What food to feed?

layitdown

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Hi. I'm looking for food recommendations. I adopted a beautiful 7 month old male cat from the animal shelter about a month ago. He got neutered almost 2 weeks ago and he is doing great. His name is Ricky Bobby, and boy, is he an active one! I love him so much already!


The shelter sent me home with purina pro plan formula, I fed him that til it ran out about a week ago. Right before I adopted him I went to the store and got all the supplies needed for a new cat, and also a bag of iams kitten formula. So he's eating that until I can figure out what to feed him. I understand it's better to feed a combo of canned and dry. I plan to feed him a serving of wet food in the morning and one at night, and free feed dry during the day.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the options of premium foods. Should I go grain free? Same brand for both the wet and dry? What is the best quality for the lowest price? What what I've read, that would be chicken soup for the cat lover's soul. Any one fed that? I just want him to be healthy, but I don't want to break the bank in the process. So the expense is a factor, but I'm not going to feed him low quality food either. Any help will be appreciated and any questions welcomed! Thank you!
 

blaise

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Originally Posted by sharky

Most would say a mix of wet and dry /.... SOME will say all wet or all dry others feed only raw ...

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=foods

Long thread but it is what others feed and why
First, a warm welcome to TCS!

You can base your kitten's future health on the opinions of others on the forum (some uninformed).......or, you can learn the basics of Feline Nutrition - from a Veterinarian-Nutritionist, at that - and then make your own informed decision, based on the nature of a cat.

Cost: you choices may cost a little more now.....but, the alternative may well be that you'll pay much more down the road - and, not just financially, but also emotionally. Many of the sad stories of illness in this forum have their origins in poor nutrition.

If you want to be better able to make that informed decision, start here, then learn how to implement that from one of the foremost Feline Nutrition experts, Dr. Lisa Pierson, right here.

Here's to your nature-appropriate decisions and Ricky Bobby's healthy, happy life!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by BLAISE

First, a warm welcome to TCS!

You can base your kitten's future health on the opinions of others on the forum (some uninformed).......or, you can learn the basics of Feline Nutrition - from a Veterinarian-Nutritionist, at that - and then make your own informed decision, based on the nature of a cat.

Cost: you choices may cost a little more now.....but, the alternative may well be that you'll pay much more down the road - and, not just financially, but also emotionally. Many of the sad stories of illness in this forum have their origins in poor nutrition.

If you want to be better able to make that informed decision, start here, then learn how to implement that from one of the foremost Feline Nutrition experts, Dr. Lisa Pierson, right here.

Here's to your nature-appropriate decisions and Ricky Bobby's healthy, happy life!
Basically ALL of cat nutrition is in it's infancy and no true agreement on what is best .. The links above are a good place to look at and Balance against other info you will find by many other experts .I personally do not trust that vet as many others in her field have issues with her ( holistic minded vets I am talking about).. I have found no one way to be correct , you will find this to be the norm for anyone with years and many cats experience...

After researching I recommend having a talk with your vet .... True MOST vets only have a education from reps many are starting to learn on their own
 

optionken

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I am so with Blaise on this. I love this vet and agree with what she says. My cat got diabetes from eating dry foods. After seeing many examples of different diabetics since my cat got it and what happens when they make a switch to wet from dry, the examples were just too much to ignore. I have come to believe that there is never a reason to feed dry food except for human convienience and what is perceived to be money savings. Dry food is not allowed in my house and I have a daibetic cat who is diet controlled now and does not need insulin. Aside from that reason I have seen many different reasons for not feeding dry foods.
Cats are carnivores and a grain free wet diet or a raw diet specially prepared is what I consider best for all cats of all ages and sizes. Aside from the link given above,here are a few more. This is a published paper from Javma. Hard to read thorugh but relevant
http://home.earthlink.net/~jacm2/id1.html

Here are a few more links easier to read :-)
http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by optionken

