Advice on good dry food at reasonable price

Hi! I am new to the site and would like anyone's insight on dry food. I have a 10 year old male cat that is very overweight. I don't have any scales so I am not sure how much. He has lost some weight because now I am more diligent about feeding him separately from the other 2 and measuring his food. He has been eating Cat Chow for Indoor cats for several years. I wanted to try a better food higher in protein but not costly so my local pet store suggested 'Taste of the Wild'.

So I have been gradually transitioning him these past 2 weeks. However, I found on another review of it that someone said it had been recalled about 5-6 times over the past 7 years I think. I feel uneasy about that. Also it is Trout and Salmon and I know there are controversies about feeding cats fish.

Anyway I am looking for hopefully a good protein dry food for around  $15 a 5 lb bag that I would prefer grain free. I have thought about Rachel Ray's food. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks for your help!!

I have been reading posts on this site and I think I might try 4Health but which one the regular or Indoor variety. Someone had a concern about the cellulose in the Indoor variety

Indoor ingredients:

Ingredients:
Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, egg product, ground rice, powdered cellulose, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), salmon, potatoes, millet, natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, ocean fish meal, sodium bisulfate, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, choline chloride, dried chicory root, taurine, dried kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberries, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-Carnitine, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein 32.0% (min.), Crude Fat 14.0% (min.), Crude Fiber 8.0% (max.), Moisture 10.0% (max.), Magnesium 0.1% (max.), Zinc 120-mg/kg (min.), Selenium 0.4 mg/kg (min.), Vitamin E 150 IU/kg (min.), Taurine 0.1% (min.), Omega-6 Fatty Acids 2.2% (min.)*, Omega-3 Fatty Acids 0.4% (min.)*

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO cat food nutrient profile.

Calorie Content:
3,450 kcal/kg (323 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Also someone made a point that there is so much a concern about food being grain free but it may not be necessary. It is the types of grains that is more important and the types of protein.

4 Health All Stages:

Chicken, chicken meal, egg product, cracked pearled barley, ground rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), salmon, potatoes, natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, sodium bisulfate, ocean fish meal, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, choline chloride, dried chicory root, taurine, dried kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberries, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 18.0% minimum, Crude Fiber 3.0% maximum, Moisture 10.0% maximum, Magnesium 0.1% maximum, Zinc 120 mg/kg minimum, Selenium 0.4 mg/kg minimum, Vitamin E 150 IU/kg minimum, Taurine 0.1% minimum, Omega-6 Fatty Acids 3.0%*, Omega-3 Fatty Acids 0.5%*

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO cat food nutrient profile.

Calorie Content:
3,935 kcal/kg (368 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

It becomes so confusing. I read on another site 5 things it is best not to have in the first 5 ingredients: by products, proteins from corn or soy, grains ( wheat or rice). It is also confusing why they would add apples, tomatoes, blueberries, etc to catfood. Naturally a cat in the wild would not eat such foods. I think sometimes it is for the human's sake.

They also have a grain free variety that has powdered cellulose in it too.

What to do? What to Do?? LOL

OK,here's the deal.  It's calories you need to be looking at to get your cat to lose weight, just like with us humans.  BUT, with cats, they don't need carbs, so you know how the Atkins diet was the craze with humans several years ago (and maybe still is )?  You need to go with a Catkins diet .  High protein, low carbs, while counting calories.  And the best way to do that and to have your pudgy guy feel completely satiated is with WET food.  It's much higher in protein than dry food.  HONEST   When you read the Guaranteed Analysis on the bag/can, it sure doesn't look like it, but take my word for it, it's TRUE .  Here, this article talks all about it:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

Here's a thread that discusses the 4 health dry AND wet foods:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/297547/grain-free-cat-feeding#post_3747385

Here are some more articles that may help you:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-food-for-your-cat

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-much-food-should-i-feed-my-cat

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-dry-cat-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/what-makes-the-best-canned-cat-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

I just want to say that there was a cat here on TCS who started out at 27 lbs and got down to 14 lb 6 oz at the last update (on wet food).  Here is his story:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/...-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight/600

Sorry...more than you ever asked for, but I have my own pudge, and the only way I ever got him to lose weight, and the only way I keep him under control is to feed him canned.  We used to free feed kibble around here, but no more. 

I appreciate all of the info. I haven't read any yet. I did look at a great website a few months ago that gave detailed info about the importance of feeding canned food especially to lose weight even if you could only afford a store brand which is what I tried. I usually give each of my 3 cats some Friskies canned each day. So with Hadrian the overweight one, I gradually increased his but he started having very lose stools which become once like diarrhea outside of the litter box. Then for a few days he did not have a bowel movement at all so that concerned me. So I gave him laxatone and thought I might have to make a trip to the vets. But I decreased the canned food and he seemed to get better.

Now on the 'Taste of the Wild' he seems to be having loose stools again. There was a little poop on a towel on the bathroom floor and I looked at his anal area and it was 'dirty' too. So as heavy as he is I had to hold him down to clean him off. I was very gradually introducing that dry food also. But today I did buy a small bag of the 4Health for All Stages to try on all 3 of my cats. So I guess I will try him on that.

