No grain-free

I just had my 17 yr old at the vet and were discussing food. She suggested not going the "grain-free" route. I know, this is not what is popular opinion but I have been having issues with the cats (have a 1y and a 6yr too) not liking the more natural foods (Natural Balance, Fromm, TOTW, Wellness).

Perusing Pecto I looked at these dry foods:
*Nutro Max adult chicken
*Nutro Naturals Mature (liked the glucosamine)
(thought these were a bit better than SD)
*Royal Canin (I have fed in the past but think it is over priced and the ingredients have been changed)
*Purina Pro Plan
*Science Diet Naturals - seems low on protein @ 27%

I do feed wet food too - Natural Balance, Avoderm, Soulistic (sometimes).

What was her reasoning for not going grain free?

I would stay away from all of those foods, but there will be a few here that will say Nutro is fine.

It sounds to me like your cat likes junk food (the kitty kind) and so sticks her/his nose up at the good stuff. I would give some good hard effort towards switching to a better dry food; you just have to be more stubborn than a cat.

My cats eat Fromm 4 star right now, the older one isn't digging it though. Over the past 10 yrs they have eaten Nutro, Royal Canin, Wellness, TOTW, Natures Variety.

Fromm Ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Pearled Barley, White Rice, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potato, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Whole Dried Egg, Potato, Pea Protein, Dried Tomato Pomace, Salmon Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Chicken Liver, Flaxseed, Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Apples, Lecithin, Chicken Cartilage, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Cranberries, Blueberries, Salt, Chicory Root Extract, Alfalfa Sprouts, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Folic Acid, Parsley, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcous Faecium, Vitamin A, D3, E, B12 Supplements, Choline Bitartrate, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Sorbic Acid, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite


The vet said she has had many cats in with illness due to grain-free. She thinks whole grains are better than potato. I'd have to agree on the potato thing - i dont think they are "meant" to eat potato, apple, blueberry, carrot, etc anymore then they are to eat corn/wheat. If you want grain free it really has to be just meat. But I am not doing the raw food diet with the cats.

Originally Posted by Minka

What was her reasoning for not going grain free?

I would stay away from all of those foods, but there will be a few here that will say Nutro is fine.

It sounds to me like your cat likes junk food (the kitty kind) and so sticks her/his nose up at the good stuff. I would give some good hard effort towards switching to a better dry food; you just have to be more stubborn than a cat.

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I have read threads on this forum that say they will never feed totally grain free dry anymore because of health issues with their cats (especially male cats). I'm also looking for a relatively good quality dry food (with grains) to supplement the grain free TOTW. I don't like any of those options mentioned by the OP, so hopefully somebody has some good suggestions.

I'm feeding my cats Blue Wilderness grain free duck formula. They love it and I have to say, their hair looks so healthy and feel softer than ever. I'm keeping them on that food and I will also give them natural Balance duck and peas, which they love too.

I switched my Woody to TOTW. At first he didn't like it. But I kept it in his feeder and now he loves it.He had been on Science Diet but I wanted a better food for him. His hairball problem has decreased and he doesn't like himself as much either. I have noticed a big difference in his coat, it is soft and lush. Unless Woody tells me otherwise, he will stay on TOTW. You might also try Wellness.

Misty8723 - I think this was one of the points the vet was making. She also said there were liver issues with grain-free cats.

I spent about 45 mins in Petco. If the food had decent grains (1-2) it had by-product meat, if it had good meat it had too many grains

It is hard to find a balance.

Originally Posted by Momto4kitties

I'm feeding my cats Blue Wilderness grain free duck formula. They love it and I have to say, their hair looks so healthy and feel softer than ever.

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Ditto. *knock on wood*

Taters may seem odd, even for an Irish cat, but otherwise they just end up using rice, oatmeal, barley and the like and it'd be hard to argue cats are "meant" to have one over the other. From what I understand, the potato is thrown in really just as a starchy binder so the kibble stays cohesive, and doesn't amount to many calories and keeps the recipe overall low carb.

A lot of vets will also tell you there is absolutely nothing worse than feeding raw to your cat even though we know of plenty of very healthy cats eating that more natural diet, and honestly I think UTIs are often misunderstood and vets don't always have the best background in nutrition to be certain about cause and effect.

