Best Food...Wet & Dry...and Pricing...

Either one! Royal Canin and Wellness are both AWESOME foods! I would go with Royal Canin because they have food specific for certain things. Whatever one you choose, your going to have one happy kitty!

I don't like Science Diet either. It is filled with by-products and things your kitty doesn't need! Nutro is not SO bad, except for the fact that it has meat only listed once. Kitties need meat!

Hihi =^______________^=!!

This is the morning that United States is smiling with the Elizabeth Smart's household from Salt Lake City, Utah! She returned last evening after an absence of 9 months!

Jenk, i did receive emails from friends regarding Iams products, but steer clear from commenting as i do not know whether it is a fact or rumour.

My babies eat :

1. Fancy Feast wet food - the flaked fish/seafood varieties (Price: $0.39 per can from Target/$0.60 from Petco.)

2. Wellness dried food -

a. Kitten Super5Mix - consist of deboned chicken, chicken liver, real cranberries/blueberries, flax seeds, and they don't have any rendered fats and no by-products (Price: $14.50 for a 5Lb 14Oz bag and $8.50 for a 2 LB 14 Oz bag)

b. Lite Super5Mix - consist of deboned chicken, chicken liver, real cranberries/blueberries, flax seeds, and also no rendered fats and no by-products (Same price as a.)

c. Salmon, Turkey & Herring Oil Formula (their favorite - smells good!) - consist of salmon, deboned turkey, herring oil, flax seed, cranberries/blueberries, and no meat by-products (same price as a.)

i buy the Wellness from B&B Supplies on Geary/22nd in San Francisco, as it is not readily available.

Jenk, the reasons for my choices: supposedly good for the kitties and are pretty acceptable and agreeable. (They don't get sick and they are pink in the health! :-)) i tried many others, but they like the above.

i feel that feeding them wet foods will help soften their stool. i give Wellness for the nutrition content, and for their teeth. i do brush their teeth on a regular basis. i am sure they much prefer to chew on something.. hehe!

i always call around to ask for prices before any purchases. For example, i don't buy my canned foods from B&B Pet Supplies as they sell the FF for $0.49 a can (in San Francisco, the price variance is torrid!!)

i think i go for the quality as opposed to pricing. After choosing a particular product, i just call and scout around for the lowest price available.

Good luck with feeding Simon with yummy and nutritious foods!!

Cheers!

Oh lookie, yet another food topic I've been avoiding replying to, cause I'm sure I'm going to write one whopping post! hahaha

Crazy: Thanks for explaining the meal vrs. meat. Nutritionally they are basically the same, standing alone, and for the sake of argument they are both human grade. But what it comes down to, is after the cooking/rendering process you have are left with MORE meat protien from the meal, verse the meat.

My cats are currently on Solid Gold dry, and Special Kitty in a can, (I know I know, I'm a nutrution nut and I'm feeding special kitty please don't shoot me, it's only a small treat every 3 days.) And occasionally they will get things like pork, chicken, egg yolk, beef, when I buy too many pounds more then what we can cook. I made a tastey treat/meal out of it for them, part of our transition to the RAW/BARF diet some day.

From an incomplete list, my top fav foods are (based on nutritional facts):

Solid Gold: (Ingredients already previously discussed). My cat with a horrible coat has finally improved, my female FINALLY gained decent weight, and my already buff male Asim gained even MORE muscle mass while on this food, and no other food has done this. There is less waste in the litter box, and it doesn't smell, it even makes my ferret poohs smell like nothing. I'm lucky and ony pay $22.39 for 15 pounds of it, and $6.99 for the 5 pound bag.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul: Chicken, Salmon, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), oatmeal, whole grain white rice, potatoes, cracked pearled barley, millet, turkey, duck, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, salt, choline chloride, chicory root extract, dl-methionine, potassium chloride, taurine, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, kelp, cranberry powder, rosemary, parsley flake. Vitamins and minerals.

Eukanuba: While this food has better ingredients and meat then a lot of the low grade and medium grade foods, it has by-products and corn, which I do not like to feed, I think the reason has also been discussed here. But mainly because the company does things that I DON'T like, if you want to know what these things are feel free to PM me, (this also includes Iam's.) These products aren't even on my list of consideration.

Felidea: Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat, ( preserved with mixed tocopherols and ascorbic acid ), Menhaden Fish Meal, Eggs, Flax Seed Meal, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Lecithin, Nutritional Yeast, Natural Flavors, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Amaranth, DL Methionine, Taurine, Kelp, Cranberry meal, Apple meal, Yeast Culture, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Streptococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamins A, D-Activated Animal Sterol Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin B12, Riboflavin, Niacin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine-Hydrochloride, Thiamin, Biotin, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Bacillus Subtillis, Yucca Schidigera Extract.

