Switching up dry foods

So im thinking of switching up my cats dry food.

Currently they are eating 4 health grain free indoor forumla
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/4health-grain-free-indoor-cat-formula-for-adult-cats-16-lb

Crude Protein (min.) 32.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 13.0%

First 8 ingredients
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Garbanzo Beans, Peas, Turkey Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Lentils, Chicken Fat

Im thinking if switching to
Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain Free Real Salmon Recipe
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/cats/...Free_Dry_Cat_Food_for_Cats_and_Kittens&id=157

Crude Protein (Not Less Than) 41.0%
Crude Fat (Not Less Than) 14.0%

Deboned Salmon, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Dried Potato, Peas, Natural Pork Flavor, Potato Protein

What do you guys think? Good switch or no?

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It isn't clear if you are feeding ONLY dry food or if you are feeding both wet and dry food.  Most dry foods, including the 4Health and the Merrick grain free foods, are too high in carbohydrates.  Despite Merrick listing the carbohydrates as a benefit," Highly digestible carbohydrates for sustained energy, the fact is, CATS do not use carbs for sustained energy.   Cats lack certain enzymatic pathways that most other mammals have, so they cannot digest carbohydrates efficiently, and in fact they have no need for carbohydrates at all.  Cats derive their energy from animal protein and fat, and too many carbohydrates are bad for their health, leading to diseases such as obesity and diabetes.  In the wild, your cat would be eating a high protein, high-moisture, meat/organ-based diet, with a moderate amount of fat and only 1-2% being carbohydrates, and although he might snag an occasional fish, birds, insects, lizards and small mammals would make up most of his food.

4Health DOES have a grain-free WET food now, and that is much healthier as a main course.  All the ingredients are shown in this thread from back when it was first released.  They are very good foods in my opinion. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292890/4health-now-has-affordable-grain-free-wet-food

I fed my cat Merrick's Purrfect Bistro chicken recipe for a while, and he did well on it. I gave him half wet food too, usually a different brand than Merrick.

The Merrick food does have some fillers, but for a dry food it's pretty good. I personally wouldn't use the salmon recipe, since fish tend to have a lot of heavy metals and toxins in them. Here's a page that has a section about Salmon in particular:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-fish-is-dangerous-for-cats/

I haven't looked at that website much, so I can't really say how accurate everything is, but the risks mentioned there are something to take into account.

Another thing is that Merrick was bought by Purina a little while ago, so while they say they haven't changed anything about the food, it's still a possibility that the food is now lower quality.

I've never tried 4health, so I can't speak from personal experience, but it does look pretty good. Again, there are a lot of fillers.

Ive started feeding them fancy feast classics for wet. But ive also been looking for a healthier dry as well.

4 health isnt bad but i do think i can find a healthier for a little bit more money.

As far as the salmon, i do know that it cant be toxic but from what ive been reading, once its cooked it eliminates almost all of the toxins but I have no studies to support that, just what ive been reading.

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Also 4 healty is approx 34% carbs while merrick is approx 25%

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Alexp08 said:

Ive started feeding them fancy feast classics for wet. But ive also been looking for a healthier dry as well.

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That's great!!  

These are the dried foods I've researched and am willing to feed my own kitties:

• Orijen (http://www.orijen.ca/products/cat-food/dry-cat-food/)
• Nature's Variety Instinct Ultimate Protein (http://www.instinctpetfood.com/instinct-ultimate-protein-kibble-for-cats)
• Young Again (http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/cat-food.html)
• ZiwiPeak (http://www.ziwipeak.com/air-dried-cat-food-ziwipeak-daily-cat-air-dried-cuisine/)
• Wellness CORE Air Dried (http://brands.wellnesspetfood.com/core/cats/air-dried-adult-cat-original-turkey-and-chicken)

Coco and Callie currently eating a mix of the NV Instinct Ultimate Protein (Chicken) and Wellness CORE Air Dried (Original).  We only feed dry on weekday mornings.  I'm considering switching them to Young Again once we deplete our stash of dry food.

Ive looked at most of those. The only issue is, im currently laid off and on a limited income. So im trying to get the best for what i can afford at the moment.

4 health and merrick are cheaper while still being decent.

I just noticed that merricks chicken forumla is only 1% less protein than their salmon so id be going with the chicken

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Alexp08 said:

Ive looked at most of those. The only issue is, im currently laid off and on a limited income. So im trying to get the best for what i can afford at the moment.

4 health and merrick are cheaper while still being decent.

I just noticed that merricks chicken forumla is only 1% less protein than their salmon so id be going with the chicken

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Gotcha!  I actually won't have an income until mid-late August, so I can totally understand your concerns.

I keep an eye out for sales and coupons to make sure that I get the best deals!  You can get coupons from NV's website (http://www.naturesvariety.com/tryit).  Wellness will send coupons and samples if you call and ask!  The Young Again is a lot higher in calories than most other dry foods (around 600 kcal/cup versus Merrick's 390 kcal/cup and 4Health's 313kcal/cup), so you'd be feeding less.  I haven't tried Orijen or ZiwiPeak due to cost and availability.

