Please help with food decision

I have just about everything ironed out between Persi and Alley after their introduction three weeks ago. But there is one thing left that is probably going to cause some serious gasps from you good people here on TCS. I plead insanity and ignorance to all charges, however.

When I got Persi, I immediately put him on Science Diet Kitten Original. I more or less randomly selected this or perhaps I should say I picked the most expensive one they had and assumed that would mean it was good. Soon thereafter, I joined TCS and started seeing all of the bad things people were saying about Science Diet. This upset me because Persi seemed to be thriving so well on it and liked eating it so much. I did not have a particular reason for picking this brand; but I wanted the best I could get for my new kitten, something I had never had before, I wanted to put him on one food and leave him there for the rest of his life. The bad things I kept reading kept upsetting me but when I considered that he had never been sick or never had even a single hairball and was growing so robust I decided to just stick with it.

Three weeks ago I adopted our new cat, Alley. I did not have a clue of what her former diet was. She is about 2-3 years old according to the vet. But right away, she started munching on Persi's food. And I mean like, she really liked it! Well I had just bought the largest sack of this kitten food that you could buy so I figured can it really hurt an adult cat eating kitten food and would it not be wonderful if I had two cats that could eat and thrive on the same food? I also reasoned now would be the time to switch Persi over to the adult version of some food. Since they both like the kitten version so much (with no water added) I thought about just starting to phase in the adult version of Science Diet for both of them. On the other hand, if Science Diet is not a good food, I do not want to get them both eating it for the rest of their life. I need to start phasing the new adult food in now because I do not want to buy another bag of kitten food even though Persi is technically still a kitten. Or is it OK to keep giving them both kitten food for a couple more months? (Persi is 9 1/2 months old.)

If you could see Persi & Alley now eating out of the same large dish at the same time you would understand. (With many water bowls around the house.)

Thanks for any input you may have!

There are better foods out there. If your guys are doing fine on it, then don't worry too much. Its better then cheap store brands like Meow Mix!

My cats didn't like Science Diet. ProPlan would make a rex's coat dry out like you would not believe (however an Aby friend of ours had her cats on it and they were fine - show cats too).

I was a fan of Iams till recently. My rexes loved it, were really healthy. Charlie's breeder switched to Royal Cain, which is what we use now.

I've got the mental picture of your two beautiful babies happily munching away together, a delighted mom looking on ....what bliss!!!

Now here I come to burst the bubble (sorry!) I agree with all other members who have criticized Science Diet as an inferior food at a premium price. It's nice that your kitties like it, but there are many, many other foods available that they will like just as well, and that will be much healthier for them. When shopping for new food make sure you read labels: NO by-products, corn, wheat, artificial colors or preservatives. These are all things your cats do not need.

OK, bad enough that SD is no good. Here's something else to consider - a diet of strictly dry food, no matter how good the brand, is *not* the best diet for your babies. The closer to a natural diet you provide (what a cat would eat if left to his own devices outdoors) the better for your cat. Canned food most closely resembles that natural diet. Cats don't hunt for rice, oats or corn (all common ingredients in dry food)! They require meat - not desiccated meat, but meat containing lots of moisture as it would if they caught a small animal. Keep in mind that dry food requires the cat's body to use lots of precious water to process it- not a good thing. Dry food is also implicated as potentially contributing to conditions such as urinary blockage and kidney disease.

I think it's great that you're trying to get your little ones off to a healthy start, even if that means you have to make changes. It will be worth the effort.

PS- Congratulations on your adoption of Alley!!! What a wonderful thing you did! She's gorgeous! (as is Persi, too)

Well, I'm glad you now see the error in your ways.

Don't be hard on yourself...you simply didn't know!

I would look into a high quality CANNED or wet diet for your kitties. One that is appropriate for all life stages, and then you won't have to worry about your adult munching on food that is meant for kittens! Kitten food has a bit too much fat and calories in there for most adults, and can be a bit too rich.

Take any switch to a different food slowly, over a week or two. Just add a teaspoon of the new stuff to the old, gradually increasing the amount of the new, and fading the old stuff out. This is to prevent tummy upset!

Here's some brands to try, that are much better than SD...

*Wellness
*Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul
*Innova
*Merrick
*Felidae

Look for something that has no by-products, a quality protein (meat-based) source listed as it's first ingredient, and with as little grains as possible. Stay away from corn, wheat flour, etc...they're just fillers that carnivores don't need, and do more harm than good!

Good luck!

I dont look for no wheat or corn ..lol.. I do but it is allergy... Many Holistic foods are less digestable the the ones with those ... My vet mande a flyer sting meat first corn / wheat okay as long as further down...I prefer none but I am more a one to one meat grain ratio...


FILLERs are indigestable, like cellulose ... corn is low digestablity wheat is simliar to brown rice and oatmeal ( about the leval of fish )
I dont do garlic ... it can be toxic

nutro
chicken soup
innova
evo
seregetti
natures prairie
evangers
solid gold
ultramix
natural balence
felidea
some eagle pack
I would go either all stage or kitten but my almost three yr old eats a mix all stage and kitten
all are FAR better than SD ( which to me is low grocery in quality )