Confused by dry food brands - would love some feedback!

I am a newbie here and this is the first time I've posted. My husband and I had been without a cat for 20 years until we adopted Captain from the shelter three weeks ago. He is one and a half years old, gorgeous, sleek, fully black cat who is very, very lovable and a real 'person' cat. My husband is retired and I work from home, so he has lots of company, and is always with us. He has - in three weeks - changed our lives and captured our hearts! Suddenly I have TOTALLY become a 'cat person.'

Now, to my question. When we got him, he came with a bag of Purina Pro Plan dry food for indoor cats (which he is). We had to buy him more food, and my husband came home with a bag of Purina One dry food from the grocery story thinking it was the same thing. It was about half the price of Purina Pro Plan. There seems to be SUCH an array of cat food and such a variation in prices. Our pet store even has some that's close to $50 for a small bag! (Purina One is around $12 and Purina Pro Plan is around $25 for that same size.)

So - I have lots of questions - which is the best dry cat food? Do we need to go with an expensive brand? Is Purina One okay? What do some of you suggest?

The Bottom Line on Cat food: No cat does well on any one food... You need to find one you can afford , your cat will eat and you are satified with the condition it keeps your cat.

There is No Best cat food ( some say otherwise but that IMHO) .... Purina one is expensive for grocery food.. One and Pro plan are similar in ingredients ... What goal do you have for the food? Nice coat , white teeth, less shedding , less or smaller poop, less smelly poops?

Welcome to TCS

I completely agree with sharky their is no one size fits all when it comes to cat foods.

I notice your also in Canada, i am as well different province. What stores do you have access too?

I find pro plan to be quite pricey. I do think their are other options that would be less expensive, also normally pro plan is only sold at pet food supply stores not the grocery store.

One thing i have found with cats is that our opinion of the food matters very little lol they decide whether it's "the food" for instance i know quite a few here opt for grain free dry, mine will not touch it.

Originally Posted by Linni

I am a newbie here and this is the first time I've posted. My husband and I had been without a cat for 20 years until we adopted Captain from the shelter three weeks ago. He is one and a half years old, gorgeous, sleek, fully black cat who is very, very lovable and a real 'person' cat. My husband is retired and I work from home, so he has lots of company, and is always with us. He has - in three weeks - changed our lives and captured our hearts! Suddenly I have TOTALLY become a 'cat person.'

Now, to my question. When we got him, he came with a bag of Purina Pro Plan dry food for indoor cats (which he is). We had to buy him more food, and my husband came home with a bag of Purina One dry food from the grocery story thinking it was the same thing. It was about half the price of Purina Pro Plan. There seems to be SUCH an array of cat food and such a variation in prices. Our pet store even has some that's close to $50 for a small bag! (Purina One is around $12 and Purina Pro Plan is around $25 for that same size.)

So - I have lots of questions - which is the best dry cat food? Do we need to go with an expensive brand? Is Purina One okay? What do some of you suggest?

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First, welcome to The Cat Site. I am new here too. Second, congrats on your newest addition. It is amazing how quickly a new pet can fit right in.

I agree that not every food is for every cat. Different things work better for some than others. I will give you some basic info and I hope it helps you.

When looking at any pet food read your ingredients. You want your meat protein source to be your first ingredient. Like Chicken Meal. Chicken meal is the part of the chicken you would eat with the water and fat removed. The remaining product is a dry, highly concentrated source of high quality protein that is easily digestible. When you see Chicken Meal as the first ingredient you know Captain would be getting a great source of protein that he needs.

Stay away from ingredients like sorghum, corn grits, corn meal, ground yellow corn and chicken by products(contains head feet and intestines). These ingredients can be harder to digest and add to Captains waste in the litter box. In addition they won't fill him up and he will be hungrier more often, therefore eating more food to compensate. Which means you will buying more food more often.

Congrats again on your newest addition!

I feed some of my cats Purina ONE - they have a urinary formula that has worked for a decent price. I have fed foods in the past (such as Innova EVO, Nutro MAX, Eagle Pack, etc) - that while good foods didn't work for my kitties. Since you are in Canada, I am not sure how much advice I can offer as your brands differ.

Hi and welcome to TCS. Ah, dry food. A thorny issue here!

