Dry food- Prism

I know that I'm probably being a pain here....but I live in the country and the pet store that I buy my food at has two choices of cat food....they are both made from the same company. One is Eagle Pack and the other is Prism...I was giving my cats Prism and then Beard ended up with the two urinary blockages. I went to a different pet store looking for a cat food low in ash....I bought one called Performance...in the three weeks since I've been giving this too them, they all seem to have lost a bit of weight (which isn't such a bad thing) but they all have nasty dandruff and their coats aren't shiny and healthy looking. I've bought another bag of the Prism and figure we'll just keep giving them the wet food in the evenings and the watered down chicken broth. Below is the ingredients in Prism....

Is this food ok to give my cats??????


Ingredients:
Ground Yellow Corn, Pork Meal, Chicken Fat (Naturally Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Meal, Wheat Germ Meal, Flaxseed, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Egg Product, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Poultry Liver Digest, DL-Methionine, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Rosemary Extract, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Ethylene Diamine Dihydriodide, Calcium Carbonate.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein min. 21.0%
Crude Fat min. 12.0%
Crude Fiber max. 3.0%
Moisture max. 10.0%
Omega 6 min. 2.2%*
Omega 3 min. 0.3%*

The corn is gross, a filler that they just poop out. By-products can be anything, including head, beak & feet of a chicken. I see pork meal in there twice & if i am remembering correctly, pork isn't easily digestible.

IMO, that isn't a very good food. Can you order food online? I know many members order food online. I have also asked my pet store to carry certain foods for me & they will(small store, not a chain).

Prism is a low low quality food ..

Eagle pack holistic s line is good ... love there wet food

2.2 in omega six comeing from corn wont likely help with dandruff

Ingredients:
Ground Yellow Cornnot very digestable , more coming out , Pork Mealfat is indigestable and is a high allegen , Chicken Fat (Naturally Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid)can be a chemically based pres , Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken By-Product Mealhead ft intestines undelveloped eggs , Corn Gluten MealI marked because in this food it s the main protein ,,, fine if not the main , Pork MealAGAIN???, Wheat Germ Meal, Flaxseed, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Egg Product, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Poultry Liver Digestsee by product only enzymatically treated, DL-Methionine, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Rosemary Extract, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Ethylene Diamine Dihydriodide, Calcium Carbonate

Originally Posted by white cat lover

The corn is gross, a filler that they just poop out. By-products can be anything, including head, beak & feet of a chicken. I see pork meal in there twice & if i am remembering correctly, pork isn't easily digestible.

IMO, that isn't a very good food. Can you order food online? I know many members order food online. I have also asked my pet store to carry certain foods for me & they will(small store, not a chain).

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Doesn't sound very good
I switched them from Whiskas two years ago. They seemed to really like the Prism, their coats become healthy looking and they seemed happy. Then I had the issue with Black Beard, but I'm not liking their looks or their coats.

Anyone know a reputable online Canadian supplier????

Are you not close to any big box store or petstore with more than those options>??

I am not from Cananda, so I do not know of any. I know there are some members here from Canada, hopefully they will come along & know of a place to order from!

Apart from anything else, that food is way too low in protein. Dry cat food should be at least 30% protein. You said the store where you buy cat food has Eagle Pack - have you tried that? It's much better than Prism, IMO.

Originally Posted by momto3cats

Apart from anything else, that food is way too low in protein. Dry cat food should be at least 30% protein. You said the store where you buy cat food has Eagle Pack - have you tried that? It's much better than Prism, IMO.

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That is not quite true as I beleive the AFFCO is like 26% ... 30 plus is what most would recommend for a healthy cat under age 7 ...according to the website prism is 30% protein...lol.. they claim corn is 99% carb digestable

hi all,
actually the best thing you can do for your cat is feed it a natural raw food diet that is 90% protein and 10% vegetables. think of when they eat a mouse, most of it is protein and the stomach contents are usually vegetables at 10%. there is no such thing as 'good' dry food, they are all bad just some are worse than others. any carbohydrates in the food is bad. when they say it contains vitamin E, it becomes oxidized as soon as air hits it so it is basically useless. also there are many carcinogenic preservatives in dry food like BHA and BHT.

i'm not sure if you can buy frozen raw food over the net but you can make it yourself and then freeze a whole bunch. there are some wonderful 'cook'books out there but it takes a little effort. i think the best choice is wet food at the very least. supplement with wild salmon oil for a beautiful coat and help with constipation. don't mix wet with dry either because there are different digestion times and the dry taking longer often causes distention and gas.

hope this helps...

