Sorting the confusion fo cat food?

Forgive the long post, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible.

I have two cats right now. Aqua an 8 year old Tabby and Amy (Pond) a 3-4 month old Calico. Aqua recently hurt her back hip and when I took her to the vet I found out she is a little overweight. Since she is going to have diet I decided to look into cat foods. I have had cats my entire life and I never realized how complicated cat food can be. Some of what I learned I feel stupid for not having realized sooner. For example that cats should only eat meat and don't need that other junk in most foods.

Currently Aqua is eating Purina One Sensitive Systems cat food. It was something my vet had recommended and she has been on it for the past 7 years. She gets wet cat food as a rare treat but not on a regular basis.

Amy is eating the same brand dry in a kitten formula but I have been giving her a bit of canned. Nothing specific just what's cheap it has been Meow Mix canned most often.

So here is where I am. I have been researching cat food for over a week now. I have read up on the Wet vs. Dry debate. I have read up on Raw diets. Have read up on top brands that cater to the needs of cats being high protein, low carb, and low in starches. I have read about the iffy add ins. Basically if it's written I have read it. The problem is I am still confused and torn on what to do and how to do it.

I had decided to feed Wellness Core dry but after reading about several people connecting it to urinary issues I decided against using it. So instead I have decided that I will feed Nature's Variety Dry (I live in the middle of no where and cant get my hands on Orijen or Evo) and use it in rotation with either canned or raw diet.

Here are my questions.

Do you feel there is a significant difference in a high quality canned food and a raw diet?

Are there any high quality canned food that come in a chunky style instead of a pate?

What are some pros and cons to both canned and raw diets?

Do the premade raw diets have all the vitamins added in that they should or would I still have to add supplements? Specifically Natures Variety and Primal(I can get these the easiest)?

What are some tips for someone that has never fed Raw or even Canned as a primary food? 

What are the best ways to transition a cat that has only had dry to a wet or raw diet?

Are a canned or raw diet sufficient? Is possible or practical to feed no dry at all?

What is the best way to do rotation feeding? Because I really would like them to still have some dry.

I appreciate anyone taking the time to help me. All opinions, answers, and other general information are greatly appreciated. I am just kind of wanting some thoughts and experiences from people that have been feeding these types of foods. Please feel free to suggest anything even there isn't a question about it. As I said I am really just hoping to hear about others experiences to make and informed decision.

The biggest difference between commercial raw and high quality canned is that nutrients get degraded when cooked.  So, canned foods, high quality or not, are cooked at rather high temperatures, and then the nutrients, in the form of supplements are added back in.  In raw, they remain in the food itself, so less supplementing is needed.  Also, they can have things added in that you don't want -- such as carrageenan, guar gum, or BPA in the can liners, whereas raw doesn't need to have those things, since ground up meat+organs+supplements doesn't really require binding agents, and it isn't packaged in cans, so no BPA worries.  Unfortunately, with all commercial food, the biggest drawback to most raw feeders is that you cannot control all of the ingredients going into the food, which you CAN do with homemade (cooked or raw).  This is why homemade food is really the best.

That said, I've been feeding Primal raw nuggets, and have not added any supplements to the food -- according to the label, it is "complete and balanced" to AAFCO standards.  Some people do not think AAFCO is important, for various reasons, but for me, it at least suggests I don't NEED to supplement.  No one else has suggested to add supplements to the food aside from a probiotic, but I've also been giving occasional sardines for the benefit of omega 3 fish oil.  I also just today gave Iris, my cat, an egg yolk.  I can't remember why egg yolks are good, just that 1) they are, and 2) I only use eggs for baking (the taste to me is so bad I get nauseous, so I don't eat eggs if I can taste them), so giving one to the cat is a nice way to avoid having to throw them all away (even when I only get 6 at a time-- I honestly wish there was a way to buy eggs singly).  I think in general, if you can supplement with real food instead of capsule powder, it's better, which is why my eventual goal is to prey model raw, where the various nutrients all come from the animal and various organs, with the exception of the probiotic.  I still have a lot of questions on how to do it appropriately and responsibly, so for now, I'm doing commercial raw.  I want to eventually add other brands, as I don't want my cat to become fixated on one food/brand.

One thing to watch for is allergies/intolerances.  The first raw food I gave my cat was a beef/salmon one, and she immediately threw up.  Since I knew she'd avoided eating red meat flavored cans, I suspected it was the beef, and when I gave her some beef-flavored canned food, she threw that up, too.  So, I knew it wasn't a RAW issue, but a RED MEAT issue.  In fact she eats the turkey and chicken/salmon nuggets in about 2 seconds and licks the bowl completely clean.  I haven't had any further vomit problems.

