High-Quality canned food for cats

I currently give the three of my cats mostly canned food such as Evo, Natural Balance, Wellness, Weruva etc but I'm wondering if anyone has opinions on what the best canned food would be? I'm not the only one responsible for feeding them, so unfortunately raw or home-cooked meals aren't an option so I'm looking for the next best thing. I don't feed them chicken or cans with grains in it. I spend a lot of money every month feeding them high-end foods but I've come across some discussions that some of the "high-quality" foods aren't high-quality at all, and can cause a variety of health issues such as kidney problems. The three of my cats are young and healthy... the reason I don't feed chicken or grains is because my one cat was having some digestive upset and since stopping has been fine.Thanks for you input!

Just like for humans, I don't think there's such a thing as one "best" food. A good variety is best no matter what you feed. I think this reduces the problems that can crop up if you feed one thing for years and years.

Wow, having to avoid Chicken would be a nightmare for me...

EVO 95% Chicken & Turkey makes up around 50% of my Kitties' diet.

If there is any chance the stomach upset your Kitty was having was just due to the grains,

or perhaps some other ingredient that we aren't even considering,

I personally would try to give them a little EVO Chicken to see if they do OK on it.

As far as brands go, IMO, you are doing great. 

EVO 95% varieties make up around 75% of my Kitties' diet,

and just for some variety,

I add a few flavors of Natural Balance and Merrick 96% Beef, Lamb and Buffalo (Dog Food)

now that they quit making Before Grain 96% for Cats.

Only thing I can add that you didn't mention is Fish -

I would limit it to one meal per week as it has been linked to Urinary and Kidney issues,

as well as contaminants in our waters.

Finally, I always add some warm water to their canned food.

Having been through a Crystals Blockage with one of my Boys,

I read through Dr Lisa Pierson's catinfo.org site,

and I now feed almost 100% low carb wet food (ie Evo) with water added.

I think that DRY food in general causes more problems than grains since it dehydrates the Kitties.

Water helps to flush tiny crystals out before they get big enough to cause a problem.

I feel your pain about the food dilemma.  My IBD kitty can't tolerate beef and has recently developed an allergy to chicken.  I have been avoiding venison because I have read that cats that can't tolerate beef often can't tolerate venison.  He had a bad flare a number of years ago with beef and I never tried again until here recently.  He is on a steroid now and I wasn't 100 percent sure that it was the beef the one and only time I tried it.  Because of the steroid he didn't become very ill but he wasn't himself the next day either.

He does well with the Nature's Variety LTD Lamb.  It is an expensive food but one thing I like about it is that it has lamb liver on the ingredient list instead of just liver.

One I would like to try is Hounds and Gatos.  They use duck liver in their food and they have a larger variety of unusual proteins.  Unfortunately it isn't sold in any stores near me so the only way I could get it is to order it and that means getting a case.  I am still debating trying it.  If my kitties refuse to eat it I can give it to a rescue so it wouldn't go to waste.

The Hounds and Gatos is 98 percent meat and the Nature's variety is either 95 or 98 percent meat.

Thanks everyone. It's so difficult to know if you're doing the right thing. I've never gave my cats food with grains, but when my one cat started to puke occasionally my vet suggested avoiding chicken as it seems to have a high allergy rate as well and ever since stopping there's been no puking. I must admit, they sure do love their fish and my one finicky cat doesn't love venison, beef etc. (everything other than chicken and fish really..) and he'd prefer to eat kibble over it mostly. I wasn't aware that fish can cause issues.. now I'm wondering what I'm going to feed my finicky Bandit!

It seems you already feed good quality food.

I wouldn't reject the raw feeding idea just because all meals can't be raw. There are several members of this forum that feed raw, but not 100% of the time.

I second the Hound and Gatos recommendation. It is very simple food (no fruits or veggies), very high protein, and when compared to other high quality foods, less expensive. Anyone wanting to try Hound and Gatos can send me a PM to make arrangements for a few cans with cost of food and postage reimbursement. I have access to chicken, beef, salmon, and for a little while rabbit.

Almost forgot, you can also order HG by the can from this company:

http://wholepetsholistic.com/store/...-Northwest-Salmon-Canned-Cat-Food-5.5oz-Case/

(be sure to select "5.5 oz can" from the drop-down menu)

Also, I mixed up "Natural Balance" with "Nature's Variety." The Natural Balance is high carb, so I would omit that from the menu. The other choices are good ones.