PLEASE HELP! Need new food

Beandip mentioned a great analogy about cats and dry food/people and crackers (for oral care).

Also, many cats don't 'crunch' up dry food as it would ideally be to get that cleaning friction. Many cats actually swallow kibble whole. So that benefit can be lost on a good % of cats.

I like to rotate both dry and wet but I have transitioned to either grain free dry or only minimal *whole* grain.

Sharky already gave a good list to choose from. Lots of luck here with:

Innova/Evo
Wellness
Merricks (select varieties)
California Natural

You may have to experiment for a while to get a new meal plan accepted Just try to go easy on the transitions. With new wet foods, offer smaller amounts at first. With drys, mix new with a portion of the older dry.

Just an aside--a few months ago my older cat was getting a bit of dandruff. Since we transitioned to all higher end and added more wet--her coat is pristine. In fact, all 5 of my cats look healthier and have a bit more spunk. Could be springtime in New England, and it could be the food

The listing of ingredients in cat foods are by the ingredients weight value. The more ingredients there are in a product the less value any one product has, but as you go down the list, so does the value of that product. The first two ingredients are Chicken and Chicken Liver, followed by the Chicken Byproduct and finally all of the fillers and a few vitamins. If you do the math on the different products by a protein ratio, then you can see that this product has a higher ratio compared to the other brands. Let’s do a comparison of Eukanuba to Natural Balance:

Natural Balance® Ultra-Premium Dry Cat Food has the following listed in its ingredients. **Remember**The order of ingredients is by the ratio value – :

Chicken Meal, Chicken, Brown Rice, Duck Meal, Barley, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Potatoes, Carrots, Lamb Meal, Fish Meal, Canola Oil, Natural Flavor, Dried Egg, Brewers Yeast, Lecithin, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Inulin, Taurine, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberry, Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca, Kelp, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B).

Note in Natural Balance that the first two ingredients is Chicken Meal - then Chicken. Do you know what Chicken meal really is??

Now look at the Eukanuba's ingredient list for Adult Chicken & Rice Formula. I used comparable products.

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Products, Fish Meal, Corn Grits, Chicken Fat, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product, Natural Chicken Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), DL-Methionine, Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Salt, Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Rosemary Extract.

The math says that the Eukanuba has a higher ratio of Protein. Honestly the quality of fillers looks better in the Natural Balance, but now do I grade the product on what is most important, which is the protein, or the fillers?

I am not sure if I am explaining ratio of protein values well. Give the math a try and see how your cat food rates? Count out the number of filler in each of the products and divide it by the products considered to be protein based, and then you can see a generalized ratio. That generalized number is not the weighted value, but it gives general idea on how we are all easily fooled by clever marketing tactics that manipulate us into thinking foods for our are healthier then others.

If these companies really wanted to make the cat food healthier, then they would decrease the fillers.

I hope everyone sleeps well,
Amy

Thanks all of you for your suggestions! I seem to have helped launch a larger debate which I'll join for a moment (since I opened the forum ).

I do not personally believe that dry food is better, as it is unlike anything they would eat in the wild (not that my babies know anything of living in the wild, spoiled babies that they are ). From the moment they were rescued as very young kittens, they have been on a twice daily controlled diet of nutro max cat canned food. I introduced dry Wellness to their diet when I took a new job that required a lot of travel and was unable to afford a cat sitter to come more than once a day to feed them. Eukanuba was not a product that was acceptable for me, because it contains "by products", and I am unwilling to feed that to my cats. My thinking here is simply that I wouldn't eat heads and feet and other undesirable scraps from a carcass, so there is no acceptable reason that I should feed this to my beloved pets.

Now, with Nutro having recalled the cans as well, I'm trying to find a substitute. We've tried Wellness and Innova so far, but they really don't seem to be taking to it.

Because I had introduced Wellness when my job required travel, at least I do have one food product that they WILL eat, but I really want to get them back to a primarily wet diet. In the meantime, I have already begun the transition to Wellness Core, so if I never find a wet food that they will take, at the very least I will have a dry food that is only 12% carbs rather than the usual 30-40% in most dry foods.

The one good thing is that I live in NYC, so I am fortunate enough to have a lot of options conveniently and readily available to me (I don't have to rely on the big chain stores that categorize food like Iams as "high end").

