Is fancy feast truly horrible for cats?

I currently feed our boy the FF Classic Chicken wet, and he gets 9oz per day.  Now I do closely monitor his weight but he's only gained up to a healthy weight of 11lbs now at 1yr old & post neuter since he found & adopted us in March.  I do supplement his FF with dry kibble (and have used Purina One Beyond Chicken) primarily because I'm still heavy into the research of what other wet food is financially doable for us long term & the voluminous info regarding all that.   Supplementing with kibble has also made his stools firmer than just the FF by itself.  I'm now feeding the EVO Turkey & Chicken dry food as a supplement.  He has always been a daily water drinker since he adopted us so I haven't worried much about continuing the a small handful of kibble daily (a general total of another 2oz).  I just finally moved up to a better brand of dry. 

Originally Posted by pbmaltzman:

I use Innova Evo dry food... keep it out all the time. A have a couple of cats who prefer dry food to canned. I have 6 cats:
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I see a lot of people saying that their cats prefer dry food--but if your children preferred candy to nutritious food, would you just feed your children candy? I don't think so.

Your cats are used to dry food, because that's what has been fed to them, but in the wild, there is no dry food. Their natural diet is mostly protein.

Cats don't like change any more than we do, but if you want your cats to be healthy and not have kidney problems, urinary tract problems, obesity, diabetes, etc. in the future, it is better to feed them mostly protein. Their bodies are not made to digest carbs; they are obligate carnivores. They overeat dry food, because they are trying to get enough protein in their systems, but the carbs make them fat, and cause digestive problems. Maybe not at first, but after many years of a poor diet, they start having really severe health problems. Many cats have spent their whole lives dehydrated eating dry food, and that's why so many cats die of kidney disease .

I have a friend who has a cat that is 23 years old and is still healthy and spry, and she swears it's because she only feeds her cat canned or raw food, and the canned food has to have at least 50% protein, and no more than 10% carbs. All cats should live to be in their twenties, and not be dying in their teens or sooner.

I lost two cats to kidney disease, and now I have another one in stage 1. After doing a lot of research into cat nutrition and health, I started decreating the amount of dry food I was giving them, and then stopped completely and started feeding them Instinctive Choice, Weruva, or Tiki canned foods. It gets expensive, with six cats, so I am going to supplement their wet food with Young Again dry food, which is 50% protein, but I'm going to only give them small amounts and wet it down with chicken broth so they get more fluid.

My persian's eyes have cleared up, and all of the cats are friskier and more playful since I took them off the dry food. At first some of them were upset, but as they started to eat more wet food, they seemed to appreciate it more, and now I only have two cats that still want a little dry food now and then (on the weekends, I'll put down maybe half a cup for the cats that don't have kidney disease). Their thrilled with the Weruva and other upgraded wet food (I only buy premium high protein low carb brands now, instead of the crap from the grocery store).

I love my babies, and want them to live long, healthy lives. I would change to raw foods, but I'm a vegetarian myself, and I really don't have the time or the freezer space or the inclination to handle raw meat, so the next best thing is Weruva paw lickin chicken, which they love. Also, Instinctive Choice from Life's Abundance, and Tiki food is good, though more expensive. Most other foods have grains, vegetables, or fruits--none of which a cat needs.

The research has been done, and it's out there. I only wish I had know this before I lost two cats and another got sick. The health improvement in my cats is what really sold me on the change to wet food. Search google for "food for cats with kidney disease, pancreatitis, diabetes," etc., and see for yourself.

Bluebird Gal said:

I currently feed our boy the FF Classic Chicken wet, and he gets 9oz per day.  Now I do closely monitor his weight but he's only gained up to a healthy weight of 11lbs now at 1yr old & post neuter since he found & adopted us in March.  I do supplement his FF with dry kibble (and have used Purina One Beyond Chicken) primarily because I'm still heavy into the research of what other wet food is financially doable for us long term & the voluminous info regarding all that.   Supplementing with kibble has also made his stools firmer than just the FF by itself.  I'm now feeding the EVO Turkey & Chicken dry food as a supplement.  He has always been a daily water drinker since he adopted us so I haven't worried much about continuing the a small handful of kibble daily (a general total of another 2oz).  I just finally moved up to a better brand of dry. 

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Just saw this. Have you tried any grocery store brands of Fancy Feast? My Grey (RIP) actually preferred the Winn Dixie brand of Fancy Feast and I was able to save a little money.

