Not to beat a dead horse, but this food thing again!

crazy-cat-lover

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Originally posted by NewtoCats
Yeah, Iams isn't what it's cracked up to be. They reformulated their recipes so they can sell their products in WalMart and grocery stores.
It's a little over 20% filler too. Won't let my cats near that crap!
You are absolutely right! IAMS is crap! They claim that their food is so great for your cats, but is it really? It's filled with grains and little meat. Cats are true carnivores, well somewhat. When a cat is in the wild, he catches a rabbit, eats the meat AND the intestines which include vegetables. Cats are obligate carnivores which means that they must have meat in their diet.

If you're feeding IAMS or something with little or no "real" meat in it, how is your cat benefiting? Cats can't live on grains and cereals, they need meat, and lot's of it. You'll never see a cat who would choose intestines and brains over meat. Foods like Chicken Soup, Innova, Wellness, Natural Balance, Felidae, Go! Natural and Solid Gold contain so much meat. Go! Natural contains more meat than any other cat food, the problem is, some cats won't go near it!

Chicken Soup is $12.00 for a 6 pound bag that will last my three cats 2 weeks. It would last one fit cat a whole month. You are paying less in the long run. You can pay $10.00 for a 4 pound bag of Cat Chow that will last a week and has no benefits. Purina fills ALL their foods with fillers and little or no meat.

My Top Picks for Super Premium Cat Food

- Chicken Soup For The Cat Lover's Soul

- Natural Balance

- GO! Natural

- Solid Gold

- Foundations

- Felidae

My Top Picks for Holistic and Organic Cat Food

- Organix

- Wysong

- Newman's Own Organics

- Holistic Blend

My Top Picks for Premium Cat Food

- Royal Canin

- Eagle Pack

- Nutro Natural Choice

- Nutro Max Cat

- Techni-Cal

My Top Picks for Somewhat Premium Cat Food

- Science Diet Nature's Best

- Eukanuba

- Iams

- First Mate

- Pro Plan

My Top Picks for Low Quality Cat Food

- Purina ONE

- Friskies

- Kasco
 

candy

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IMHO, Innova and Wellness should be among the top picks for super premium cat foods. Both have great, human-grade ingredients.

I have been a bit leary of GO! Natural as they recently had a dog food recall. It wasn't a big recall but scary nonetheless.

About ordering from your vet...most of the vet foods are lower quality than what you can buy in the pet store. Unfortunately, my female has bladder stones and has to be on Medi-Cal Dissolution. I cannot wait until they are dissolved so I can get her back on a high quality feed (like Wysong Uretic).
 

russian blue

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Nakita is currently on Wellness and loves it (both wet/dry). Remember, that there is nothing that states that a pet food has to clarify what human grade or natural is when adding these words to their labels. It has not been defined yet by the AAFCO, so one should not be swayed by this false marketing.

Every pet board I have been on has people saying this food is better than that one, etc. etc. Do some basic research on your own, learn what typical ingredients to avoid and see what food you can afford and your cat likes. Many people will say as an example, that Innova, Wysong is the 'best' cat food. Sorry, but there is not one 'best' food out there, since every cat has an individual biological makeup. One cat can do good on Innova, another may have severe problems because of an allergy, or the food may be too rich. Too rich foods can be as problematic as the lesser 'filler' type foods.

So don't be swayed by people's opinions. Do your own research from authorities on the subject, not people who read a few articles and then suddenly become experts overnight.


My family and I have worked in the manufacturing sector, so I am more worried about the manufacturing standards set by the pet food company. The 'best' ingredients mean nothing when there are not strict quality control policies in place, and a constant control over their suppliers. Look at the recalls on human and pet foods and you will see what I mean about 'strict'.

Find out who is manufacturing your pet foods, what quality controls are in place, how long have they been in the business, how many recalls have they been through, how often do they change formulas to meet the bottom line, who owns them?

** Stepping off my soapbox **

 

candy

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Excellent post.
I agree that a "natural" or "human-grade" food can be defined many ways. I contact Wellness on their definition of human-grade. I will dig up the email and post it.
 

tuxedokitties

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I was just curious why Innova and Wellness weren't included, as those two foods are raved about by some people.

I really think you can go nuts trying to follow everyone's latest opinions, just like with people food.


I feed my cats Science Diet on my vet's recommendation - they've done very well on it for many years. Though I honestly think any premium grade food with a reputable manufacturer is fine, I do agree that choice also definitely does depend on the individual cat's tolerances & preferences. I am curious about this Chicken Soup food, though - I do plan to ask the vet what he thinks of it at my next visit.
 

melissa

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Unless you make your cats food yourself, you cannot be positive what exactly is in the food you feed them. As someone mentioned things like 'human-grade' and 'natural' are pretty wide spectrum. I wouldn't consider a mouse's head 'human grade meat', but my cat loves it. Cats aren't people.

My grandmothers cat lived to be 20 and never suffered illness other than occasional roundworms from catching mice and birds, and she ate No Name brand cat food.
 

newtocats

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I finally found a great petstore near me that sells Chicken soup for the cat lovers soul, Innova, Wellness and California natural...

I asked the owners of the pet store which one they really thought was the best "super-premium" brand and they were pretty clueless. They mentioned that Innova and California Natural were made by the same company. Big help, ehh?

So, I decided to go with the Innova. I'll see how my boys like it. They are on the Nutro Natural Care and I want to upgrade them to something even better...since I am already paying a good amount for it. I was comparing the ingredients of the Innova and the Chicken Soup...they are very comperable. I went with the Innova because it isn't such a new food. I will try the chicken soup if the boys don't like the Innova.

