Best Food??

Ok all I am soooo confused about cat food..My boy will be 8 months on the 12th of Jan..Just bought some Solid Gold as recommended from pet store..Last was Chicken Soup..So help?? Which is the best?? Linda

What is chicken soup?

Don't worry, you will become even more confused as you go on. People have different "best" - there are so many different brands, and everyone has their favorites. Read the ingredients, look for the least fillers, decide what you can live with for your cats, and go from there.

Solid Gold and Chicken Soup are both very good choices, I believe natural ingredients with little filler. I have a selection of different brands for my cats, that's what I feel comfortable with. Others feel better using one brand only. That's up to you, what foods your cat will tolerate, and if your cat's tummy is sensitive to change. Diarrhea or stomach upset may occur with food changes.

Originally posted by oava
What is chicken soup?

Click to expand...

A brand of pet food.

I will move this to the Health & Nutrition Forum where the debate on the best cat food can be taken up.

never heard of chicken soup brand pet food before
guess ya learn something new everyday

The best food for your cats is whatever they do best on. Some cats love low quality, while others can only eat premium cat food. I have had many cats who were healthy and fit that were eating Whiskas, Friskies, Cat Chow etc. When Peppurr switched to a premium food, he seemed to get heavier, and heavier. I am not blaming the food, since he was neutered right before the food change.

My cats are eating Chicken Soup for The Cat Lover's Soul Lite Formula and they love it! They were eating Natural Balance before, they did great on it. I just looked at what I was getting for the price I was paying. Natural Balance is a super premium cat food. A 6.6 pound bag costs $14.99. Chicken Soup is a super premium cat food. A 6.6 pound bag costs me $12.29. They are pretty much the same thing.

So saying that there is a "best" food would be wrong. If your meaning the "best" as in ingredients wise, here are my top picks...

« Chicken Soup For The Cat Lover's Soul

« Natural Balance

« Solid Gold

« Go! Natural

« Organix

« Foundations

« Felidae

If you're meaning "best" food as in what your cats will do "best" on, give the brands I listed above a try. If your kitty doesn't like them, try a lower quality cat food, super premium might be too rich! Good luck!

Thanks it is all to much..he loves both the Solid Gold and the Chicken Soup..Had been eating Petsmarts Authority kitten and loved it..Linda

Mine are eating Chicken Soup also, they love it the best I think. I have fed them Authority, and Nutro. They attack the bag of Chicken Soup when we bring it home, they love that stuff! They make a kitten formula now too!

Hi All!

Can anyone tell me where I can purchase the Chicken Soup formula &/or the Solid Gold formula? I have never heard of either. I can't recall ever seeing them at PetsMart or Petco; but I might have been overlooking them. Do they come in dry, canned, Life Stages: kitten, adult, senior formula's?

I have all my kitties on a mixture of: Dental Diet, Urinary Tract Formula, Hairball Formula & Eukanuba dry foods. They all love it!! They have all been on this mixture since they turned 1 year old. In kitten-hood, I fed them a mixture of Friskies, Purina & Eukanuba kitten formula's.

As for their canned foods, they have me trained! Their favorites are: Friskies, Whiskas, 9 Lives, Fancy Feast & Sheba. Their dry food gets put down at 7 a.m. before I leave for work & picked up at 9 p.m. Their can food, they get 2 cans a day. One in the morning & 1 at dinnertime to share. That way, they mostly eat their dry food.

I have a few questions for all you cat lovers out there. I have 4 senior kitties ages: 9-1/2 and 7-1/2. They have been getting fed the combination of Dental Diet, Urinary Tract Formula, Hairball Formula & Eukanuba adult. Now that they are seniors, I want to get them on a senior formula. Any suggestions for the best senior cat formula? Should I just mix it in with the hairball, dental diet, urinary tract formula's OR wean them from that. I would like for them to get the best nutrition possible in their senior years. The oldest kitty: Romeo, loves Nature's Recipe senior formula, but the other 3 senior kitties won't touch it. OR do I have my homework cut out for me, regarding trying to buy small bags of all these & see which they like the best? Any suggestions & information would be very much appreciated. Thank you!! And sorry for being so chatty!

