Need help with food

I have two cats; Bella, my 5 year old big girl. And Tinkerbell who is about a year or two old.

They're currently on dry whiskas food, I can't remember which flavor but I think meat. And Bella also gets half a wet can of seafood supreme friskies every night. Tinkerbell doesn't because she throws up if she's fed a can. After looking around in the nutrition section I came across fish making cats more prone to urinary tract infections so I wanted to ask about that.

I also came across the cat food analysis and would like to know how it works. What are the good percentages and calculations needed to be done?

My questions would just be if whiskas dry food is a good choice or not, which cans I should be feeding, what the canned food diet is, what are the pros and cons to feeding only canned foods, etc. I'm a total noob when it comes to their nutrition so would like to know more about it.

Note: Tinkerbell is 10 pounds, Bella is 12.

I have two cats and i am here wondering for some help. Please suggest the best nutritional cat food.

Welcome to the Forum and congrats for wanting to improve your kitties lives the best you can.

It would be better if you had mentioned your budget, (aka, how much you are willing to spend per bag or can of food) but since you didn't I'm going to assume you have only a small budget for cat food.

The concern with fish is not so much urinary tract infections (except in males who have previously had a UTI), but the amount of hard metals contained within them. There are no websites that list fish that are safe for cats, so I just go by the normal human ones.
First link lists the ones that are not only with the least amount of hard metals, but also green to farm. You can also access the pocket guides that are specific to your area. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/c...fw_health.aspx
Second link is more comprehensive, and lists how safe they are and what they contain. The most safe are actually not on the graph, but are the links at the bottom. http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=17694

I'm not sure what food analysis you are referring to, but I can give you some tips.
Any that don't list meat as the first ingredient, contain by-products, or say they contain 'meat' or 'animal' (meaning not listed as the specific animal) should be avoided. The food should not contain soy, BHA or Menadione. The higher percentage of meat in the food, the better. (You can also do calculations for carbs, but I find looking for protein is easier, but if you want carb calculation, just let me know.)

If you can avoid corn, corn gluten, brewers rice and dyes. Grains aren't necessary to avoid, but if you can keep them to a minimum, that's great.

Whiskas is at the bottom of the quality tier of cat food, so no, I would not consider it a good choice.

The pros and cons of feeding canned food are the following:

Pros:
contains less preservatives
high percentage of moisture to keep cat hydrated
higher meat content
lower carb content
easy to chew and digest

Cons:
higher price
spoils much easier

The problem with feeding exclusively dry is that it is addicting, doesn't actually clean the teeth unless you buy the special dental kind, results in mild chronic dehydration, and promotes obesity and diabetes.


If you have any other questions, just let me know. ^^

Sorry for the late reply. But thanks for the info. Currently I don't think we can spend too much on it but in about 2 weeks or so we could. Is Friskies good as a can? Other foods I was looking into was evo, blue buffalo and wellness.

Oh and the analysis was on here: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=203690

I lost my job and had to give up on Wellness, and I found that the cheap-o grocery brands now carry special "Gravy and chicken" in special packages (not usually canned, but can be) that have no corn in them and usually have real meat (but will still have by products). One of them was meow mix, actually.

Friskies is the same as whiskas..down on the bottom tier. If your on a budget, I actually recommend Authority which is the petsmart brand. It has real meat in it, and corn is one of the fewer ingredients (lower on the list)

Its comparable to other more expensive brands like Nurtro, but without the cost.

I would still recommend a grain free, no soy/corn/wheat brand however if you can afford it.

I love Wellness canned, Blue Buffalo not so much because it has carrot chunks and my cat hates it. Evo is one of the best, IMO and I was thinking about doing EVO before I decided to go Raw.

Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by Skits

Sorry for the late reply. But thanks for the info.

Currently I don't think we can spend too much on it but in about 2 weeks or so we could. Is Friskies good as a can? Other foods I was looking into was evo, blue buffalo and wellness.

Oh and the analysis was on here: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=203690

Click to expand...

If you are talking about this page http://webpages.charter.net/katkarma/canfood.htm, that is for cats with Chronic Renal Failure only, and does not apply to healthy cats. The only thing is does is list the protein and fat percentages of the food, but the companies change it so often, you are better off calcualteing yourself.

I wouldn't bother with Friskies as a can, no. Buying the other brands you listed in-store can be pricey, but online they are not so bad. A good brand for someone on a budget that you can buy in a store would be Authority. They make both canned and dry.