Originally Posted by tuna

hi all,
actually the best thing you can do for your cat is feed it a natural raw food diet that is 90% protein and 10% vegetables. think of when they eat a mouse, most of it is protein and the stomach contents are usually vegetables at 10%. there is no such thing as 'good' dry food, they are all bad just some are worse than others. any carbohydrates in the food is bad. when they say it contains vitamin E, it becomes oxidized as soon as air hits it so it is basically useless. also there are many carcinogenic preservatives in dry food like BHA and BHT.

i'm not sure if you can buy frozen raw food over the net but you can make it yourself and then freeze a whole bunch. there are some wonderful 'cook'books out there but it takes a little effort. i think the best choice is wet food at the very least. supplement with wild salmon oil for a beautiful coat and help with constipation. don't mix wet with dry either because there are different digestion times and the dry taking longer often causes distention and gas.

hope this helps...

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while raw may be best for some IT SHOULDNT be tried without assitance froma VET ....

your analysis is % age wise quite off

Originally Posted by sharky

That is not quite true as I beleive the AFFCO is like 26% ... 30 plus is what most would recommend for a healthy cat under age 7 ...according to the website prism is 30% protein...lol.. they claim corn is 99% carb digestable

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Oh, I was going by what furry4fury posted, which says 21%. I know the minmum is lower than 30%, but IMHO that's too low for most cats.

sharky,
the only thing is that you have to slowly introduce the raw food into the diet but it's just uncooked nutrients, what cats eat in the wild, no need for a vet unless the cat is old or compromised. i mean raw food made especially for cats, not just any raw food...

the convention used to be 70% meat 30% vegies but the new science suggests 90-10 is more consistent with their natural diet.

Originally Posted by tuna

sharky,
the only thing is that you have to slowly introduce the raw food into the diet but it's just uncooked nutrients, what cats eat in the wild, no need for a vet unless the cat is old or compromised. i mean raw food made especially for cats, not just any raw food...

the convention used to be 70% meat 30% vegies but the new science suggests 90-10 is more consistent with their natural diet.

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Well my research of raw food states otherwise ... I as well as my vet (who has a master s in animal nutrition ) have spent alot of time
, years ... researching diets raw and homemade .. with the lack of soil nutrients you cant just throw down meat with a oil supplement and call it a diet ...

Cats and dogs eat nearly the same with raw just supplement different ...

Originally Posted by momto3cats

Oh, I was going by what furry4fury posted, which says 21%. I know the minmum is lower than 30%, but IMHO that's too low for most cats.

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What I posted in my first posting was taken right from the Prism website. I'm really confused as to what kind of food. Yest I was shopping and I know Friskies has been recommended but well I was in Safeway and looked at the ingredients and it looks to be worse than what the Prism has
I'm not a millionaire and really want to feed my cats good healthy food but not at the cost of starving the kids because the cat food it soaking up all my cash.
It seems that the same food is made different depending on where you get it????? I've asked Sharky to compile a list as this is just way to confusing for me and seems there is a wide variety of opinions which is great for different ideas for training etc. but for food ideas its just causing me to (you get my drift )

Some cheaper good foods:

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul
Nutro MAX & Natural Choice

Shoot...those are all I can really think of!!! Somebody else will come along with suggestions, I know they will! If you have a small pet store nearby, ask them if they will order & stock a food for you!

again, you can make it yourself.

read the ingredients and if by far you wouldn't eat it...why feed it to your cat?

sharky, where are you getting your findings about raw food? i just can't imagine anyone suggesting - all else being equal - that a diet most closely resembling a cats natural eating habits would be anything but beneficial. do you think cats cook their meat in the wild? do you think they eat mostly corn? in the wild do you think they'd go for a piece of cold, hard, dry anything over a warm, moist mouse?

Originally Posted by tuna

again, you can make it yourself.

read the ingredients and if by far you wouldn't eat it...why feed it to your cat?

sharky, where are you getting your findings about raw food? i just can't imagine anyone suggesting - all else being equal - that a diet most closely resembling a cats natural eating habits would be anything but beneficial. do you think cats cook their meat in the wild? do you think they eat mostly corn? in the wild do you think they'd go for a piece of cold, hard, dry anything over a warm, moist mouse?

