Good cat foods according to my awesome vet (& update on Garbanzo)

rosyc

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There seems to be a lot of debate on what foods are good for our babies, so I thought I might share what foods my vet says are good for my Garbanzo. For context, Banzo is 10 years old and pretty active, indoor/outdoor, and just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. Here's what my vet says:

-Science Diet Advanced Protection (her #1 pick for dry and wet)
-Royal Canin (wet or dry)
-Purina One (dry)
-Pro Plan Senior (wet or dry)

"Grocery store level" canned foods:
-Friskies
-Fancy Feast

All of the above in "Senior" or "Adult" formulas since my Banzo is getting up there. I was really surprised by Friskies and FF, but my vet says both are approved by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) to be nutritious for active adult cats. I asked her about by-products, and she said that much of Friskies and FF are lower on by-products than other brands.

**The one (and only) food that she did NOT recommend was Iams. It's apparently super-high in sodium and fat, and many of the cats she's seen on Iams have had dietary problems.

Hope that adds some substance to the cat food conversation
.

The Garbanzo update: I took Banzo in to get another blood sample on Monday, and it came back today that she's definitely hyperthyroidal, which we were already expecting. But it means she is qualified for the clinic study in which we'll get all of her Carbimazole free for life. The bad and the good, I guess. She's been mostly on dry foods, but I'm adding more wet into her diet since the hydration is great for her thyroid and kidneys.

Tomorrow I'm taking Banzo back in to start on the medication and get the schedule and journal I have to take for the first 21 days. I've always been pretty good at journal keeping so hopefully I won't forget. It's going to be the most boring journal ever: "Dear Diary, today I ate a pill. I took one yesterday too. I think I'm taking another one tomorrow. Love, Garbanzo."
 

swampwitch

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Go figure... my vet just told me that IAMS is fine, and to get the hairball formula. She also said that Fancy Feast is like kitty junk food. Now I'm really confused! Does anybody know if there is a nutrient comparison chart somewhere?

Cheers, from
SwampWitch
 

lionessrampant

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Sharky will be able to go into MUCH more detail, but in layman's terms, here are the 3 cardinal rules of feeding that I give all of my adopters:

1. INCLUDE WET as much as humanly possible, all-wet is best.
2. Avoid Grains
3. Avoid By-products

The foods the OP mentioned are good premium-level foods and the best you'll be able to find at a conventional pet-supply store, but there are better super-premium brands out there that cost only slightly more than SD and Ians and Pro-plan, if at all. I've tried and like: Nature's Variety Prairie, Felidae, Wellness (my cats did well on it, although there is some controversy about the inclusion of garlic), Evanger's (this is what I feed and my cats do SO WELL with it), Eagle Pack, Artemis, Innova/Innova EVO (the EVO proved too rich for my kitties, but I know some do well on it) and Merrick.
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Go figure... my vet just told me that IAMS is fine, and to get the hairball formula. She also said that Fancy Feast is like kitty junk food. Now I'm really confused! Does anybody know if there is a nutrient comparison chart somewhere?

Cheers, from
SwampWitch
It's not so much the nutrients to look at(although they are improtant), but the ingredients.

Rosy, I am going to toss out my opinion here on the foods you vet recommended.
Science Diet Advanced Protection (her #1 pick for dry and wet)-uses BHA/BHT as preservatives which can cause cancer, contains lotsa grains & by-products
Royal Canin (wet or dry)-OK by me
Purina One (dry)-OK by me, mediocre food, rather $$$ for quality, though
Pro Plan Senior (wet or dry)-Not really pleased with this one

"Grocery store level" canned foods:
Friskies-just food, full of fillers(corn, grains) & by-products
Fancy Feast-not only addiciting, but most contain by-products. If you read the labels on them, a few are by-product free!

I am by no means trying to upset you Rosy, or pick on you. Please don't let my post offend you. I would just like to add that many vets have not studied nutrition & do not know what they are talking about. That can be hard to swallow. I am not claiming to know what I talk about, but I have learned through these forums. There are better people to come along & explain this further....
 

swampwitch

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I guess this has been discussed a lot, but is there a list of best cat foods, done by knowledgeable people like yourselves? (Some first choices might not be available here in Canada.)

I know people have different opinions what works best for their cats, but could you please list (or direct me to one) which foods have the least by-products and grains? Thanks in advance for this.

And I'm glad Garbanzo is getting excellent treatment!

Cheers, from
SwampWitch
 
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rosyc

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Swampwitch: Thank you! We're glad as well
.

wcl: Not at all offended. I actually expected some debate, and I wanted to put my 2 cents in (or my vet's 2 cents at least) since there is so much talk about what foods are good or bad. For the record, I highly trust my vet, but I'm also here to garner more info I (or she) might have missed. It's been educational so far, that's for certain
.
 

sharky

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I will chime in the morning as my brain is a bit off
it is getting late
 

mzjazz2u

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I think Vets are many times, courted heavily. Kind of like doctors with pharmacuetical companies. They all have a variety of opinions on food too.
 

katiemae1277

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Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

I think Vets are many times, courted heavily. Kind of like doctors with pharmacuetical companies. They all have a variety of opinions on food too.
my honest opinion? don't believe anything your vet tells you about food
I would read labels, most pet food companies have websites, go there and read their ingredient labels, you want to see the first few ingredients as meat, meal is good, but by-products are not, by-products are the everything including the kitchen sink animals parts, beaks, feet, all that crap which a wild cat wouldn't eat anyway. Look for low grains, try to avoid corn, there are better grains, oatmeal, brown rice are examples, but try for a low grain to meat ratio, like 3 meats to 1 grain. Everything I know, I learned from Sharky and I'm sure she'll be able to elaborate further
 

momofmany

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My last vet claimed Science Diet was the best but was marketed by Science Diet. My current vet claims that iVET is the best, but is being marketed by them. It was interesting that iVET suddenly became less popular with her when the company wasn't making their delivery schedules.

