Meow Mix?

x0fantasy_

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I'm pretty sure you've all had this question a million times and I really appreciate you taking the time to answer it again =D

Now, for Jellow n Khi I've started them off on Authority cat food, which is a store brand of Ians at Petsmart. And we've run outta food the last week, and my neighboor was gracious enough and gave them some meow mix. They seem to like it A LOT, but when I was at Petsmart they told me that if the main ingredient in the cat food is CORN that it wasn't a good idea to feed that to the kittens.

I'm not sure what to do. I went out and baught a hole new bag of meow mix...and they love it.

What do I do?? Are they right??
 

sharky

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Authority is light yrs better IMHO than Meow mix dry... now some meow mix wets are quite decent
 

meowers

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I agree that Meow mix dry is not a very good food compared to others and when you read the ingredients...well you'll see. But, I don't think anything awful is going to happen if you do feed that. Maybe just swith to something better after you finish the bag you've just bought.

Also, don't always listen to the pet store people. They mean well I'm sure but they've also suggested foods to me that are not at all what I asked for. The people on TCS know more about pet food than pet store clerks it seems like sometimes
If in doubt, call a vet.
 
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x0fantasy_

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So no Meow Mix dry, got it.

I never do feed them just the dry cat food. I tend to mix it with tuna mix or chicken w/rice and what not. The canned/patch food.

They love it. I can't complain
 

shanynne

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Hi! Here is a *great* link that leads to some very helpful information concerning dry and wet and even raw cat food. There is a lot of content to absorb (it took me a couple of days) but it is *well* worth it!

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=163739

Personally, I am now trying to slowly transition my cats to wet food and then, hopefully, raw food, but it's not easy. Silly cats think I am trying to poison them
Anyhow, I know it will take a very long time, but in the meantime, I am trying to switch them to a better brand of dry cat food. I had successfully switched them from IAMS Multicat to Royal Canin Maine Coon, but the Royal Canin although much better than the IAMS, still has corn gluten meal, corn and wheat gluten. Not very good! But I honestly did not know the corn etc. was bad for them until I read those articles! And when I checked the IAMS, the first ingredients was chicken by-product meal, which is *really* bad.

see this link for full article:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...=show&item=004

By-products (and I'm copying this from the article in the above link)

"Even on premium brands, you will notice one of the major ingredients listed is "by-products" of some sort. By-products are basically defined as "parts other than meat." These may include internal organs not commonly eaten by humans, such as lungs, spleens, and intestines, other parts such as cow udders and uteri, and in the case of poultry by-products, heads, beaks and feet. By-products must be from "freshly slaughtered" animals, although there is some question as to how fresh they really are by the time they reach the pet food manufacturer."

Shock and disgust are good words to describe how I felt after reading that! Not to mention mad at myself
for blindly trusting cat food manufacturers, thinking they had my cat's best interest at heart.

So since then I have been searching out the best dry cat food I can get my hands on, until I can switch my babies to wet food. This is what I found:

Natural Balance
Castor & Pallux Natural Ultramix
Organix
Solid Gold
Wellness Core
Blue Spa Select

I finally settled for Wellness Core. However, I am planning to switch dry food brands, from my list
because I don't want them to become too finicky eaters.

So I would recommend that you feed your cats a variety of wet foods now while they are still kittens or else when they get older they just won't want it and then you'll be stuck like me, trying to slowly get them to eat it again. Especially since wet food or even raw is sooo much better for them!

Good luck!
 

sakura

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Meow Mix dry is not a great food, the salesperson was correct. Authority is a good food, especially for how relatively inexpensive it is. Authority's dry food is probably the best dry food at PetSmart in its price range. I would finish the Meow Mix dry food just so it doesn't get wasted and then transition them slowly back to the Authority food. (When you change a cat's dry food, they sometimes get diarreah. You have to gradually switch their dry food, giving them a little bit less of their old brand with a little bit more of their new brand every day. I would transition it over 5 days).

As for wet food, Meow Mix pouches and cups are fine. They are pretty cheap (right now they are about $0.44 each at my PetSmart). If you are looking for an inexpensive wet food to feed them in addition to their dry food, Meow Mix would be a good choice. So would Authority, Nutro Max, and Nutro Natural. Or you could even find more premium brands and buy the large 6oz cans and split that between the two cats. (That's what I do for my 2 cats, I split a can of Natural Balance between them). It's cheaper to buy the larger sized cans than the small ones.