Natural Balance: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Duck, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, Vitamin E) Canola Oil, Oatmeal, Fish Meal, Brewers Yeast, Rosemary Extract, Dried Skim Milk, Natural Flavor, Dried Eggs, Carrots, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Kelp, Garlic, DL Methionine, Cranberry Powder, Grapeseed Oil, Lecithin, Parsley Flakes, Tomato Pomace, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin C Supplement, Yucca Schidigera, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (a source of Vitamin K activity), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ethylene Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite.

Timberwolf Organcis: *I have not studied this food extensively yet* Chicken meal, Fresh Chicken, Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid), Barley, Fresh Potatoes, Flax Seed, Salmon Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid), Fresh Eggs, Dried Chicken Liver, Anchovy Fish Meal, Dried Whole Milk, Dried Whey Extract, Nutritional Yeast, Kelp, Casein, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Lecithin, Choline Chloride, Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation, Bifidobacterium Longum Fermentation Product, Enterobacter Faecium Fermentation Product, Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Fresh Blueberries, Fresh Cranberries, Zinc Sulfate, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Iron sulfate, Carnitine, Zinc proteinate, Vitamin E supplement, Creatine, Manganese sulfate, Iron proteinate, Manganese proteinate, Vitamin B12 supplement, Vitamin A supplement, Niacin, Vitamin D3 supplement, Cobalt Proteinate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Copper sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Ethylene Diamine Dihydriodide (Iodine supplement), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Papain, Yucca Schidigera Extract.

Wellness: Ingredients already discussed here.

Pinnacle: Chicken Meal, Oats, Chicken, Ocean Fish, Oat Bran, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocoperols, a Source of Natural Vitamin E and Ascorbic Acid, a Source of Vitamin C), Quinoa, Grapeseed Oil, Phosphoric Acid, Whole Dried Egg, Cottage Cheese, Cranberries, Oyster Shell (Natural Source of Calcium), Lecithin, Brewers Yeast, Monosodium Phosphate, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Ferrous Sulfate, DL-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B Complex), Zinc Methionine, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Niacin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, D-Biotin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfate (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Calcium Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Inositol, Potassium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Papain, Bacillus Subtilis and Aspergillus Niger (Sources of Alpha Amylase Activity), Dried Whey, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Bifidum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Lactis Fermentation Product.

Mazspeed: I have often noticed, and so have others, that when switching to a lot of the "holistic blends" they have trouble convincing their animals to want to eat it, either as a treat, let alone as their full meal. *This is not always the case, some animals will eagery eat these foods!* With my gang, they normally wont eat these as a meal but as a treat, and it takes about 3 days for them to warm up to the idea of eating it daily, once they do they love it.

When compairing the taste test to the other foods, ones which I consider to be low grade, like most walmart/grocery store brands. They put a lot of flavor enhancing additives into these to make them more palatiable for the animal, thusly the animals will scarf this food down as if it was us eating a candy coated apple! (The candy being the additives such as liver spray.) Now seeing an animal happily eat this food (and a lot of it) makes some owners automatically think that this is a great food (which imo it's not.)
A general rule of thumb (though not always) is feeling the food, if it feels greasy or even has a "greasy" appearance to it, then it has a lot of additives, mostly spray dried foods.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm just saying this is what they do. Some of the holistic foods (namely Evolve) are using vegitable substances vrs chicken liver for palatability now adays.

where do you FIND solid gold? I looked on the petco and petsmart websites as they are the only known pet stores within an hour of my house.. Anyhoo I can't find it anywhere! I feel bad because I've been using purina kitten which is bad i guess, but i don't kno where to get anything else =( Am now glad I didn't waste my money on Iams tho =P

All the local pet stores were closed due to the walmart/kmart thing, and I've never seen solid gold there.. I can order it on the net but with shipping I'd rather just try to find it somewhere..

Kitty's getting neutered today and keeps looking at me with those saucer eyes.. ack. (i'm soo sorry but it has to be done )

tia =)
anna

annabelle:
Go to their official site, and up top click on the Store Locator tab. Fill in all that info, and it will give you a list of all the known retailers of Solid Gold in your area or the whole state if you want.
http://www.solidgoldhealth.com

Honestly, you can always order online if you can afford it!
www.petfooddirect.com is a great site for this! And they carry solid gold.

However, if for whatever reason you wind up being limited to only Petco and Petsmart. The "acceptable" foods IMO! And yes some are better then others.

Petsmart:
Authority
Bil-Jac
Nutro Max
Nutro Max Natural
Nature's Recipie
Pro Plan

Petco:
Nutro Natural Choice
Pro Plan
Vitarx
Breeders Choice Avo-Cat
Natural Balance (I would pick this one)
Natures Recipie
Nutro Max Cat
Pet Gold
Royal Canin
Sensible Choice
Wysong
Avo-Derm

Good Luck!

