Frustrated over cat food choices at TSC - HELP!

We live in a rural area. So I don't have the same resources as some here. I buy pet food at Tractor Supply. I am trying to feed my cat the healthiest diet I can, because I want my little friend to live a long, healthy life.. But the more I read, and the more labels I read, I cannot find any food that is SAFE. This is bizarre!

I read that wet food is healthier. I read that kibbles are better for teeth. So, I feed kibbles with water in the morning and canned food at night. It is the brands available that concern me.

Blue and Wellness both got good reviews on various sites. But Blue Healthy Gourmet Turkey and Chicken has rice, guar gum, carrageenan, cassia gum, and vegetable and fruits that no cat would naturally eat. Crude protein is a patry 10%! Wellness Turkey Grain Free is again only 10% protein, has fruit and vegetables, guar gum, carrageenan...

As you all know, these are not cheap foods, but the ingredients are, to me, troubling. But again, I don't have easy access to lots of premium foods. Do any of you buy food at Tractor Supply? And if so, have you found foods that are actually cat appropriate foods? I am feeling extremely frustrated, to spend so much money for ... cr@p cat food

Myrth said:

I read that wet food is healthier. I read that kibbles are better for teeth. So, I feed kibbles with water in the morning and canned food at night. It is the brands available that concern me.

 

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Dry food does not keep teeth clcean. It's a big myth. No food keeps food clean. Only regular home dental care and the occasional dental cleaning as needed will keep teeth healthy and clean Many people here brush their cat's teeth with pet toothpaste. It's not a scary or impossible as you may think it is There are lots of threads on how to brush a cat's teeth here on TCs if yu want to search for those.

Please don't add water to dry food. Dry food is not meant for water to be added to. It's fine if the cat will eat up the food right away but don't let the mixture sit out for hours. Bacteria from cat saliva will happily grow in the wet dry food and eating teh bacteria laded dry food later may cause an upset tummy. It's much safer to add water to canned food.

The only way to avoid fruit and veggies and gums and grains etc is to feed a homemade raw or home cooked diet. Short of that, you just have to pick the best affordable canned food that meets most of your criteria. Here are some threads with suggestions:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/291133/...nan-grain-free-wet-foods-to-feed-to-your-cats

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/291940/...nd-fruits-vegetables-that-harmful-in-cat-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/313274/healthiest-wet-food-brands-thoughts-on-carrageenan

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/240335/canned-food-without-carrageenan-or-guar-gum

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/310250/new-brands-of-canned-cat-foods-including-gluten-and-wheat-free

There are members here on TCS who do buy decent quality food at Tractor Supply. I found these threads:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/289320/tractor-supply-cat-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/293282/4-health-grain-free-canned-tractor-supply

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/314170/2-new-flavors-of-4health-grain-free-canned-food

Is buying online an option? Many people here buy from online sites like Chewy.com, Amazon.com, PetFoodDirect.com, OnlyNatuarlPet.com

Thanks. I don't free feed dry. The Blue actually suggests feeding it with water. I give her a breakfast she will clean up within about 10 minutes. Right now she gets 1/3 cup kibble covered with water. She gobbled it down eagerly and licks her bowl clean, every drop.

I will check out those threads. I may have to price out what a home cooked diet would cost. I am totally dissatisfied with the food labels I've read so far.

There is no perfect commercial cat food (well, not canned or dry anyway; Rad Cat is probably close to perfect, but finding a source is hard and it's expensive). There's always going to be something you have to compromise on. You have to decide what's most important to you and what you're willing to compromise on.

If you want to do home cooked, please see this thread for proper balanced recipies: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263751/cooked-recipes-thread There is additional info here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources The easiest way I know of is to use the U Stew premix with plain cooked meat.

LTS3 said:

If you want to do home cooked, please see this thread for proper balanced recipies: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263751/cooked-recipes-thread There is additional info here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources The easiest way I know of is to use the U Stew premix with plain cooked meat.

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Thank you. I have been reading that thread recently. I may do it, but I need to price it out to see if it is in the budget.It would certainly be healthier!

Just a note on the protein percentages...if the food is wet, then something like Wellness has 78% water, leaving 22% for the rest of the ingredients. So if you take out the water, the protein would actually be about 45%. Fat makes up another 23% or so. Still too many unnecessary fillers, and not all of that protein and fat comes from animals unfortunately, but it's not quite as drastic as it seems.

My guess is that aside from these unnecessary ingredients being cheaper, it also probably takes a lot of tweaking to make a food that can be mass produced, transported, and stored efficiently, and also aesthetically match a customer's expectations. Hence the addition of a lot of not so great ingredients that are pretty much everywhere. I suppose the idea that if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself applies to cat food very well.

Molly92 said:

 
Just a note on the protein percentages...if the food is wet, then something like Wellness has 78% water, leaving 22% for the rest of the ingredients. So if you take out the water, the protein would actually be about 45%. Fat makes up another 23% or so. Still too many unnecessary fillers, and not all of that protein and fat comes from animals unfortunately, but it's not quite as drastic as it seems.

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Adding to this... for canned food you can use this chart to see exact nutritional composition including protein: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf The original Wellness Turkey canned has 31% protein per can, for instance.

I'm not familiar with a similar dry food chart that is pretty recent. I know of an old one originally posted around 2007 but the info is likely out of date.

Home cooked is certainly a better option if you can afford it Feel free to post in the Raw and Home cooked forum for more info. This thread may be helpful: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/305199/...ating-too-much-help-figuring-out-monthly-cost

The Tractor Supply 4Health brand grain free canned food is both healthy and affordable. There is 4 flavors total. 2 out of 4 flavors have no carrageenan. They are mostly meat with vitamins and are not packed full of vegetable fillers. They are $0.69 per 5.5 oz can.

Crazy4Strays said:

The Tractor Supply 4Health brand grain free canned food is both healthy and affordable. There is 4 flavors total. 2 out of 4 flavors have no carrageenan. They are mostly meat with vitamins and are not packed full of vegetable fillers. They are $0.69 per 5.5 oz can.

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• crazy4strays
• Feb 9, 2016

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Thank you! I will check this out! I am willing to switch to homemade if I must, but I have a lot on my plate that I must do, so a healthy food that won't give my cat health issues is a huge plus!