What kind of dry food

catstorm

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So i was wondering what dry cat food would you recomend? I was feeding my cats naruto but they seemed to get tired of it.Now im feeding my kitten MeowMix im also feeding my soon to be 1 yr old cat MeowMix, as for my 4 yr old he eating some iams.But i wanted to give them a dry food that contains more nutriens and keep them in good health. Any suggestions?
 

sakura

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It really depends on your budget and what you have near you. What do you want to spend each month on cat food? What is near you that sells pet food (independent stores, feed stores, petco, petsmart, grocery store?)

If you aren't feeding any wet food, I would do my best to add wet food to their diet at least once per day. It doesn't have to be the best quality wet food because any wet food is better than no wet food at all. I would try the following relatively inexpensive wet food brands: Authority (PetSmart), Nutro Natural, Nutro Max, and/or Meow Mix. Wet food is important because cats aren't naturally thirsty and don't drink enough water. Their water mostly comes from their diet (mice, etc.) and when they only eat dry food, they live their lives in a constant state of dehydration which can create health issues later on. If you can afford a water fountain, they are great for getting cats to drink more water.

As for dry food, you should be pickier about what goes in it than you would be with wet food. While Meow Mix wet isn't too bad, Meow Mix dry food is basically junk. Iams isn't great either last time I checked. Most 'grocery store' brands are not ideal. They are comprised mostly of filler ingredients that aren't nutritious.

The more affordable dry foods I would recommend:
- Authority (PetSmart)
- Diamond Naturals (can find this at feed stores usually and small independent pet stores)
- Natural Balance (PetCo & feed stores)
- Nutro Natural (PetSmart/PetCo)
- Nutro Max (PetSmart/PetCo)
- Chicken Soup (can be found at feed stores and small independent pet stores)

Remember that just because a food is more expensive, it doesn't make it a better quality food. For example, Science Diet can be pretty expensive but the ingredients are not great. Diamond Naturals is relatively cheap yet the ingredients are good.

Other dry foods I would look at:
- Royal Canin
- Wellness
- Innova/EVO
- Taste of the Wild
- Solid Gold



These links might help:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm
http://cats.about.com/od/dryfood/tp/premdrycatfood.htm
http://cats.about.com/od/catfoo1/tp/tpcannedadult.htm
 

amarna

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when it comes to cat food i am a bit of a snob - i only feed royal canin & james wellbeloved dry. my girls have a sachet of felix in the morning (they hate whiskas!!!) & then for luch they have some good biscuits & a top up for tea (after their sardines/chicken). i always have some royal canin oral sensitive available in the bowl next to the catit water fountain so they can nibble on stuff that's good for their teeth.

james wellbeloved is so good - it's got minimal additives & they seem to love it. it comes in 4 different flavours aswell so it keeps them interested. royal canin do a wonderful hair & skin food that smells so good i'd eat it.
 

yosemite

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Sharky is our food guru and has listed quality yet non-expensive foods in several threads.

Another good dry is Orijen but it may be a bit pricey for you if you have a budget.

Since cats don't chew, dry food won't do much for dental health.

Wet food is a healthier diet than dry, but some cats just won't eat wet. If you can at least get a cat to eat any wet, if it is a low quality wet, then go with a high quality dry. You'll also find that by feeding a quality food your cat will actually eat less since it doesn't need as much of the quality food to satisfy kitties needs. That also means less poo and thus a saving on litter as well.
 

optionken

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I would recommend that you never feed dry foods. My cat got diabetes from it and there is no dry foods allowed in my house. Most dry foods are high in carbohyrates which isn't good for a meateater or what a meateater needs anyway. Even the ones lower in carbs spike the blood glucose. Also cats are not big drinkers and are force to drink when fed dry food. Many cats cannot drink enough to make up for the lack of moisture in dry food. it is dehydrating. IBS kidney disease obesity allergies, From my experience most happen when cats are fed dry foods Please read about nutrtion
http://www.catinfo.org/
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

Sharky is our food guru and has listed quality yet non-expensive foods in several threads.

Another good dry is Orijen but it may be a bit pricey for you if you have a budget.

Since cats don't chew, dry food won't do much for dental health.

