Perfect food...???

sharky

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This is a often asked ??? what is the perfect or best food ???

My question is what would be in your idea of the perfect food and have you found it ... ????

Lets try to not get into citrate vs carbonate ...

How about wet , dry , raw , homemade .... % of protein , fat, carbs ... and top 6 ingredients and if you have found it ...

Have not found it yet...

ideally
chn , chicken meal , sweet potato s , beef meal , salmon meal, lamb... this obviously has a high portein and moderate fat level... for a dry grain free or a touch of rice .... lots of meat of varying heat levels , a neutral yet vitamin packed starch

wet similiar yet more varied meat and NO MEALS

raw would be one or two meats with THEIR organs and a smidge of veggies

homemade well no idea as NO cat wants my homemade ... NOTE dog loves it
 

bluegirl

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Well, personally I don't think there is a "perfect" food. A food that works perfect would be one that my cats tolerate, they like, makes them healthy and they digest well. It could have the best ingredients in the world, but if they can't tolerate it, then it isn't "perfect" to me
 
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sharky

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Originally Posted by bluegirl

Well, personally I don't think there is a "perfect" food. A food that works perfect would be one that my cats tolerate, they like, makes them healthy and they digest well. It could have the best ingredients in the world, but if they can't tolerate it, then it isn't "perfect" to me
Welcome TO TCS .......

but The ??? was IF you had found it and if not what do you THINK ...

Ie have you found one that does the things you want it to??
 

mulenag

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I hope more people post...this could be a great thread!

I feel a "perfect" food would be a raw diet based on a whole prey model. Something that provides the same nutrition as a whole mouse or other prey, without having to feed my cats a whole mouse!

I would like to see no grains or plant based products used. Something that can satisfy my carnivores! Too many foods add stuff that really doesn't satisfy the needs of a carnivore.

I suppose if I lived in a more populated area I would try to make my own raw, but my access to fresh whole meats is quite limited here.
 

lmunsie

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The perfect food is the one I can get my cats to eat that keeps them healthy and looking good. And with a picky cat like Kismet who won't eat wet, that is no small feat!
 

artgecko

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Hmm... not as specific as requested BUT, my perfect food would be:
For dry: List whole meats, staying away from fish, first (few protein sources), low grain and allergen content, no funky herbs (i.e. garlic, rosemary) and very digestable. Moderate fat, high protein, very low to non-existant carbs, low ash content. Moderate calorie content.

Have I found it? well, I thought EVO was pretty good, even noting the high caloric content, until one of my cats started showing allergy symptoms... Now, I'll be searching again once the allergen is found that he's reacting to.

Wet: Whole meats, low/no grains, no "odd" ingredients/herbs, etc. Low ash and magnesium (kidney friendly). High paletability.

Have I found it? Well, the EVO 95% line comes very close, not sure how it ranks on the ash content, but he single protien sources and no grains make them very good for wet... Now, if only I could convince my cats that the canned food was tastier than the dry.

Art
 

mschauer

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There's no point in me figuring out what I think the "perfect" food is. I have to be satisfied with determining which is the least "icky" of the foods the little monsters will eat.
 

faith's_mom

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Originally Posted by mschauer

There's no point in me figuring out what I think the "perfect" food is. I have to be satisfied with determining which is the least "icky" of the foods the little monsters will eat.
Tehehe...I geuss I am the same as you, in a way...

I think we could all 'idealise' what WE would want, but what our cats want, or like, or even can tolerate is a WHOLE different ball game!

I tried so many different high end premium brand cat foods, including EVO, but my kitties could not handle them...I wound up with sloppy stools, even long after an adjustment period was long past. Ideally, I would like to have stuck with EVO...but have my poor felines with loose stools all the time? Nope...They get the same thing when I add wet food to their diet...even after they should have adjusted to it.

Soooooo...it is Chicken Soup brand for us...it is still a good premium food, and most importantly my kitties don't react to it, and I don't have messy litter pans OR messy kitty paws pattering across my clean carpets


I think the 'perfect' food, is the one that works for my cats...
 

glitch

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I think so far my kitties purrfect food has been the Nutro Natural choice! They love it, havn't gotten UTI's, and BooBoo lost a pound! Kittens are growing great, so I dont have any complaints!