Ha, just thought I would share.
 

crazy-cat-lover

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Innova is an awesome food. Yeah, the ingredients in Innova and Chicken Soup are almost the same! Chicken Soup is just alot cheaper than Innova. I went to a cat show and bought Innova light and the original formula, my kitties went nuts for it!

Awesome choice for a cat food, hopefully your kitties will accept it!
 

crazy-cat-lover

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Originally posted by Melissa
My grandmothers cat lived to be 20 and never suffered illness other than occasional roundworms from catching mice and birds, and she ate No Name brand cat food.
I had a cat named Twinkles who lived to be 11 (would've been older but she died in a pool). She was on No Name cat food for 9 years before I switched her to a premium diet. She was a very healthy and very happy kitty!


My Aunt's cat is 13, she eats Cat Chow and has never been to the vet (except to be fixed). She has never had worms or any illness the whole 13 years that I've known her!
 

candy

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I hope that you and your kitties like Innova. I think it's a great food. My IBS cat is doing great on it...no more eye goopies!
 

jcat

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Not to change the subject, but ... do you find yourselves paying more attention to what your cats eat than to what you and your families put in their mouths? My husband claims that I do.
 

candy

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Yep, I am more concerned about what is going into their mouth than my own. I have horrible eating habits (high metabolism means I can eat just about anything) and I worry about what it's doing to me. Meanwhile, my cats have perfectly measured, high quality diets without "junk food".
 

woodsygirl

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Thanks so much for your post Russian Blue, I've seen so many "ingredient" posts that it makes my head spin. I have heard that as long as the pet food meets its "nutritional requirements" they do not have to adhere to their labeled ingredient list. I think you've done a wonderful job pointing out that there is more to pet food than just ingredients
 

crazy-cat-lover

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When I go into the pet store, I am always finding new cat food. I carefully go through the ingredients lists, the benefits and make sure it is approved by AAFCO. When I get home, I ALWAYS taste the kibble!
 

aimee

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Originally posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover
You are absolutely right! IAMS is crap! They claim that their food is so great for your cats, but is it really? /B]
Just because you don't like a food doesn't make it crap, and that isn't a very polite thing to say on a public message board with people who feed a variety of foods (even *gasp* the dreaded Iams). When people are choosing a pet food, they need to keep a variety of factors in mind, and they certainly don't need scare tactics on what's "good" or "bad" because what may be good for one cat may be bad for the next and vice versa. There isn't enough information on a cat food label to give absolute authority in the food's quality. Period. While one food my look great on paper, it's results may not be as good, and a person should not have to feel guilty about what he or she feeds.

IMHO, the deciding factor in selecting a food should be how your cat does on it. Price and availability are also important things to consider. Not everyone can afford to spend $2 a pound on cat food nor will every cat do well on that expensive of a food. Most people can't drive hours away for cat food either. That doesn't make them a bad pet owner.

We've fed a variety of foods and settled on Iams. Why? Most of the higher end foods just don't work well for our cats. I've tried what is available and my cats have never done as well on them as they did Iams, yet I still avoided Iams because of guilt. I recently tried Innova and that was a disaster: Sassy had horrible dirreah and Buddy developed a UTI. Does that make Innova a bad food? Absolutely not, it just doesn't agree with my cats. They're all happy and healthy on Iams. Sassy is 13.5yrs old and no one (not even the vet) would guess it-she's in great shape and looks & feels good. Buddy keeps free of UTI's on this food and maintains his sleek, shiney coat. So yes, in our case, Iams is good for our cats.
 

blondiecat

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My two boys want eat anything but Iams cat food. I have tried a varity of different brands of foods. The Sammycat just refuses to eat it. He will not eat any flavor or brand of wet food either. Oscar on the other hand will eat any and all kinds of wet foods, but isn't crazy about any brand of dry cat food but Iams. Both of them are very healthy and happy on the Iams diet so I don't consider Iams to be "crap".
 

crazy-cat-lover

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I am not againt IAMS because of their food, I'm against them because they perform tests on animals. Think about it, for each kibble in an IAMS bag, one cat has died. They perform horrible tests on kittens, cats and pregnant cats too. In fact, I'm against more than just IAMS. Many cat food companies test on animals.

I agree that different cats have different preferences. I know people that fed their cats IAMS for their entire lives, they were extremely healthy cats. Believe your own opinions, they count more than somebody elses.


IAMS Quote:

Don't Buy While Cats And Dogs Die!
 

tuxedokitties

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Originally posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover
I am not againt IAMS because of their food, I'm against them because they perform tests on animals. Think about it, for each kibble in an IAMS bag, one cat has died. They perform horrible tests on kittens, cats and pregnant cats too. In fact, I'm against more than just IAMS. Many cat food companies test on animals.


IAMS Quote:

Don't Buy While Cats And Dogs Die!
I thought this was a rumor that has been disproven?
 

newtocats

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When did I ever say that people that feed their cats Iams are "bad pet owners"? I was simply stating my opinion that when a cat food, that is considered a "premium" brand, is more than 20% filler, it is "crap" in my book. Does that mean that your cat won't live to be 102 on it? Of course not.

This is a public message board. I wasn't trying to be impolite by stating my opinion on a brand of cat food that isn't really what it is cracked up to be. I'm sorry if you or anyone else was offended by my post...but I am not sorry for what I said. And I will continue to state my opinion in the future.

Other peoples' opinions have shaped how I view my cat's nutrition. I don't take other peoples' opinions to heart necessarily, but it does feed a fervent urge to really learn what makes up the food that I feed my animals.
 
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