I am so with Blaise on this. I love this vet and agree with what she says. My cat got diabetes from eating dry foods. After seeing many examples of different diabetics since my cat got it and what happens when they make a switch to wet from dry, the examples were just too much to ignore. I have come to believe that there is never a reason to feed dry food except for human convienience and what is perceived to be money savings. Dry food is not allowed in my house and I have a daibetic cat who is diet controlled now and does not need insulin. Aside from that reason I have seen many different reasons for not feeding dry foods.
Cats are carnivores and a grain free wet diet or a raw diet specially prepared is what I consider best for all cats of all ages and sizes. Aside from the link given above,here are a few more. This is a published paper from Javma. Hard to read thorugh but relevant
http://home.earthlink.net/~jacm2/id1.html

Here are a few more links easier to read :-)
http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood
DRY foods CAUSED it ?? Can you QUALIFY that??? other than a diet change did stabilize?... I am playing Devils advocate as NO ONE thing causes any Disease , most who have any health minded education know this
 

chris10

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Originally Posted by sharky

DRY foods CAUSED it ?? Can you QUALIFY that??? other than a diet change did stabilize?... I am playing Devils advocate as NO ONE thing causes any Disease , most who have any health minded education know this
Its true that no one thing causes diseases. Usually with any disease there is a list of things that often contribute to the problem. Given that health for our kitties is not an exact science, we have all sorts studies claiming all sorts of things, its really hard to figure out whats true or not. While it may not be right all the time, sometimes the simplest explanation is closest the the truth IMO.

We can't forget that our domestic kitties are decedents of those desert wild cats. And the only real difference between the desert cats and ours is physical appearance. Everything else is the same. These desert wildcats have evolve over many years to survive in the desert. They evolved to expect most of their moisture intake to come from prey. One question we have to ask is why they lack salivary amylase and why the pancreas only produces so much amylase. Could it be that the body figured out the lack of demand for this enzyme because of prey only containing so much plant material. Another question is are the pancreas and liver, of a prey eating animal, able the handle all those carbs that is normally consumed with dry food? What may be the reason why obesity is such a problem? No real rock solid answer for any of those. I feel a prey eating animal, especially an obligate carnivore like our kitties, are really just designed to eat prey.

Again hard to say that one thing causes certain diseases. But IMO dry food plays a huge part in diabetes.

For the OP. I always say if you would theoretically eat it then its a good food. My vote is for wet.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by chris10

Its true that no one thing causes diseases. Usually with any disease there is a list of things that often contribute to the problem. Given that health for our kitties is not an exact science, we have all sorts studies claiming all sorts of things, its really hard to figure out whats true or not. While it may not be right all the time, sometimes the simplest explanation is closest the the truth IMO.

We can't forget that our domestic kitties are decedents of those desert wild cats. And the only real difference between the desert cats and ours is physical appearance. Everything else is the same. These desert wildcats have evolve over many years to survive in the desert. They evolved to expect most of their moisture intake to come from prey. One question we have to ask is why they lack salivary amylase and why the pancreas only produces so much amylase. Could it be that the body figured out the lack of demand for this enzyme because of prey only containing so much plant material. Another question is are the pancreas and liver, of a prey eating animal, able the handle all those carbs that is normally consumed with dry food? What may be the reason why obesity is such a problem? No real rock solid answer for any of those. I feel a prey eating animal, especially an obligate carnivore like our kitties, are really just designed to eat prey.

Again hard to say that one thing causes certain diseases. But IMO dry food plays a huge part in diabetes.
Well... same thing for us then - I am quite sure we were not made to eat the foods we eat on our day to day lives.... We were also made to eat prey, grains, and vegetables and fruits. Is that all we eat? Nope - and yet we have a life expectancy that is today MUCH higher than our ancestors, who ate what we were actually meant to eat...
IMO things are not black and white like that - the dry food I feed my cat has much more prey in it than the majority of wet foods in the market. It is grain free, and made of 75% high quality meat. The other 25% is vegetables and fruits. No grains, no by-products, no artificial preservatives.
I see wet foods out there that give me the chills - 78% at least is water, the the other 22% junk - Chemicals, grains, and by-products and meals as source of proteins. How is that better to prevent diabetes than the dry food I chose??? Well, it is not.
The advantage of the wet food, is really the higher amount of water - that has nothing to do with diabetes.
I have a water fountain in my house, and Lucky drinks a lot of water - I have never seen her eat and not drink a whole bunch afterwords.
I am not suggesting that Dry food is better than wet food - I am just saying that the fact that they are DRY or WET can not be blamed for things like Diabetes, cancer, and many other diseases that have their roots in the quality, quantity and ingredients of the food, as oppose of simply being dry or wet. I will feed Lucky anytime a quality Dry food over a junk wet food...
 

