Meow Mix Market Select...how good/bad is it?

missinthesouth

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We are trying to find the right wet food for Carl, who is proving to be quite the food conisuer. He is picky.

He won't eat any of the paste-like canned Nurta foods. He threw up two out of the three Max Cat wet. He will only eat one flavor of Nutro packets-and it is the one flavor that is never at Petsmart when I go.

But he LOVES the Meow Mix Market Select, fish flavored variety pack. I picked up a pack at Target to try, since it didn't have any meat byproducts and looked to be the best out of the wets at Target, and he loves it.

Can some of the TCS Food gurus tell me how good/bad this food is?

Here are the ingrediants for both kinds:

Salmon and Crab Meat:
Ingredients Tuna, Fish Broth, Sardine, Salmon, Crab, Natural Flavor, Vegetable Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Tuna, Liver, Carrageenan, Calcium Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Sulfate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Annatto Color, Canthaxanthin Color, Sodium Nitrite (To Promote Color Retention).

Tuna and Shrimp:

Ingredients Tuna, Fish Broth, Ocean Fish, Shrimp, Vegetable Oil, Natural Flavor, Tricalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Sulfate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Carrageenan, Calcium Sulfate, Sodium Nitrite (To Promote Color Retention), Canthaxanthin Color.


TIA!
 

katiemae1277

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It's about a mid-grade quality, like you said, no by-products, but it is very fish-heavy, even the non-fish flavors have fish in them
As long as the dry you feed is not fish-heavy, I think it should be fine. My crew also eats the Meow Mix, sometimes the cups, sometimes the pouches, it is the only thing ALL of them will eat, and that is the most important thing, it does the cat no good to be fed wet if they won't eat it!
 
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missinthesouth

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That was pretty much my reasoning Katiemae! The ingredients on the Natural stuff look great, but he either won't touch it or he throws it up.

I will have to try the other non-fish flavors, but since the only thing he has agreed to eat in any other brand has been Salmon flavored, I went with the fish. It also has a lot of liquid, which I really like. Smells like death though!


His dry food is a mix of Science Diet and Nurto Indoor. He ate the Science Diet at the shelter, so I am weaning him off of it (and trying to use the bag they gave me).
 

katiemae1277

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Originally Posted by MissintheSouth

That was pretty much my reasoning Katiemae! The ingredients on the Natural stuff look great, but he either won't touch it or he throws it up.

I will have to try the other non-fish flavors, but since the only thing he has agreed to eat in any other brand has been Salmon flavored, I went with the fish. It also has a lot of liquid, which I really like. Smells like death though!


His dry food is a mix of Science Diet and Nurto Indoor. He ate the Science Diet at the shelter, so I am weaning him off of it (and trying to use the bag they gave me).
My kitties' favorite is the salmon and crab also
they also like the beef (sometimes
) That's why the kitties like it so much, cause it stinks!

I went through a period where I tried every flavor in every brand of premium wet and with most of them they would take 2 bites and flatly refuse anymore so I gave up and went back to the Meow Mix, the kitties always get there way!
 

bob'smom

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I gave my boys the tuna and shrimp for the 1st time last night. They liked it, and yes it did smell. It smelled worse coming out of the business end in the litter box located in the bedroom! I need to try some of the other flavors just to see which they prefer.
 

jen

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I was going to comment on that too, they are awfully fish heavy, moreso then I would want. I try to avoid fish pretty much. But I have heard that of all the grocery store brands of food, Meow Mix wet is one of the better ones. It is still only maybe mid-grade or so but at least it doesn't have by-products and other yucky ingredients in it.
 
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missinthesouth

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It is looking like Carl is only going to eat the Meow Mix wet. Last night I tried the Nutro Premium (or Select, can't remember the name) packet in the Salmon flavor (which he used to adore) and he was having none of it. Then I consented and gave him some Meow Mix and he devoured it. Sigh.

I am thinking that mid grade wet combined with high grade dry(or mid grade, since I am still weaning off Science Diet) is better than no wet at all.
 

keelyg

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I went through the same thing and tried all kinds of high quality wet - mine will only eat meow mix tuna and shrimp - no other flavours / no other wet...

