what is the right food?

i have a 9 month year old cat and i want to make sure i am feeding him right.... giving him proper foods...

i have been buying dry cat nutrition food from publix and i give him that a few times a day in his bowl..... i also have been buying a little bit of the wet food in the can at the super market for like 49 cent... the 2/$1 foods... chicken and gravy.

is it good to mix? which is healthier?? i want to make sure hes eating healthy and the right foods..... and how much to give him.

If you search through the Nutrition forum, you will find much discussion on this topic.  Here is a recent one:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/244492/what-grain-free-dry-and-wet-foods-do-you-recommend

im doing a ton of reading... but i see how its not good to give them dry foods??

i bought two cans of this chicken wet wood.. 2 for $1 at the sweatbay supermarket.

is this good to give him like twice a day?? hes 9 months old...

FRISKIES- WITH CHICKEN IN GRAVY- PRIME FILETS .... orange can

For a good overview, the vet Dr. Pierson has a website called CatInfo.org. Here's a really good place to start to learn about what's best for cats. http://catinfo.org/

The bottom line is that cats are carnivores, and they're designed to eat meat, bones, and organs. (Never seen a cat raiding the vegetable garden, right? ).

The basic problem with kibble is that much of it has a rather high carbohydrate content. And cats simply need NO carbohydrates. Kibble also provides no moisture, and cats are descended from desert animals, so they naturally do not have the same "thirst drive" that dogs do. They're designed to get all the moisture they need from the food they eat, not from drinking water. These are the two primary reasons why canned food is generally considered superior to kibble. Cats WILL drink water, but many cats on a kibble diet are chronically dehydrated, and later in life this causes problems with their organs. As does eating a diet that's high in carbohydrates.

So when deciding what to feed them, what you really want to look for are foods that are mostly meat and supplements. It's best to avoid all grains. That includes ingredients like wheat gluten. Soy meal is something that's really best to avoid altogether for many reasons. Now, sadly, a food that is grain-free does NOT mean that it is low in carbohydrates, because many companies substitute other carbohydrates for grains (it's cheaper than meat stuff), so it can feel a little daunting when figuring out what is best to feed our cats within our budgets.

As to the Friskies. Friskies, as far as supermarket brands go, is not such a bad food. That said, most supermarket foods are at the very low end of quality. But if that's what you can afford, then Friskies isn't a bad choice. However, feeding the PATE-style Friskies is FAR superior than the "meaty bits" in gravy choices. The Meaty Bits Friskies foods, as far as canned foods go, are very high in carbohydrates (some of the highest), with in excess of 20%. They also have soy meal as an ingredient, and MANY gravy-foods use wheat gluten (some use potato starch instead. This is a better choice if feeding gravy foods). The pate-style Friskies are lower carb (the one I just calculated was the Country Style Dinner pate. It's around 13% carbs, vs. the gravy cans, which are in excess of 20%).

Here's the gravy one you mentioned:
http://www.friskies.com/Cat-Food/Wet-Cat-Food/Meaty-Bits-Chicken-Dinner-In-Gravy

The ingredients are:

Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, meat by-products, wheat gluten, turkey, soy flour, corn starch-modified, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, taurine, added color, salt, choline chloride, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide. A-6100

Overall, it's not so bad. I'd rather see chicken meal or something than the soy flour. And the wheat gluten is there because it's gravy. It just is packed with carbs - because of that soy meal. (Remember, when looking at a label, the ingredients are listed in order of weight. It takes a heaping stack of powder to weigh the same as meat, which is about 75% water. So the bulk of the protein and carbs in this food is coming from the soy).

This is compared to the Pate-style food. Here's the Country Style Dinner: http://www.friskies.com/Cat-Food/Wet-Cat-Food/Classic-Pate-Country-Style-Dinner

Ingredients:

Meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, chicken, poultry by-products, rice, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, guar gum, added color, potassium chloride, salt, carrageenan, magnesium sulfate, taurine, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), manganese sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide. B-6052

In this one, the rice would be the issue, and even though rice is a grain, it's not as bad for your kitty as the soy is.

If you can afford them on sale, the Fancy Feast is a better option at the supermarket. ONLY the "classic" style pates though. The carb content is only about 7% (compared to the Friskies gravy foods at about 23% and the Friskies pate foods at around 14%).

Here's the ingredients in the Fancy Feast Classic Chicken: http://www.fancyfeast.com/wet-cat-food/classic-chicken-feast/

Chicken, chicken broth, liver, meat by-products, fish, poultry by-products, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, guar gum, potassium chloride, added color, salt, magnesium sulfate, taurine, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, niacin, sodium nitrite (to promote color retention), manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.