I looked at the Merrick's and the Weruva (which looks great - except that it appears to be all fish) and I'm trying to stay away from that. Too much fish isn't really all that good for them, and again, they wouldn't eat it in the wild.

I am leaning, now, towards a raw diet. Tonight I purchased a batch of Stella and Chewy's. Linus and Lola woundn't touch it, but I'm going to try and take my time to get us there, relying on whatever trickery I can devise (like putting the new food on their paws and such to get them used to the taste and smell) and relying on the dry until I either succeed or give up....

I really appreciate all of your help and thoughtful suggestions, and hopefully something will stick (soon).

On another note, I don't know if the person who recommended Eukanuba feeds it to their pets, but I thought that it was a product listed on the recall list. After what happened with Nutro, I have to say that I am personally not comfortable with using any brand on the list, for fear that it will soon extend to their other products. For this reason, I intend to stay away from any manufacturers whose products are made by Menufoods, and anyone whose food are on the recall, to the best of my ability.

Again, thanks to all of you and keep your fingers crossed for me. Hopefully, soon, Linus and Lolabel will have a better diet than me

Here is a true analysis


Natural Balance® Ultra-Premium Dry Cat Food has the following listed in its ingredients. **Remember**The order of ingredients is by the ratio value – :

Chicken Meal((Five lbs of fresh goes into one of meat, generallly this would = roughly on lb of chn meal oer 4-5 lbs of food( the best type of meat protein for quality in dry foods), Chicken, Brown Rice( good digestablity not as much as white rice, Duck Meal( see chn meal), Barley( moderate digestabilty , Oatmeal( slower digesting grain which aid s in hairball wlimination), Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Potatoesgrain like and around barley in digestabilty, Carrots, Lamb Meal, Fish Meal( NOT a fan of unnamed meals )see chn meal, Canola Oil, Natural Flavor, Dried Egg, Brewers Yeast, Lecithin, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Inulin, Taurine, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberry, Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca, Kelp, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B).

Note in Natural Balance that the first two ingredients is Chicken Meal - then Chicken. Do you know what Chicken meal really is??

Now look at the Eukanuba's ingredient list for Adult Chicken & Rice Formula. I used comparable products.

Chicken ( one lb =one lb but after cooking only about 5 ounces of meat is left , Chicken Liverthese are mostly water thus the REAL first ingrediant is chn by product meal...WHICH is head ft and intestines concentrated NOT VERY DIGESTABLE and making up the bulk of this formula, Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Ricefragmented rice and a beer by product , Chicken By-Products, Fish Mealthe best protein thus far yet unnamed exactly, Corn Gritsthe least digestable of the grains, Insert chn and chn liver here after cookingChicken Fat, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product, Natural Chicken Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), DL-Methionine, Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Salt, Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Rosemary Extract.

Does that make it look a bit clearer ...

NB is high in grains but also has mulitiple QUALITY meat sources

NB meat to grain ratio is 1 meats to one grain/ grain like... 20ozs( roughly) of meat to start the formula out and it is the most digestable

Eukanuba is 1 to 2 grains ... meat amount of digestable meat is likely about 8 ounces after cooking

Originally Posted by linus4lola

Thanks all of you for your suggestions! I seem to have helped launch a larger debate which I'll join for a moment (since I opened the forum

).

I do not personally believe that dry food is better, as it is unlike anything they would eat in the wild (not that my babies know anything of living in the wild, spoiled babies that they are

). From the moment they were rescued as very young kittens, they have been on a twice daily controlled diet of nutro max cat canned food. I introduced dry Wellness to their diet when I took a new job that required a lot of travel and was unable to afford a cat sitter to come more than once a day to feed them. Eukanuba was not a product that was acceptable for me, because it contains "by products", and I am unwilling to feed that to my cats. My thinking here is simply that I wouldn't eat heads and feet and other undesirable scraps from a carcass, so there is no acceptable reason that I should feed this to my beloved pets.

Now, with Nutro having recalled the cans as well, I'm trying to find a substitute. We've tried Wellness and Innova so far, but they really don't seem to be taking to it.

Because I had introduced Wellness when my job required travel, at least I do have one food product that they WILL eat, but I really want to get them back to a primarily wet diet. In the meantime, I have already begun the transition to Wellness Core, so if I never find a wet food that they will take, at the very least I will have a dry food that is only 12% carbs rather than the usual 30-40% in most dry foods.