Hi Anna,
I also was looking for Solid Gold in stores here, and it seems that it's not sold everywhere... not even in the larger chain pet stores. If you go to http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/ there is a store locator up on top. I also live in PA and the closest place that sells it is in Allentown... which is probably about 2 hours from me.

Oops! Must have been posting at the same time as you AngelzOO.

hey thanks both of you, I had no idea what their website would be.. Suprisingly there are actually about 4 places that are within 40-60 min of me which is the same as petsmart etc.. Maybe I'll venture down tonite while kitty is at the vet.. What kind of treats are good for him (since i guess tuna's not..?) I want to coddle him for a few days after getting the snip snip so he doesn't blame me for it lol..

Treats, well there's always raw or cooked meats, those are the best treats possible!

My gang likes lots of things, we have pounce complete treats (supposid vitamins) lol. And the Wiska's Temptations. I dunno we've tried lots of stuff, they are just treats, so basically just find something your cat really likes.
As for Asim his FAVORITE treat is Beef Jerkey

I was just looking at the ingredients of Felidae canned food, which is supposedly for both kittens and adult cats:
chicken, turkey, chicken broth, chicken liver, ocean fish, lamb, brown rice, egg, sun cured alfalfa meal, sunflower oil, lecithin, nutritional yeast, rosemary, cranberry meal, kelp, guar gum, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, salt, carrageenan, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, riboflavin supplement, niacin, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, taurine, menadione sodium bisulfate complex, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium panthothenate, vitamin D3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin supplement, folic acid, sodium selenite.
Unfortunately Solid Gold canned food isn't available here at the moment - the dealers kept saying "at the end of February", but we still can't get it. Oh, well, Jamie prefers dry food, anyway.
This may be a dumb question, but what is meant by "holistic cat food"? I can understand "holistic medicine", but food?

jcat: I think if you just look at this easily understood definetion of the word, and think back to the list of ingredients and the specially the claims of human grade foods, it will click for you.

ho·lis·tic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (h-lstk)
adj.
Of or relating to holism.

Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.
Concerned with wholes rather than analysis or separation into parts: holistic medicine; holistic ecology.

In case anyone's interested, I found this info. at http://cats.about.com/library/weekly/aa101401a.htm.

What to avoid (when choosing a cat food brand)

1. Words such as "By-products," "meat and/or bone meal," "animal digest," most other descriptions including "digest" or "meal" and added sugars.

2. ³Chemical preservatives, including BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, and propyl gallate

3. Corn meal as a filler

4. Excess of carbohydrate "fillers" (Dry food can contain as much as 50 percent grain

A number of people on this forum purchase a brand that contains "meal" and not specifically meat. Just thought you might like to have this info., although I don't think it suddenly makes the food you serve your cats null and void. We feed the very best that we can. Amen.

Jenk

And what is their proof that meal is bad? Where is their research?
While I agree with the others I don't agree on everything with the word meal being bad.

At any rate, if you want to find a food that doesn't have by-products or something with the word "meal" in it, your not really left with anything now adays! lol

I don't know how old that article is, but years back most people were under the believe that "meal" was bad, but recent studies have shown it has no harmful effects or substancies, and only really advantages, such as what we previously discussed on this thread.
I remember reading several articles actually making that same claim, until recently I have switched my mind with the recent findings showing that "meal" is supposidly better.

Maybe I'm a bit slow, but I still don't understand how feeding my cat "holistic cat food" is going to affect his psyche. Mind you, I give it to him if he likes it, but that is because of the ingredients.
He also likes Friskies Premium or Fancy Feast, but I don't trust them, and therefore he only gets them occasionally. If I trusted his instincts, he'd be eating tuna fish every day!

jcat: I don't know how much you know about humans and their nutritional requiments. But I USED to be a real health buff, and done a lot of more recent studies for my daughter.
But the therory (one proven time and time again) is that the closer you get to these requierments, the healthier you eat, the better you will feel, physically and mentally, just as we have certain foods that have vitamins and minereals in them every day that help us with our memory, concentration, energy, and over all happiness.

I feel it's possible that certain foods in certain amounts and of a certain grade can have the same effect on an animal.

Tell me, which one do you feel better after, a nice salad, some yogurt and juice, or a greased down pizza, with a side of beer! LOL.
That above is kinda like a comparison to Solid Gold and Meow Mix.

I hope that made sense for you!

Aha! Now I get it. Thanks for the explanation.

I feed Royal Canin Babycat34.
Why? Because Fluffy is still very young. I wil switch him to Royal Canin Kitten in about 8 weeks. Price..i think 21.00 for a 3.5 LB bag. $$but worth it.