As you can see, there's nothing in there but meat, guar gum (used for fiber. Some people avoid this, some people don't worry about it), supplements, and coloring (and artificial flavors). No grains, not even chicken or poultry or meat meal. (Meal is made by rendering what would otherwise be garbage into a powder, really, that's a source of concentrated protein. It's arguably not a very healthy one, but any meat meal is better than any non-meat meal, IMO).

If you want to feed one of the cheapest "wet" foods, you can consider making home-made raw food. I shop for my cats when I do our grocery shopping, and now I buy almost all our meat on sale. I do buy organs that have to be delivered frozen, but even with the shipping, it costs me less to feed my cats raw food than it did to feed them canned food (though I was feeding them rather expensive canned food). Some people buy a grinder, and grind the meat (and maybe bones), and add some supplements. Others of us feed "whole prey model," otherwise known as "frankenprey." Basically it means we try to mimic the ratios of meat/bones/organs of what cats would naturally eat if they were out there hunting for their food.

I try to stick with grain free and no meat by-products if possible.

Currently, my cats are eating a combo of dry twice a day, and a few treats of kibble in the morning and before bed.  I do change brands and protein source, avoiding fish as my one cat is allergic to fish.

Wellness Chicken and Turkey Varieties Grain free - canned

Nature's Variety Instinct Duck and Chicken Varieties Grain free - canned

Wilderness Blue Buffalo Duck and Chicken varieties Grain free - dry/kibble

Nature's Variety Rabbit Grain free - dry/kibble

http://www.squidoo.com/Best-canned-cat-food

So should i stay away from friskies chicken and gravy ??

and can i get all of that at sweetbay?

Most supermarkets carry at least Friskies, 9Lives (please do stay away from this food), and Fancy Feast. The others mentioned are only available in some pet shops.

The Friskies ought to have various different styles. :nod: Just look for the ones that say Pate.

I am not discrediting any of the suggestions, but many people on this forum do not feed their cats food from a supermarket.  Supermarkets just don't carry these brands.  Most of them can only be found in pet specialty stores such as Petco or PetSmart.  I doubt Sweetbay would have any of those.  Also, these brands mentioned are very expensive, usually someone on a budget cannot afford them.  If Friskies range is what you're looking for and can afford... Usually in that price range Purina brands are a little better.  Sometimes they have Iams natural.  That is another step up from Purina.  However, if you absolutely are interested and want to look into the food mentioned on the forum, you can check Petco or PetSmarts sites to get an idea of price range and everything.  But, as I said, they are expensive.  You shouldn't feel bad if you can't afford that but consider the advice I have given, please. 

tjcarst said:

I try to stick with grain free and no meat by-products if possible.

Currently, my cats are eating a combo of dry twice a day, and a few treats of kibble in the morning and before bed.  I do change brands and protein source, avoiding fish as my one cat is allergic to fish.

Wellness Chicken and Turkey Varieties Grain free - canned

Nature's Variety Instinct Duck and Chicken Varieties Grain free - canned

Wilderness Blue Buffalo Duck and Chicken varieties Grain free - dry/kibble

Nature's Variety Rabbit Grain free - dry/kibble

http://www.squidoo.com/Best-canned-cat-food

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 Meant to say, eating a combo of wet twice a day and a few treats of kibble morning and bed...

Purina (wet food) is actually one of the most expensive foods you can feed a cat, because of the amount recommended to feed and the extreme cost per pound (even if your cat eats less than recommended, that holds true (typically) across all manufacturer RDAs).

http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and...y-cat-or-i-can-afford-to-feed-commercial-raw/
The table of canned food comparison: http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Canned-Raw-Table-1.pdf

...For this analysis, I compared 48 brands of kibble (including ZiwiPeak’s air-dried raw not intended for rehydration), 40 canned foods, and 15 commercial frozen raw foods. The kibble category included 10 “supermarket” distribution brands, 19 grain-free brands, 18 pet/specialty distribution brands, and the one raw kibble. The canned category included 8 supermarket distribution brands, 17 grain-free brands, and 15 pet/specialty store distribution brands

Some of the results? If you’re feeding a 10 pound cat the manufacturer recommended daily allowance (RDA), it’s costing you approximately:

In canned:
$1.08 per day to feed your cat Friskies Meaty Bits canned,
$1.38 for Natural balance Green Pea & Duck (grain-free) canned,
$1.96 for EVO 95% (grain-free) canned,
$2.45 for Wellness Core (grain-free) canned,
$3.12 for Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain (grain-free) canned,
$4.47 for Purina One SmartBlend canned, and
a whopping $5.48 per day for Royal Canin Instinctive canned.

