Best canned food brand?

Oh and here's the list of the foods at Mud Bay (the natural pet food store that I mentioned that has vets at each location to pick out products and monitor the companies) if anybody is interested in the brands they carry:

http://mudbay.com/cat-foods-we-carry.html

Dry or wet both don't address the dental issue considering kibble is mostly swallowed whole. Only appropriate bone and chewing through meat can. Yes, I have seen cats live relatively long lives on dry only but there is surviving and then there is thriving. Personally I think because we have made it possible for cats to live long lives possibly to an unnatural length we should use the best food possible to insure their older age won't be plagued with chronic illnesses and pain. That means no kibble. That could also lead you to raw feeding as it did me. I am currently working on prey model as my goal.

Btw, that is a beautiful name for a feline!

My 9 month old Russian Blue named River has a few dietary sensitivities. I have found that she loves Tiki Cat, it is pricey though, The ones I get her are both grain and carrageen free. We also have a 2 year old calico named Zoey, who prefers dry food. We also give her Tiki Cat but she always licks the gravy and leaves any meat behind, and it has to be a type of fish or she won't even lick the gravy.

Hmmm....I think I need to up the amount of canned food I give her everyday.  She's 2 years old and weighs about 8-9 lbs.  I've been giving her 2 - 3oz cans a day, one in the morning (8-10, depending on when I leave) and one at night (around 7).  Seems like she gets hungry over night/early in the morning because she keeps waking me up around 5-7 am by purring really loudly in my ear and nibbling on my arm.  When I ignore it because I'm a "zombie" and half asleep, she goes and sits by the cracked open door, stares at me, and meows till I wake up.  Then when I finally go downstairs she's clawing at my leg while I get the food.

I'm tempted to either lay out some dry food over night or just give her 3 cans of food a day (but 3 cans makes everything more expensive).  I do give her some treats before I go to bed but that doesn't seem to stick with her till I naturally wake up.  Maybe the food isn't filling enough, I'm going to stop by the pet store to restock and try a different brand

How much food do you give your cats a day?  Also has anybody heard of montmorillonite clay?  I see it in Nature's Variety and apparently it removes toxins from the food and body but I'm not sure I believe that.

How much food do you give your cats a day?  Also has anybody heard of montmorillonite clay?  I see it in Nature's Variety and apparently it removes toxins from the food and body but I'm not sure I believe that.

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I'm trying to gauge that myself since it's all new to me. Zora is about 8-8.5 lbs. I've read that your cat should get 15 calories per pound. The Cats in the Kitchen directions recommends 1 oz per pound, so that would definitely be about 2 1/2 cans. It does get expensive quickly.

Emile

emilesc said:

 
Thanks, LisaHE. I went to buy some more cans of food for my younger cat to try out so I can rotate them, and I bought a couple of the Tiki's. I did mention the Amazon reviews and asked the salesperson if he'd heard of any problems. He said the issues were probably due to Amazon's storage, and he also said they tend to sell food that's close to its expiration date. So I'm definitely giving it a try, and if she likes, I'll definitely avoid Amazon.

Thanks for the suggestion, rupertoooo. I looked into them too. In case anyone's interest, I was concerned when I saw salt among their ingredients and emailed them. I got a quick, very friendly response back. The rep explained to me that salt is required by law in a complete meal for a pet, and that the salt content in Hounds and Gatos is only .027%. And then he directed me to stores in LA where I can find it. I was impressed with the response, so I'm going to give them a try too.

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That's interesting, @emilesc, what the pet food store guy told you. I've never bought cat food from Amazon. Also, about Tiki, our cats have been eating Tiki's original "Hawaiian" chicken foods for many months but I recently bought them a Gourmet Carnivore variety pack to see if they like any of those flavors. They love them, at least on the first time. The only problem with the variety pack is that it includes fish, which we don't feed them very often. (The shelter, will, I'm sure, be happy to have them!) I just ordered another variety pack from Chewy.com... and will then just order a couple kinds of Gourmet Carnivore, whatever they seem to like best.

Since @rupertoooo mentioned Hound & Gatos I wanted to say that yes, that's very good food. I wish our cats liked it! I think they're just tired of pates, though I'm going to try H&G out on them again when it's available without the gums.

FelineEmpathy said:

 
Hmmm....I think I need to up the amount of canned food I give her everyday.  She's 2 years old and weighs about 8-9 lbs.  I've been giving her 2 - 3oz cans a day, one in the morning (8-10, depending on when I leave) and one at night (around 7).

<snip!>

How much food do you give your cats a day?

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Our cats, who are very active and also about 2 years old, and just a little lighter than your cat (7-8 pounds each), typically eat the equivalent of about 2-3 small cans of food a day. The foods vary a lot in calories, every day is different, and some of the foods are raw but I'd say they're getting a little more food than your cat.

Good to know.  I definitely think she still has some growing to do because she still looks hyper, alert, and her body still looks smaller then it should be (but I'll let the vet be the judge of that).  One of the volunteers at PAWS was surprised she was 2 years old.  Not to mention they had her in the kitten holding/visiting room when I adopted her.  Giving her more should help.

They also say that some cats don't reach full size and maturity till 4 years old.

FelineEmpathy said:

 
Good to know.  I definitely think she still has some growing to do because she still looks hyper, alert, and her body still looks smaller then it should be (but I'll let the vet be the judge of that).  One of the volunteers at PAWS was surprised she was 2 years old.  Not to mention they had her in the kitten holding/visiting room when I adopted her.  Giving her more should help.

They also say that some cats don't reach full size and maturity till 4 years old.

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And this is good to know! Our cats are about the same age and they're also smallish but it seems like they're still filling out/growing a little, too. Their appetites have seemed to level off a little... I hope it stays that way! I felt like Cat Catering was constantly feeding them for the first few months we had them... they were only 10 months old and had been underfed so were definitely making up for lots time!

Turns out when you walk into Petco, one of the only natural foods you can find (from what I can tell) is Nutro Natural Choice (my cat likes minced/sliced/cubed) - it doesn't have carrageenan.  It does have guar gum and xanthan gum but after research I've done and with expert advice, there shouldn't be a problem.  You can get it at a good price as well, recently they've been selling it for 10 for $10 on 3oz cans.  Usually it's around $1.25 per 3oz can.

There's also Nature's Variety which doesn't have carrageenan.  It does have montmorillonite clay that I still have to research.  It's guaranteed analysis does bug me though because the fat content is almost as much as the protein content which I think says that the cuts of meat used probably aren't that great.  I did try a can of rabbiywith my cat and the texture and look appears to be a "soft loaf"...maybe they grind it up to hide the fat?  She doesn't really like "soft loaf" texture and prefers minced/sliced/cubed foods.

At Mud Bay, I went through a list of all their brands and created a list of the most natural stuff I could find that doesn't have carrageenan:

Canned:

First Mate

Tiki

Weruva

Lotus

Ziwipeak

Natural Planet Organics

Nature's Variety (still concerned about protein to fat content and clay)

Dehydrated:

Honest Kitchen

Stella & Chewy's

The idea is to provide a variety with no fish of any kind and instead have chicken, turkey, rabbit, lamb, venison, etc.

@FelineEmpathy: Our cats really love the Nutro Natural Choice. Petco's supply is a bit iffy so I order it by the case from Chewy.com. They eat three of the no-fish, no-carrageenan foods and it's their good-night foods so I can't run out! I think I mentioned before that they get Cats in the Kitchen and Tiki, too. Plus raw foods. They like Stella & Chewy's a lot. They love Stella & Chewy's.

Our cats never really took to Nature's Variety Instinct. Sometimes they would eat it, sometimes not. I think part of the problem is that they seem to like shreds and shapes more than pates and NV is definitely pate. I tried a couple of their Pride flavors on the cats, too, but they weren't wild about them; they also seemed a little carby. And for those prices they'd have to be wild about them!