I'm pretty new to all of this, too (just got my cat in June), but I hope this helps!

Edit:  I forgot some of your questions.

First, about non-pate canned food.  YES!  There is some.  I started out with Nutro Natural Choice, which has 4 textures:  soft loaf (pate), chunky loaf (pate with some chunks), minced (very small pieces in liquid), and sliced.  The minced and sliced are great.  Wellness has a cubed chicken recipe.  They also have a new line out Signature Selections, and those are amazing -- they are just like human food -- white meat chicken in gravy, etc.  I open the can and want to eat it myself!

Pros and Cons:  The biggest "con" for canned food is that you don't really know how it was all processed.  The biggest "con" for raw is that you have to remember to pick up the dish right away, which I'm constantly forgetting.  Actually, that's probably true for all foods, since bacteria is in all foods.

I don't know about transitioning from all dry, since when I got my cat, she'd already been having both dry and wet foods at the shelter.

The only issue with not giving any dry at all has to do with traveling and who you get to cat sit.  Many cat sitters who are neighbors or friends (i.e. free or with a gift, but not paid) are not going to want to come three times a day or even twice a day to give meals to the cats, so you might want to leave dry out then, and if you've fully transitioned to ALL canned/raw, they might not eat it.  That said, health wise, it's MUCH better not to give any dry at all.  When I give dry (rarely -- when I'm going to be gone all day or something), my cat suddenly starts drinking lots of water and I get alarmed, since I've read that they only really drink when they're already starting to get dehydrated (I keep fresh water out all of the time even when feeding raw and/or canned).  So, I try to limit the dry as much as possible, and many people don't give it at all.

As for rotation, it seems most people (including me) feed three times a day: morning, after work/dinner time, and before bed.  Kittens might need more frequent meals, and older cats might eventually be able to do twice a day.  I'd imagine you could put in different foods at any one of those meals.

Hi and welcome to TCS! 

I know you said you have read a lot but I just wanted to make sure you have read in my opinion the best website on feline nutrition www.catinfo.org. Dr. Pierson has a great section on feline obesity and how she has gotten cats to lose weight on a canned and homemade diet (http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity).

The nature's variety dry is all right especially if you are just using it to transition your cats to an all canned or homemade diet. In my opinion the LID turkey is the best one. In my opinion the best diet is an all canned or homemade diet without kibble. You will find many members here do this and it is not as hard as you would think and you just have to feed adult cats three times a day, once in the morning, once after work and again before bed.

My cat had terrible GI issues and probably IBD and was a total kibble addict. He always hated wet food and at most would only lick the gravy. I knew I had to switch him to wet for his health problems so I did a transition. What worked for me was sprinkling dry food (I used nature's variety LID turkey) and treats (he loves purebites freeze dried chicken) on top of wet food. My guy also did not like pate style food so I fed him the nature's variety pride line which comes in flakes or minced and tiki cat (mostly the chicken flavours as it is not good to feed fish too often). After a long transition he is now on one hundred percent wet and is so much healthier and happier. 

The commercial raw diets (Primal and Nature's Variety) you mentioned are both certified to be fed to all life stages and you do not need to add supplements.  

The biggest factor for feeding a homemade diet is that you have complete control and there are usually some cons with even the best wet food. You can even do a cooked diet and here is an amazing thread that one of our members LDG just put together a great post on the topic (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263437/creating-a-home-cooked-resources-sticky).

For the questions I can answer:

Psylk87 said:

Do you feel there is a significant difference in a high quality canned food and a raw diet?

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Yes. Think of it this way. Kibble is the equivalent of a human eating only dry cereal. Canned food is the equivalent of canned stew. You may be able to up the quality of the canned stew by purchasing an organic canned stew with no fillers or unnecessary thickeners. But it is still canned stew. Your body wants, needs, and thrives with the addition of FRESH (not canned) fruits and vegetables. For our cats, the "fresh" equivalent is meat, bones and organs.

Just people don't need to eat only non-processed, pre-packaged food, you don't need to feed 100% raw food either. But the addition of some fresh, unprocessed food to the diet will greatly help your cat - just as eating an apple a day helps you.

Psylk87 said:

What are some pros and cons to both canned and raw diets?

