Need advice on dry food

So.......

We have decided to go to a top quality dry food instead of the junk they have been on (albeit, they were on "junk" because that was what we could afford...

But now that we are doing better, we feel the cats should have a top quality food.

I'm thinking of the following and see various pros and cons.

Blue Buffalo wilderness?

Nature's Choice

Or Welness Core?

or

Purina One Beyond (We are using Purnia One now)

Though I'm not sure Purina One is "junk?"

Anyway to add (more) wet into the diet?  Blue seems like a good idea but concerns me so much in advertising and not all cats like it. 

We did the wet route, they just didn't take to it.

It depends upon how concerned you are with carbohydrates. It's a tough balance - quality ingredients vs. carbohydrates. Difficult to find a dry food without fish meal in it.

There's this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/242051/peas-potato-starch-fish-meal-yikes
And this one: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/242894/blue-wilderness-dry

SevenWonders switched to Innova Prime (the grain free version) - no fish meal. It's not bad at 19% carbs (on a dry matter basis).

Calories, carbs and hydration are my major concerns with an all dry diet.  All of these issues can be dealt with   If you are concerned about the cat's weight, an all kibble diet can be controlled with scheduled feedings.  This way you can control the amount of food the cat is eating without letting him/her over eat. 

Hydration can be trickier.  If you can just doesn't drink much you will have to find a way of hydrating it on an all kibble diet.  Lots of ways to do this.  The most common being adding water to the kibble before feeding.  Another way to try and get the cat interested in water is a stainless steel water fountain.  My cats love theirs.  They also love the dog's .

As far as brands.  Nutro Natural Choice may suit your needs.  All of my cats have thrived on Nutro products for many, many years.  You can check it out at http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food.aspx  

or feel free to send me a private message with any questions you might have. 

I don't know what stores are in your area or what your price range is. Purina ONE is comparatively expensive and I can get several higher-quality brands for the same or less. 4Health, Chicken Soup, Diamond Naturals, and Professional are all in the same price range if you find the right store. Taste of the Wild, Natural Balance, and Felidae are only a bit more.

Blue Wilderness and Wellness CORE are good choices. I can't find any cat food called Nature's Choice. . .do you mean Nutro Natural Choice, Nature's Recipe, Natural Balance?

Will your cats eat the canned food at all? Even a quarter can a day would help get some moisture into them.

Willowy said:

I don't know what stores are in your area or what your price range is. Purina ONE is comparatively expensive and I can get several higher-quality brands for the same or less. 4Health, Chicken Soup, Diamond Naturals, and Professional are all in the same price range if you find the right store. Taste of the Wild, Natural Balance, and Felidae are only a bit more.
Blue Wilderness and Wellness CORE are good choices. I can't find any cat food called Nature's Choice. . .do you mean Nutro Natural Choice, Nature's Recipe, Natural Balance?
Will your cats eat the canned food at all? Even a quarter can a day would help get some moisture into them.

Click to expand...

I mean Nutro Natural Choice Willowy.

[quote name="NutroMike"]I mean Nutro Natural Choice Willowy.[/quote]

Not you . I understood which one you meant. But Nebula said that one of her picks is "Nature's Choice" and I can't find a cat food by that name. She probably means one of the ones I mentioned (because they're the ones with Nature's or Natural in the name), but I'm not sure which one.

Nebula, if you're still checking in on this thread, I put up a spreadsheet comparing the cost to feed a number of foods here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/242562/dry-food-brands-help/30#post_3191927

This may help you make a decision about what you can afford to feed.