I see a lot of the FF varieties have cheddar in them. What's up with that? I'm a new cat owner so I'm still trying to learn about all these things.

LaraLove said:

I see a lot of the FF varieties have cheddar in them. What's up with that? I'm a new cat owner so I'm still trying to learn about all these things.

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It's just a marketing scheme. People like cheddar so they put it in pet food so the people will think, wow I love cheese, my cat will love that.

If you are going to feed Fancy Feast feed the Classic line only. They are the pate formulas, very low in carbohydrates. The other kinds are high in carbs, grains and gluten.

Hi guys, I'm interested in getting a cat, likely from my local animal shelter.  I've been doing some food research and have a rough idea of what to look for in acceptable wet canned foods, I'm in Ontario,Canada and we do not have access to Fancy Feast - Classic 

Petsmart / Walmart in Canada, tend to have these: 

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13249360&f=PAD/psNotAvailInCA/No

Fancy Feast (Beef Flavour Feast - Pate)

• Ingredients: chicken, chicken broth, liver, meat by-products, fish, artificial and natural flavours (source of artificial beef flavour), calcium phosphate, guar gum, potassium chloride, minerals, salt, taurine, vitamins and sodium nitrite (to promote colour retention)
• Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 11.0%, Crude Fat (min) 5.0%, Crude Fibre (max) 1.5%, Moisture (max) 78.0%, Ash (max) 3.0%, Taurine (min) 0.05%

Fancy Feast (Turkey & Giblets Feast )

• Ingredients: turkey, liver, meat by-products, turkey broth, poultry giblets, artificial and natural flavours, guar gum, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, salt, magnesium sulphate, minerals, taurine and vitamins
• Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 11.0%, Crude Fat (min) 5.0%, Crude Fibre (max) 1.5%, Moisture (max) 78.0%, Ash (max) 3.0%, Taurine (min) 0.05%

Fancy Feast (Liver & Chicken Feast)

• Ingredients: liver, meat broth, meat by-products, chicken, artificial and natural flavours, calcium phosphate, guar gum, potassium chloride, minerals, taurine, salt and vitamins
• Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 11.0%, Crude Fat (min) 5.0%, Crude Fibre (max) 1.5%, Moisture (max) 78.0%, Ash (max) 3.0%, Taurine (min) 0.05%

These ones appear to be ok. Strangely, the Beef can is the only one of the three, that have the word Pate on it. So I don't know what the others are.  Also, note that the 5th item says 'Fish'.  Is that ok, or a big concern if I were to feed that particular flavor alot. 

I think I need to stay away from 'Grilled' or 'Marinated' - Both those versions of FF, seem to have wheat gluten. 

The price seems good for the economy brands, 2 a day obviously for 6 ounces. 

Innova and Authority at Petsmart seem to have crappy ingredients unfortunately.

As you can see, I'm budget minded so I just want to swing these foods by you guys.  I'm guessing $500-600 / year on food, which this Fancy Feast would fit the bill.  This is presuming he/she will like the Fancy Feast haha. If not, then my budget may explode. 

I looked over the Wellness brand - the contents look strange for the price - cranberries and blueberries, sweet potatoes.  Is that for our benefit to read, or the cat's health? 

I totally agree I have a diabetic kitty and she has to use low carb food, I found a dry kibble from young again and its only zero carbs good protein, but again the moisture content.. but good thing is the pellets are very small and they only eat 2 table spoons a day its nutrent dense.. look into it for a sugar cat.. my cats insulin went down some I still use FF classics too at 4 G garbs

My kittes do like the classic pate FF cans the chicken is their favorite for now. 

AS LONG as it says CLASSICS in the FF can its a pate

@peaches08   I found a dry that is nutrent dense for my kitty 4 g of carbs by young again a 8 pound bad is 49 bucks (search for 10% off coupon on google) but it lasts months since you only use a table spoon a day if you also use canned.. they love it you can get free samples from their website.. 2 table spoons a day if feed alone.. best of luck btw my diabetic sugar kitty gets the zero carb one from them, her fur has never looked better

My vet told me just a few days ago when I told him I feed ff and friskies, that as long as it's canned and mostly the pates, they are all fine. It was great to hear that!

