Which is Best and Healthy? Meow Mix vs. Purina vs. Royal Canin

Hello everyone.

Before I start I would like to state that my cat only eats dry food, he hates wet and tried feeding him raw food but didn't like it gave him fresh cooked fish and chicken which he does eat but not everyday, he doesn't like it much.

So which is better and healthier?

Meow Mix

Purina

Royal Canin

In the dry food category for both kitten and adult.

I just want to say that my vet likes Royal Canin BUT I've read that Royal Canin use bad preservative antioxidant which are: BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin.

Royal Canin did come out and said they use it, BUT they said they only use BHA and propyl-gallate, where propyl-gallate reacts with BHA and reduces the activeness of the BHA as a type of a safety measure.

 

Well, Meow Mix definitely is one of the worst dry foods available! Not even a slightly meat-related ingredient until the 3rd one down, and then it's not even a good meat ingredient. And the colors---food coloring isn't good to ingest daily.

Purina---it depends what formula. Many of their foods have food coloring as well, and corn as the first ingredients. There are a few formulas with no colors and meat first (some of the Pro Plan and ONE formulas and Purina Naturals), but they may not be available in your area.

I would probably go with Royal Canin is those were my only choices, but BHA is worrying. In the US it looks like RC doesn't have any BHA, and I don't know if their formulas are different in other countries.

Are there any other options available to you?

unfortunately no

Honestly, I'd be much more concerned about the genetically modified corn than the preservatives.

GM Corn either has pesticide DNA in its genes, or it has been sprayed with glyphosate,

both of which have been shown to remain in the digestive tract of the animal who consumes them.

If you can find any formulas from these companies that do not contain any corn or corn meal or any other mention of "corn"

then I would choose THAT one. Otherwise, I'd look into ordering from PetFoodDirect.com, or DoggieFood.com

or Chewy.com or Wag.com or the mail order pet food supplier of your choice

and get something better than these, at the same or less cost than you'd pay for Royal Canin.

OH, here is a better choice that I recently bought for my Ferals:

(Much better ingredients than the ones you mentioned and much cheaper than RC)

Diamond Naturals Active Cat Chicken and Rice Formula, 18 Pound Bag ~~ around $25 on Amazon, PFD, others?

Ingredients:

Chicken meal, ground rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, powdered cellulose, sodium bisulfate, salmon oil (a source of DHA), fish meal, methionine, choline chloride, taurine, dried chicory root, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin

40% Protein, 20% Fat - one of the best ratios among affordable dry foods that I have ever seen.

Or, if there is any way you can get to a PetSmart,

their Authority brand TURKEY formula has no corn or other notoriously offensive ingredients, and it is around $23, for 18 lb.

Please feel free to post any questions or concerns -

we are happy to try to help you to help your Kitties!  

I feed my cat friskes indoor formula adult cat food. This is a cheap and healthy food for cats. This is a Purnia food product. Most cheaper cat foods are good healthy food for cats. This is because their standard now that is Fda inforces the standards .
 

Brand LeeSnider said:

I feed my cat friskes indoor formula adult cat food. This is a cheap and healthy food for cats. This is a Purnia food product. Most cheaper cat foods are good healthy food for cats. This is because their standard now that is Fda inforces the standards .
 

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I strongly disagree with this statement that Friskies or other cheaper dry cat foods are healthy foods for cats. Here are the ingredients to one of the indoor Friskies formulas:

Friskies Indoor Delights Chicken Cat Food
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, ground wheat, beef tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), fish meal, soybean meal, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, salt, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, salmon meal, turkey by-product meal, glandular meal (source of liver flavor), added color (red 40, yellow 6, yellow 5, blue 2, and other color), taurine, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, l-alanine, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese sulfate, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), copper sulfate, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, citric acid, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

Where's the meat? A cat is an obligate carnivore that needs a diet high in animal protein and low in carbohydrates. Corn, corn gluten, wheat, and soybean meal are all unnecessary fillers that provide very little to no nutritional benefit for a cat yet are very high in the ingredient list. There's not a single named meat ingredient here, only by-product meals and fish meals. Other highly objectionable ingredients include animal digest and added color. Exactly how is this a healthy food for cats?

It great for my boy because he is 75 feral or wild cat blood in him. I can not feed him food with actual meat. The crude protein nd all other important guidelines are. My vet say he is completely healthy.
 

A diet of just plain meat isn't balanced, and isn't healthy for a cat either.

But whether he used to be feral or not has absolutely no bearing on whether or not dry food is good for him or not. I care for a colony of 11 - 13 feral cats, and I feed them canned food.

Dry food isn't good for any cat as a sole diet. It is all that many can afford, and in that case, a dry diet is better than not having a home and being fed. :heart2: We do the best we can with what we have. But do not mistake that for dry food being better for ANY cat that canned food.

Brand LeeSnider said:

It great for my boy because he is 75 feral or wild cat blood in him. I can not feed him food with actual meat. The crude protein nd all other important guidelines are. My vet say he is completely healthy. 

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I really don't understand this, so please explain it to me. Why would being 75% wild or feral mean that you cannot feed him actual meat? I don't see wild and feral cats raiding the grain fields or vegetable gardens. I see wild and feral cats eating small rodents, birds and insects. So why would that be different for your cat? I am genuinely curious as to your reasoning.

Feeding him any meat either direct or from cat food makes him mean. This was true with my husbands's sister cat too.
 

Meow mix made me khao manee odd eyed very sick.. vert bad diarrhea! Will never ever use that again. Went back to purina an she is perfectly fine now.

The Purina Muse dry cat food is very good IMO it's the only dry food my cats will eat now. They loved the Charmed With Chicken recipe. The ingredients are as follows: chicken, chicken meal, cassava root flour, pea starch, natural flavor, dried egg product, canola meal, beef fat with mixed tocopherols, dried pumpkin, l-lysine, mono hydrochloride, potassium chloride, salt, sodium bisulfate, phosphoric acid, spinach, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, taurine, minerals, vitamin e supplement, and vitamins.
I believe it's available at Petsense and Petsmart. They get canned Friskies everyday also.

I have fed my cat about every food out there on the market. If I had to choose between these 3 brands, it would be Royal Canin. I fed meow mix to a feral once and she threw it up immediately, so never again with that.  As in Purina, my cat ate it, but you could tell he really didn't become excited over it. I tried Royal Canin and he is licking the bowl clean and is excited every time I open the can. I talked to my vet, who is a internal specialist and nutritionist and she said, it is better that your cat eat than not to eat, so feed him whatever he will thrive on. No two cats are alike.. Do some reseach and test each product and decide from there and also talk to your vet