LisaHE said:

 
@FelineEmpathy: Our cats really love the Nutro Natural Choice. Petco's supply is a bit iffy so I order it by the case from Chewy.com. They eat three of the no-fish, no-carrageenan foods and it's their good-night foods so I can't run out! I think I mentioned before that they get Cats in the Kitchen and Tiki, too. Plus raw foods. They like Stella & Chewy's a lot. They love Stella & Chewy's.

Our cats never really took to Nature's Variety Instinct. Sometimes they would eat it, sometimes not. I think part of the problem is that they seem to like shreds and shapes more than pates and NV is definitely pate. I tried a couple of their Pride flavors on the cats, too, but they weren't wild about them; they also seemed a little carby. And for those prices they'd have to be wild about them!

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Good to hear I'm not the only one to find Nutro to be a success.

Yeah something I noticed when I feed my cat NV is that she would eat like 3/4 of it really slowly and then she'd walk away and leave the rest in the bowl.  A few minutes later she'd come back and eat the rest.  I don't think she likes the soft loaf texture very much because with other foods that's all chunks of meat, she'd clean her bowl in one go.  In my opinion...$1.59-$2 is to much for NV.

FelineEmpathy said:

 
Good to hear I'm not the only one to find Nutro to be a success.

Yeah something I noticed when I feed my cat NV is that she would eat like 3/4 of it really slowly and then she'd walk away and leave the rest in the bowl.  A few minutes later she'd come back and eat the rest.  I don't think she likes the soft loaf texture very much because with other foods that's all chunks of meat, she'd clean her bowl in one go.  In my opinion...$1.59-$2 is to much for NV.

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They've consistently loved Nutro since we started feeding it to them, probably almost a year ago.

As for NV, if the cats loved it, I might not mind the price so much... but it's very expensive and it has peas, too, which I don't think belong in cat food in the first place. (At least they can be picked out of the Instinct food but jeez, for that price, I'd want to feed them the whole can! )

There are quite a few GREAT canned cat foods now that are natural and free from all the stuff that's questionable (for humans and cats)!

My babies have liked Weruva the most. Second place is Red Barn Naturals "Tricky Chicky" and third is Tiki Cat. Check out your local pet food store first. They usually carry the higher quality (independent label) stuff. Sometimes Petsmart has some and Petco, too. If all else fails you can order online. Find out what you're comfortable with as far as ingredients, see what you cat(s) likes and stock up!

Good luck to ya!

Over a year ago I decided after joining this site and reading that I would get

my 3  boys on wet food..

I was hoping that Peebo the 24 pound cat would drop some weight he had no health issues ..just a BIG CAT..short haired tabby..will include his photo.

he is almost 9 years old.

I took Peebo to the vet last week and had him checked and the vet did not say one word about his weight..and this is a new young vet in a new vet clinic..

Peebo did have moderate - severe gingivitis..red inflamed back molars.

I asked the vet what can I do other than you clean his teeth under gas anethesia

and he said put him on dry food only..

I hesitated to even post because it makes some people very argumentative and angry

over canned cat food versus dry cat food discussions...

I am using Nutro choice chicken and brown rice dry food for all 3 cats

ages 4, 8 and 9.

I am going to have the other two cats teeth checked this month at the new vet and then they will be on the dry food...80 percent of each days feeding.

I do give a bite of canned food each day ..to each only to add

a dental product I found that has seaweed in it and somehow works

within the immune system and works to prevent plaque in their mouth

and I read 144 customer reviews

and decided I would try this as a preventative to plaque buildup

some say that it literally in 3 months will dissolve existing plaque

in an animal.

If a cat or dog has a problem with Iodine...then I would ask the vet first.

 I sprinkle according to each ones weight

on top of their canned food

once  day...individually.

I saw the liquid dental plaque preventative products  you add to their water bowl  but economically that will not work for me

as I change their water twice a day and wipe the bowl out ..

