Thinking About Switching Dry Food Brand

Hey! I have a 2 year old female bengal named Quorra. She's been eating both Purina Indoor Delights (DRY) & Friskies Savory Shreds (WET) together. The wet food was a recommendation from her breeder. So she's been on this diet for a while now and everything's fine!

However, lately I've been thinking about possibly switching her dry food brand to a higher quality - maybe one with meat as the 1st ingredient. I must admit that I do shop for Quorra's food at Walmart. Walmart does seem to have decent dry food options, but I'm just looking for recommendations on which brands are the best.

I'll find her puke occasionally around the house and it is a little concerning. Not sure if it's her food, but it just got me thinking about how I might need to upgrade her food quality. Thoughts??

Thanks!!

What a gorgeous girl!
What I did when I switched dry food, was just browse around the store reading labels. I mostly looked for the highest protein content, then went home and looked up the ones I thought looked best. I ended up with Nature's Variety Instincts Raw Boost. It's a little pricey and I don't think they'd have it at Wal-Mart, but you could try finding one that way.
(If you have a pet store nearby and some room in your budget, I do recommend the Nature's Variety. My girls love it)

Now, that’s a magnificent animal!

The proper way to choose food is by learning about ingredients and then reading and comparing labels. But for consistency and quality, stick to the main brands, as you intend to anyway.

Now, dry food has two disadvantages: It’s lower in protein and water than wet food. So, it’s correct that you seek something high in protein, which suits cats as carnivores. Also make sure fresh clean water is always available. On the plus side, dry food provides resistance to the teeth and thus, logically, exercises them. And it’s suitable for toy feeders, which give cats the satisfying feeling they’re earning their food, and are thus highly recommended.

It’s also advisable to use at least two different flavors from at least two manufacturers, for a richer diet and to prevent the possibility of creating a finicky eater.

Do you have any pet stores? You'll find a better selection of good quality foods there than at Wal Mart which only carries the big name brands (that contain pretty awful ingredients) like Purina and Meow Mix and Deli Cat. Check out the chain pet stores and the independent pet stores to see what is available.

The Nature's Variety Instinct suggested above is not sold at big box stores like Wal Mart. Petco does have the brand but selection may be limited. Your best bet to find a full selection of Nature's Variety is the independent pet store. You can find a local store here: http://www.naturesvariety.com/locator

Hi Siruh,

You have such a beautiful Bengal!  Just thought I'd share a link I found while browsing the net.  

Check out: http://www.cornucopia.org/pet-food-guide/

They have a nice grid showing whats each brand has.  It pretty much covers a lot of the main brands.  This made it much easier than trying to pick up and read each of the labels at the store.  

Hope this helps!

GDzeey 

If you can I would put her on higher quality wet and dry food. Here's another good list of brands. 

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/08/best-dry-cat-foods-so-far/

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/

I'm a new cat owner and I agree with pretty much everything that's been said by the other folks.  However, I wouldn't dismiss Purina out of hand just because it's a mass marketer.  Particularly I suggest that you consider the Purina One line of dry food products where muscle meat is the lead ingredient.  I've also bought Purina Beyond dry for my cat.  My cat seems to really love Rachael Ray Nutrish, too.

As for Purina Pro Plan (a high end variety sold in pet shops), the formula appears to be quite similar to Purina Beyond, so I cannot justify paying a price premium for Purina Pro Plan.