Confused.......

I thought Life's Abundance dry cat food was a good brand. I was at my local Walmart the other day and they carry that brand in the dry food. Does that mean it's not as good as I thought it was? I'm so sorry to ask so many questions but I am really drying to find a good food for my budget and I want my cats off the Purina Cat Chow. Can't remember the size of the bag but it was a pretty good size bag and it was $20.00. I need to find something soon as my bag of Purina cat chow is getting low and I want to mix the food in slowly.

Thanks

Hmm, I'm kind of surprised to find that at Walmart too.  Life's Abundance is certainly  a LOT better than Purina Cat Chow.  I like the fact that they have added in Omega 3's, which even some of the top brands don't do.  However, I'm not too fond of the fact that their first ingredient is chicken meal, rather than chicken, but some folks actually feel that meal is better than chicken, I'm just not one of them

So...you could do worse, IMHO. 

Have you given any thought to feeding your furkid(s) some canned food also?  Maybe you already do?  It's not a bad idea to feed them some of each since cats don't normally drink much, so the canned foods are their main source of liquid.  Food for thought (no pun intended )

No dry food is ideal to make up the bulk of a cat's diet and I would recommend you feed at least 50% wet. Here are two sites run by vets that have a lot of information on feline nutrition (www.catinfo.org) and (http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/). 

I checked it out online and the Life's Abundance seems all right and better than the Purina but it does have rice in it. Some other grain free options to look into are the wysong epigen 90 and nature's variety dry food. Another better option would be to feed freeze dried raw food primal, stella and chewy's and ziwipeak all sell these foods. 

Good luck and keep us updated

For a dry food, it is pretty good in my opinion. I do have mixed feelings about chicken meal; on one hand, it has a higher density of protein than chicken meat, but on the other hand it goes through more processing. The best brands tend to use both, I've noticed.

My rules of thumb for selecting a quality food is:

1) 3 of the first 5 ingredients should be meat-protein based (preferably chicken, chicken meal, turkey, turkey meal, fish in small doses since fish can cause urinary issues in excess.) Life's Abundance does use some catfish, but

2) Should not contain grains which are common allergens (corn, wheat, soy, gluten.) Life's Abundance uses brown rice for its "filler" which although not the most nutritious ingredient, at least acts inertly compared to the other 4.

3) Should not contain animal by-product or animal digest--this can be sourced from diseased animals!

(You can read the article here that explains more: http://www.raising-happy-kittens.com/kitten-food.html)

Yes, going completely grain-free is an option (like Wellness CORE) as long as your cat doesn't have kidney issues and you can afford it--I feed it to my four cats and 1 large bag doesn't last as long as you would hope, but for just one cat this may be an option.

It's also worth noting that the healthier food you feed your cat now, the more money you'll save in veterinary costs as your cat ages, but that's beyond the scope of your original question!

In general though, I agree with the other two posters: if budget is your main concern then dollar-for-dollar, a mid-range wet food will be more nutritious than a mid-range dry food, due to the extra protein, less filler, and more moisture. 

Thanks for everyone's advice. I had a coupon for Simply Nourish Source High Protein-Grain Free Chicken and Turkey Recipe. I'm not sure if this is a good food but I heard good things about it. If anyone has tried this and had good luck with it please let me know. I actually feed 7 cats, 6 feral and my one indoor cat. My cat is the one who won't eat any other dry food that I have tried, my feral cats aren't as picky but I do know they don't care for Natural Balance dry food. I do feed all the cats wet food as well every day. I am looking for a better dry because I can't afford all wet food for both meals with 7 cats. It really all depends on my own cat because she is so picky about dry and wet food, if she will not accept the new dry food then I have to keep looking. I have been trying on and off for 3 years now and my cat will not let me change her dry food.

Last night I put a couple pieces  of the new dry in with her old and she did eat it but this morning she just sniffs it and tries to cover the dish. I only put 4 pieces in this morning of the new food.

The first few ingredients in this new one is Deboned Chicken, Chicken meal, Turkey meal, Dried Potatoes, Dried Peas.......so I guess I'm asking if this is good or would Life's abundance be better. I am trying really hard to find a better dry food on my budget.

Right now Peaches is eating out of her dish so maybe this food will be one she would eat. Before when I bought bags she would not eat out of the dish at all. I would let it sit all day and then the next day if she had not eaten out of it I would then give in and give her her Purina Cat Chow.

I would say either one of those foods are fine.  They both have certain things going for them.  Life's Abundance has the added Omega 3's that most cat foods don't have, but Simply Nourish has Chicken as it's first ingredient, which Life's Abundance doesn't have, so it's give or take, to me.

So, are you saying you put 4 pieces of the new food, and the rest is her old Purina One and she isn't eating it just because she can smell the new stuff?  Wow!

Maybe you should just try to convert her to canned, using crushed Purina One as a topper