New Kitty, Owner Fed Her Purina Delicat

Hello All,

So, reading through this forum and I discover how bad Purina Delicat is for my five month old, Luna. I kept up with the Delicat and now I regret not waiting as I have a 5lb bag.

Are there any suggestions? I like what I am reading about Blue Buffalo for kittens.  My daughter is a cat-mom of a 4 year old tabby and likes Purina Naturals. 

I also give her a little Natural Balance wet food because her skin was very dry and flaking everywhere - maybe that's because we are in winter.  

FYI - The ratio is 1 TBSP wet + 4 TBSP dry in am and pm (I work and am not home during the day.)

Any suggestions are welcome to take care of my new baby!  She had her vet visit on Saturday and weighs 5lbs and was the runt of the litter.

{Not judging her previous owner, I adopted from her because she could no longer care for Luna so I'm sure the choice of food was a needs/must issue.}

Thank you.

She is a doll! 

Food choice is really a personal choice. I do Natures Variety Instinct which is an all stages food with no grain. However, I am looking for an alternative, just haven't found one in the price point with a better ingredient list.

I am personally not a fan of Blue Buffalo. They just have some recalls that make me nervous for being such a young company (Natures Variety does too for their raw but I don't feed raw and they were all related to salmonella so it seems more reasonable of a thing for me to overlook). I have also heard that Blue Buffalo can be a little too high in fat for some cats in the long run. I did use it for Rocket when she was a kitten because she was so malnourished I wanted a high fat content to help her gain some weight. 

You should probably look for something with a real protein source (no by products) in the first 5 ingredients and a binder other than corn, wheat or another grain. I personally dislike potato too from things I have read about it (not much better than grain for weight gain and retention around the abdomen). Look for a high amount of protein (anything in the 30% range is good, low 40's better, but not above 50%). There are some really in depth breakdowns available online but when you throw price, cats preference and availability in the mix it becomes what works for you and what your cat will eat. 

Chewy.com is really for finding a wide selection at reasonable prices and often with free shipping if you order in bulk or order your litter at the same time.  

Great, thank you! I will just do as I did with my kids: read the ingredients and monitor her.  The Delicat put me off when I saw the first two ingredients as corn and gluten. Luna's still young so there's time to switch. 

Cheers.

Hello there Deano...er, I mean Sammy...er ah, Blue Eyes.

I have come to agree with other posters when they said that the difference between Kitten food and adult food may be a distinction without a difference for cats whom have been weaned.  Kittens need more protein than adults and that's the real issue.  When I was a newbie cat owner I fed my cat kibble whose label stated that it was very high protein.  Well, she seemed to thrive but when I later learned about the possible long-term detriment of corn gluten I dropped that recipe like a hot rock. Corn wasn't the lead ingredient but it was high on the list.  I began to supplement commercial pet food with my own cooking to make sure she got a healthy does of protein; chopped boiled egg, baked chicken, roasted beef or pork; none with any seasoning.

As for specific brands, like Kieka said, it's largely a matter of personal preference.

You seem to have a liking for Purina brands, so consider pates in the Purina Beyond and Purina Pro Plan True Nature line of recipes.  Those recipes are competitively priced.  The pate recipes do not contain corn, wheat or soy. At our house we keep the turkey and the chicken recipes of Purina Beyond pate and the PB kibble.  The Pro Plan True Nature dry chicken is fairly high in protein content.