While I find this appalling, I'm not the slightest bit surprised. Unless a vet conducts personal research, he/she wouldn't have any inkling of the damage grains cause; after all, the pet food industry - who has been manufacturing pet foods for YEARS and MUST know what they're doing - routinely uses grains, so it can't be bad, right?

On the other hand, discussing the merits of kibble with grains as opposed to kibble without grains is akin to discussing the merits of a big mac with extra sauce as opposed to a big mac without any sauce. It isn't the sauce that's the problem, it's the whole "meal". Sure, grains sometimes eliminate the diarrhea some cats get on kibble - but that's only masking the damage, not mitigating it. And what matter the ph of a kibble when UTI's are only one of a host of diseases caused by a lifetime of consuming kibble?

My vote, for what you find that worth, Lovecat: your kitties are already eating three different types of canned foods... I say increase the flavors in your rotation and ditch the kibble entirely.

AC

I don't believe grain-free causes kidney issues itself, but it can make existing issues worse.

My 17 y/o has CRF, and after many 'crashes' and much frustration, I decided to call one of my old vets (holistic) for advice.
She suggested going grain-free with the dry, but decreasing quantity and increasing wet foods and raw meats when possible.

Its been over a year since I made this switch, and my old girl has had no 'crashes' and has actually increased her weight nearly back to what she was as a young adult.

I agree with Auntie though, if you are in a position to do so, ditch the dry food entirely.

I'm not sure how to post a link to a previous thread, but I thought I'd give it a try. Here is at least one thread talking about why not to feed grain free:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...2grain+free%22

With staying out of the grain free debate(it's never been well received here, the TOTW fish one was a slight winner but i am uncertain on feeding a fish based diet to a male cat so i discontinued it)

For decent grain foods, well at least ones that are in my house and work with mine.

Blue- i have had the indoor and the finicky feast.

Felidae- i have had both the chicken & rice and the multi protein one, i have the chicken & rice right now because it can be slightly tolerated by my barn cats in addition to my indoor/house cats whereas the multi protein one is not by my one barn cat.

Innova- only 2 of my indoors like it but it's well received by them.

Natural balance- just the original one.. i looked at the indoor but i dislike the reduction in protein..

At the end of the day.. it's about what food your cat does well on, will eat and one you can afford. I truly do not believe there is a one size fits all method, different cats have different needs. GL!

Oops forgot one lol chicken soup dry food is also worth a look.

I fed my male 8yo cat TotW (salmon & venison) for the past 3 years, until he turned up his nose at it (other cat was fine with it). He had struvite crystals 5 years ago. Zero health problems on TotW. I know that doesn't mean it'll work for everyone, but figured I'd offer it as a data point.

Originally Posted by Kat013

I fed my male 8yo cat TotW (salmon & venison) for the past 3 years, until he turned up his nose at it (other cat was fine with it). He had struvite crystals 5 years ago. Zero health problems on TotW. I know that doesn't mean it'll work for everyone, but figured I'd offer it as a data point.

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Here's a mind-boggler.

Our female cat and our older male cat are doing fine on TotW (so far) but our young male cat just developed a UTI and we have been feeding TotW for awhile.

I think what it all comes down to is - it depends on the cat.

And also - you can't go wrong with a wet diet.

I think most vets think cats eat dry only. Grain free dry can be too rough on the kidneys.
I do not believe it would be a problem for her to be on grain free if she ate an all wet diet, however.... In older kitties though I tend to go with what the vet says :-)
You want to pay attention to phosphorous and calcium levels, make sure they are not high (which can be a problem with high protein grain free dry).

I thought I was right by giving my cats grain free dry, but after getting all the information I will make the adjustments, I don't want my kitties getting UTIs.

I feed a mix of grain free and grain inclusive plus lots of canned and haven't had a problem with my two. It has helped my female kitties mega colon and my male looks great as well. I feed half and half mixed of a variety of brands. Right now I like Wellness and Blue Wilderness. I have used TOTW, Solid Gold, BG, Blue Spa Select, Felidae, Innova, ect without any issues. My cats also get canned and drink alot from their cat fountain and the dog bowl.

Buddy seems to be allergic to grains - he reacts by constantly grooming himself like his skin is crawling.

So, I thought I'd try grain-free foods - and sure enough his incessant grooming stopped.

I agree with many here, our Vets are trained like our Medical doctors, and nutrition seems to be left out of the training and the information they do get is from a salesperson, imho.