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Iams: $2.53
Fancy Feast: $2.59

Most supermarket foods cost more to feed your cat than some of the excellent choices at pet stores - or shipped free, if purchased online.

Iams Ingedients (chicken): Chicken Broth, Chicken, Meat By-Products, Chicken By-Products, Natural Flavors, Corn Starch, Dried Beet Pulp, Guar Gum, Flax Meal, Carrots, Salt, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Potassium Chloride, Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide) Titanium Dioxide, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Folic Acid, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of vitamin K3), Fructooligosaccharides, Broccoli, Taurine, Spinach. http://www.iams.com/cat-food/iams-proactive-health-adult-filets-with-chicken-in-gravy

With the dried beet pulp, flax meal, and carrots, I personally prefer Fancy Feast to Iams.

As to the Purina, when it comes to cans, I don't know what's normally in the supermarket, ProPlan or PurinaOne? :dk:


PurinaOne chicken: http://www.purinaone.com/products/c...pe-braised-in-gravy#ingredients-and-nutrition

Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, artificial and natural flavors, salt, calcium phosphate, soy protein concentrate, added color, corn oil, potassium chloride, taurine, magnesium sulfate, choline chloride, Vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide. A-4311

Personally, I'd rather feed the Friskies Pate than that.


Purina ProPlan chicken: http://www.proplan.com/wet-cat-food/chicken-rice-entree/default.aspx

Water sufficient for processing, chicken, wheat gluten, liver, meat by-products, rice, corn starch-modified, artificial and natural flavors, salt, soy protein concentrate, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, added color, taurine, choline chloride, Vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.

Again, I'd still prefer the Friskies Pate.

Here's a very good explanation as to why I would go to great lengths to completely avoid soy:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/28/avoid-using-soy-on-pets.aspx

Fancy Feast and Friskies are both Purina products . Other than those I don't know of any Purina canned foods at the supermarkets :dk:. Wal-Mart has Purina ONE canned food but it's expensive. They don't have Pro Plan.

Neverever feed a supermarket store brand/generic dry food. They're terrible. Basically flavored sawdust. But sometimes the store brand/generic canned foods aren't half bad. . .read the ingredients. If you must feed a dry food and your only shopping option is the grocery store, Purina Cat Chow Naturals is probably your best bet. But try to feed mostly canned food.

I have 21 indoor cats, all eating canned paté Friskies :tongue2:. And they're all quite healthy. So I think canned paté Friskies is an acceptable choice.

You guys are totally missing my point... I know firsthand, not everyone can afford the products we feed and can't afford Petco or Petsmart.... It is not a reason to belittle what someone can afford.  It's the reason I quit the other cat forum I was part of.  A friend of mine, retired and on a very strict budget got a new cat (she'd had cats her whole life) she commented once that she fed her cats Purina One and they were all over her for it.  They made her cry.  So she went with me to Petco and Petsmart a couple of times and she cried more because no way could she afford the stuff they told her she "should" be feeding her cat if she's a good cat mom. It was then that I told her that she feeds her cats wonderful.  She gives them wet as well.  And her cats are perfectly OK.   That's the truth. 

Yes we are fortunate to be able to do so and feed our cats so well.  But not everyone can buy the same.  I think on the forums, as well as our "opinions" on the best way to feed we could all do better to remember that not everyone can afford the premium or holistic foods.  Telling them that they are feeding their cat wrong and they are not as healthy is wrong and, again, our opinion.  We should try to be a little kinder about that and not say such stuff. 

Laurie, thanks for that detailed analysis! Very interesting to see side-by-side comparisons like that.
Friskies and Fancy Feast are very popular brands indeed and I've always seen them in the supermarket here. Good to know that they're not such a bad choice after all, and good on a budget too.

P3 and The King said:

You guys are totally missing my point... I know firsthand, not everyone can afford the products we feed and can't afford Petco or Petsmart.... It is not a reason to belittle what someone can afford.  It's the reason I quit the other cat forum I was part of.  A friend of mine, retired and on a very strict budget got a new cat (she'd had cats her whole life) she commented once that she fed her cats Purina One and they were all over her for it.  They made her cry.  So she went with me to Petco and Petsmart a couple of times and she cried more because no way could she afford the stuff they told her she "should" be feeding her cat if she's a good cat mom. It was then that I told her that she feeds her cats wonderful.  She gives them wet as well.  And her cats are perfectly OK.   That's the truth. 

