Trying to avoid killing my cat with bad food

meow meow

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Was feeding Nutro wet. Changed to MeowMix since it is not part of the recall and my cat really likes it. Now I see that most varieties have wheat gluten. Did try a few cans of Wellness and he liked it (but Wellness is made at Menu Foods and is also very $$$$). I picked up some fish FF without WG but he left most of it.

This is getting frustrating.
 

beandip

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The only thing my cats eat is canned food, so I do share your frustration.

Personally, after reviewing all the info available to me, I have one rule now: Avoid wheat gluten. My cats eat the wheat gluten free, menu-made varieties...such as Wellness, and the Natura brand food that Panther recommended. They eat the Nutro flavors that do not have wheat gluten too. We're all fine here.


But it's a personal choice.


A non menu made food is Natural Balance...available at Petco. Then there's also Merrick's and Evanger's...available at smaller mom/pop type pet food stores. There are a few others...they're in a thread here somewhere.
 

jcat

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Originally Posted by beandip

The only thing my cats eat is canned food, so I do share your frustration.

Personally, after reviewing all the info available to me, I have one rule now: Avoid wheat gluten. My cats eat the wheat gluten free, menu-made varieties...such as Wellness, and the Natura brand food that Panther recommended. They eat the Nutro flavors that do not have wheat gluten too. We're all fine here.


But it's a personal choice.


A non menu made food is Natural Balance...available at Petco. Then there's also Merrick's and Evanger's...available at smaller mom/pop type pet food stores. There are a few others...they're in a thread here somewhere.
Here's the thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=119886
 

bonnie1965

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Originally Posted by meow meow

Was feeding Nutro wet. Changed to MeowMix since it is not part of the recall and my cat really likes it. Now I see that most varieties have wheat gluten. Did try a few cans of Wellness and he liked it (but Wellness is made at Menu Foods and is also very $$$$). I picked up some fish FF without WG but he left most of it.

This is getting frustrating.
The only wet food Seb will eat is Meow Mix pouches. About 1/3 of them have wheat Gluten, the others do not. I feed him those that do not. Good luck!
 

goldenkitty45

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Not the Meow Mix - that's the WORSE food on the market! Please try something a lot better - like Royal Canin, or Chicken Soup for your cats. Meow Mix has dye in it and most cats will throw it up.

It's been know for many years in the cat circuit that its JUNK food and should be taken off the market!
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Not the Meow Mix - that's the WORSE food on the market! Please try something a lot better - like Royal Canin, or Chicken Soup for your cats. Meow Mix has dye in it and most cats will throw it up.

It's been know for many years in the cat circuit that its JUNK food and should be taken off the market!
I believe she was referring to Meow Mix WET , in pouches. It actually doesn't have bad ingredients. There are no by products. It's not bad food...much different than the DRY Meow Mix (which is junk).
 

gingersmom

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My Ginger will ONLY eat the Meow Mix wet - she won't touch any other brand whatsoever, and seeing that it has no by-products in it, it seems to me to be healthier than a lot of the other low-end wet foods on the market.

I agree that MM DRY should be taken off the market, but it if weren't for my kitty being finicky and only eating the MM wet, she (and Ferris) could be seriously ill right now, as I used to give her only Nutro wet, and gave Ferris several of the now recalled brands before switching him to just MM wet.
 

tari

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I share your frustration. My picky boys will only eat chunks and gravy style foods...and only SOME of those. I've been trying to get them onto something without wheat gluten or fish. They've rejected everything with no wheat gluten, including the Meow Mix (which I tried in desperation despite the fix). I finally got them to eat Ultramix, but now they're getting tired of that. I ordered another brand online last week, we'll see how it goes.
 

mybabyphx

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I heard waaaaaaaaaaaaay before this whole pet food recall thing that Meow Mix is bad for cats? Whether this is true or false, I don't know. I heard this like a year ago, maybe they've improved? But because of me hearing this, my cats will never eat meow mix. I feed them Purina (the green bag) PHX loves it!!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by mybabyphx

I heard waaaaaaaaaaaaay before this whole pet food recall thing that Meow Mix is bad for cats? Whether this is true or false, I don't know. I heard this like a year ago, maybe they've improved? But because of me hearing this, my cats will never eat meow mix. I feed them Purina (the green bag) PHX loves it!!
LET ME CLARIFY There are NO BAD foods just foods that ARE BETTER by OPNION

MM is NOT BAD ... but it is at the bottom in the ingrediants and the quality overall...

The wet MM is much higher quality and better ingrediants ... read the labels ..
 

goldenkitty45

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Whether or not you read the ingredients on MM wet or dry, IMO how can a company produce a junk dry food and turn around and produce a quality canned food????? Explain that one to me.