optionken

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DRY foods CAUSED it ?? Can you QUALIFY that???


No more then it could be qualified that smoking caused cancer.

I am playing Devils advocate most who have any health minded education know this

Oh I am sure by your typical shot nthrown in that it goes further then you playing devils advocate
 
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layitdown

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ok, well thanks.....

I think I've got a better idea with that first thread you posted sharky, thanks. That along with my own research(of course I would research on my own and not take others opinions) has given me a better idea of what I'm looking at. Thanks!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by LayItDown

ok, well thanks.....

I think I've got a better idea with that first thread you posted sharky, thanks. That along with my own research(of course I would research on my own and not take others opinions) has given me a better idea of what I'm looking at. Thanks!
that is what we like to hear ... your going to take the info and research
.. Your welcome
 

chris10

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Originally Posted by carolinalima

Well... same thing for us then - I am quite sure we were not made to eat the foods we eat on our day to day lives.... We were also made to eat prey, grains, and vegetables and fruits. Is that all we eat? Nope - and yet we have a life expectancy that is today MUCH higher than our ancestors, who ate what we were actually meant to eat...
IMO things are not black and white like that - the dry food I feed my cat has much more prey in it than the majority of wet foods in the market. It is grain free, and made of 75% high quality meat. The other 25% is vegetables and fruits. No grains, no by-products, no artificial preservatives.
I see wet foods out there that give me the chills - 78% at least is water, the the other 22% junk - Chemicals, grains, and by-products and meals as source of proteins. How is that better to prevent diabetes than the dry food I chose??? Well, it is not.
The advantage of the wet food, is really the higher amount of water - that has nothing to do with diabetes.
I have a water fountain in my house, and Lucky drinks a lot of water - I have never seen her eat and not drink a whole bunch afterwords.
I am not suggesting that Dry food is better than wet food - I am just saying that the fact that they are DRY or WET can not be blamed for things like Diabetes, cancer, and many other diseases that have their roots in the quality, quantity and ingredients of the food, as oppose of simply being dry or wet. I will feed Lucky anytime a quality Dry food over a junk wet food...
Sorry to the OP for getting offtopic.

You are right we are not designed to eat some of the things we eat today. But there is more to the story for us living longer lives than just an interesting diet. Better personal care, sanitation, and a few other things.

There are some good looking dry foods on the market. Made without many things. The one thing they can't get away from is carbohydrates. They also can't get away from the lack of moisture in the food. These two things put dry food imo far away from a prey model diet.

You are right water doesn't prevent diabetes. I just mentioned it to state how wildcats have evolved.

To give you an idea if we all believed that prey is the perfect diet for cats. Then to achieve that diet a cat who eats a half of a cup of dry food would need to drink 5oz of water. And thats not the total amount of water they would need in a day. Just the amount that is needed along with dry food

I would rather feed the lowest quality canned food over the most holistic dry food.

Most likely we are going to have to agree to disagree on this topic. Even though I contributed to this topic being offtopic it was offtopic from the start. Sorry for stepping on toes. The op wanted to know about food. We should have recommended what to look for in food ei not feeding something made entirely of corn. Mentioning the possibility of ailments coming from certain diets is an entirely different debate. Or just left it at sharkys post for them to do some reading. Which looks like thats what happen. You guys are speed typers. While I was typing you were able to do two posts.
 
