Need help picking cat food brands

Hi everyone, recently I have been trying out various cat food brands that many claim are good for cats' overall health. I just need some form of assurance about certain brands from those of you who are more informed about cat nutrition, because I want my cat's diet to be decent too

Here I will give a list of food brands, both wet and dry, that my cat has tried and how he has accepted/not accepted them. 

Wet food

Fussie Cat - used to like it but has recently rejected the canned food frequently, despite giving different flavors each day. Also, I just realized that tuna in big amounts is not good for cats in the long run, so I stopped giving him Fussie Cat since most of its products have tuna as the main meat source.

Fancy Feast - this is my cat's first brand of cat food and he likes it. I wasn't sure how good this brand is at first so I switched to Fussie Cat. Now that my cat refuses Fussie Cat, I have currently switched back to Fancy Feast and he takes to it better than Fussie Cat for sure. 

Wellness - got him to try one can. Only wants to lick the food but refuses to consume the solid bits. 

Applaws - same as Wellness. Does not want to eat, just licks only. 

Dry Food

Pronature - longest he has stuck with. But soon he got sick of Pronature too. 

Science Diet - likes it but I heard this brand is not good for cats so I no longer bought it. 

Wellness Core - kinda loathes it. Also, the pellets are too small and round for him to chew properly. The kibbles roll right out of his mouth and he gives up eating this entirely. 

Evo (Chicken and Turkey) - he is pretty okay with it. Eats the kibble regularly but only when he is hungry. This is also the current brand he is eating. However, it's difficult to source this brand for him so I have recently changed to 1st Choice as a temporary replacement. 

1st Choice - tried once in the past. Likes it but I have since changed brands, now intending to switch back to 1st choice. He still likes to eat this but is it ok for cats? One of the top 5 ingredients is rice though, which I understand isn't ideal for him (other than that, no corn or soy products)

For wet food, I am intending to stick to Fancy Feast in the long run. There isn't any other brands out there he prefers. He is very picky about wet food and mostly just likes to lick gravy. For dry food, I am hoping to get 1st Choice or try out Fish 4 Cats. Any opinions?

Btw he is not unwell, I think he is just fussy because so far he still enjoys his kibble treats and is also active in play. 

[Sorry for the long-winded post!]

My pickiest of all cats likes Nutro Natural Choice Chunky Chicken, which, oddly enough, is not really chunky at all, but mainly pate.  Many cat owners here on TCS say their cats like it.  My OTHER  picky cat won't touch it though.  My third cat eats pretty much anything. 

Fancy Feast CLASSICs are not a bad food.  The other Fancy Feasts are not all the good, since are fairy high in carbs.  Low carbs are what you are looking for in any food, wet or dry.  

Your cat may not like the brands you are trying because he may not like the style of food.  Perhaps he likes pate vs chucks vs slices, etc.  This is something you have to experiemt with.  Or perhaps he might like any variety.  One of mine pretty like anything, except turkey.  There he draws the line (unless it's mixed with salmon.

Anyway, perhaps these articles will help you in figuring out HOW to determine a good food.  There are literally hundreds of foods to choose from, and bottom line, the best  food is what your cat will eat.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

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

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

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
My pickiest of all cats likes Nutro Natural Choice Chunky Chicken, which, oddly enough, is not really chunky at all, but mainly pate.  Many cat owners here on TCS say their cats like it.  My OTHER  picky cat won't touch it though.  My third cat eats pretty much anything.

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Both our cats love this food: one cat will eat anything, the other prefers shreds and chunks over pate so I think small number of chunks in this foods makes it appealing for her. Cats!

I agree with mrsgreenjeens about Fancy Feast, too: it's better to feed the classics because the others have higher carbs. (They also tend to be loaded with wheat gluten.)

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
My pickiest of all cats likes Nutro Natural Choice Chunky Chicken, which, oddly enough, is not really chunky at all, but mainly pate.  Many cat owners here on TCS say their cats like it.  My OTHER  picky cat won't touch it though.  My third cat eats pretty much anything. 