I bought a few cans of the 4Heath canned food which is not too expensive so maybe he can tolerate that. I could gradually try him on part of the dry and part canned and see how that works. I know he has lost a little but I do feel so guilty that he got this way. Then when I read the ingredients on the Indoor Cat Chow I couldn't believe I was feeding them that. Corn meal, gluten and by products.... awful!!!!  I am divorced now and before it I could afford a higher quality food.

I guess I need to stop kicking myself and give them the best I can afford right now.

I like it that 4Health has several strains of Lactobaccillus. I assume these are probiotics.

Thanks again for all of the information. 

So is the Taste of the Wild that he is having loose stools on a dry food?  Since dry food sometimes appears to clear up loose stools from wet food, it's deceiving.  It normally does that because it's DRY, so it dries up the stool, naturally.  BUT, if he's having loose stools on dry food too, then it sounds like an ingredient in the food that doesn't agree with him.  Not sure which Taste of the Wild you are feeding, but does it have corn, soy, wheat, any of those? 

BTW, canned Friskies is not really too bad, as long as it's the PATE version.  Yes, it has by-products, but, honestly, by-products are not bad for cats.  I refer you to this article:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/by-products-in-cat-food-five-facts-you-need-to-know.  So was it the PATE version you were feeding Hadrian when he got diarrhea, or another version?  All the other Friskies canned foods DO have wheat gluton, etc. 

BTW, yes, that Lactobaccillus is a probiotic.  I actually give my cats human probiotics every day, mixed into their canned food.  I give them 1/2 capsule in their a.m. meal, and 1/2 capsule in the p.m. meal, just to keep their gut flora happy

When I noticed "Taste of the Wild" mentioned I wanted to contribute to this discussion, as I recently (6 months ago) converted my 2 cats to one of the dry varieties of it. They previously were eating Iams Senior Formula, but after reading a LOT of stuff about the benefits of "grain free" (which all made sense....) I bought some of the Rocky Mountain flavor. However, one of my kids has developed a nasty case of diarrhea and I am wondering if I got a bad bag of it.

I believe TOTW is made by Diamond Pet Products (something like that) and they have had problems in the past. My vet suggested I call them with a few pointed questions about quality control, but the gal I spoke with gave me some scripted answers which didn't make me feel any better. 

So, now I am slowly converting them to a Nature's Variety Instinct dry food, after some recommendations from members here and also an article on best dry foods (best if you don't feed raw, that is). So far they like it but the diarrhea persists. 

I wonder if anyone else has had bad experiences with TOTW.. This is such a confusing issue to deal with, and since my 2 are "seniors" they do not take well to change.

And I'm changing our dry from wellness core to chicken soup....been reading how grain free isn't good for male cats. Our previous male was ok on it, but new one isn't big on the core dried. Good luck

MsCatmom said:

 
When I noticed "Taste of the Wild" mentioned I wanted to contribute to this discussion, as I recently (6 months ago) converted my 2 cats to one of the dry varieties of it. They previously were eating Iams Senior Formula, but after reading a LOT of stuff about the benefits of "grain free" (which all made sense....) I bought some of the Rocky Mountain flavor. However, one of my kids has developed a nasty case of diarrhea and I am wondering if I got a bad bag of it.

I believe TOTW is made by Diamond Pet Products (something like that) and they have had problems in the past. My vet suggested I call them with a few pointed questions about quality control, but the gal I spoke with gave me some scripted answers which didn't make me feel any better. 

So, now I am slowly converting them to a Nature's Variety Instinct dry food, after some recommendations from members here and also an article on best dry foods (best if you don't feed raw, that is). So far they like it but the diarrhea persists. 

I wonder if anyone else has had bad experiences with TOTW.. This is such a confusing issue to deal with, and since my 2 are "seniors" they do not take well to change.

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i'm so sorry your senior cats are experiencing diarrhea.

the 'scripted answers' thing -- i think that's what we get from pretty much all the pet food companies when we call asking questions.

i've served my two IBD cats taste of the wild dry, the rocky mountain feline formula, before. in my case, my cats had no "bad" experience with this dry cat food. now, because my two have IBD i had transitioned them over to taste of the wild dry (as well as very slow transitions with wet foods) extremely slowly. may i ask -- how many days was the transition with your two cats?

these days i don't serve my cats taste of the wild dry, but do serve them taste of the wild canned (rocky mountain feline formula) as part of their canned food rotation. i serve a 50/50 mixture of natures variety instinct duck/turkey and (same brand) chicken, and only a very small amount per day -- no more than one tablespoon each day per cat, many days less than that.

it's just one of your two cats that's experiencing the diarrhea? if so, it might be that the taste of the wild dry doesn't agree with him. this can happen, that a brand/flavor of cat food that many cats eat with no problems simply doesn't agree with some cats. i'd also caution not to switch dry cat foods (even very slowly transitioning) too often if your cats are sensitive to food changes. i'm not saying you're doing that though, just might be something to consider.

how long have your two been having the natures variety now? and, how long was the transition to this dry? sometimes it's best to choose a dry cat food and stick to it, for at least a couple months. my vet once told me (re my two IBD cats) that it sometimes takes a little time for a cats gastro upset to subside, until their system 'resets' itself. sticking to one food, both canned and dry, can help their systems calm down over time.

