No Wonder People Don't Understand Pet Nutrition

With articles like this people will keep buying FF and all that other stuff:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/15/pf/s...ion=2006021511

FF isn't cheap (it's one of the few wet foods my guys like). i have a feeling they are talking much cheaper than FF.

Well, just think how many vets give out nutritional advice with little actual knowledge of the nutrition who are recommending high carb foods

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Well, just think how many vets give out nutritional advice with little actual knowledge of the nutrition who are recommending high carb foods

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DITTO ....\\


Thing is evan those of us who have spent yrs of research time looking onto dont always know...

Ugh. Our local news channel apparently had a story with vets telling everyone to switch to dry only:

http://www.katu.com/news/6678107.html

The alternative vet we went to a couple of weeks ago recommended several high-quality foods, but also said that Fancy Feast is "pretty good." I just don't know what to think anymore.

My thoughts on wet pet foods are if people are buying the best they can afford (not the cheapest they can get away with) and their cats are doing well and are healthy, then it's ok. Personally I can't afford to get the high end brands of wet cat food for all of my cats, so I usually buy friskies and fancy feast and my cats do well and I have no complaints from the vet.

Our oldest cat lived to be 21 years old eating friskies and never had health problems until he was about 19 yrs old.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

The alternative vet we went to a couple of weeks ago recommended several high-quality foods, but also said that Fancy Feast is "pretty good." I just don't know what to think anymore.

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My vet said thing s like FF are decent and should be used when a cat stops eating... ie they dont have artificial colors ... and most have some non by product meat.. Do I feed it NO

Is it true that senior cats require "geriatric cat food"? I always thought if your kitty was in good health, you could feed them a regular (premium brand) food...

Originally Posted by hyacinthbucket

Is it true that senior cats require "geriatric cat food"? I always thought if your kitty was in good health, you could feed them a regular (premium brand) food...

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If your feeding a senior dry food it is best to lower the protein and fat since there isnt the moisture of wet , homemade or raw to assist in breaking those up ... if your feeding wet no

I like my vet clinic. They nod & smile about my "crazy" ideas on pet food. I even told the office gal that dry food doesn't help prevent gingivits & why. She said she'd talk to the vet about that & was genuniely happy to hear my opinion. The vet does reccomend wet food because of UTI health. Doesn't overly promote dry food.

Aphro's vet told me that even low end wet food is better than high end dry food. I don't know if I necessarily believe this for all cats b/c I know plenty of cats who do well on both. However, dry food (even the high end stuff, I exclusively fed her Innova Evo), was really packing the pounds on Aphro. I switched to Fancy Feast (like another user said, I have a feeling they are talking about Meow Mix dry, or some cheapie off brand) and Nutro Natural pouches. Aphro has lost weight and no more hairballs! (She used to get those at least one a week... huge ones). So for me, wet food seems to work better for my kitty, and FF and the occasional Friskies have caused no problems for me or my kitty.

Personlly I'm all about saving money, as long as it doesnt involve a living creature, who depends upon you to give him/her the right food choices. Saving money just for the sake of doing so if you can afford something better isnt right.

People should in my opinion save money on pet stuff like: Food and water bowls. toys, collers.

The things to spend money on are. Food/treats. Vet care, spay/neuter.

Useally,but not always, the more expensive a food is the better stuff they use in it. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...s/rolleyes.gif... Its common sense! you get what you pay for.

I think instead of getting on people for feeding cheap food -- we should ask why food manufacturers are allowed to put such crap in their pet food? Also, I think, until the higher end brands are sold in grocery stores -- most cats will be eating cheap, less quality food. There are many people who do not have access to pet food stores (do to them living in a rural area) or are unwilling to travel to one.

I feed Nutro but my childhood cat (way before Petsmart and Petco) ate nothing but 9 Lives and occasional FF (and he was indoor/outdoor) -- he lived to be 19 and never had any health issues.

So, I am perfectly willing and able to feed higher end food but I am not totally convinced that it makes a difference.

Originally Posted by meow meow

I think instead of getting on people for feeding cheap food -- we should ask why food manufacturers are allowed to put such crap in their pet food? Also, I think, until the higher end brands are sold in grocery stores -- most cats will be eating cheap, less quality food. There are many people who do not have access to pet food stores (do to them living in a rural area) or are unwilling to travel to one.

I feed Nutro but my childhood cat (way before Petsmart and Petco) ate nothing but 9 Lives and occasional FF (and he was indoor/outdoor) -- he lived to be 19 and never had any health issues.

So, I am perfectly willing and able to feed higher end food but I am not totally convinced that it makes a difference.

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There are always exceptions to the rule - some people, despite a steady diet of fast food will live to a ripe old age. No one advocates such a diet though, because for the majority of us, that type of food would cause all sorts of health problems.

In general, most cats, just like people, will be healthier and thrive on a high-quality diet of the purest foods available.

Everyone's made some good points.

I won't attack anyone who feeds less expensive/grocery store foods. That's a personal choice. I might offer my opinion, but I don't want to offend anyone.

On the subject of the costs of caring for a cat, saving money, etc...

I was walking into Petsmart a few weeks ago and something caught my eye. A customer was leaving, and in their cart was....A bag of one of the cheapest foods, and 2 boxes of the most expensive litter. I couldn't help but shake my head at that...it just doesn't make sense to me. Personally, I prefer bargain litter and premium food.

I switched my cats to an all "canned" diet, just shortly before the recall. The recall has made me more aware, and it worries me...but there are potential benefits and risks to nearly all of the food options for our cats. I have seen too many improvements in my cats to go back to a dry food diet.

Noel ate Meow Mix for years... not that I didn't try to give her better quality foods... but she was a lunatic about it and wouldn't *eat* the other foods. She likes Meow Mix. And after going through I don't know how many different foods, none of which I would just throw away (they were expensive brands too).. and having her wind in and out of my feet, several trip and falls on my part (she managed not to get hurt), screaming at me half the night, clawing doors and carpet in her frenzy to see if perhaps I'd hidden the real bag of catfood in a closed off room.. I gave in and gave her Meow Mix. Then she found Pro Plan which she was on until about a month... She liked that. Now she gets Evo, and she likes that best.

Originally Posted by beandip

I was walking into Petsmart a few weeks ago and something caught my eye. A customer was leaving, and in their cart was....A bag of one of the cheapest foods, and 2 boxes of the most expensive litter. I couldn't help but shake my head at that...it just doesn't make sense to me. Personally, I prefer bargain litter and premium food.

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Ditto on what you prefer!

I have a guess for why they're doing that though. Maybe the cheap food is causing very smelly litter boxes, and they think they need a premium litter to fix the problem.

I assume that too, when will people learn. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...s/rolleyes.gif.

In gen I think finding good pet food for a type of pet, being - reptile cat, dog, fish, is as easy as falling off a log, just give then a diet that most clsely matches what their WILD anesctors ate.

Originally Posted by Panther pride

I assume that too, when will people learn. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...s/rolleyes.gif.

In gen I think finding good pet food for a type of pet, being - reptile cat, dog, fish, is as easy as falling off a log, just give then a diet that most clsely matches what their WILD anesctors ate.

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What you consider good may not be what another person considers good. I've got a friend who has had 2 cats and has fed them nothing but Fancy Feast, and his first one lived to be 22 years old.

Yet a lot of people on these forums would say Fancy Feast is crap.

I take food advice for my pet with a grain of salt.