Is Iams food bad?

junglebutterfly

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My vet told me that I should feed my cats Iams but I have never read anything about any of you guys feeding Iams. Is it not good food for my babies? I have never even seen these foods that you guys talk about on here....

Please let me know.......
 

apric0t

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Ingredient wise, I guess it's not as bad as some grocery store foods like Whiskas or Meow Mix, but definately not high quality, either. It still contains nasty by-products, corn, etc. IAMs (Proctor & Gamble) have been accused to be preforming cruel animal testing many times, but it's up to you if you feel comfortable with that or not. I think you could do much better than IAMs, though.
 

kila

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What biscuits do you use?

I also don't use Iams because of the animal testing allegations.

I would like to get them a good healthy biscuit for the evenings but I don't think we have the same brand names as you guys in the States.
 

vanillasugar

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You'll need to learn what to look for in a food, and learn to read an ingredients label, since I don't know what the foods are like that are available to you, and can't reccomend anything. If you know what to look for, you'll be able to find a good quality food on your own, by reading the labels
 

jcat

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Originally Posted by Kila

What biscuits do you use?

I also don't use Iams because of the animal testing allegations.

I would like to get them a good healthy biscuit for the evenings but I don't think we have the same brand names as you guys in the States.
Since you're in Italy, you could look into the Almo Natural biscuits. They're not the very best on the market, but readily available there. For canned, I like Almo, Schesir, and GreenFish (all Italian brands), which should be fed in conjunction with biscuits, as the calcium/phosphorus levels differ from flavor to flavor, and aren't always ideal.
 

wickedkitten

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Originally Posted by Shanynne

Do you have any "Science Diet" or "Eukenuba" where you live? Most breeders and vets highly recommend these.
Eukanuba is made by the Iams group and pretty much is the same as. We feed our kittens on their Kitten mix and they are fantastic. Iams gets a lot of stick about animal testing but nearly every single major pet food manufacturer does testing on animals in some way or form.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Shanynne

Do you have any "Science Diet" or "Eukenuba" where you live? Most breeders and vets highly recommend these.
These are two other"commonly thought of as high quality foods" that arent ... Read the label ...

chn by products are heads feet intestines undelveloped eggs...

ground corn is not bad it it just not nearly as digestable and it is highly allergenic ....

dont get me started on the chemical preservatives...
 

celestialrags

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Originally Posted by Shanynne

Do you have any "Science Diet" or "Eukenuba" where you live? Most breeders and vets highly recommend these.
I believe eukenuba is from the same company as Iams, it may be a little better quality, but, if some one won't use Iams because of some alegations, then, they probley won't want to use eukenuba either, it is still produced by "proctor and gamble"

I really like Iams. I like the way my cats like it, and more importantly, I like the way they look on it. Their coats look very healthy, and shinny, I have had no problems with them since switching them to it. So that is what I use. I am a registered breeder, and registered with them, I give kitten kits with food samples of iams, and recomend it to the new owners of my kittens. (or atleast they have some to gradually be switched with if the new owner chooses to feed different.) But, I like it, and probley wont switch to any thing else.My queen really loves the kitten food, she eats it most the time, since she is put on it when she is pregnant, then while nursing, and then she wont eat the regular when I have it for the kittens. I usually have kittens (under a year) so it is usually down for them, and that's what she prefers. I have also been using the indoor kind too, and she seems to like that too, and the others love it.
I have tried the solid gold and one other kind, I think it was the innova, mabey, it coats twice as much, and the cats liked it half as much. they only eat it because they got hungry, even then my girl honey would hardly touch it, and she throw up when she did eat it. They didn't like it, so I don't use it. But, that's what every one says is better, I guess. (I don't know if it is available for you or not though.)
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by celestialrags

I believe eukenuba is from the same company as Iams, it may be a little better quality, but, if some one won't use Iams because of some alegations, then, they probley won't want to use eukenuba either, it is still produced by "proctor and gamble"