If I had to choose between 4Health & Merrick, I would pick the Merrick.  The protein % on a DMB is about 10% higher, plus it is lower in carbs.  The Merrick is also higher in calories, so it wouldn't necessarily be more expensive than the 4Health.

Also, if you want to save money on the wet food -- you can also check out Sheba, which frequently has buy 5 get 5 free coupons (in fact, you can print one from Coupons.com right now!).  We feed FF Classics, Sheba, and more expensive brands when they go on sale (Tiki Cat, Nutro, Soulistic, Whole Earth Farms, Nature's Variety Instinct, Solid Gold).

I print coupons whenever I find them and then use them when Petco, PetSmart, or Target the stuff on sale.

Thanks for the coupon idea guys, ive never thought of that.
Sheba really isnt much more expensive than FF classic. Is it better or on par with FF?




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Alexp08 said:

Thanks for the coupon idea guys, ive never thought of that.
Sheba really isnt much more expensive than FF classic. Is it better or on par with FF?

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No problem!  I have been feeding our two kitties on a very limited budget, so I can understand the struggle.

I consider Sheba to be pretty similar to FF Classics.  I buy them both whenever they go on sale.

Also, just FYI -- all of the Sheba wet foods are grain-free, but the pates are lower in carbs.

Back to dry,
What about earthbound primitive compared to merrick?

Earth bound
Crude Protein, minimum 44.00%
Crude Fat, minimum 20.00%
Crude Fiber, maximum 3.00%
Moisture, maximum 10.00%
Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Peas, Potatoes, Dried Egg Product, Herring Meal, Salmon Meal

Merrick chicken
Crude Protein (Not Less Than) 40.0%
Crude Fat (Not Less Than) 14.0%
Crude Fiber (Not More Than) 7.50%
Moisture (Not More Than) 11.0%
First 10 ingredients Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Dried Potatoes, Peas, Natural Pork Flavor, Potato Protein, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Fat

Theyre both about the same price per pound. So its all about finding which isthe best dry to
Supplement my cats diets. thanks again

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(I used prices from Chewy.com here.  You might be able to find a better deal elsewhere and/or with coupons.)

The NV Instinct  (not Ultimate Protein) and Wellness CORE Dry Formula are marginally more expensive than the Merrick, and they are listed here as being one of the best dry cat foods.

This is why I ask you guys haha i would have never done that. I may be going with NV then!

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Alexp08 said:

This is why I ask you guys haha i would have never done that. I may be going with NV then!

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  Just be sure to monitor the approximate number of calories you are feeding.  Figure out how much food you need to feed for your target number of calories (this depends on the individual cat's size, activity level, etc.), and then you can measure out the food using a standard measuring cup.

If you do decide to go with the NV Instinct, be sure to request a coupon here: http://www.naturesvariety.com/tryit

To answer your question above, which by now may be a moot point as you may be going with the NC, between Earthbound and Merrick as listed above, the Earthbound is better in my opinion.  It has 10% more of the combined protein/fat portion of the food and thus lower carbs, and look up the definitions of powdered cellulose...this is why the fiber content is a lot higher in the Merrick.  Most cats d not need high fiber diets, it is just more bulk for the litter box unless you have a cat with megacolon and constipation problems.

Hahaha megacolon or constipation. But i will be going with NV instincts next time i buy food!

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Well maybe not. I did some more digging and calling and i found out that too much ash content can lead to urinary crystals.
And heres what i got
Earthborn 9.4
NV 12.8
Merrick 8.7

I know more about dog food but they all seem kind of high to me. But NV being the highest is kind of scary

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Alexp08 said:

Well maybe not. I did some more digging and calling and i found out that too much ash content can lead to urinary crystals.
And heres what i got
Earthborn 9.4
NV 12.8
Merrick 8.7

I know more about dog food but they all seem kind of high to me. But NV being the highest is kind of scary

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If you're concerned about urinary health, the target pH for the NV Instinct is in ideal range (6–6.5 pH).  I wouldn't be too concerned about the ash content.  More important is the protein, fat, and carb percentages.

And the best way to prevent urinary issues is to increase water/moisture intake.  Please visit and read Dr. Pierson's website (http://catinfo.org/).

Since you are feeding wet food (at least once a day I assume?), you can add extra water to the food (use filtered water).

Ash in cat food is the inorganic mineral content left over when the organic portion of the food has been burned off. The mineral content can be any combination of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, silicon, sulfur and other trace minerals.Wet food has a lot less ash in general than dry food, and the extra moisture keeps the urine diluted which is vital to preventing calcium oxalate crystals forming stones because it washes them away if they do form.  Calcium oxalate crystals can form at any pH and the most important way to prevent them is by keeping the cat well hydrated/  Struvite crystals will dissolve in an acid pH and can form in neutral to alkaline urine.  A pH between 6.0 and 6.5 is ideal, not too acid, and not alkaline.  Do check out that web site if you haven't already.