Yes we are fortunate to be able to do so and feed our cats so well.  But not everyone can buy the same.  I think on the forums, as well as our "opinions" on the best way to feed we could all do better to remember that not everyone can afford the premium or holistic foods.  Telling them that they are feeding their cat wrong and they are not as healthy is wrong and, again, our opinion.  We should try to be a little kinder about that and not say such stuff. 

Click to expand...

Oh, I wasn't belittling it. Like I said, I feed canned Friskies. And sometimes store brand canned food (and I'd feed it more often but availability is iffy on the large cans). I thought you meant Purina ONE canned food. . .it's NOT a budget choice! Yeah, if grocery store selections are the only option, for dry food Purina ONE would be my second choice. Purina Cat Chow Naturals is, IMO, slightly better quality, and costs less, too.

P3 and The King said:

You guys are totally missing my point... I know firsthand, not everyone can afford the products we feed and can't afford Petco or Petsmart.... It is not a reason to belittle what someone can afford. 

Click to expand...

I think you didn't read the posts? What are you talking about/referring to? I see no belittling at all by anyone. I was helping the OP make smarter choices for her kitty given supermarket options. Willowy added to that. tjcarst simply shared information about what she feeds and why. I'm really unclear as to where you see anyone saying anything that would make anyone feel bad for needing to feed on a budget.

As to supermarket brands, you specifically recommended Iams or Purina (I didn't know whether you meant ProPlan or PurinaOne - neither of which I think is actually available in most supermarkets) over Friskies. I looked at the ingredients, and I do not agree with those recommendations. I think Friskies Pates and Fancy Feast are better choices. (And Willowy pointed out that Friskies and Fancy Feast ARE Purina products. They're all manufactured by Nestle, except Iams, which is manufactured by Proctor & Gamble).

Because of how dangerous soy is as an ingredient, I would avoid Purina ProPlan or PurinaOne wet foods under ANY circumstances, though I'm pretty sure they're not available in supermarkets. In addition, they are very expensive to feed - among the most expensive, and given the lack of quality, simply not worth considering them as a choice based on that alone. Because of the ingredients in Iams, I would still prefer Fancy Feast. But FF and Iams are more expensive than Friskies. If feeding Friskies, I suggest the pate over the gravies.

How is this information in any way, shape or form "belittling" someone for being on a budget? :dk:

And as Willowy pointed out, her comment was in regards to supermarket brand (meaning generic) dry foods. Avoid them. That's helpful information.

Many of us care for feral cats, and regardless of what or how we feed our indoor kitties, we have to be on a budget when it comes to feeding them. I feed Friskies pate foods and Fancy Feast to the outdoor cats. And when any of my cats is not feeling well, Fancy Feast is a "staple" for enticing someone to eat.

So I really don't know what you're talking about.

This is exactly what i have been feeding my cat..... this is canned wet food correct? is this canned friskies bad?

http://www.meijer.com/assets/product_images/styles/xlarge/1001029_050000170180_A_400.jpg

It has soy flour as an ingredient, and that isn't a healthy choice. Right near it should be other Friskies options, the Pate style cans.

They look like this:

http://www.friskies.com/Cat-Food/Wet-Cat-Food/Classic-Pate-Country-Style-Dinner

http://www.friskies.com/Cat-Food/Wet-Cat-Food/Classic-Pate-Liver-Chicken-Dinner

http://www.friskies.com/Cat-Food/Wet-Cat-Food/Classic-Pate-Mixed-Grill

Just look for the word "Paté" on the label instead of gravy.

ohhh so im in the right area though lol... i got these at sweetbay...

so next visit just go in and get the cans that say PATE on it instead of prime filets..

how many scoops per day should i be serving my cat with it? can he live off of these cans a couple scoops per day and always have water?

and any treats that are HEALTHY i can give him that i could pick up at sweetbay?
 

Well, how much to feed him depends on how much he weighs. Any idea?

Actually, I have a can here. I'll go get the feeding guidelines. It says to feed one ounce per pound of body weight.

So if he weighs 8 pounds, he should have 8 ounces. They're 5.5 ounce cans, so that means he should have about 1 can AND a third of a can a day.

If he weighs 10 pounds, he should have 10 ounces. That means he should have about one can AND two-thirds of a can a day.

If he weighs 12 pounds, he should have about 2 cans a day.

Hope that helps.

that does make more sense.. and i suppose i need to go to a vet or something to get his weight? i know everything i say sounds dumb but im really trying to get better at taking care and asking ?'s really help....

anything other than the friskies canned food should i try to use??