I agree that Pro Plan is pricey for what it is. Nutro is a good food, too, though some of the dry kibbles aren't as good as they were - they now have wheat in them (or more wheat) which can be a cat allergen/intolerance. So read labels carefully.

Also - and sharky can help here - and as NutroLori said - cats need meat protein. Chicken, chicken meal or other meat/ meat meals as the first ingredient(s) are good...some are relatively single-source proteins (chicken and turkey - poultry) and some are multi- source proteins like chicken, salmon, etc...

I personally would stay away from any dry that has animal by-product meal, soy and wheat. Corn gluten meal a little farther down the list is ok IMHO. Rice is ok, as are oats. Skip artificial colors and flavors, too. According to people better versed than me, a little grain that is not an allergen for the cat is good to keep the urine Ph balanced. Dry kibble also needs some kind of starch to bind it for the manufacturing process.

I would also encourage you to feed some wet every day to Captain. Cats are not thirsty animals by nature and an all-dry diet can lead to low level, ongoing deydration, which can pose kidney and bladder issues. Dry is also more calorically dense .. the more carbs in it the more likely he is to get pudgy. Just like us!

I was feeding Petsmart's house brand dry - Authority, which is a mid-range quality food... but a couple of my cats were having digestive issues. So on the recommendation of my vet, I switched to a grain-free dry. Now that doesn't mean carb free - because of what I said above about the mfg. process. I feed Taste of the Wild dry, which is a very good food, mixed protein sources and reasonably priced. My guys have wonderful coats as a result. The barfing and runny poo are pretty much history. Smelly poo is still an issue,though. Ugh! Some on here have had wonderful success with Taste, others have not.

I hate to say it's a bit of trial and error. Just remember that when you change over a cat's dry food, you must do it gradually to keep tummy and digestive issues to a minimum.

Re: wet - also what your budget and cat's tastes dictate. After much T and E and wasting quite a bit of food, I found out that my guys don't like the GF wet foods. They get Authority, Nutro and - I am a bit embarrassed to admit - Fancy Feast ( only certain pate styles- no grain of artificial color, which is dye).

First, if you do want to carry on feeding ProPlan, save.ca always have $5 coupons for it for Canada

I too am a grain free feeder, I feed Orijen which is Canadian too. But like said above, different foods work for different cats.

Purina One is an okay food, not great, but a little better than foods such as Whiskas.

I am a fellow Canadian as well and we do have most of the foods suggested by other non Canadian members. I'm a grain free believer, but it's a personal choice.

Some brands that you may want to look into, both grain free and non grain free, are Innova, Orijen (awesome Canadian brand), Felidae, Chicken Soup for The Cat Lover's Soul and Eagle Pack. You won't be able to find them at grocery stores, but at pet supply/food stores. Do you have a Pet Valu in your province? They carry many holistic and high quality foods and are very helpful.

As others have mentioned, stay away from meat by products, corn products, unidentified meats (ie "meat" meal, "poultry" fat, etc), artifical colours/flavours and chemical preservatives such as BHA/BHT.

Good luck!

Hi, I also live in Canada. Do you have any Ryan's Pet Foods or Global pet foods or Global Ryans pet foods? They are the same company but have different names for some reason. Anyway, they carry many of the premium brands that Pet Valu doesn't carry so between the two companies you should find a food that is good for your cat. I go to two Ryans pet food stores and get excellent advice there. Some of the pet valu stores near me are good too for advice.

Are you stuck on dry food only? Is that due to cost concerns or just what you're familiar with? The reason I'm asking is because wet food is best for cats because it provides moisture as cats aren't natural drinkers. Feeding dry food solely keeps cats continually dehydrated which is obviously not good but especially for male cats who have a tendency to have urinary blockages.

Like the other posters said, finding a good food that works for your cat is trial and error. Believe me, I went through many, many brands before I found one. Then one of my cats got kidney failure and now I'm on the search again! Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice re dry cat food. So far our cat has only eaten Purina Pro Plan and Purina One for adult cats. He seems to enjoy Purina One and it doesn't seem to upset his stomach at all. But, reading the posts here it looks like we should be adding some wet food.

Thanks for the advice.

Lin