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Old June 2nd, 2010, 06:19 PM
Kalou Kalou is offline
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Cat food

I am trying to find a good cat food for my cats. My vet suggests Medi-cal, but one of the main ingredients in it is corn and I heard that this is bad for animals. Are the all natural cat foods better? Any suggestions on what brand is good?
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Old June 2nd, 2010, 07:12 PM
Ozzie Ozzie is offline
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Try this: http://catinfo.org/
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Old June 2nd, 2010, 07:48 PM
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Kalou,

My knowledge is more with canines, but IMO most grains (including corn) are not suitable in a diet for a dog or a cat, but especially a cat because they are strict carnivores. It's not that corn is necessarily bad, just inappropriate in a carnivore's diet.

There are much better foods you can find for your cat. Most of the users on here like Orijen. Their website is www.orijen.ca. I feed my dogs Orijen and they do wonderfully on it. They have a Cat & Kitten formula, and a 6 Fish Cat.

Hopefully, some cat owners will be along soon to provide more advice.
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Old June 2nd, 2010, 08:11 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Check out the link that Ozzie posted for the most comprehensive info on the subject. But in a nutshell, wet food, not dry, is what you want to feed. Preferably with little to no grains, and a quality source of muscle meat (for instance, "chicken", not "meat by-products").

Forgot to mention a couple more things: try to limit fish-based foods to no more than once or twice a week (more info on why here), and feed lots of variety (rotate several different brands and flavours). It's a myth that you should feed your pet the same food, day in and day out, for ever and ever. That's how allergies and addictions develop, not to mention the increased risk of health issues should a particular food have a deficiency (or an excess) of vitamins/minerals, or tainted ingredients. Transition between brands slowly if your cat has a sensitive digestive system, or use probiotics during the changeover.
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Last edited by Ford; June 2nd, 2010 at 10:22 PM. Reason: additional info
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Old June 3rd, 2010, 02:59 AM
Chihuahualover Chihuahualover is offline
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Smile I like Merrick....; Wellness; and Tiki Cat

Merrick probably has more grain than the others, (I haven't re-read the ingredients lately but the fact(S) that it is 1) privately owned company 2) available in several different varieties (so you can rotate variety within the same company and fairly reasonably priced. My cat prefers Wellness packets (he won't eat ANY brand of wet/canned food in a pate style; it has to pass what I call the "Lucky shake test"; ie I have to be able to hear a bit of 'sloshing' around of the gravy, etc. He does love Merrick's "Grammy's Pot Pie"
Tiki cat is wonderful but also pretty $$....even w/just one cat; I can't afford to feed it every day. I just recently discovered they also produce dog food .....

Anyways, good luck, I included a few links below.



http://www.naturalpetsupplyonline.com/catfoods.asp (Link to a local pet store we love, they have some great info, plus links to all the products they sell, including the ones I mentioned above)

Tiki cat http://www.petropics.com/
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Old June 3rd, 2010, 06:46 AM
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Nature's Variety Instinct (canned of course) is my favourite and supplement with homemade raw.
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Old June 3rd, 2010, 01:52 PM
Kalou Kalou is offline
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Cat food???

My cats are on the MEDICAL Preventative formula that I get from the vet and I am thinking of changing them over to one of these other brands:

Halo
Orijen
Arcana


Are these good brands? Is one better than the rest? Also I used to feed wellness to my cats but I found out that it wasn't approved by the AAFCO, does anyone know if these other brands are approved?

Thanks!!
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Old June 3rd, 2010, 02:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
Also I used to feed wellness to my cats but I found out that it wasn't approved by the AAFCO, does anyone know if these other brands are approved?
Explain please? I am confused.
Any canned food is better than any dry food you can feed your cat(s). Hands down.
Wellness canned is one of the top names as far as ingredients go.
Please take some time to puruse: www.catinfo.org
I am sure some cat gurus will be along soon to help answer some questions. I unfortunately have to go to work.
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Old June 3rd, 2010, 04:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
My cats are on the MEDICAL Preventative formula that I get from the vet
Is there a reason they're on this food? The Preventive formula is supposedly used to treat urinary tract issues. Have your cats had urinary tract problems in the past, and if so, do you know the details? (like was there a blockage? any crystals? if so, what type?)


Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
and I am thinking of changing them over to one of these other brands:

Halo
Orijen
Arcana
It's good that you're considering a better quality food. Here's what's in Medi-Cal Preventive:
Chicken Meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Corn, Chicken Fat, Dried Egg Powder, Natural Flavour, Dried Brewer’s Yeast, Tomato Pomace (Source of Lycopene), Dried Tomato (Source of Lycopene), Calcium Sulphate, Dried Beet Pulp, Flax Meal, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine,...
Too much plant-matter, not enough meat, and most importantly, not enough water. If your cats have had urinary tract issues in the past, water is the most important ingredient you can feed them. Yes, FEED them. They need water IN their food, and they should not be eating any kibble whatsoever. Please read this link on why that is: http://www.catinfo.org/feline_urinary_tract_health.htm

So with that in mind, I wouldn't feed any of the above foods. Orijen and Acana (both made by Champion Pet Foods) don't have a canned version, only kibble. Halo isn't horrible, but it's pricey for what you get, which tends to be too much vegetable matter (I'm talking about the Halo's Spot's Stew canned). Better foods would be Wellness, Nature's Variety, Innova, ZiwiPeak, By Nature..... or the ultimate, a raw diet.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
Also I used to feed wellness to my cats but I found out that it wasn't approved by the AAFCO, does anyone know if these other brands are approved?
AAFCO "approval" is not necessarily the indication of a quality food. Considering it is largely staffed by pet food company employees, their mandate tends to be a tad self-serving. Here is an eye-opening article you might be interested in reading: http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/dat...Patrick06.html

An excerpt:
Quote:
Americans own more than 130 million cats and dogs and spend over $12 billion per year on commercial pet foods. The commercial pet food industry faces minimal substantive regulation, despite navigating several layers of regulation from various groups including the FDA, the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and state regulators. The FDA entrusts AAFCO to issue regulations governing ingredients, feeding trials, labels and nutritional claims. But AAFCO’s rules fall short of ensuring that America’s pets receive adequate nutrition, or even foods that won’t cause chronic digestive, skin, eye, and coat problems. The influence by the pet food industry over AAFCO manifests itself through AAFCO’s irrational regulations, including ingredient definitions which effectively prohibit organic chickens and vegetables, while blindly permitting thousands of euthanized cats and dogs to make their way into pet foods through the unsupervised rendering industry. Trusting, but uneducated, consumers purchase these commercial pet foods under the assumption that the FDA or some other regulatory body has ensured that the foods contain “balanced” meals, and “complete” nutrition. These consumers naively believe veterinarians that endorse and sell pet foods from their offices while neglecting to mention that these “pet doctors” are often “on the take” and can earn up to 20% of their total income from such sales. This paper will examine the ways in which inadequate regulation results in confused consumers and sick, malnourished pets. Ultimately this paper seeks to reveal that multiple parties, including consumers themselves, share the blame for the current muddled state of regulation.
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Last edited by sugarcatmom; June 4th, 2010 at 08:22 AM.
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  #10  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 05:59 PM
Kalou Kalou is offline
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No, they are on it because the vet said that it was good food. I am looking for an alternative dry food because I can't afford feeding wet food.
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Old June 3rd, 2010, 07:23 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
No, they are on it because the vet said that it was good food.
It's not a good idea to feed any urinary tract food without a specific reason to do so, because long-term ingestion of an acidifier (DL-methionine) by cats that don't need it can cause a whole host of problems, not the least of which is an increased risk of developing calcium oxalate crystals (which can only be surgically removed).


Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
I am looking for an alternative dry food because I can't afford feeding wet food.
See, here's the thing: what you spend now in good quality food (and there is NO dry food that fits that category), you save over the long-term in vet bills. You can buy years and years of canned food for the cost of a perineal urethrostomy (penis removal) in a cat with a blocked urinary tract. Treating a cat for a week in a 24hr vet hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis would have bought you more than a lifetime supply of the very best quality canned. So when I hear people say they can't afford canned food, I say that in reality, they can't afford kibble.

Perhaps you should consider a raw diet then. There are members here (Love4himies comes to mind) that feed several cats a homemade raw diet for much cheaper than could ever be achieved even with dry food. Check out the link that 14+ gave you, it's very educational. What it comes down to is that there are no good reasons to feed cats dry food, and very many not to. Even the cheapest canned is better than the most expensive dry.
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Last edited by sugarcatmom; June 4th, 2010 at 08:24 AM. Reason: apparently the mods didn't like my wording
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  #12  
Old June 4th, 2010, 06:37 AM
Kalou Kalou is offline
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I will definitely read up on the canned cat food. What canned food do you feed your cats?
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Old June 4th, 2010, 06:45 AM
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Sew-sew-steve Sew-sew-steve is offline
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hey kalou,

why not ask about purina?
i seen it in canada a lot, and most of the stuff they have here in kuwait is purina aswell.

i feed kiko purinas friskies canned food.
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Old June 4th, 2010, 08:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalou View Post
I will definitely read up on the canned cat food. What canned food do you feed your cats?
About half my cat's diet consists of rotating flavours of Wellness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Innova Evo 95%, Precise, and gluten-free varieties of Fancy Feast. The other half is a frozen pre-made raw diet.

One way to save money on canned food is to buy the largest cans (12.5 - 13 oz) by the case. Many pet food stores will give you a 10% discount or a free can when you get a case, and often the $/oz of a good quality food like Innova works out to be cheaper than the small 3oz tins of lesser quality food.
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