Wet food is a healthier diet than dry, but some cats just won't eat wet. If you can at least get a cat to eat any wet, if it is a low quality wet, then go with a high quality dry. You'll also find that by feeding a quality food your cat will actually eat less since it doesn't need as much of the quality food to satisfy kitties needs. That also means less poo and thus a saving on litter as well.
Originally Posted by optionken

I would recommend that you never feed dry foods. My cat got diabetes from it and there is no dry foods allowed in my house. Most dry foods are high in carbohyrates which isn't good for a meateater or what a meateater needs anyway. Even the ones lower in carbs spike the blood glucose. Also cats are not big drinkers and are force to drink when fed dry food. Many cats cannot drink enough to make up for the lack of moisture in dry food. it is dehydrating. IBS kidney disease obesity allergies, From my experience most happen when cats are fed dry foods Please read about nutrtion
http://www.catinfo.org/
Where in the World are you??? this often tell s me what may be avail to you////

I DONT believe in NO dry food as I have decades of kitty experience and all of the deceased ones ate dry food and died well past the "ave" age for a kitty at that time... I do though believe in moderation and if you can wet and dry is far better than just dry ... There are cats that WONT eat a type of food so work with what you can ... Where are you able to shop?? Are you using a supermarket?? a pet food big box store?? health food store??
 
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catstorm

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I gave nutro another try and my cat started eating it but after like 2 days he dislikes it(adult food) and hes eating kitten dry food from nutro.I was watching him and when he sniffed the food he kind of hurled, he was going to vomit but nothing came out.Im going to petsmart tomorrow and try to find one listed above.
Im shopping at petsmart, they have a large variety of dry food but dont know wich one is good or wich ne to pick.Theres also like 3 other petcos and petsmarts around my area maybe ill go check them out.Also he doesnt want to eat any wet food except the one i feed my kittens wich is from nutro as well, he seems to like kitten food instead of adult food.I hope he will like the new dry food im gettin him tomorrow.The vet said hes in excellent health and has a check up on the 29th of this month so hope everithing is good with him.Man these kittys are expensive but well worth it, im going to add them to my taxes next year as my kids
 

goldenkitty45

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Oh please throw away the MeowMix dry - that's full of dyes and a lot of cats will throw that up. And its not as nutricious either. We feed Royal Canin, but Wellness, Natural Balance are other better foods along with the Royal Canin.

The problem is that you have to switch the dry over gradually - not all of a sudden. And I recommend you also feed at least one meal of a high quality canned food too.
 

sharky

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PETSMART

look at
Nutros max cat ( I am assuming you got Natural choice)
Royal canin
Blu spa
By nature
Authority
 

meowers

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I feed my kitten and cat Innova'a EVO all life stage dry food. That might be a good option for you too (my cats love it even though its 'healthy'
) But, unless you can find a feed store, online is the easiet option. Kinda pricey, bout 16$ for 6.6 pounds but well worth it as they dont shed anymore


Next year I might switch to Nutro naturals or Roayal Canine since it is easier to find. They also get wet food every evening, I think the mix between dry and wet is healthier. If your cats just will not eat the best food, settle for the best they will eat and can stomach.
 

*pepper*

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I use and like Royal Canin and cats seem to love the taste
 
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catstorm

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I just came back from Petsmart with a bag of nutro MaxCat.They also had RoyalCanin and BluSpa but didnt know wich one was right for him so i just got nutro Maxcat roast chicken flavor, he loves chicken.Also i picked up a water fountain and they are loving it.Now i have to figure out wich wet food they like.
 

goldenkitty45

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I would start with a mainly chicken canned food and then add some lamb and beef. Try to stay away from fish based foods (tuna, etc.) They can get hooked on it and not want to eat other foods.

As a treat give a little shredded boiled chicken bites
 

sakura

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Originally Posted by Catstorm

I just came back from Petsmart with a bag of nutro MaxCat.They also had RoyalCanin and BluSpa but didnt know wich one was right for him so i just got nutro Maxcat roast chicken flavor, he loves chicken.Also i picked up a water fountain and they are loving it.Now i have to figure out wich wet food they like.
That is a very reasonably priced dry food. My cats loved the adult version of it, I would give it to them as treats (they used to give out free samples at Petsmart).

My cats like the Nutro Max wet foods (both pouches and cans) but not the Nutro Natural ones.

Yay for the water fountain, they are great!
 
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