Recommendation for dry food?

I bought some canned food for my cat Plato today to see how he likes them, but he flat out rejected it, so from now on I will feed him exclusively dry food.
There are a dazzling varieties of dry food to pick from. Some claims to be made for a specific age group (kitten, senior, etc) and some for a particular type of cat (indoor, outdoor, etc).
Which brand and what type do you suggest? I am currently feeding him Meow Mix regular, he seems to love it.

As you've observed, there is a dazzling array of dry cat foods, from very inexpensive store brands to expensive premium foods. The national brands are most consistent; store brands tend to vary a lot more, although they are usually made by a national brand on contract.

The best foods have the most meat in them, and your cat (like all cats) is a carnivore. That means he has to have meat. Depending on how much you're willing to spend, you can find a real range of quality of ingredients.

There are foods that are formulated as kitten food and "mature" foods, indoor foods, and hairball reducing foods. These have mostly to do with how much fat or bulk is in the food.

When it comes to treats, etc., we have one cat that loves anything like that, and one that won't eat any of it. Those who are unacquainted with cats may be surprised to hear that cats are individual in their tastes; anyone who has had more than one cat knows the truth!

Now...I would rather see your kitty happily eating the cheapest store brand kibble than being wild on the street or in a shelter cage or being put to sleep. But a good food will have a minimum of excess grain added as bulk, and your cat won't have to eat as much of it to get his required nutrients. You will find some recommendations here for foods you can only get online, etc. But such foods as Purina One or various other "upscale" foods are easily available and perfectly acceptable, in my view. In fact, my brother has fed all his cats on regular old Purina Cat Chow, and they have all lived to ripe old ages; he has two that are 15 years old right now, and doing fine.

I have one fussy cat, and all I can get him to eat is Hill's Science Diet, which is available at most pet stores. When we got him from the shelter, he was quite underweight, and it took us a while to get him eating well. We give him a daily treat of wet cat food, Friskies sliced meats in gravy. It's cheap stuff, and he'll only eat about a teaspoonful, but he does enjoy that much.

You do need to watch that your cat doesn't get overweight. Some cats can have food available to them all the time and never have a problem. Some need to be fed a measured amount daily, and no more. You can judge if your cat is getting overweight; you should be able to just barely feel the ribs along both sides of his backbone, without them being too easy to feel. Too much weight contributes to a lot of health problems in cats...just like in us!

Meow Mix IMO is one of the WORSE ones. Many cats are allergic or throw up that cause of the dyes used to color the pieces.

Try Royal Canin, Max Cat, or Natural Balance. There are far better quality dry foods out there.

What kind of canned did you try. Mine hate the gravy types and like the pate' types better. They get a variety; Max Cat, Natural Balance, Iams

I feed my kittens Iams. I will probably switch to the adult one later on too. They love wet food too.

I heard that it's really bad to give cats people food is that true? Something about that bacteria in the meat messing up the bacteria in their stomachs.

Originally Posted by leehatton

I feed my kittens Iams. I will probably switch to the adult one later on too. They love wet food too.

I heard that it's really bad to give cats people food is that true? Something about that bacteria in the meat messing up the bacteria in their stomachs.

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FALSE... cats in the wild eat RAW meat ... they have MORE ability to deal with bacteria than humans

I believe this is when you are switching a cat to a raw diet it is recommended to do it gradually so the cat can develop the proper bacteria flora in their digestive tract to handle this type of diet. Over time cats can handle raw meat just fine

Originally Posted by leehatton

I feed my kittens Iams. I will probably switch to the adult one later on too. They love wet food too.

I heard that it's really bad to give cats people food is that true? Something about that bacteria in the meat messing up the bacteria in their stomachs.

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I heard a lot about how one should buy the really quality dry food for cat, but what really distinguishes the good from the bad? Is Meow Mix a really bad type?

Originally Posted by yiplong

I heard a lot about how one should buy the really quality dry food for cat, but what really distinguishes the good from the bad? Is Meow Mix a really bad type?

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not real good, IMO... check out the ingredients for Meow Mix:Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E), Turkey By-Product Meal, Salmon Meal, Oceanfish Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Phosphoric Acid, Animal Digest, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Tetra Sodium Pyrophosphate, Calcium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Added Color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2 and other Color), Salt, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, L-alanine, Niacin, Vitamin Supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Citric Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.

and now the ingredients for a better food, Royal Canin, for example: Chicken meal, brown rice, corn, corn gluten meal, chicken, chicken fat (naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid), pea fiber, natural chicken flavor, beet pulp, dried brewers yeast, rice hulls, dried egg powder, salmon oil, salt, calcium sulfate, soya oil, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, choline chloride, brewers yeast extract (Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles), L-lysine, sodium tripolyphosphate, taurine, Vitamins [dl-alpha tocopherol (source of vitamin E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C*), niacin, biotin, riboflavin (vitamin B2), d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid], Trace Minerals [zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate], marigold extract.
there are a lot of choices in between, too - both price-wise & nutrition-wise.

what would the undesirable consequence of feeding exclusively cheap cat food (ie: Meow Mix) versus feeding a better food?

How is Nutro MAX CAT?
http://www.petco.com/product/104831/...en-Flavor.aspx

my cat loves Meow Mix though, he might not eat the food if I switch to a better brand, even though it is better.

Isn't Science Diet a really good food? Their first ingredient is Chicken byproduct. What in the world!

I feed Artemis dry - not the highest grade food, but not bad either. My cats have amazing coats, especially the 18 year old. Also, the litter box has much less solid waste than before.

Is it a good idea to get the indoor formula or is that just a hoax?

Indoor formulas I use for OPPs I have a little too much wt ... they usually have less fat without less protein... often they have l carnitine which helps with fat metabolism... Hoax no NEEDED alot of the time no...

SD IMHO is a $$ version of grocery food

Which do you think is better: Natural Balance or Natural Choice?

Originally Posted by yiplong

Which do you think is better: Natural Balance or Natural Choice?

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depend s on the cat ... In my experience Natural choice works better

In all honesty, you may have to try several foods until you find one the cat likes, doesn't cause him problems, and you can readily get.