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IMO, there's not much difference in ease between feeding canned or feeding commercial raw. The cons are that canned is still highly processed, no matter the quality. Either way, you have no control over ingredients.

The cons with both are that kitty is on timed meals, which restricts how long you can be away from home, unless there's someone else there to put food out for kitty.

When it comes to homemade food, the pros are that you have control and it usually saves money vs. high quality canned or commercial raw. The downside is that you need to spend the time either making it or portioning it, depending on what style of food you feed. If you decide to provide homemade cooked, you have the added step of cooking and that clean-up too.

Psylk87 said:

Do the premade raw diets have all the vitamins added in that they should or would I still have to add supplements? Specifically Natures Variety and Primal(I can get these the easiest)?

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Yes, they are balanced and complete.

But ANY diet - kibble, canned, cooked, raw - cats benefit from sardines and egg yolks, as RavenCorbie already mentioned. The reason egg yolks are healthy is that they're just really densely packed with nutrition; they additionally have healthy fats in them for cats; they're a good source of vitamin D (which has been linked to reduced rates of cancer and improved immune system function); and they're full of choline, which improves gastric motility (helps prevent hairballs), and helps prevent dementia.

Psylk87 said:

What are some tips for someone that has never fed Raw or even Canned as a primary food? 

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Raw is not canned. Their bodies have to go through an adjustment that is more like switching kibble than switching wet foods. It's a process that takes time, so if you include some raw food, expect some vomiting and/or diarrhea along the way. Again - imagine you've been eating only dry cereal, and then all of a sudden you start eating heaps of salad. Your body might rebel a bit. Same thing.

Psylk87 said:

What are the best ways to transition a cat that has only had dry to a wet or raw diet?

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Transition slowly. The first, most important part of the transition is timed meals. If a cat has only free-fed kibble, this is best done slowly. The kitties don't have the concept of "meal" or eating enough food at one sitting, and you have to work up to that. It's best to ADD meals to free-feeding at first, then moved to a measured amount of kibble, divided into a measured amount put out in the morning, then the other half put out 12 hours later - WHILE feeding frequent small meals. Slowly drop the number of meals and increase the amount fed AT meals - but make "meal" times a very distinct point in time that ENDS - I recommend 10 or 15 minutes. But if kitty walks away from the bowl, pick it up, don't follow them or try to get them to eat more. The meal is HERE, it is at THIS TIME, and this is how long you have to eat it. Let hunger work for you; but do not let your cat go without eating for more than a few meals (if you've pulled the kibble altogether). You can avoid this by letting the measured amount of kibble you put out at night be the last one you pull, and do that only when they're eating almost their daily need at meal times. I initially fed my free-feeding kibble kitties 8 meals (of a VERY small amount of food) a day of wet food, and whittled it down to four. I pulled the kibble that was left out during the day after about two weeks, and the kibble left out at night after about a month. I have older cats - that while they ate enough at the meals, they still begged for nibbles, they'd been so used to it. If I had it to do over again, I would not have transitioned that quickly.

The ideal number of meals fed is 3 a day or more. Most feed before work, after work, and before bed.

Psylk87 said:

Are a canned or raw diet sufficient? Is possible or practical to feed no dry at all?

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Practical from what standpoint? Kibble is generally unhealthy for cats, period. It's best and healthiest to feed them no kibble at all. It's like cereal for us - convenient, but even for humans, cereal is SO highly processed, it's only about 40% bioavailable. Basically it just makes our bodies work for very little nutritional return. :dk:

Psylk87 said:

What is the best way to do rotation feeding? Because I really would like them to still have some dry.

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If from a budgetary standpoint you need to include dry, then just make some of the meals dry food.

There's not a lot I can add here, but I'll try . 

First off, I actually feed both raw AND canned.  My furkids get canned food at least one meal a week, sometimes two.  This is mainly because those are the meals i am not home for, and my dear hubby just doesn't follow instructions well .  So...on those days he feeds them canned food.  Plus, it helps for when we DO go on vacation, if our neighbor has an issue with anyone going on a raw strike, she can feed them canned and at least they'll know what it is .

Next, not all commercially prepared raw foods are 100% nutritionally complete, but the two you mentioned are.  If you see Bravo, however, in the store, that one comes in several varieties, some are complete and some aren't, so just be aware of that, because it's usually sold in the same stores as the other two.

Another reason to go "raw" or at least use a variety of canned is you never know when there may be another cat food recall .  They seem to be happening every time you turn around.

Here is an article on how to transition from kibble to something better:  http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf