Blue Buffalo Dry - poor choice?

I'm new, so hi!!

My cat Bella is 7. I used to feed her Iams, but I decided to switch to a better food, and I got recommended Blue Buffalo, so I got that. I very gradually switched her over the course of a month or so. I noticed that she doesn't eat as much as she used to. She used to eat a little over 1/2 cup per day (I free feed once a day), but now there's always about a fifth or sixth of that left in her bowl in the morning. She's acting perfectly fine other than that. Maybe sleeping a little bit more, but I'm not sure as I'm at work during the day.

I'm just nervous because my best friend switched her cats to BB and her male cat got sick. The vet wasn't sure if it was related to the food change, but now I'm worried that I made the wrong food choice with Bella.

My sister-in-law feeds her dog Taste of the Wild and suggested I try that brand. When I called the vet, he suggested Science Diet or Royal Canin. I really just want to make the best choice for my cat, but I don't know what to do. Any advice?

Hi and welcome to TCS! Most of us on this site believe that wet food is much better for cats for a variety of reasons. Does your cat get any wet food at all or just dry?

Here's a great article on choosing the right food for your cat. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-food-for-your-cat

abbitha7 said:

 
I'm new, so hi!!

My cat Bella is 7. I used to feed her Iams, but I decided to switch to a better food, and I got recommended Blue Buffalo, so I got that. I very gradually switched her over the course of a month or so. I noticed that she doesn't eat as much as she used to. She used to eat a little over 1/2 cup per day (I free feed once a day), but now there's always about a fifth or sixth of that left in her bowl in the morning. She's acting perfectly fine other than that. Maybe sleeping a little bit more, but I'm not sure as I'm at work during the day.

I'm just nervous because my best friend switched her cats to BB and her male cat got sick. The vet wasn't sure if it was related to the food change, but now I'm worried that I made the wrong food choice with Bella.

My sister-in-law feeds her dog Taste of the Wild and suggested I try that brand. When I called the vet, he suggested Science Diet or Royal Canin. I really just want to make the best choice for my cat, but I don't know what to do. Any advice?

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I wouldn't worry about it. Some dry food is okay for healthy cats, but I agree that most of the diet should be wet food. BB is a decent brand. If dry food makes you leery then try some Blue wet. I have seven cats that have been on Blue for years and are doing well.

There have been some anecdotal concerns about Blue Buffalo, but nothing has been proven. Some other members are talking about Blue in this thread:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/202809/blue-buffalo-and-crystals

I had a weird experience with Blue wet food about a year ago. My kitty happily ate some old food, but when I bought new food, she rejected it. I was able to get her to eat some, and her stool turned out almost black.

As @vball91 says, a better choice would be to switch to wet. Even budget wet like Friskies pate, Fancy Feast classic line or Sheba. This is because wet food hydrates your kitty and is higher in protein.

If people only knew about the actual ingredients that most commercial pet foods have in them, it's likely they'd never feed their pets this stuff again. The "low budget" feeds which are made with the most questionable ingredients are even scarier than most of us can even imagine. Cat and dog food made from the rendering of euthanized (drugged), diseased, maggot infested and rotting animals unfit for human consumption, along with some made with meats imported from China, plus the carcasses of animals euthanized at pet "shelters" is only part of the story behind some ingredients these so-called "trusted" and/or vet-recommended pet food companies use. All of this information is well-documented and easily researched.

Both of my dogs got sick (vomiting) from eating Blue Buffalo dry dog food 3 yrs ago, and it seems that lately I've read that there's been some questions regarding some ingredients in their products.

There's an incredible website with a wealth of information about pet food. It has a ton of free information in addition to its member's only information that I think every pet owner ought to read. It can be found at truthaboutpetfood.com.

Catzendogs said:

 
Cat and dog food made from the rendering of euthanized (drugged), diseased, maggot infested and rotting animals unfit for human consumption, along with some made with meats imported from China, plus the carcasses of animals euthanized at pet "shelters" is only part of the story behind some ingredients these so-called "trusted" and/or vet-recommended pet food companies use. All of this information is well-documented and easily researched.

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I have contacted some pet food companies to find out what is in their food and it is not anything like you describe, in fact its quite the opposite. Please share with us these well-documented cases, including the names of the pet foods in question so that people can be informed.

The book "Food Pets Die For, Shocking Facts About Pet Food" by Ann N. Martin is one place to start. She provides an extensive list of resources and she is a known authority on researching the pet food industry.

For even more comprehensive (and up-to-date) news and studies, go to the website I provided truthaboutpetfood.com by Susan Thixton. The information provided on her site is indisputable. She is committed to openly proving (with evidence) what the pet food industry is up to. There is enough free information based on facts on this site for you to read and it also teaches you how to research it yourself and what exact questions to ask.

Pet food is not regulated like they should be or like we have been led to believe they are. How did all those pets die from the chicken jerky imported from China? How come it's back on the shelves now?

Please check these resources to answer your questions. I hope this will help everyone.

Here's a link to just one very informative article on that site, and it's a good place to start: http://truthaboutpetfood.com/is-it-feed-or-food. There are 2 videos also provided within the article. People may want to deny the existence of such evil wrongdoings within the pet food industry, but once you really begin to look into it, it just can't be denied or ignored.

I know we all want what's best for our "babies" and we are the ones responsible for their well being and we, as consumers, have the power to change what is happening. I hope people will take the initiative and read this information in order to form their own opinions based on facts and evidence.

I am familiar with that book and the website you reference, I also know to how to research. What I was expecting, was that if you are going to make the kind of claims that you have, that you were prepared to provide sources! Just tossing off remarks as you have doesn't quite cut it. I have been in IT for many years and know quite well that there is a lot of information on the internet. I also know that if you look long enough, you will find negative and contradictory reports on practically everything. For this reason, I prefer to go to source and draw my own conclusions.

I have done my homework when it comes to different canned foods and I am quite comfortable in saying that not ALL pet food is bad. There are undoubtedly some not so good pet foods, but there are also some brands that are quite decent. I know of at least three companies who I have spoken with personally to get the low-down on what is in their food. In my conversations with them, these companies were adamant in saying that they do not use things like by-products, preservatives or euthanized animals. Their food is high protein and low carb (2 out of the 3) and features muscle meat for the protein source. These companies source the majority of their proteins from the US, New Zealand and Canada. Only one company was sourcing their rabbit from China, but informed me that they are very close to making the announcement that they will soon be sourcing their rabbit from new zealand. Based on my experiences of feeding these brands to my pets, I am satisfied that they are living up to the claims that the companies have made.  

You say that if people only knew about the actual ingredients that most commercial pet foods have in them, that they would likely not feed pet food again? What makes you think people don't know, or are not informed? I think that if you stick around this forum long enough, you will find many informed members here  

I did not intend to offend anyone, and apologize if I did... sometimes I get over-passionate about certain issues.  I certainly didn't mean to insinuate anything negative about anyone on this wonderful site. So far all I have seen are people who intensely care about their pets! Maybe I should have worded my post differently, and if anyone took offense I take responsibility and for that I apologize!

When I first read the first edition of the book back in the late 90s, I was dismayed, disgusted and very concerned, and that's where it all began. When I started telling others about what I had learned, many people didn't believe it. When the updated edition was released, I handed it out to clients and it became something we openly spoke about and shared with everyone who'd listen. A lot of pet owners have been changing over to feeding homemade and/or raw diets, or buying food that appears to be much safer. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lot of misrepresentation from the FDA along with many pet food companies, (a lot of that due to corruption,) and I think you would agree since you seem to be well-versed on the subject.

Not ALL commercial foods have the awful ingredients I mentioned, but many of them do. I believe many people are informed, however, when some of the low-budget foods were mentioned it led me to post my comment about some of the ingredients that go into many of those foods. The fact is that the regulations are much more lax as well as misleading, than people are led to believe they are. A person just has to read for themselves some of the FDA's Compliance Policies which state that diseased, drugged, rodent-infested and/or other contaminated materials are allowed into pet food.

It seems you ARE informed about it, so I'd think you would also agree that there are many problems such as what I mentioned that DO exist with some commercial foods.  I never said "all" commercial foods have these issues.

It wouldn't be possible for me to list each and every dog/cat food company and all the ingredients and questionable tactics, etc that I mentioned in this forum and that's why I simply provided 2 places people could go in order to start looking into it on their own, since both resources are well-researched and also provide references and other resources.

Again, my intent is/was not to insult anyone at all, and I hope that you can see that. Thank you.

Hi there .. Thank you for that ...

I wholeheartedly agree that there are many commercial pets foods on the market that contain questionable ingredients. I've known this for some time, especially when it comes to wet canned food. Dry food has its own issues, but in wet canned there is a lot more at stake as you really have no idea, unless you were able to test something in a lab, just what is in that tin of food.  We know it is supposed to be meat, but what kind and from where?

I (think) things are getting better as the result of situations that have happened in the past with recalls and consumers have certainly become more educated about what's in their pet's food. Advocacy groups have done the work to inform and spread the word about dangerous pet foods which has forced companies to realize that people are on to them and they have to do better, but there is still lots of room for improvement. There have been and continue to be, recalls of different pet foods every week it seems, many of these are voluntary however which signals to me that companies are taking some responsibility. But we as consumers have a responsibility as well, and that is to be our pet's advocate. We have to be proactive in ensuring that we are aware and educated about what our pet's are eating, and not just assume that a pet food company is looking out for our pets. This comes from informing ourselves about ingredients, knowing the sources of materials that go into the food our pet's eat. We do this for ourselves as people to ensure that what we eat is safe and healthy. Our pets deserve no less.

We often discuss cat food brands and ingredients here as someone will invariably post about something they read, or are looking for suggestions on what to feed or have a question about a particular brand, and sometimes there are quite a few varied responses based on people's experiences. I think the one thing that people tend to agree on is that there is no perfect commercial pet food, or diet for that matter. Cats must eat and the best food for them is meat, be it wet canned or cooked or raw. What we need to do as pet owners is do what we can to feed the best that we can with what we have to work with. This will be something different for everyone. Canned food being a processed item, I agree it will never replace fresh, unadulterated food that we prepare ourselves but for many of us, it is the best option at this point in time. The conversations that I have had recently with the three pet food companies left me with a good amount of assurance that these brands are decent enough foods. Even some discount brands are pretty decent foods when you compare this to what ferals eat in the wild. Some will contain ingredients that may be questionable and so in this case, people have choices to make as to what they can live with. Is by-product less important than something that contains carageenan, or is a little carageenan in rotation, not so bad? The difference comes from education and informing yourself about these things and deciding which benefits outweigh potential risks. 

I feel very passionately about certain issues as well and so when I see what I feel are blanket statements, I tend to get my back up. Nothing personal. Hope to see you around the forums