any Pet Food supplier,the food will be more expensive,but in the long run,you save by having healthier cats.
Of course,it goes without saying,we like to see some pics of our new kitty-members:D

cpietra16 January 10th, 2006 05:31 PM

You can do a search on"cat food" on this site and you will come up a few ideas. I have 5 cats and they are on Wellness. I stay away from from Iams. I was told by a rescue group that if you can't afford expensive food then Wiskas is the better of the worst food in a super market and affordable. By the way welcome aboard and please put up some pictures of your furbabies:)

Shamrock January 10th, 2006 06:15 PM

Welcome, Jett!
Glad to hear that you are enjoying the site, and kudos to you for providing a loving home for these five kitties.:thumbs up
As to your question on the cat foods - the first thing I would say is that you are looking in the wrong place for a "good" food.
Grocery store brands are all lower quality.. not an optimum diet for nutrition.

The first three ingredients are the all-important ones.. and corn should not be one of them.
The pet food stores are the best resource for the best foods..of which there are many excellent brands to choose from.

I would definitely agree with getting them off the Cat Chow... just a gradual switch of introducing the new. Iams also is a food I would not feed myself.

If you are feeding dry only, I'd also suggest "some" wet food be included regularly too - to avoid the UTI issues that can occur from an all-dry diet.

If you browse over the Cat and Dog foods board here,you will see that there are many brands that are highly reccomended and very good foods.

Now, I undertand what you are saying about the cost factor.. some of these foods are expensive to buy, and with 5 cats... a real consideration.

The choice has to be a realiistic and feasible one for your budget.
What you want is the very best, most nutritious food that you can you possibly manage financially.

Doing research online about cat foods, the various ingredients.. and then comparing with the products, you should be able to make a dietary improvement that your five kitties will greatly benefit from over the long haul.

I have 3 cats, and buy the large size of Felidae cat food at the pet store.. and freeze it. This cuts the cost considerably.
Mabye something like this might work for you also.

Good luck with this, and yes.. would also love to see pics of your sweeties!

StaceyB January 10th, 2006 06:34 PM

[QUOTE=jettsmeow][SIZE="2"][FONT="Georgia"][COLOR="Purple"]Now I am in my cat food isle in the grocery [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

:ca:[/QUOTE]

This is the problem. No grocery foods are of good quality. Remember that cats are meat eaters and all those grocery foods are made of corn. The better quality you use the less they will eat because their body will be using more from the food they eat.
I know that costco has a dog food that has been recognized as a good food especially for the price in dog food but I am not sure if they carry the same in cat, it may be a place to look but get out of the grocery store.

jettsmeow January 10th, 2006 06:44 PM

[FONT="Georgia"][COLOR="Purple"][SIZE="2"]
thanks for the welcome :D after I posted this I took off to check out some other threads and I did come across one on cat food and have checked for a store in my area and happy to say I have found a good pet store up the street from me .....so I have choson Holistic Blend® Lamb & Rice :) thanks for the fast replys and your great advice,I am also going to start wet food again (how often?)
now as for my furry babies...I just wish the man would let me have more :sad: and for pics....I will get some up as soon as my webserver decides to go back up!

ooops almost forgot in my travels of many threads :crazy: I saw a post that cat food should not have BEET PULP in it? is this true?

Thanks
Jett

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jettsmeow January 10th, 2006 06:48 PM

[FONT="Georgia"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="Purple"]:troll: work day is over so I am on my way home....I will stop for some cat food :):) and check this board when I get home....:p

Jett

:ca: [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Inverness January 10th, 2006 10:08 PM

Jettsmeow, am I correct in thinking that you have just decided to switch your cats from Cat Chow to Holistic Blend ? WOW ! What a gigantic leap ! Your kitties will never thank you enough for this ! :thumbs up :D

Now you really want to make a SLOW introduction or else, you'll end up with a serious bout of diarrhea... better make the switch over a one week period, at least. Introduce Holistic Blend very slowly, maybe 1/10th at the time and increase a wee bit each day. You'll notice your cats will eat A LOT less. This will not cost you more in the end !

Congrats for making such a good decision. Don't forget to post pics ! :D

Prin January 10th, 2006 10:34 PM

[QUOTE=StaceyB]I know that costco has a dog food that has been recognized as a good food especially for the price in dog food but I am not sure if they carry the same in cat, it may be a place to look but get out of the grocery store.[/QUOTE]
I got a pamphlet in the dog toy bag from my dad from Costco about Kirkland foods and the cat food doesn't look nearly as good as the dog food is. The cat food ingredients are:
Chicken by-product meal, ground yellow corn, brewer's rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and vitamin E), corn gluten meal, natural chicken flavor.... plus all the usual chemically minerals..

Breaking down the corn into parts means it's probably #1 despite the by-products being in "meal" form. Doesn't look too good.

The guaranteed analysis:
Crude Protein: 30%
Crude Fat: 20%
Crude fiber: 2 %
Moisture: 10%
Ash: 5%

Remember that crude includes everything they don't digest at all (like hair).

So it's not as good as others or as the Kirkland dog food.
(just thought I'd clear that up, since I had the info right here...)



I'm glad to see you're switching. Beet pulp is a stool hardener. It's by far not as terrible as other things, but if you can avoid it, try. What it does is it releases a chemical into the blood that causes the blood vessels of the colon to constrict, which stops peristalsis (movement of the bowels) and slows the speed at which the food moves through. Basically, you get a firm stool by a sort of chemical induced constipation. It's not horrible- if it's the worst thing in the food, then don't worry about it.:)

mona_b January 10th, 2006 10:50 PM

Welcome to our big happy family..........:D

My cats are on Preformatrin Ultra Holistic......And they love it....And I have noticed since they have been on it that my DMH very rarely horks up a furball....:D

As for how much for the can,well mine get it 3 times a day.And they only get a teaspoon of it.They really are not big eaters.If at anytime they get hungry after that(usually after they do their zoomies chasing each all over the house..LOL),they nibble on their dry.....:)

I know with some of the cat commercials they show a huge heaping of it.That to me is wayyyyyy to much.

chico2 January 11th, 2006 07:57 AM

Jett,I am glad you got away from CatChow,your cats will thank you for it in the long run:thumbs up
Also as has been suggested,make the switch slowly,in stages..
As for canned,like Mona,my cats(3) get canned as their main meals but only morning and night,they split one small can about a Tbsp each and free-feed on dry food.
Unfortunately my cats will eat nothing but"Fancy Feast"which is certainly not the best,but I've tried all kinds of others,Nutro,Mother Tuckers,Wellness etc..and they won't eat it.


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