Fancy Feast CLASSICs are not a bad food.  The other Fancy Feasts are not all the good, since are fairy high in carbs.  Low carbs are what you are looking for in any food, wet or dry.  

Your cat may not like the brands you are trying because he may not like the style of food.  Perhaps he likes pate vs chucks vs slices, etc.  This is something you have to experiemt with.  Or perhaps he might like any variety.  One of mine pretty like anything, except turkey.  There he draws the line

(unless it's mixed with salmon.

Anyway, perhaps these articles will help you in figuring out HOW to determine a good food.  There are literally hundreds of foods to choose from, and bottom line, the best  food is what your cat will eat.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

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

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

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LisaHE said:

 
Both our cats love this food: one cat will eat anything, the other prefers shreds and chunks over pate so I think small number of chunks in this foods makes it appealing for her. Cats!

I agree with mrsgreenjeens about Fancy Feast, too: it's better to feed the classics because the others have higher carbs. (They also tend to be loaded with wheat gluten.)

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Thanks for the recommendations Unfortunately Nutro is not available in the country I live in so I guess sticking to Fancy Feast would be best. I did notice though that he still leaves quite a bit of leftovers for Fancy Feast (I bought grilled, roasted and classic (pate) options for daily rotation), is that alright? Seems like a waste considering FF's cans are already quite small and I cannot get him to eat more/develop a bigger appetite (I give him one can per day, and a few kibbles left out during night time) :/

Is he a tiny cat?  One 3 oz can plus a few kibbles per day is NOT very much for a cat to be eating.  I have one who eats maybe that much (on a GOOD day), but she weighs less than 5 lbs, and is also very sick (kidney cat).  Her normal weight should be twice what it is   But maybe I am misunderstanding and your cat eats more kibble during the day?

Anyway, in answer to your question originally about rice being in the 1st choice, I'd rather see rice than any other of that type of thing, ie wheat, corn or soy.  As a matter of fact, when a cat has diarrhea, we often recommend feeding it boiled chicken and rice.  I'd say 1st choice is an ok food.  Evo is probably the best of the kibbles, although I'm really not familiar with most of those, but since it's hard to source, and since your guy LIKES the 1st choice, I'd say "go with it". 

I do agree with Mrsgreenjeens, thats very little food, especially canned food,  for a cat. Can you try Purina Cat Chow dry? I've not ever had a cat turn it down and its best he eats something rather than little or nothing. The cat chow comes in a blue bag. 

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Is he a tiny cat?  One 3 oz can plus a few kibbles per day is NOT very much for a cat to be eating.  I have one who eats maybe that much (on a GOOD day), but she weighs less than 5 lbs, and is also very sick (kidney cat).  Her normal weight should be twice what it is

  But maybe I am misunderstanding and your cat eats more kibble during the day?

Anyway, in answer to your question originally about rice being in the 1st choice, I'd rather see rice than any other of that type of thing, ie wheat, corn or soy.  As a matter of fact, when a cat has diarrhea, we often recommend feeding it boiled chicken and rice.  I'd say 1st choice is an ok food.  Evo is probably the best of the kibbles, although I'm really not familiar with most of those, but since it's hard to source, and since your guy LIKES the 1st choice, I'd say "go with it". 

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I wouldn't say it is tiny but because it is a Persian and has a larger build than most cats I see, I am a little concerned that he isn't gaining weight like I want him to. The last time we went to the vet, the vet weighed him and also did mention that he is slightly underweight. He is a regular adult cat, about 4-5 years old, weighs about 3.6kg which is approximately 7.9 pounds. He had his blood tests before too, everything is normal so far. I am just trying out different foods to see if there is anything he is willing to eat more of

I do leave out quite a bit of kibble out at night so I guess he still eats okay though still little. Thank you, if he starts to prefer 1st choice over Evo, I will think about switching

nansiludie said:

 
I do agree with Mrsgreenjeens, thats very little food, especially canned food,  for a cat. Can you try Purina Cat Chow dry? I've not ever had a cat turn it down and its best he eats something rather than little or nothing. The cat chow comes in a blue bag. 

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Thank you, I will try to source it at the pet store