Oh, and I don't consider Authority to be the store brand of Iams. It's more the generic store brand of Nutro Natural. (That's a good thing). I would rather feed Authority than Iams.
 

jen

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Think of the grocery store brands of cat food like McDonalds. Your kids love it and would eat it everyday but no one would dare LET their children eat it everyday for all meals. Meow Mix is the McDonalds of the cat world. Except where people can occasionally have their McDonalds now and then, if you offer a cat Meow Mix occasionally they don't understand and that becomes all they want. Also their digestive systems cannot handle the jump from good quality food to poor quailty food and back again. Look for specific meat ingredients, no by-products, and no corn in the first few ingredients.
 

sharky

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CORN is NOT BAD>>>

in a DRY food with chicken it helps UTI health issues by balencing CA phos and mag

NO I avoid too much ie no higher than third if a meat meal is first
 

shanynne

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Originally Posted by sharky

CORN is NOT BAD>>>

in a DRY food with chicken it helps UTI health issues by balencing CA phos and mag

NO I avoid too much ie no higher than third if a meat meal is first
I admit that I don't know what CA phos and mag is as I do not have a scientific background. But after everything I have just read, provided to me by our very own site, it is difficult for me to agree with a statement that says Corn is not bad.

I'm certainly not trying to start an argument with anybody, but I would have to see veterinary support in favor of corn as part of a cat's diet that would help UTI health.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Shanynne

I admit that I don't know what CA phos and mag is as I do not have a scientific background. But after everything I have just read, provided to me by our very own site, it is difficult for me to agree with a statement that says Corn is not bad.

I'm certainly not trying to start an argument with anybody, but I would have to see veterinary support in favor of corn as part of a cat's diet that would help UTI health.
there is a crap load of it ... note ALL uti certified foods HAVE corn or corn gluten .... reason is MOST foods have chicken and in a dry food chicken and chicken meal have a % of bone ( some claim de boned chicken but not they also have meal
) .. because of this the % of ca , phos and mag are out of wack for UTI health ( note not an issue in a WET food
) ... corn or corn gluten balance this ...

Just a quick read a the vet journal gives this info ... ohh and I verified it with the local vets all of which showed it to me ... plus some feed studies also note it ...
 

zorana_dragonky

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I think Ca, Phos, Mag = Calcium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium. Cats that are prone to UTI issues have higher calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium levels, and they need to have smaller amounts of these minerals than cats who don't have urinary tract problems. Control of these minerals helps to control the cats UTI problems.

Corn gluten, which is mostly the protein from the corn rather than just the carbohydrate, is added to foods that are designed to help cats with UTI issues because it balances the amount of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium that is included in most cat foods.

I think that is what you were asking?


A lot of us here at TCS like grain free foods better than grainy foods, but for cats with UTI issues, a food with corn gluten as one of the top ingredients is not bad. Even then, it should not be the first ingredient!!!!

It is also better for the first ingredient to be a named meat meal, such as chicken meal or turkey meal, rather than just "chicken" or "turkey." This is because fresh meats contain a lot of water. When they are cooked and processed for a dry food, the actual meat content is fairly small because most of the water is removed. Meat meals have already been dried and processed, but were originally meat and bone that would have been safe for human consumption. If a meat meal is the first ingredient, then the cat food likely has a lot of protein!

What you don't want is by products or by product meal, and wheat and soy are often allergens, so avoiding those is good. If the food you choose is going to be one with grains in it, it is best if it has a 50/50 meat to grain ratio. For instance, if the only grain is corn and the only meat is chicken, that is okay. If the only meat is chicken and the food has corn, millet, barley, and oats, then the food is grainy.


I think that is everything. I learned most of this from Sharky and the other members at TCS! But Sharky, sometimes your abbreviations are a little hard to follow and I was thinking that Shanynne was confused about what you meant.

Maybe this will help.
 
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x0fantasy_

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So I've done my final switch of cat food and they seem to LOVE this so much better, and I'm sticking with it.

I'm currently using Pro Plan for Kittens and its amazing!

I love that their main ingredient is chicken!

Anyone have any good/bad luck with Pro Plan?
 
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