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Two very well educated vets Both who advocates raw or homemade ... It is not one size fits all ... Actually my oldest does best with raw ...No corn is not on a typical menu

Originally Posted by tuna

again, you can make it yourself.

read the ingredients and if by far you wouldn't eat it...why feed it to your cat?

sharky, where are you getting your findings about raw food? i just can't imagine anyone suggesting - all else being equal - that a diet most closely resembling a cats natural eating habits would be anything but beneficial. do you think cats cook their meat in the wild? do you think they eat mostly corn? in the wild do you think they'd go for a piece of cold, hard, dry anything over a warm, moist mouse?

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You'd need to put bonemeal suitable for felines or similar in there as well as some form of oats or grass etc.. and some fur.. or skin with fur on... *eww* and I've seen cats that will actually eat a corn cob, cold and hard without the corn... disgusting and totally *eww*.. cats that prefer digging through garbage for food - not meeses but our leftovers! and cats chew on and swallow grasses, oats etc, you can even purchase grow-your-own-kitty-grass pads for the indoor cat.

The fiber assists with their digestion as commercial foods sometimes need assistance for the fiber content and cats tend to seek coarse grasses out to help with digestion issues (like furballs) too.

There are some very good homemade food recipes out there for cats and for dogs for that matter... it's a matter of personal choice as to what you do for your kitties, so no one is right or wrong as far as what you choose to do to feed them - but for anything homemade, I'd check the ingredients out with a vet or animal nutritionist first just to make sure nothing is missed.

Checking the contents listed on the package whether it's dry or wet food is always a good plan. And I understand the %ages are different per country too... different standards set by each governing body or somesuch..

Personally, I choose dry kibble for my cats with the occasional wet food treat (and yes, the occasional tid-bit from my plate) and nutrient supplement in the form of something like "Pit'r'Pats" or "ThreeHearts" - I call those cat lollies.. they love them

Did you know cats feed by smell not by taste... I saw somewhere (recently) that cats have 743 tastebuds compared to our couple of thousand.... astonishing isn't it...

Also just to remind myself and perhaps others, F.catus is a carnivore and H.sapien is an omnivore with choice...

Oh Gosh! You poor thing! Natural doesn't always mean good food does it?

Cats are true carnivores!! Their diet has never been one that can be supported by vegetation sources-this taxes their system and cause it to shut down.

Get your cat on an immediate diet of whole fish, cooked or raw. Preferably fresh wild caught salmon, sardines, anchovies, fatty tuna-something natually high in Omega Fatty Acids and perfect Amino Acid makeup.

My food has been recommended over and over again for cats with UTI, Kidney and Liver failure, Diabetes, Irritable Bowel, Constipation, loss of appetite, etc.... and in all cases has nursed cats in trouble back to health.

Raw food is not the cure-all it looks like you think it is TikiCat.

The best food for anyone's pet is the highest-quality food the owner can buy, the pet will eat and the pet does well on. Unfortunately for all of us caring meowmys, there is no one food that fits those parameters. Raw works for some (not mine), Evo for others (mine), Natural Balance for others, Nutro and Chicken Soup for many, and so on.

Furry4fury, not to usurp Sharky's place (who could? *smile*), but I've copied several of her lists (including her notes) so as to capture all the "premium" foods I could (while looking for the best food for my own crew, of course!). Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Authority
Blue Spa
California Natural
Castor and Polluck
Chicken Soup
Eagle Pack
Evangers
Evolve
Felidea
Innova
Innova Evo
Meow Mix
Merrick
Natural Balance
Nature's Variety Prairie
New Iams (chicken and beef no gravy but geat sauce for a pate)
New Shebas
Nutro
Oraganix
Pet Gold
Pro Pac
Pro Plan (some of these are great by all seem a bit better than SD)
Royal Canin
Sensible Choice
Seregetti
Solid Gold
Sport Mix (this is the cheapest low end premium out there I have found... chn by product free and no artificial colors or flavors or chemical prservatives)
Timberwolf Organics
Ultramix

Several of these are available at the large pet stores (Petsmart, Petco, etc.). Perhaps one of them will fit in your budget, so you have both peace of mind and food for your kids. : )