Help with Australian cat food choices

Hi guys,

I've recently become concerned with my cats diet and wanted to make sure they were eating the best foods I can give them (and afford). I was brought up with cats in a family that didn't have much interest in health (both human and pet wise) and so never thought anything of buying a can of Whiskas etc. Now that I'm older and have cats of my own that I'm responsible for, I'm learning about all kinds of things to be concerned with that I never knew about before.

So I have very little experience with what to look for when choosing a cat food, and while there is lots of lovely information online, it seems most of what people determine is the 'best stuff' is not available in Australia. I've tried to do as much research about what to look for in a food as possible, but ultimately you guys seem to know what you're talking about, so I'd like your opinions.

I'm looking to feed a kitten, an adult and a mature adult.

From what I've found, these are my choices on available 'premium' cat food:

Nutrience
Iams
Advance
Royal Canin
Artemis
Nutro Natural Choice
Eukanuba
Felidae
Eagle Pack Holistic Select
Organix
Ziwipeak
Vets All Natural Premium Choice

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Can anyone give their opinions on any of the above, and of what they've heard of, what would be the best brand to go with? I'm feeding two dry meals a day and one wet.

For reference, at the high end scale, a 180g can of Ziwipeak will run me about $3.40, which is stretching a little out of my comfort range. An 8lbs bag of Felidae will cost me about $50, which I'd be moderately comfortable with.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what I should buy, what I should avoid, and in particular, information on the lesser talked about brands (Organix and Artemis, for instance). Any help you knowledgeable souls can offer will be very much appreciated by me and my kitties.

Thanks so much for your time

Thanks for your reply I was leaning toward the Felidae dry food too so I'm glad to hear some corroboration.


Thanks so much for your helpful reply

I've noticed you seem to be the whiz on cat nutrition here so I'd like to post the ingredients of the Artemis wet food I'm interested in if you wouldn't mind looking at it and have the time

Artemis Fresh Mix Chicken Can:

Chicken, Chicken Broth, Salmon, Brewers Dried Yeast, Guar Gum, Taurine, Vitamin/Mineral Pre Mix*

*Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C) Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, (source of vitamin B6), Riboflavin Supplement ( Source of Vitamin B2), Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D2 Supplement, Minerals, (Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Potassium Iodide.)

I'm not sure if it's a different formula to the US one.

I'm trying to feed a mostly wet food diet but I only have a *very* limited choice of premium brand wet food to choose from. The choices are ZiwiPeak, Organix, Artemis, Holistic Select and Hills Science Diet. Not very impressive, I know. Organix is $3 a can and I don't like the look of the ingredients, so that's out. Hills is horrible so that's out.

That leaves me with Ziwipeak ($3.30 per 6oz can is the cheapest I could find), Artemis ($2.45 for 5.5oz) and Holistic Select ($2 for 5.5oz). I *love* the sound of Ziwipeak but it is far beyond my budget to feed regularly, so I think I may feed it as a treat. That leaves me hoping Artemis is a suitable food to feed once a day, with Holistic Select making up the other wet meal per day.

I'd also be curious to hear people's opinions on Dr Bruce's Vets All Natural. It seems to be a 'muesli mix' to be added to a portion of raw meat and fed to your animals.

The ingredients are a little vaguer than I'd like:

Complete mix contains a combination of mixed cereal grains (rolled oats, cracked barley, soybean meal, flax seed meal, and whole oats), dried vegetables and fruit, dried garlic, dried parsley, dried barley grass, calcium powder, yeast powder, kelp granules, lecithin granules and vitamin C powder.


and I'm concerned about the garlic content. I've emailed the company asking for an explanation. However when perusing Dr Bruce Symes' website he seems to be a very knowledgeable vet who appears to genuinely care about the wellbeing of pets.

As for the mix itself: you are supposed soak the mix and combine it with raw meat for what is supposed to be a comprehensive raw diet. I'm not in a position to make up a raw diet for my cats at this point in time, but the idea of getting a mix and throwing in some raw meat (sounds like HamburgerHelper) for a healthy and easy way to feed raw is very tempting. What do people think about this?

I'm still hoping to hear from an Australian who might have had better luck sourcing quality cat food or have tips on how not to spend a fortune on feeding your cats a nutritious diet!

Any cost-cutting tips people can recommend on feeding a mostly wet diet would also be very much appreciated