High quality food recommendations for indoor cats

tdanley0906

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I have two cats, one male and one female, both spayed/neutered indoor cats that are almost a year old. The female is long hair and throw up A LOT of hair balls so I'm looking for a good high quality dry and wet food good for both of them but mainly to try and remedy her throwing up so often. She acts normal and eats normal but I'm concerned she may have digestive system issues causing her not to digest all the hair she's ingesting. Right now I'm feeding them purina indoor cat chow mixed with purina friskies wet food. I want to try the higher quality food before making a trip to the vet. Oh and also she was born with only one kidney, not sure if that will make a difference.
 

abyeb

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For the hair balls, there's several options. Some people who want to take a more natural approach will feed cats egg yolk leichitin. I personally feed my Charlie laxatone, which is basically petroleum jelly in the form of a treat. Either of these options basically make the digestive system move more efficiently which will make the hairball come out as feces rather than as vomit. There are also Rx hairball control diets, but you'll need to get that from your vet.

My Charlie was also born with only one kidney. You really probably should get your cats on a kidney-friendly diet so that the functioning kidney doesn't get overloaded. Again, some people make kidney-friendly food themselves, (other posters will have more experience in this), but my vet reccommend an Rx K/D food which is what I feed my Charlie.
 
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tdanley0906

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I will definitely ask the vet about a special diet when I take them for their check up in June. I knew there had to be some sort of special diet for a one kidney cat. When we found out she only had one kidney the vet had said since she's still young we shouldn't have any problems with kidney function. She's approximately 11 months old now, she was stray when I took her in at around 5/6 months old. I have some laxatone as well that I'm going to start giving to both them again. Neither of them are too fond of it so I hide it in their food :)
 

destinyz12

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Since you won't be taking them to the vet for a few months, in the meantime- I would recommend switching to grain-free foods (both dry and wet).  I don't know if that will specifically help with the hairballs, but grains are hard for many cats to digest so they may have an easier time with digestion in general with a grain-free diet.  And with wet food, look for carrageenan-free since that tends to be a stomach irritant as well. 
 

solomonar

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The best food is the one the cat eats.

I feed my cat by a mix diet: wet + dry + raw (little)

My cat loves a brand of Lidl wet food. I could not have him moving to a more profi wet food (except some Applaws, sometimes).

The dry food- I always look for 2 brands (rotation) - the most protein the better (and grain-free, if possible, but I cannot find here in my country no-grain food), so-called zero starch).

Raw: anything, but no pork.

But there is a lot of criteria in what a "good food" is - it is partially subjective.   For instance, when I fell short in time, I avoid  wet and raw because I know I cant be sufficiently careful. On Friday and Saturday and Sunday I avoid raw because of less vet assistance those days (minimizing risk).

So: tell me what to do, what kind of person you are and I can say something about the best food. Because the cat does not buy and serve  the food himself, you do it. :-)
 

tiptopper

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Are you brushing/combing your cats on a regular schedule to lessen the amount of fur they are ingesting? It may help them.
 

LTS3

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Hair isn't digestible. To minimize the ingestion of hair, comb or brush your cat often and offer a hairball remedy to help any ingested  hair to pass through the digestive tract more easily.

Cat Chow is a poor quality dry food. There are many better quality dry foods but are somewhat pricier depending on the brand. Take a look at what your local chain pet store has. Many chain stores have good quality  brands like Wellness and Blue Buffalo. Look for meat as the first ingredient, not meat meal or meat by-product or fillers like corn and rice.

Friskies canned food is fine. The pates are better to feed than the ones in shreds / chunks, etc because you get more food in the can (just add water for gravy) and the carbs are lower.
 
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tdanley0906

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I try to brush them when I can but they're not too fond of being brushed. I always see the brand Royal Canin being sold and promoted at the vet when I go so I was thinking about trying that or Blue Buffalo, I've seen both at petsmart. They're pricey but if it helps them in the long run it's worth it to me. I actually bought some treats made by Blue Buffalo that they go crazy for.
 

thegreystalker

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There are plenty of options out there, so your choices should depend upon what you can afford and what your cat will eat.  I purchase little if any food that some folks consider to be high end, but quality and health is of the utmost importance to me.  That said, my gal hasn't experienced any significant hairball problems.  Presently her wet/dry rotating menu includes the following, none of which break the bank (and no Corn, Wheat or Soy);

Dry...

Evolve Chicken

Canidae Pure Elements Chicken

Under the Sun Turkey

Purina Beyond Chicken and Oatmeal

Purina Beyond SuperFood Blend (Herring)

Wet...

Purina Pro Plan Beef Pate

Sheba Turkey Entree Pate

Sheba Chicken Entree Pate

Sheba Beef Entree Pate

Natural Balance Venison

Whole Earth Farms Duck

Natural Value Chicken and Sardine

Natural Value Turkey Loaf

Natural Value Beef and Giblets Loaf

Natural Value Sardine and Shrimp
 

kalebkat

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I agree with all of the other posters on the importance of feeding a high quality, less-filler food. I live right by a high end pet store so I've recently switched my kitten to brands that pride themselves on making food that has a quality of meat that is as close to what a cat would eat in the wild. Brands such as Pride and Weruva are pricey but there are no fillers whatsoever and in the long-run your cat's digestive system will thank you for it. Plus there are other benefits such as shinier coat and healthier skin and organs. I buy Blue for the dry food but am now questioning whether its worth it to feed dry food at all.
 
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