Cat food

Just been given a new cat food by the vet but not sure about the quality. It's "Chicopee adult indoor cat"
Anybody out there who can confirm if this is a healthy brand or not?

Thanks

Ingredients:



Corn, Poultry Meal, Corn Gluten, Rice, Animal Fat, Cellulose, Fish Meal, Protein-Hydrolysate, Liver meal, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Chicory, Yeast, Yucca Powder.

source:

http://www.harrisonpet.ca/en/chicopee/cat/adult_indoor/

Unless this is a prescription diet (which is not the case?) for a specific disease or condition, I would not feed it.

No not a prescription food, just recomended by the vet.

Why would a vet recommend a brand listing corn as the first ingredient? As I understand it, cats do not digest corn very well. The rest of the ingredients do not fair much better.

Other than health advice, I have come to distrust vets when it comes to commercial pet food recommendations. I don't know whether they receive commission when they sell Science Diet, but almost every vet I have been to have recommended it. The problem was that it does strange things to my cat's stomach (diarrhea and/or vomiting) that Wellness, Innova and Felidae does not.

I think unless your cat has certain food allergies or requires prescription food, I would be leery of your vet's recommendation. Chicopee looks like low-grade food that will harm your cat's health with long term consumption.

Corn gluten is actually an easily digestible protein added to cat foods to help keep the ash content low and the urine at proper acidity. So the food would be "slightly better" if it started with corn gluten rather than corn. But I still wouldn't feed it.

I've never had a vet push Science Diet, a grocery store brand, at me. Ever. I do have one cat on Hill's Prescription Diet for FLUTD. It is the only food that controls her crystal formations.

My other cats however are on "premium" quality canned foods, after much trial and error. None of them are on the same diet though. Tolly eats one canned flavor of Innova and one canned flavor of California Naturals, and Jennie eats Wellness canned grain free chicken, only.

Thanks again for the advice. I have taken the food back & changed it for proplan indoor cat.
It's difficult as there is very little choice in Turkey but at least I know that he has enjoyed this one before.
I think I will change my vet before I change the food again.
I'll also check some of the brands that you mentioned on the internet & see if I can get them sent over here.

Kinali sends his thanks to

I'm not sure I would blame your Vet for giving you this food. From what I understand, the nutrition part of Vet School is only about 2 weeks long. (I could be wrong, but this is what I have been told, and this is why we need to ask questions like you did here) I think Vets are so busy, and the sales reps come around peddling their food, and talk about how wonderful it is, and they (Vet) takes their word for it (or the office manager does) without actually researching it. We fed our babies Science Diet for over 30 years on the advice of many Vets, and once I wised up and read the ingredients, I was flabbergasted that any Vet would recommend it, as so many did!

My Sven recently had to go on KD food, and our Vet only sells Purina KD (whatever the name actually is escapes me) and I asked for a prescription for Iams Multi-Stage Renal to get it somewhere else. She asked me why, and I told her I just couldn't feed my cat something that had "Animal Digest" in it. She said she understood and maybe will try to convince the others in the practice to carry another food.

Nutrition classes at vet school are usually 2 to 4 credit hours for one semester( this is changing)... What is not seemingly changing as fast is the fact that pet food ( RX making ) companies sponsor the programs...

Originally Posted by mrsgreenjeens

I'm not sure I would blame your Vet for giving you this food. From what I understand, the nutrition part of Vet School is only about 2 weeks long. (I could be wrong, but this is what I have been told, and this is why we need to ask questions like you did here) I think Vets are so busy, and the sales reps come around peddling their food, and talk about how wonderful it is, and they (Vet) takes their word for it (or the office manager does) without actually researching it. We fed our babies Science Diet for over 30 years on the advice of many Vets, and once I wised up and read the ingredients, I was flabbergasted that any Vet would recommend it, as so many did!.

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But medical professionals have a fiduciary duty to his/her clients. S/he must dispense advice that is grounded in sound science to the best of their knowledge. Many who come to vets asking for recommendation are new pet owners who rely on their experience and medical background.

The vets should not take it lightly by recommending food based on a sales pitch from a representative of a pet food company. After all, good, quality pet food is a big part of preventative care.

I just don't understand why denizli's vet would recommend a cat brand with such atrocious ingredients.

My vet asks what I feed and I tell them NB and they don't say anymore about it. They don't push one food over another, but I have never asked what food they would recommend since I already knew what I was going to and what I was feeding them since the first time they asked.

Taryn

Yes, when I took the food back most of his shelves were full of that brands dog & cat food so he has obviously got a job lot from somewhere.
Price is an issue as the food is very expensive these days & I am not working but not at the expense of my cats health.
It's just a shame that living in Turkey we do not have a very large choice of foods to pick from but it's nice to know that I have good advice on hand.
Thanks again to you all.

what options for food do you have?

Purina proplan, Hills science, 1st choice, whiskers, Le Cat. Other than that it is local Turkish brands that quite frankly I wouldn't trust.
Hopefully soon we will be moving to a more tourist orientated area so I am hopeing they may have more choice there.

pro plan is likely the best option.. thou I do not know 1 choice and le cat

I tried my best to feed high quality food, but my little pal Franklin has major protein allergy problems. He was recently switched to Hills z/d and has never looked or acted better. If it works for him, it works for me

Originally Posted by KyleW

I tried my best to feed high quality food, but my little pal Franklin has major protein allergy problems. He was recently switched to Hills z/d and has never looked or acted better. If it works for him, it works for me

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The prescription foods are different. If your cat needs it, he needs it. Like medications.

It's the non-prescription Science Diet that's the issue. Vets regularly recommend SD, yet it's no better than most brands you can buy at the grocery store, and far more expensive. It's a real scam they have going.

I heard so many cat food brands names over here. I have read in the magazines and internet pretty sure they don't have it over here where i live in asia. All i want is the best for my cats healthy fluffy strong and economical too. Especially fluffy since i got persian and exotic.

My cat only eating Whiskas and I never had any problems

Originally Posted by Willowy

The prescription foods are different. If your cat needs it, he needs it. Like medications.

It's the non-prescription Science Diet that's the issue. Vets regularly recommend SD, yet it's no better than most brands you can buy at the grocery store, and far more expensive. It's a real scam they have going.

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Yes I agree with you about Hill's Prescription foods. They are made the way they are for a reason and any cat (or dog) I know who is on a prescription diet for an illness or disorder is thriving.

But I have never ever in my life had a vet "push" Science Diet at me. Ever.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen but to say that "Vets regularly recommend" is a sweeping generalization that is not at all accurate.

PS Science Diet IS available at the grocery store, so a vet has no real reason to recommend it over any other grocery store food.

Sea Vegetables Spirulina Chlorella Kelp Phyto- Nutrients balances the immune and digestive system less poop less odor