Friskies can food

Hi All,

I am looking for opinions on Friskies can food.

When was the last time you read the ingredients label on your cat food? I try to read

it often, but as I buy 6 or 7 cases weekly, I don't always do it.

I realize that for most companies getting the same ingredients for each flavor all the time is difficult. Strangely, I noticed this week

that most of the flavors I usually purchase, have so many ingredients that one could hardly call these "Dinners" by a specific name

any more. For example, "Turkey Dinner" is now "meat-by-products, water for processing," & then turkey. The cats who loved this stuff

a month ago will not touch it now. The same goes for "Sea Captain's Choice" & "Liver & Chicken Dinner". All of these are now mostly

meat-by-products. I would really like to know what exactly makes up meat-by-products. Specifically because my 20 yr. old Monster is allergic to beef.

Only a few of our 47 grown cats will eat without complaint.

I have never tried Special Kitty because it has been recalled so many times. Other 5 oz. cans of better stuff are so far out of my

budget as to be laughable.

One more question...is it legal for this company to continue calling these "Dinners" by a specific name when there is so little of

the aforementioned product in them?

I always read the ingredients on my cats food (more so than my own food, lol). When it comes to wet food I don't buy it if there are more than 15 ingredients and most of those are things I actually know what they are. Which means Friskies is out for mine. But, I had a cat that ate Friskies his entire life without ill effect. I just know more now and want to limit their exposure to random chemicals.

It is legal so long as they list the ingredients on the can, the dinners is probably a term they use because it is a mix of so much. I totally understand the money issue and my guys only get one can of wet split a day with dry the rest because of that. I know the wet food diet is to help get their hydration up but I have never had problems with mine; probably because they have access to lots of water sources and drink a ton (you should see Links litter box, that boy pees huge clumps, HUGE). I've found that the PetSmart and PetCo usually have clearance cans of food that aren't bad for the cost if you aren't too picky on substitutes. You can also try ordering in bulk through a website (a lot have auto order discounts now) or keeping an eye out for coupons.  

I believe most varieties of friskies have been full of meat by products for quite a while. I actually messaged them yesterday to see if they would tell me exactly what can be included in their meat by products so I guess I'll hear from them soon. Poultry platter has turkey as the first ingredient but I'm not sure any other flavors do. Aw well kitties seem to like it and so far have had no ill effects from it. They mainly get that and 4health from tractor supply which had no by products but is still cheap, and throw in cans of Max cat as those are cheap as well. I, too, split one large can between two kitties a day and the rest is dry. :|
They do have a fountain though and I mix water with their wet food.

There is actually NOTHING wrong with meat by products in cat food. Bear in mind that these by products are largely comprised of organ meats and other animal parts that we humans don't consider edible, yet are perfectly healthy and natural for cats. Think about it - in the wild, cats will eat the WHOLE prey from their hunt...even the fur and bones! By comparison, meat by products are nothing at all to worry about


The only time you do need to be cautious is in the case of food sensitivities. So, for Monster you do need to be more careful, and maybe look at some of the pricier specialist brands that specify exactly which meats are used.

Friskies patés are pretty decent as grocery store brands go. If your cat's like them, then go with it

Btw, as stated above, it is perfectly legal to label these foods as 'Turkey Dinner' etc. If the pack says 'with turkey' (or whatever), then the requirement is that they contain SOME of that named meat (around 4% here in the UK).

Hope this clarifies things a bit [article="32669"][/article]

Thanks all for responding. This calms my mind. I do think however that I will get a better dry food than what I have, at least for my indoor brats.
We have lots of trouble w/herpes outside, and this year, fleas are killing lots of kittens. I hate to think I'm making them weaker rather than stronger.
Thanks a bunch y'all.

Meat by-products are fine. You don't see cats only slicing off the "good" cuts of rabbits and mice do you? Nope, they're not as choosy as us humans. Just check out the calories in those dinners, and stay away from the "gravy" ones as they tend to be high in carbs. Friskies Pates are usually a good choice. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/by-products-in-cat-food-5-facts-you-need-to-know​

For me by products themselves don't bug me and I use canned foods with them all the time, but for some reason just the fact that they are unnamed bugs me because I have no idea what source of meat its from (is it beef, chicken, turkey, all of the above lol?)
But it doesn't bother me enough to not use it.

According to the rules, "meat" has to be from a cow, pig, sheep, or goat. "Poultry" must be from a bird (not sure if they're allowed to add odd meats like pheasant or ostrich, or if it has to be a usual bird).

http://www.aafco.org/Consumers/What-is-in-Pet-Food

So if you have a cat who's allergic to beef you should avoid foods with "meat". I'm not sure if there are any Friskies flavors with only poultry by-products.

I use canned Friskies for my cats. They won't eat the better brands so I'm not wasting money on them any more.

I don't like to see "by-product meal" in a dry food though. Meals are rendered so they can use lower-quality ingredients (like from pre-deceased animals).

Thank you so much for providing that link, those meats dont bug me and it makes me feel better to know what possible meats are in meat by products. I was always going to continue feeding friskies but now feel a little better that they can't include horses and road kill and such lol.