The one good thing is that I live in NYC, so I am fortunate enough to have a lot of options conveniently and readily available to me (I don't have to rely on the big chain stores that categorize food like Iams as "high end").

I looked at the Merrick's and the Weruva (which looks great - except that it appears to be all fish) and I'm trying to stay away from that. Too much fish isn't really all that good for them, and again, they wouldn't eat it in the wild.

I am leaning, now, towards a raw diet. Tonight I purchased a batch of Stella and Chewy's. Linus and Lola woundn't touch it, but I'm going to try and take my time to get us there, relying on whatever trickery I can devise (like putting the new food on their paws and such to get them used to the taste and smell) and relying on the dry until I either succeed or give up....

I really appreciate all of your help and thoughtful suggestions, and hopefully something will stick (soon).

On another note, I don't know if the person who recommended Eukanuba feeds it to their pets, but I thought that it was a product listed on the recall list. After what happened with Nutro, I have to say that I am personally not comfortable with using any brand on the list, for fear that it will soon extend to their other products. For this reason, I intend to stay away from any manufacturers whose products are made by Menufoods, and anyone whose food are on the recall, to the best of my ability.

Again, thanks to all of you and keep your fingers crossed for me. Hopefully, soon, Linus and Lolabel will have a better diet than me

Click to expand...

If you need raw diet help I am a PM away ... two of my three eat raw

linus4lola~

It sounds like you know what you want and have a good plan of action! It definitely can take some creativity and perseverance

There is a thread with some raw feeding info/tips ( I dont' raw feed but I never say never either )

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=117420

Originally Posted by sharky

If you need raw diet help I am a PM away

... two of my three eat raw

Click to expand...

Thanks!!!
Any suggestions that you can give me that will help me in transitioning them would be most helpful! Unfortunately, I will probably never be able to enlist them in a raw diet that is 100% because of the fact that I need to rely on dry food when I travel (it is far to cost prohibitive for me to pay a cat sitter to come twice daily for feedings, so when I travel, she comes once a day and we leave out dry for the other feeding). As I said, I'm already transitioning to Wellness Core, but I also found that Nature's Variety Prairie has a Raw Dry that we could try (we had tried their kibble a couple years ago and the babies didn't love it so much, but it's an option)...

Anyway, when I am not travelling, it is my hope to get to a 75/25% split between wet and dry. I'd do exclusively wet when I'm home, except that I feel as though it's probably wise to keep the dry food that they will eat when I'm away as part of their daily diet so that they remain used to it and it's not too jarring on either their picky palates or their system. But this isn't based on any fact I've uncovered, just my gut, so if I'm wrong about that, I'm totally open to your advice.

Anyway, yes, please, teach me anything there is to know about the best foods for my babies and how to get them to eat it!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!

you could try By Nature brand. i bought 2 cases of their pouches when they were on sale. unfortunately the guys aren't thrilled with them. so they will likely be donated. the pouches are chunks in gravy with no wheat gluten.

If you are willing to pay a little more, you could ask your vet about a higher protein prescription dry food. Some of my cats are overweight and the restricted calorie dry foods prescribed by my vet are higher in protein and lower in carbs than the off-the-shelf variety. I have found this to be the case regardless of the brand. Good luck!

Oh also, you have my sympathy on the part about getting them to switch and eat the new food. Kitties are sooooo picky, aren't they!!! I tried to switch mine to felidae wet food and they do not like the texture. The only wet food they will eat other than fancy feast or friskies (yes, just like big macs, I admit it) is the Dick Van Patten Natural Balance.

If you do go the vet route, see if they will give you some samples. I am guessing your vet's kennel area will have some open foods since they feed kitties who are staying overnight with them. I have had the kennel manager at my vet give me small amounts of different types of food depending on different foster cats or kittens I have that may need special treatment for X or Y condition.

I too am not a fan of dry kibble food. A good wet food diet is the healthiest for your cat. Unfortunately a great many (most) vets are not very knowledgeable when it comes to food and nutrition. They often just push what the sales people being into their practices and say they are good foods. Also unfortunately a lot of people believe these vets know what they are talking about. I believe there are special diets required in some instances but I personally would not feed these products to my treasured pets. Before I'd take a vet's advice on nutrition, I'd want to see his/her certificate/diploma for the course he/she took regarding nutrition.