I am clearly not a nutricianist and typically believed my vets when they told me something was good for them. But after spending time on this site and reading all of the posts about the content of cat foods, I've realized what others have said: Vets are not well trained on nutrician and they simply recommend what has been sold to them.

I'm not trying to be contrary to anyone's experiences with vets. I just want to raise a warning flag about believing everything that they say in an area that they aren't well trained. I know we elevate their opinion because they are trained in medicine, but they, like all of us, have their limitations.

Just my 2 cents.
 

pat

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I think in part, that cat food gets discussed here so often because we are all curious as to what's new, what works well for each others cats, and because we are all different ages, and have varying length of time experience with cats.

Here are two threads from a bit ago, when I was the nutrition advisor...I think they are good and informative threads to read over.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34999 - a comprehensive food poll

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37441 - advice and opinions re natural cat foods.

My favorite sites re discussing cat nutrition are (even if not feeding raw, one is written by a vet and is spot on, well researched, good stuff!):http://www.catinfo.org and http://www.catnutrition.org


and a third site though I am more skip the carbs then they are:
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

The foods recommended by your vet are not ones I'd recommend based on what I've learned over the years. The comment about AAFCO also doesn't mean that much as it is a minimum standard, and does not address the quality of the ingredients used to meet those standards. It would mean more if it meant no by-products used, and only top quality proteins etc. imo
 

sharky

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Pat thank you for all the info /.///

I am lucky enough to have a vet that has a Ma( hope that is the intialls ) in nutrition so I DO trust what she told me ....

I look for NO by products ... limited corn( vet says okay if not the main ingrediant or protein source( this is easy to varify))... I prefer no corn for digestabilty reasons...I also prefer white rice over br rice for the same... for most cats that arent ill soy sould be a no go ...

NO CHEMICAL preservatives :bha bht ethoxiquin and in most cases citric acid ...
No artificial colors or flavors ...
LIMITED veggie( if the ninth or later ingrediant and only small numbers )
Limited grain in a dry food a one meat to one and half grain would be my max.ie food is chn rice and oatmeal millet lamb ...in wet food have at least two meats before a grain


what do I feed mine ...lol...
Kandie is 18.5 and eats canned ( dog and cat ) homemade( yippy got new recipes from the vet ) and raw ,... not at the same time

Gigi my 9 yr old allergy dog eats 1/4 cup day dry Timberwolf and Nutro mix ... about 6 ounces of wet and raw or homemade ..

Zoey eats natural choice and solid gold dry mixed and any fishy wet she will eat
 

bella's_mum

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I am just changing my 6month old kitten over to Natures Menu wet food and was going to buy James Wellbeloved dry, lady in the pet store said there is another premium dry food called Burns, anyone know whether it's good or not ? Here are the ingredients for the kitten food from the website
Duck Meat Meal (min 39%)
Brown Rice (min 21%)
White Rice (min 20%)
Maize
Duck Fat
Chicken Liver
Seaweed
Minerals & Vitamins
I'm getting confused trying to feed my cat !
 

sharky

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Bella's_Mum;1564664 said:
I am just changing my 6month old kitten over to Natures Menu wet food and was going to buy James Wellbeloved dry, lady in the pet store said there is another premium dry food called Burns, anyone know whether it's good or not ? Here are the ingredients for the kitten food from the website
Duck Meat Meal (min 39%) meal is great and duck is good as long as kitty can handle it( rich meat
Brown Rice (min 21%) both type of rice okay but the rice alone shows more grain than meat
White Rice (min 20%)
Maize This is corn
Duck Fat
Chicken Liver I am not fond of liver in dry food
Seaweed
Minerals & Vitamins
I'm getting confused trying to feed my cat


Overall looks good
 

strange_wings

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Useless bit of info, BHA/BHT is actually considered a cheap preservative used on lower quality cheap foods. Science Diet are really ripping people off.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Useless bit of info, BHA/BHT is actually considered a cheap preservative used on lower quality cheap foods. Science Diet are really ripping people off.
BHA is banned in many countries
 

strange_wings

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But it's not terribly surprising, after all most vets will happily declaw. It's just more $$$ for them in the end.
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

But it's not terribly surprising, after all most vets will happily declaw. It's just more $$$ for them in the end.
Oh I know...so many of us know.... it's disturbing... ...sigh....
 

katiemae1277

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

But it's not terribly surprising, after all most vets will happily declaw. It's just more $$$ for them in the end.
Exactly what I was thinking
 
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