Idealy I would like to feed raw! Whole prey style so that its closer to what they would normally get, but I dont have the patience to make it, and the pet store said they are going to start getting some in now that are already made!

I like the first 2 ingredients at the top to be of the same animal, (I dont know why though) and I think its crazy that theres something called Ash in their food... so low on that would be nice!
 

cattiew

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i doubt there is perfect food for our cats. i fact found that even the dry food is more filling than the wet one since i reckon my boy needs to eat more dry food soon after he had a big meal of canned food. i am now feeding him innova i have tried EVO as well but they don't seems to like it. also i have heard people said that we need to change their dried food every half a year since every dried food contain different nutrions. i have also tried some brands recommanded by my vet and found that the natural dried food is better for my cats. although a lot of people said no suppliment should be needed if you are feeding them with good dried food/ cannned food etc. i still give them various kinds of suppliments and omega -3 oil since i have heard that they can't absorb cooked omega3. i am not sure about feeding raw meat tho. i have heard that feeding them raw meat will cause a lot of infection in their digestive system. however i have never done that and hence i don't really know whether it's true or not.
 

missymotus

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For mine the perfect food is raw with bones and minimal dry (1/8- 1/4 cup to share). They are doing great on it, excellent condition shiny coats etc.
 

abymummy

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No such thing exists - perfect food that is...

But having said that...my cats are doing great on kibble + 3x weekly raw so that's as "perfect" as it gets I suppose...
 

cattiew

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so how to prepare the raw food? just cut it into pieces and feed to them? anything i should or shouldn't add? what kind of raw food is good for them? how long can i leave it for?
 

crt

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For me, raw comes the closest to being the perfect food, especially for my IBD/IBS girl. I thought raw rabbit was the winner for a number of months, but my female started refusing it, so I have switched to raw chicken using Feline Instincts powder and recipe. My male has even started eating a little raw now that I switched to chicken.
 

kiwi kat

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I thought I had determined what would be the perfect food for my kitties (raw). Then, one of them got very very sick, and it could very well turn out that my "perfect food" nearly killed her. So, not so perfect.


So, I think the perfect food for my guys would differ. Milo is on wellness grain free wet pretty well exclusively and he's doing great. Is it perfect for him... I dunno. Kiwi is back on the orijen dry/wellness wet combo that she did so well on before I mucked it up, so I'm hoping that is the perfect combo for her.
 

yosemite

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Raw feeding is very tricky. First and foremost you REALLY NEED to know what you are doing, i.e., do much, much research and know what additives you need such as taurine and other vitamins/minerals. To do it properly is a fair bit of work.

Having said that, one of our long-time members, Hissy, with many years of experience, lost a cat (can't remember if more than one actually) because of feeding a raw diet.

Then there are the cats that refuse to eat raw so raw is certainly not the best diet for them.

IF your cat will eat raw, IF you've done your research, IF you are buying good quality meat, IF you are preparing the food properly, IF you are adding the correct measure of additives required, IF you are not leaving it down too long, and IF you are prepared to do the work involved to make and store the food properly, then I see no reason not to try raw.

I personally will never feed raw but I'm one who would prefer to err on the side of caution and don't trust myself to be as vigilant in the preparation and storage of the food as I believe I should be in order to go that route.

As one poster above said, it is NOT for everyone.
 

consumerkitty

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Originally Posted by mews2much

The Blue Buffalo that I just got last week my Cats seem to love. I have not seen any barf since they have been on it.
My cats are doing great on Blue! I can't believe how soft Christopher Cody's fur is now. I haven't seen any hairballs since they switched. All three seem healthier and more energetic now.
 

kiwi kat

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

Raw feeding is very tricky. First and foremost you REALLY NEED to know what you are doing, i.e., do much, much research and know what additives you need such as taurine and other vitamins/minerals. To do it properly is a fair bit of work.
It was a pre-prepared raw diet, actually. The idea was to eventually go to "real" raw, but it didn't get that far.
 
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