Go to their websites (I put links at the bottom). You can use their store locators to see if it is sold in your area. PetsMart and Petco don't sell super premium cat foods. Both come in dry and canned varietys. Solid Gold is for all life stages and Chicken Soup has kitten, lite and adult.

I have never fed a senior cat formula, although I have heard that Royal Canin makes a very good one. I would wean them from what they're eating now. Solid Gold and Chicken Soup are super premium cat foods. They are super rich, so switch them slowly. Yes, get a sample of Solid Gold and Chicken Soup if you can. Go to Pet Food Direct and you can buy Chicken Soup and Solid Gold.

Store Locators:

Chicken Soup For The Cat Lover's Soul

Solid Gold

Hi Crazy Cat Lover!

Thank you so-o-o much for the information on Chicken Soup brand cat food and Solid Gold cat food. Also thank you for the links, I will definitely check them out. Once I buy small bags of each, and Royal Canin, I will see which brand they like the best.

I know how confusing it is! I've been stressing about it for months. If only I worried as much about what I eat as I do what my cat eats.

Petsmart does not carry Chicken Soup or Solid gold..Their web sites told me where to buy them..

I would be curious to hear everyone's opinions of Purina ONE. My husband recently bought it while I was out of town because our kitten refused to eat Nutro Max kitten food. Zach loves this food, but I'm not sure if it is the best option for nutrition. Thoughts, anyone?

The best food is the one your cat(s) do the best on, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. We've fed foods from Purina to Innova and have found that our cats seem to do the best on mid-grade foods. In our case, cheap foods = poor coats, big&smelly stools, poor teeth, etc. However, most of the super premiums tend to be too rich for my older gal and caused excessive weight gain & loose stools.

So, we settled on Iams Weightloss + Hairball combo for the house cats and Iams Original for the outside cat. They also get a variety of wet foods (Iams, Nutro, Science Diet, Pro Plan)~ approx 1oz in the evening. This works well for us and keeps everyone happy, healthy and in good shape. We also really like Eukanuba, but it's higher in calories.

The main reason for senior food is the less calories. You also want to watch Phosphorus levels for kidneys. Certain vitamins/minerals might be increased, glucosamine may be added for joint health, and kibbles may be smaller&easier to chew. However, if a cat is doing well on their regular formula, IMHO, there is no reason to change them. Talk to your vet about it and access your cat's condition-you ultimately have to decide what to do.

Now, for the real question-what's kitty's favorite treat?

One of the things you should always look for on food, is to see if it mentions the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO)Some food will state that the food "meets or exceeds" the recommendations of each nutrient, but the best choice, is to see if the bag/can of food states that animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures conclude that the brand of food provides complete and balanced nutrition. I got this information from a magazine called "catnip", that is published by the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. It is a very good magazine put out monthly and has lots of good information. I feed our cats Eukanuba and have for many years. The bags does state that the food was tested by AAFCO standards. I have tried other foods, that state they are all natural and even have all kinds of fruits and vegetables in them. My cats hated them and these foods only stated they meet the recommendations by the AAFCO. In looking at the food, look at the first ingredients. Is it corn? Rice? The first ingredients should be meat. In my opinion, cats do not need all these vegetables in their food. Remember, they are strictly meat eaters.

My cats love the Innova wet and dry!

I have just been researching many foods for Allie....since she is showing signs of renal failure, I want to put her on a good brand. Ever since I had her in last week, she won't touch her Precise Plus dry (see my original post if interested why). I just looked at Active Life, Natures Balance, Natures Recipe, and I just found one called Hi-Tor Neo-Diet which states is promotes good kidney health.....anybody know what woul be best for a cat starting to have kidney issues? Am I correct to want low protein and high fat??? Thanks so much!

tjb, my cat Snowball was diagnosed with early kidney disease 2 1/2 years ago, and was immediately placed on a diet of K/D. This is a high quality food formulated to take the strain off a cat's kidneys, and so far, it has kept Snowball's kidney disease from progressing further. I'm surprised your vet didn't make any dietary recommendations for Allie.

lorie-

we go in to the vet again tomorrow....besides Allie's retina detachment in her left eye...blah blah blah, they haven't actually told me she has CRF but might be signs of it....maybe (I don't know anymore which way is up they have told me so many things going on with her). He said we would talk diet tomorow if I was so concerned with her.....which I am!