Companies with high quality dry also produce high quality canned (most of them - I don't see any normal canned RC - only a speciality canned RC).

If MM canned really was so good, then their dry would be equal and its not - so I would not buy either.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Whether or not you read the ingredients on MM wet or dry, IMO how can a company produce a junk dry food and turn around and produce a quality canned food????? Explain that one to me.

Companies with high quality dry also produce high quality canned (most of them - I don't see any normal canned RC - only a speciality canned RC).

If MM canned really was so good, then their dry would be equal and its not - so I would not buy either.
the quality of ALL foods is in question now ... The basic ingrediants in MM wet are decent ( heavy fish )... and the LITTLE grain is great
... Some companys make good dry food and lousy wet IT HAPPENS...

RC makes a canned under there Sensible choice label OTC ... the others are RXs.... I did ask the rep why once and it was along the lines of dry food is good... not satisfactory to me
 

goldenkitty45

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Charlie is doing well in the Beauty & Fit RC now with the canned Friskies - solid weight and nice shiny coat.

Our Petco doesn't carry any RC canned - but I noticed it on the website.

One other thing, I don't like giving my cats much fish - I stick to chicken, beef, turkey or lamb, with very little fish. Cats get hooked on fish and wind up not wanting to eat other better meats
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Charlie is doing well in the Beauty & Fit RC now with the canned Friskies - solid weight and nice shiny coat.

Our Petco doesn't carry any RC canned - but I noticed it on the website.

One other thing, I don't like giving my cats much fish - I stick to chicken, beef, turkey or lamb, with very little fish. Cats get hooked on fish and wind up not wanting to eat other better meats
Yes fish is a moderation food .Lamb is another to limit as it can be hard to digest and is a meat likely to cause inflamtion..
No Sensible choice canned is hard to find and only chicken formula is now made but if you find it is GREAT ... Ahhh I looked at Beauty fit for Zoey for the protein but the VET said no ... too much corn ... I wouldnt ever feed friskies again but that is me
 

goldenkitty45

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I just read the RC lable - says 37% protein and 8.5% fiber (which would be the corn).

Charlie's breeder feeds it to her cats and they are in the top 10 in the nation (cat/kitten). Last year Charlie's brother was best kitten and 2nd best cat in the nation. I'll stick with RC


They do get boiled chicken too
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I just read the RC lable - says 37% protein and 8.5% fiber (which would be the corn).

Charlie's breeder feeds it to her cats and they are in the top 10 in the nation (cat/kitten). Last year Charlie's brother was best kitten and 2nd best cat in the nation. I'll stick with RC


They do get boiled chicken too
If it works stick with it
... FYI I know champions raised on grocery food so it aint saying much
...
 

wmarcello

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I just read the RC lable - says 37% protein and 8.5% fiber (which would be the corn).

Charlie's breeder feeds it to her cats and they are in the top 10 in the nation (cat/kitten). Last year Charlie's brother was best kitten and 2nd best cat in the nation. I'll stick with RC


They do get boiled chicken too
RC Beauty and Fitness:

INGREDIENTS: Chicken meal, corn gluten meal, rice, corn, chicken fat (naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid), chicken, natural chicken flavor, pea fiber, rice hulls, beet pulp, etc...

Solely looking at the ingredients, there seems to be a lot of grains in RC which cats have no real need for. The fact that they distinguished between corn gluten meal and corn probably means that if you added the two together the corn ingredients would outweigh the chicken meal.

That said, you're definitely not the first to say that their cats thrive on RC. I actually seem to hear it quite often, so maybe there's something I'm missing. If it works that well, no harm in sticking with it!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by wmarcello

RC Beauty and Fitness:

INGREDIENTS: Chicken meal, corn gluten meal, rice, corn, chicken fat (naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid), chicken, natural chicken flavor, pea fiber, rice hulls, beet pulp, etc...

Solely looking at the ingredients, there seems to be a lot of grains in RC which cats have no real need for. The fact that they distinguished between corn gluten meal and corn probably means that if you added the two together the corn ingredients would outweigh the chicken meal.

That said, you're definitely not the first to say that their cats thrive on RC. I actually seem to hear it quite often, so maybe there's something I'm missing. If it works that well, no harm in sticking with it!
Yes, it is a bit grain heavy .... Corn or Corn gluten meal balence out mag and phos in the chicken ... RC is one of the companies that does focus on UTI health but why both in one formula is beyond me
....

Golden
The fiber isnt from the corn as much as the RICE HULLS and PEA fiber
 
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