I had a cat live to be 19 outdoors..and she was on dry food her entire life

in the end she had pain all over , rapid breathing , drinking water too often

then loose bowels at times..

it was  old age and breakdown ..

I took her to the vet  and put her to sleep and brought her home and buried her in a pillow case inside  a large plastic container in my pet cemetery which sits

on a lovely hillside of hard wood trees...where the deer walk each day and the squirrels play in the leaves..

Some pets live healthy lives  and no problems for years and then some

just have health problems no matter how well you monitor their food and how much you spend on food..

I chose this color of font as it was soothing and I am not one to argue over

thinking I am right and no one else is    ..Smiles...

Anyway ..I will be using the dental plaque powder for all 3 as long as I can afford to purchase it..

and Nutro Choice food dry as long as I can afford it...

and fresh water..daily

and lots of petting and brushing and love to the 3 boys..

I get up 3 times a night to clean out the litter box so no one can say

I do not spoil my cats...they do not like to have anything in the huge

litterbox..

I can not have 3 litter boxes because I can not afford the unscented cat litter

for 3 litter boxes nor do I have the room to put 3 boxes in an area

that I do not sleep..

The large cat has to have a plastic storage container low sides that

is huge so that he can get inside it....he is that long and that large.

So all of them have to use the same one it takes up lots of room

and one place to put it that is not in the kitchen or a bedroom..

If I had to choose a cheaper food and I hope I do not have to do that in the future

9 lives has a dry urinary tract formula  in a bag and it I have seen cats live 17 years

on it and no health problems..the only reason I went to nurto dry food was it has no corn in it..

Have a good day..

My cat only vet said the opposite. Our sweet Trotter came us a bit overweight and had some tarter. She said to get him off dry. Cats swallow dry food unless it's very large kibble. It's like me trying to get rid of tarter with a hard pretzel stick. Our old vet promoted dry food and our Petey lived to be 19 eating dry. Everyone does what they feel is best. I feed wet now and I have to say The Dude has lost some weight. All the best to you and your kitties.

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned Wellness. The Wellness Core foods are grain free and contain no by-products, and quite a bit of the rest of their canned foods are grain free as well. Meat is also the first ingredient. Most of them DO have guar gum and Carrageenan in them, but I did some research and decided I was fine with those.

I also looked at the different can sizes, and per serving the 12.5oz can isn't any more expensive than basic grocery store canned food.

Paiger816 said:

 
I'm really surprised no one has mentioned Wellness. The Wellness Core foods are grain free and contain no by-products, and quite a bit of the rest of their canned foods are grain free as well. Meat is also the first ingredient. Most of them DO have guar gum and Carrageenan in them, but I did some research and decided I was fine with those.

I also looked at the different can sizes, and per serving the 12.5oz can isn't any more expensive than basic grocery store canned food.

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I agree: Wellness Core is very decent food. Despite the carrageenan, I'd probably still feed it if the cats would still eat pates! They especially loved the kitten formula, which I fed to them as an occasional treat.

I feed one Pate with carageenan, Merrick duck or chicken which my cats prefer to Wellness.

Siold said:

 
There is nothing wrong with feeding canned food, but you will have to keep up on the oral hygiene. Cats live a perfectly long and healthy life being fed dry food. It's not called cheaping out - it's called wanting your cat to have good oral hygiene.

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The notion that dry food does anything for oral hygiene is a myth.

This is an article about dry dog food, but the same principle applies to cats.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dry-dog-food-cleaner-teeth/

There is no health reason to choose dry food over canned.

On to brands. Nature's Variety Instinct is good if your cat will eat it. Mine took a while to warm up to it, but when I mixed it in with preferred brands, she started to acquire a taste for it. Also Tiki Cat, though many of their flavors are fish-based, so should be used sparingly. I found Go to be a solid choice too; my cat really liked it, so it made up a good portion of her diet until I switched her to Primal raw.