Well hope this isn't confusing. I wanted to have him on a all canned food diet after I read that that might be the best way for him to lose weight. An article I read said if I couldn't afford anything better, that Friskies would be better than feeding dry. So I gradually increased the pate I was giving him and then he developed some diarrhea and that is when it scared me because he didn't go for a few days.  I thought he got constipated after that because he had been on Indoor Cat Chow.

So I decreased the canned food. I waited and started reading on some forums and decided to go to my local pet store and they suggested Taste of the Wild. I have been gradually increasing it over probably 3 weeks. Now it was at almost 1/3 of his food when Wednesday I saw the poop on a towel and his anal region. So I thought I should change food and had found this forum where some had recommended 4Health.

I don't know if he just has a sensitive system or what. I don't want to have to feed him the Cat Chow. So I am trying a small amt of the 4Health All stages added to the Indoor Cat Chow and just gradually increase it. I thought it might be best to completely stop The Taste of the Wild. He wasn't on that much of it anyway. 

I did get some canned 4Health to try all of my cats on some of it also to see how they adjust to it.

I hope a change will help his skin problem also. He has always had some flaking and psoriasis I guess is what it is. He doesn't seem to want to scratch it like he used to or roll around.

 Thanks, I appreciate all of your help.  

Hi, thank you for your informative note. It is only one of my cats that is experiencing the diarrhea, and the onset didn't correspond with the change in food. That would have been an easy solution.....sigh. Actually, she went through this last spring, and early in June it went away. We live in a very bad part of the country for pollen (my family suffers from allergies for 3 months in spring) but I haven't come across anything that suggests cats might have allergy related diarrhea. That doesn't make sense. Respiratory issues - yes, intestinal - no. But - one never knows and I sure am not going to pretend to be a vet. Although with the amount of reading I have been doing lately I could probably pass the boards!

Anyway, I have only switched their dry food 4 or 5 times in their lives (my cats are 12) and each time I have done it very, very gradually. One thing that has changed is that I have tried to improve the quantity of wet food they get, (based on the fact that most "experts" seem to think a wet diet is better) but they won't eat the "healthier' versions. I have bought everything PetSmart and Petco offers, but the only canned food they will eat is Fancy Feast, or Friskies (the flavors without carregeenan). 

I have also tried plain, nonfat yogurt, pumpkin, Metamucil and probiotic miracle. I have "heard" that some probiotics work for some cats - some for others - so I ordered some Forti Flora and will try that next. 

Since this is such a mysterious condition, I know I need to keep trying different approaches and hope something does the trick. 

In the meantime, I greatly appreciate the time you have taken to send me your thoughts!

Karrie 

MsCatmom said:

 
Hi, thank you for your informative note. It is only one of my cats that is experiencing the diarrhea, and the onset didn't correspond with the change in food. That would have been an easy solution.....sigh. Actually, she went through this last spring, and early in June it went away. We live in a very bad part of the country for pollen (my family suffers from allergies for 3 months in spring) but I haven't come across anything that suggests cats might have allergy related diarrhea. That doesn't make sense. Respiratory issues - yes, intestinal - no. But - one never knows and I sure am not going to pretend to be a vet. Although with the amount of reading I have been doing lately I could probably pass the boards!

Anyway, I have only switched their dry food 4 or 5 times in their lives (my cats are 12) and each time I have done it very, very gradually. One thing that has changed is that I have tried to improve the quantity of wet food they get, (based on the fact that most "experts" seem to think a wet diet is better) but they won't eat the "healthier' versions. I have bought everything PetSmart and Petco offers, but the only canned food they will eat is Fancy Feast, or Friskies (the flavors without carregeenan). 

I have also tried plain, nonfat yogurt, pumpkin, Metamucil and probiotic miracle. I have "heard" that some probiotics work for some cats - some for others - so I ordered some Forti Flora and will try that next. 

Since this is such a mysterious condition, I know I need to keep trying different approaches and hope something does the trick. 

In the meantime, I greatly appreciate the time you have taken to send me your thoughts!

Karrie 

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Couple of  thoughts here.  On the Fancy Feast and the Friskies....are you sticking to the PATEs or venturing out to the chunks, grills, roasteds, etc.  In these two brands, the PATEs are really the only  "good" foods.  The others are filled with wheat glutens, etc., which a lot of cats cannot tolerate.  As to the non fat yogurt, does it have asparatime in it?  This is also not good for cats.   Yogurt is great!  Just not the "fake" sugar kind.  Since it's plain I'm not sure if the non-fat has that stuff in it or not .   Now, since this same thing happened last year around the same time, maybe it IS somehow related to pollen.  I've never heard of that, but it IS awfully strange that the same thing has happened now two years in a row.  Did you mention that do your Vet, since obviously you have discussed this with them, since THEY suggested you talk to TOTW.  

Do your cats go outdoors at all?  Just wondering if maybe something is in bloom that the one with the diarrhea might be eating?