My cat has also lost 2.4 lbs since switching to an all canned diet for them.

terestrife said:

 
I started giving it to my cat before i realized that people call it "kitty crack." i get 36 cans at BJ warehouse for $18 so its not that expensive. She loves it, and prefers it over her dry food. I only give her a 3rd of a can a day. 1/4 dry food in the morning, 1/4 dry food at night, and i give her some fancy feast mid day.

i give her these cans:


if this is really unhealthy i dont mind changing it. but wow, they sell 12 cans for $20. Is fancy feast really that bad? do you guys know any healthy alternatives that wont be too expensive?

thanks!

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FF is not all bad - you just have to choose the lines of FF that are low in carbs.  The ones that are not good are:  Elegant Medleys, Marinated Morsels, Grilled, Sliced, Roasted, Shredded, Primavera, Florentine and Souffle lines.  The categories that are  okay for your cat are Classic, (but not ones with beef or gravy), Tender, Flaked and Chunky.  I got this info from askthecatdoctor.com.  On that website there is a listing of wet cat foods that are acceptable.  I have been feeding my 11 month old cat from this listing and he is much more satisfied.  Of course, everyone has their own opinion, but just thought I would pass this on.

I liked  your rely. I agree about canned food (I recently switched to only canned and add water). I have 5 cats and work with a rescue group that adopts out 10,000 cats (by far mostly cats) a year. I have been reading Lisa Pierson sites and am now using her chart to look for high protein, moderate fat and low (under 10%) carbs. I can't figure out the best food from her chart. Some of the Fancy Feast Classics look great (their numbers) and they come in chicken and turkey which Lisa recommends over fish. If the only negative is use of byproducts I agree with you that there are probably acceptable by products and byproducts to avoid (hoofs, hair). Is there a canned food you recommmend? I am concerned about feeding raw food. I know cats need a lot of minerals and in the right amount. If I am only going to feed canned what would you recommend. Also do you think raw is that much more important to a cat's health? 
 

Just wondering why they call it kitty crack? My 6 month old loves it, feed him 2 cans, 1 in the morning, 1 at nite. He has Iams kitten chow to eat also.

cutepixie93 said:

Just wondering why they call it kitty crack? My 6 month old loves it, feed him 2 cans, 1 in the morning, 1 at nite. He has Iams kitten chow to eat also.

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Most cats like it. It's the exception that a kitty won't eat FF. Many kitties who refuse wet food will eat FF.

I just did some reading up on ff. I'll just stick to those flavor, feeding the gravy lovers. I got a whole box to use. Bruces favorite is the classic salmon, and the tuna. But I'll ease up on the seafood and start giving him chicken and turkey.

If you are really interested in your cat's health read Lisa Pierson, DVM, articled on cat food. She is very opposed to dry food and explains why - very eloquently  - and has an extensive chart on protein, fat and carb by calorie percentage. These percentages are key to cat health. 

FF Classics is one of the best on percentages - high protein, moderate fat and very low (less 10%) carb. She still doesn't recommend it I think because it has meat by products. Don't know if these are by products like organs which are nutritional or bad by products with no value. Just google Lisa Pierson cat food chart and Lisa Pierson on dry cat food

Can I piggy back a question off of this thread?

My cat only eats wet due to the fact that she's missing 14 teeth. However, she's very finnicky, and needs/wants/desires to be fed a different can of food a day. I have a variety on hand, but is this normal?

GracieLousMom said:

Can I piggy back a question off of this thread?
My cat only eats wet due to the fact that she's missing 14 teeth. However, she's very finnicky, and needs/wants/desires to be fed a different can of food a day. I have a variety on hand, but is this normal?

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It's perfectly normal, and it's actually desirable to feed a variety of brands and flavors, because you never know when a brand will become unavailable due to a production bottleneck, recall, inclement weather, etc.. Producers might change the recipe, or your cat may have to eat prescription food at some point for health reasons, so it's best when she's flexible about what she eats.

The two FF flavors I feed are Classic Tender Beef and Classic Turkey & Giblets. Our cats are two boys 3+ years old, and elderly lady is 17 years old. As I've mentioned here at TCS previously, the old lady cat is a diabetic who is now controlled by diet and these two flavors of FF do it for her. There are classic fish that are also very low carb but I feed that very infrequently.

One Wal-Mart near me sells FF classics for 54 cents / can and in the Wal-Mart in another nearby town it is 58 cents / can.

Shoprite supermarket is having its January can-can sale and while they are usually more expensive the FF Classics are on sale at 20 cans for $10, limit 4 offers. That's 80 cans. So every time I'm in the store I stock up. Get some odd looks when I unload my cart but hey, we use six cans a day so why not stockpile while I can, at can-can prices <grin>