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layitdown

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Ok, well I've done my research, have a budget in mind, and shopped around, and I've decided between Chicken soup for the cat lover's soul or eagle pack.
Does any one have any experience with either, or both?

A few questions for those who have experience with them:

1. I know if a food is higher quality, it will cause less bowel movements compared to brands you find at the supermarket. This is an issue for me, right now Ricky Bobby is on Iams, which is producing a lot of poop for him. Both DH and I work full time during the day 8-5 jobs. So RB is home alone for 9 hours, by the time I come home his litter box is full. I hate the idea of it being dirty all day,and so does RB. He's gone outside of the box 2 times now while we're at work, and I'm 99% sure it's because his litter box can't be cleaned as often as he'd like. Bottom line.... will either brand help with that issue? I'm pretty sure it will, because yes I know, Iams is full of fillers. But does anyone have experience with it.

2. The smell of the poop........ enough said there.
Either brand produce horrible, unbearable smelling poop?

3. Cost Effectiveness is big on my list. Quality wise.... which brand will go further, lb for lb, dollar for dollar?

4. Any other suggestions? Other brands in quality and price range. I'm still up to doing more research!

Any info is greatly appreciated!
 

sharky

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chicken soup in my area is far more budget $$ freindly ... this varies by area

In eagle pack I would stick to the holistic line , less corn and pork

For smell EP has more pro and pre biotics thus will help that more


IMHO I would try to find a one meat one grain food ....

California natural
Nutro
Felidea

are a few who have those
 
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layitdown

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Thanks Sharky!!!
N thanks for the pm, I did scratch my head when I read the post
. It's greatly appreciated. I'm off to do more research!
 

lovemykitty3

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My 8 month old kitten is eating 1/2 Iams Kitten Dry and 1/2 Science Diet Kitten Dry. Science Diet is what he was getting at the shelter so I'm sticking with it for now because he's doing really well. I got him a variety of canned foods, including some grain free like Wellness Core to get him used to canned food. He's starting to like it, but didn't when I first got him. I'm not yet sure what I'm going to feed him after he's 1 year of age, but I'll deal with that then. I will probably go grain free.
 

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Good luck with the food search - I know it can be very time consuming and then, of course, we wait to see if our cats actually like the chosen food! You mentioned he's had a couple of accidents outside the box - I know it seems a bit much, but maybe try having two boxes (not right next to each other), even for one cat. A lot of cats are very particular about their bathrooms - and many dislike having to use one box for both functions.


My boy is a pretty big pooper (well, he's a big cat as well), but so far, with Nutro I get one movement per day, normally, and it's only, ah, aromatic when it's fresh (he doesn't always cover the evidence).
 
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layitdown

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After doing my research again, I think I've decided what to go with.

Dry will be nutro max. The reasons being 1.It fits in with my budget, not as nicely as chicken soup, but it fits and it seems it will work out better for my baby. 2. From my research, it has formulas that fit uti guidelines. Now RB has not had any issues with any kind of uti's, but I had a cat pass away from a stubborn uti about 3 yrs ago. I don't want to go through that again. I know how painful they are and I do not want that for Ricky Bobby. I just want to take the precautions.

Now for wet, I'm pretty sure I'm going with Felidae.

Feeding those 2, will my kitty be getting the proper nutrition needed to be healthy and happy? Are they a good combo? I know I'll have to try them out and see if they agree with RB. But right now he's a young cat, no known health issues. So I think I'll be pretty safe with those 2.
 

sharky

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periodically rotate foods ... since you like Max and Chicken soup either mix or rotate them...

try a few more wets in the roatation...

1 This helps with some kitties boredom 2 It ensures a " complete diet" in case one food has to much or too little of something for your kitty 3 If another massive recall happens you likely will have some food NOT on the list 4 If the store runs out of said food you have a back up
 
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layitdown

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Thanks, that's exactly what I was thinking of doing. I wasn't 100% sure it would be ok. Thanks for the confirmation. Now that I've got an idea of what brands I like that is a great idea.
 
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