I feed mostly friskies poultry pate.  I think it is a fairly good food.  It is in my budget.  I could do worse for sure.  

rmnative said:

Thanks all for responding. This calms my mind. I do think however that I will get a better dry food than what I have, at least for my indoor brats.
We have lots of trouble w/herpes outside, and this year, fleas are killing lots of kittens. I hate to think I'm making them weaker rather than stronger.
Thanks a bunch y'all.

Click to expand...

Are the outdoor cats a feral colony you're caring for? If you can't handle them enough to apply flea medication you can mix diatomaceous earth in with their food to kill worms and sprinkle it in their bedding to control fleas.

https://www.vetinfo.com/using-diatomaceous-earth-to-worm-pets.html

https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/natural-flea-control-for-cats/

There are also lots of plants that you can plant outside to control fleas.

http://www.fleabites.net/20-plants-that-naturally-repel-fleas-and-other-insects/

Are you in the process of getting all the cats spayed and neutered? Cats that have litters every year are going to be physically weaker than cats that are spayed because of the physical toll of caring for their kittens. Diseases such as FIV, FeLV and feline herpes are more common among unfixed cats too, so getting them all spayed and neutered is absolutely the best thing you can do to keep them healthy.

Better to have a few strong, healthy ones than dozens of sick ones, right?

Here's an article on caring for feral/outdoor cat colonies.

 [article="32879"]9 Practical Ways For You To Help Feral Cats​[/article]  

The only two formulas of Friskies that I feed to my cat are Poultry Platter and Cat Concoctions Salmon & Chicken Liver.  I also give her Fancy Feast but I plan to phase it out of her regular menu as soon as our current supply is exhausted.  I am not disturbed by Meat By Product ingredients.

TheGreyStalker said:

 
The only two formulas of Friskies that I feed to my cat are Poultry Platter and Cat Concoctions Salmon & Chicken Liver.  I also give her Fancy Feast but I plan to phase it out of her regular menu as soon as our current supply is exhausted.  I am not disturbed by Meat By Product ingredients.

Click to expand...

May I ask why the phase-out of FF?  The supermarket food I see most recommended here are Friskies and FF so I am curious as to the reason.  My Kit didn't really care for FF when I tried giving it a few weeks ago, but I usually circle back to flavors/brands every few weeks to see if she changed her mind.

~Kit's Mom Now~

I am abandoning Fancy Feast mostly for cost vs. benefits reasons.

FF quality is satisfactory but I do question the need for artificial color.  Most importantly, the labels tell me that FF is not substantially different from either Friskies Poultry Platter or Friskies Cat Concoctions Salmon & Chicken Liver.  The per ounce price of those two recipes typically is much less than Fancy Feast..  Also, although there are fewer varieties of Sheba, I like Sheba's ingredients and Sheba can be had for the same price as Fancy Feast.

TheGreyStalker said:

 
I am abandoning Fancy Feast mostly for cost vs. benefits reasons.

FF quality is satisfactory but I do question the need for artificial color.  Most importantly, the labels tell me that FF is not substantially different from either Friskies Poultry Platter or Friskies Cat Concoctions Salmon & Chicken Liver.  The per ounce price of those two recipes typically is much less than Fancy Feast..  Also, although there are fewer varieties of Sheba, I like Sheba's ingredients and Sheba can be had for the same price as Fancy Feast.

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I agree and don't feed much FF unless it is on sale. I find Sheba pates for .50 a can all the time. I get a case of 24 cans with my Amazon subscribe and save for $10.20 which makes it .43 a can. This is with the 15% discount I get for having 5 or more items in my order. I rarely see FF for less than .58 cents a can- that's Wal Mart's price and I avoid that place like the plague. Petsmart, Petco and Target regularly get over .60 a can for FF. They like FF but they don't love it. They prefer the Friskies and Sheba pates.

We have 12 babies inside and 13 outside (almost sll altered). Because of our limited funds, we do use Friskies canned, but they are only fed moist once a day. They have a steady supply of multiple dry foods, including Fancy Feast, Surf and Turf, Purina One and Friskies Indoor. I so wish we could afford really quality foods, but we are doing the best we can. All of ours are doing very well and some are well over 10 yrs old. Never had any health problems, except for one bout witj URIs recently and all but one are completely over it now. If we could, would probsbly give them something like Orijen, but very expensive. I know there are alot of varying opinions on this subject and not everyone agrees. I personally don't worry much about using Friskies.

I have switched back to Friskies canned food.  I am feeding 3 cats 3 times a day now & they split a 5.5oz can.  I also have dry food down for them to eat during the day, but they do not eat as much now that they get all the wet food.  I went back to friskies for the price & also due to the fact my girls have always liked friskies more then some of the higher priced foods.  They only eat the gravy kind though & i have one that cant eat fish so usually stick with the turkey or chicken in gravy meals.  I've tried other canned foods but the girls wont eat them.  My boy on the other hand will eat almost anything you put in front of him.