Update:

mellow

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
27
Purraise
0
Okay I visited this site a small while ago about feline nutrition. I had a thread title “Are all cat foods the same?â€. So, I have purchase canned foods of Wellness, Innova, and merricks which my cat is really enjoying. I also recently consulted with my vet and she told me that by-products were excellent sources of nourishment because of blood and organ tissues and etc. I was told to check out Science diet? What do everyone thinks? Is science diet a good choice?
 

katkisses

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 31, 2006
Messages
2,334
Purraise
14
Location
North Carolina, U.S.
Ewww, no, not the science diet. By products consist of heads, beaks, and feet.... Not good at all. Stick with what you are feeding-those are some of the best food out there. Vets push science diet, but it's really not good at all-IMO Iams is better than Science Diet, even though both are baaad foods.
 

beandip

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
2,322
Purraise
2
Location
under a pile of cats
Originally Posted by Mellow

Okay I visited this site a small while ago about feline nutrition. I had a thread title “Are all cat foods the same?â€. So, I have purchase canned foods of Wellness, Innova, and merricks which my cat is really enjoying. I also recently consulted with my vet and she told me that by-products were excellent sources of nourishment because of blood and organ tissues and etc. I was told to check out Science diet? What do everyone thinks? Is science diet a good choice?
Named organ meats are good ...i.e. chicken liver, heart, etc. but that's NOT what is hidden in the "by-products" listed on the cat foods on the store shelves. If it was something yummy and delicious and wholesome like "chicken hearts" it would say that on the label. Instead, you see "chicken by products" which can be virtually any nasty, indigestible part of a chicken...beaks, feet, intestines, etc. "Meat" by products are even worse as we don't know what animal they came from ...could be a horse for all we know.

Science diet is not a food I would feed. By products, chemical preservatives, too many grains, etc. Yuck.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by Mellow

Okay I visited this site a small while ago about feline nutrition. I had a thread title “Are all cat foods the same?â€. So, I have purchase canned foods of Wellness, Innova, and merricks which my cat is really enjoying. I also recently consulted with my vet and she told me that by-products were excellent sources of nourishment because of blood and organ tissues and etc. I was told to check out Science diet? What do everyone thinks? Is science diet a good choice?
It seems your vet needs some education in nutrition. Perhaps you can work with her to get her better informed. I'd be curious (and ask) where she got the information that by-products were "good". Sounds like a Science Diet sales rep's information and she's taken it as gospel.
 

kitytize

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
2,155
Purraise
2
I am a firm believer that by-products are an important part of a cats diet. Just because we think those things are gross does not mean cats do. And they do eat these things on whole prey. By-products include internal organs, lungs, spleen, blood and bone. They do not include hair, horns, teeth, hoofs or feathers except trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. Feet, heads, undeveloped eggs of poultry are also included and all those parts contain valuable nutrients that are not found in muscle meat.
 

pat

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
11,045
Purraise
58
Location
Pacific NW
Originally Posted by kitytize

I am a firm believer that by-products are an important part of a cats diet. Just because we think those things are gross does mean cats do. And they do eat these things on whole prey.
The problem is, nice fresh whole prey is vastly different from the quality of what is called by-products by the pet food industry. We aren't talking liver and heart here..if only!
 

beandip

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
2,322
Purraise
2
Location
under a pile of cats
I am a firm believer that known, identifiable, named by products are excellent. Sure I wouldn't eat them and think they're gross, but you're right - the cats like them and they are good for them. The problem I have is that they aren't usually named (i.e. "chicken gizzards" or "chicken hearts" or "beef kidney", etc). All we see on the label is "chicken by products", or worse yet - "meat by products".

The other problem I have with them is the fact that real, identifiable by products make up a fairly small percentage of a prey animal as a whole. When I buy a can or bag of food that starts off the ingredient list with "chicken by products", that tells me my cat will get a meal that is maybe 75% "by products", whereas if they killed and ate a "whole" animal, how much of the meal would be comprised of by products? Maybe 10-20% at the most? I want them getting something that is as close as possible to "natural". A meal of 75% guts, feet, and unidentified parts is not natural.

Even the chicken gizzards, hearts, liver, and the bones are on the shelf at Walmart...if they can sell them for human consumption, they will. These "good" by products aren't going into the cat food. What's left or of substanard quality goes in the cat food.
 

goldenkitty45

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
19,900
Purraise
44
Location
SW Minnesota
Vets get a percentage of what they sell (Science Diet). I don't like it, cats don't like it. We used to feed Iams, but now feed Royal Canin which is better.

My two oldest rexes (15 1/2 and 17 1/2 yrs old) were Iams cats all their lives with no problems. But apparently Iams is not up to the quality they used to be.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
I also am a Named beleiver but not in ANY dry food ....

I use raw meat for part of the diets here ... Yup hearts livers and kidneys are on the menu... but they are not preserved and are from minimally processed sources if not Organic
... I dont trust most pet foods to take the care i do


Yes I suggest everyone read the label on the food yearly since formulas do change without the consumer getting notice
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

mellow

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
27
Purraise
0
Well my Vet seems to be more of a fan of the Science diet than members on this board. But as far as by-products it is such a vague term, it gives these companies too much freedom in what they can put in the products. I don’t’ want to jump overboard but with using an unclear descriptive of what constitutes their byproducts it could even be a by-product of a cat. It’s better to just name it like some one pointed out if it’s so wholesome.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
SD goes into vet school s... so just like your dr vet s usually only know what was taught in school
 

rone

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
259
Purraise
1
Location
Earth
Our cats were fed Science Diet when we first got them home from the shelter, the entire house smelled like poop the first week or so. The smell disappeared after we switched their food. They were also constantly & constantly & constantly begging for food when on Science Diet; now only meows right before feeding time.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

mellow

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
27
Purraise
0
Originally Posted by Rone

Our cats were fed Science Diet when we first got them home from the shelter, the entire house smelled like poop the first week or so. The smell disappeared after we switched their food.
What did you switch to?
 

mschauer

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
6,753
Purraise
2,338
Location
Houston, Tx
Originally Posted by sharky

SD goes into vet school s... so just like your dr vet s usually only know what was taught in school
Just curious, what do you mean by "SD goes into vet school s"? Are you suggesting SD sends reps to vet schools to teach courses?
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Originally Posted by mschauer

Just curious, what do you mean by "SD goes into vet school s"? Are you suggesting SD sends reps to vet schools to teach courses?
No .. they sponsor scholorships for vet schools and the texts are often from them
... PM me if you want more info
 
Top