I give her Natural Balance dry and was told that as long as the dry is good quality you can get away with a lower quality wet - she's all shiny and glossy, so this seems to be true!
 

sharky

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Meow mix is a decent to good ingrediant wise ( unsure about qualityof individual ingrediants ) ... Yes it is fish heavy but if that is what wet kitty will eat as long as kitty handles fish ( ie no UTI issues) use it //// I use about two packets a week as you need to eat and this will do food
 

AbbysMom

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Abby will also only eat Meow Mix wet, either the selects or the pouches. I wish she would eat something a little better, but it's just not going to happen. I balance it out with Innova EVO dry.
 

gingersmom

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Originally Posted by keelyg

I went through the same thing and tried all kinds of high quality wet - mine will only eat meow mix tuna and shrimp - no other flavours / no other wet...
Ginger is exactly the same - I spent SO much money on wasted foods! She will also eat the tuna & shrimp Fancy Feast as well, so I am able to alternate between those two.
 

katiemae1277

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What do they put in that stuff!!
maybe we need to start MMA, Meow Mix Anonymous
 

katiemae1277

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Our names are Pandora, Antigone, Zeus, Ismene, Demeter, Nemo, Jinx, Sapphire, Hermes and Orion and we're ALL Meow Mix junkies


Luckily I've fed Innova or Wellness wet to the little babies, Eros and Nike, since I got them so they don't know what Meow Mix is!
 

gert452000

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Okay, maybe I am just dense. I have had cats all of my life. I currently have 3. Thye ONLY get dry foods. Is this bad for them? The food is Meow Mix. They are all healthy. All except Little Kitty who is currently losing weight. She has a doctor appointment for next week.
If they should also have wet food, why? How much? How often? ANd...they do get treats daily. Well 2 of them do, the 3rd won't have anythign to do with food that isn't in her bowl.
This is all new information for me so please help.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by gert452000

Okay, maybe I am just dense. I have had cats all of my life. I currently have 3. Thye ONLY get dry foods. Is this bad for them? The food is Meow Mix. They are all healthy. All except Little Kitty who is currently losing weight. She has a doctor appointment for next week.
If they should also have wet food, why? How much? How often? ANd...they do get treats daily. Well 2 of them do, the 3rd won't have anythign to do with food that isn't in her bowl.
This is all new information for me so please help.
Ohh Mods can this be a new thread??

Meow mix wet is decent to good...

Meow mix dry is full of by products( heads ft intestines), corn (ground ) , artifcial colors and flavors .... Bad no it is AFFCO approved but it is simliar to you having a fast food burger with fries and large drink everyday.... There are FAR FAR BETTER foods ...
 

halfpint

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I feed mine the meow mix in the pouch they don't like the select one, I have never fed the dry, mine eat purina one and they love it also and they look wondeful, and healthy.
 

naturestee

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AAFCO doesn't mean much to me. Even the Temptations treats meet AAFCO nutrient profiles!

Here's the ingredients for Meow Mix Original Choice Dry:

Ingredients
Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E), Turkey By-Product Meal, Salmon Meal, Oceanfish Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Phosphoric Acid, Animal Digest, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Tetra Sodium Pyrophosphate, Calcium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Added Color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2 and other Color), Salt, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, L-alanine, Niacin, Vitamin Supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Citric Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite. E-4541

Meat is the third ingredient. Mind you cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they need to eat meat and they don't digest other stuff very well. And while by-products do provide some meat, they're not as digestible as muscle meat (which would be labeled as "chicken", etc).

Try switching to something where meat is at least the first ingredient, if not more. I bet you'll see a huge difference in your cat's fur and skin. Two inexpensive dry brands I like are Nutro and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. Although even Purina or Iams would be a big step up too.

And wet is better than dry because it tends to have less grains in it (carb-laden fillers) and it is much closer to a cat's natural diet. It may also prevent urinary tract problems, and cats with a history of urinary problems should be fed mainly wet food from what I know. I like to feed one small meal of wet a day because I can't afford to feed only wet.

Sorry for the thread hijack!
 

naturestee

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I was just at the grocery store, so I looked at the Meow Mix pouches. I noticed the fish flavors had vegetable oil added. I thought this was bad? I know you're not supposed to give tuna packed in oil to cats because it deprives them of Vitamin E.
 
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