Purina Cat Chow vs Friskies

Sorry if this question sounds so ridiculous that it shouldn't even be asked, pardon my ignorance, because I'm new to cats, but what would (relatively speaking) be the better of the two (or less worse) between Purina's Cat Chow and Friskies dry kibble? I know they're both supermarket brands and the most cat foods available, and have lots of ingredients that cats shouldn't eat, but how bad is supermarket kibble like Purina's? I mean, I haven't heard of cats dropping dead from Cat Chow/Friskies, unlike some other cheap brands.  I know the first ingredient should never be corn. Cat Chow has 'poultry-by product meal' as the first ingredient, so I'm inclined to prefer Cat Chow, rather than Friskies, even though both have wheat gluten, and artificial preservatives, etc. Then there's Purina ONE, which is one step higher, that has "real meat" as the first ingredient. Is dry cat food really all that bad for cats? I leave it out for my cat, but her main meal is grain-free wet cat food. I think I'm leaning to favouring dry food is partially I've heard wet food is bad for cats teeth, and kibble is supposedly better. When my cat eats kibble, she crunches on them. Is at least leaving dry food for cats OK, but how much does it matter for the brand? What are good grain-free dry foods available in Canada that are fairly cheap? 

As far as the original question, I prefer Cat Chow to Friskies because Cat Chow has a meat ingredient listed first and also because Friskies has PURPLE kibbles for petes's sake :tongue2:. So much food coloring is NOT healthy. But those are both fairly low-quality foods. Purina ONE and Purina Cat Chow Naturals are a step up (no coloring) but still not terrific.

Wet food is better for cats. www.catinfo.org can explain it better than I can.

Most cats will get fat if a bowl of kibble is left out all the time. If your cat self-regulates, it may not be a big problem, but do keep an eye on her weight and switch to measured, scheduled meals if she starts getting chubby.

I don't know what kibble brands are available in Canada :/. But look for meat ingredients first, no food coloring, no artificial preservatives (BHA/BHT, ethoxyquin, etc.).

I second Willowy's recommendation for wet food. Dry food contains too many carbs, will dehydrate your kitty, and possibly lead to serious health problems like kidney disease, chronic constipation, diabetes, and UTIs. This applies to all dry food, no matter how high quality you get.

Kibble does not clean teeth. That would be like you eating corn chips or pretzels to clean your teeth.

Please do read www.catinfo.org.

otto said:

Kibble does not clean teeth. That would be like you eating corn chips or pretzels to clean your teeth.

Please do read www.catinfo.org.

Click to expand...

  You may hear a crunch when she's eating the dry food, but that doesn't mean it's cleaning her teeth!  If anything, it's putting a yucky film on her teeth that actually can increase the amount of tartar and plaque on them. 

Many forum members, especially the raw feeders, use chicken gizzards as a teeth cleaning food source.

Here are some TCS articles for you--

What other members use for tooth care:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/what-tcs-members-use-cat-dental-health-care

Tooth brushing:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/brushing-your-cats-teeth