I really like Iams. I like the way my cats like it, and more importantly, I like the way they look on it. Their coats look very healthy, and shinny, I have had no problems with them since switching them to it. So that is what I use. I am a registered breeder, and registered with them, I give kitten kits with food samples of iams, and recomend it to the new owners of my kittens. (or atleast they have some to gradually be switched with if the new owner chooses to feed different.) But, I like it, and probley wont switch to any thing else.My queen really loves the kitten food, she eats it most the time, since she is put on it when she is pregnant, then while nursing, and then she wont eat the regular when I have it for the kittens. I usually have kittens (under a year) so it is usually down for them, and that's what she prefers. I have also been using the indoor kind too, and she seems to like that too, and the others love it.
I have tried the solid gold and one other kind, I think it was the innova, mabey, it coats twice as much, and the cats liked it half as much. they only eat it because they got hungry, even then my girl honey would hardly touch it, and she throw up when she did eat it. They didn't like it, so I don't use it. But, that's what every one says is better, I guess. (I don't know if it is available for you or not though.)
That is the crux of it ... THE BEST FOOD is the ONE YOUR CATS will EAT and DO well on.... I am lucky that mine no longer will eat what I think are low end( I tried to give fancy feast and friskies and neither would touch)... I do use some of Iams new canned formulas as they pass my testes
....
 

gizmocat

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There are too many carbs and low quality proteins in Iams. My cat ate it when she came here a year ago, but she really got enthusiastic over better food like California Natural and Nature's Logic.
Iams is not as bad as some, but it's not good either. Corn and wheat are notorious allergens and they are listed as the main ingredients in many low quality cat foods.
 

mzjazz2u

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Originally Posted by Shanynne

Do you have any "Science Diet" or "Eukenuba" where you live? Most breeders and vets highly recommend these.
Eukenuba is made by the same company as IAMS. But I have to say... my cats have eaten IAMS for years and do very well on it. They have nice coats, hardly ever get hairballs (they're persians) and have lots of energy. When ever I try to switch them to something like Nutro or some of the others, they don't do as well.

As far as IAMS and animal cruelty goes... the company had some problems that were isolated that the powers that be didn't know about but they have addressed it. Actually they have a statement about it on their website. I'm not saying it's the best food in the world, as far as quality. But my cats do very well on it. That's my experience.
 
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junglebutterfly

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Wow!

I didn't expect the replies to go so equally in both directions.

Thank you for all the wonderful advice, I read the pages on the animal testing and it seems there is no cruellty and that any company that wants the best product would surely do the same things.

My cats do well on the IAMS they dont get many hairballs and they have good stools and seem happy.

thanks!!!
 

jkrodger

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I'm glad to hear that Iams isn't too bad. My cats were on Authority (a brand that I hardly ever hear mentioned on this board) and we're not trying a couple of cans of Innova, Nutro, and Merricks. Last night was the first Merrick's test (Granny's Pot Pie) and resulted in them licking up all the gravy and not touching the solid food. I'm going to try the other flavors since we already bought them and then move on to one of the other test brands. But we might be sticking with Authority, opinions on this?
 

himagery

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Hello, I am new here. Iams is owned by Procter & Gamble who is one of the
biggest animal testing facilities in the USA. I try to boycott all P&G products.
 

celestialrags

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Originally Posted by Himagery

Hello, I am new here. Iams is owned by Procter & Gamble who is one of the
biggest animal testing facilities in the USA. I try to boycott all P&G products.
If you go to truthorfiction.com you will find that this is disputed, it has not been proven (one way or the other)
 

sharky

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ALL RESPONSIBLE food companies do some form of testing... Either the AFFCO food trials ( which arent great but are more reliable ) or in home breeder tests ... If a company did neither of these I would touch the product since it would amount to me being able to make a food in my kitchen .... IMHO of course


Slight hyjack

I put Authority above foods like Iams since there arent any by product s and the amount of corn is less .... Authority wet food is decent at a great price
 

fecker22

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they have varous varieties for different breeds, it is quite expesive but if you buy in bulk eg 10kg baf roughly £39 should last a month for 4 cats. they tend to eat less, unrinate less with less odour and do solid less smelly poo's, so you save on cat ltter as an added bonus!

Wouldnt touch IAMs from all the speculation on the animal testing cruelty.
 
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