Can I get some food advice? What brand do you feed you cats??

sharonkay

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Hey everyone....I have been feeding my Adeliade Science Diet hairball control, but I am getting the impression that this may not be my best option for her-though it is what the vet gave us. She is about 3/4 years old and is definitely a medium (thick) haired cat. I have no idea what her history was before us, so I dont know what she used to eat.

Anyway, she does have a sensitive tummy (I think) and a hairball problem (when we got her she was a little shaved in odd places and her hair has really grown in fast over the last few months...when she started to really groom herself again, she went nuts
) So, we have her on petromalt and it has helped her a lot. I guess I am just asking, is there a better food for me to give her? Aside from the random puke moment right after eating every few weeks, she is healthy....Science Diet just doesn't seem to have the best reputation on this board, and if there is a better food I would love to make the switch!
 

laureen227

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i use the reduced calorie Natural Balance kibble, & Cable gets extra wet food since she's still a kitten.
 

ktlynn

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Hi Sharon - I'm one of those who is no fan of Science Diet. It's overpriced with inferior ingredients.

There are other ways to help Adelaide with hairballs (adding fiber to her food, for ex.) and frequent combing. And at least the Petromalt is helping. There's another good hairball remedy called Hairball Gel from Vetbasis. I prefer it because it doesn't contain petroleum but has some vitamins and Taurine in it.

I've been feeding my cats PetGuard which is a high quality food. I don't feed dry food for meals, but occasionally throw individual dry pieces for my guys to run after for fun/exercise. Other quality foods are California Natural, which I've just tried - (2 of my 3 kitties gave it 2 paws up), Innova, Merrick and Felidae.

Good luck making the switch - just do it gradually and Adelaide should be fine.

BTW, the pictures of your babies are terrific! They are both precious!!
 

mikonu

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Originally Posted by SharonKay

Hey everyone....I have been feeding my Adeliade Science Diet hairball control, but I am getting the impression that this may not be my best option for her-though it is what the vet gave us. She is about 3/4 years old and is definitely a medium (thick) haired cat. I have no idea what her history was before us, so I dont know what she used to eat.

Anyway, she does have a sensitive tummy (I think) and a hairball problem (when we got her she was a little shaved in odd places and her hair has really grown in fast over the last few months...when she started to really groom herself again, she went nuts
) So, we have her on petromalt and it has helped her a lot. I guess I am just asking, is there a better food for me to give her? Aside from the random puke moment right after eating every few weeks, she is healthy....Science Diet just doesn't seem to have the best reputation on this board, and if there is a better food I would love to make the switch!
When they were eating Iams Hairball/Weight Control Formula, they had tons of hairballs! I even tried the petromalt, and M&C De-Furr Em Treats, but none of them worked. I switched them to Innova (canned & dry) and they're doing really good. Their coats are soft, shiny and thick. You'd think with all the fur they have they'd get hairballs, but they rarely do.
 
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sharonkay

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Originally Posted by KTLynn

Hi Sharon - I'm one of those who is no fan of Science Diet. It's overpriced with inferior ingredients.

There are other ways to help Adelaide with hairballs (adding fiber to her food, for ex.) and frequent combing. And at least the Petromalt is helping. There's another good hairball remedy called Hairball Gel from Vetbasis. I prefer it because it doesn't contain petroleum but has some vitamins and Taurine in it.

I've been feeding my cats PetGuard which is a high quality food. I don't feed dry food for meals, but occasionally throw individual dry pieces for my guys to run after for fun/exercise. Other quality foods are California Natural, which I've just tried - (2 of my 3 kitties gave it 2 paws up), Innova, Merrick and Felidae.

Good luck making the switch - just do it gradually and Adelaide should be fine.

BTW, the pictures of your babies are terrific! They are both precious!!
Thank you!


We love to brush her...she loves it and it just makes me happy to see her coat so pretty and shiny now


We usually give her some dry in the AM and she munches on it through out the day, and some wet food in the early evening. That is how we used to feed our cats growing up and it seems to work for Addie.

So, where does someone find these foods? I mean, I am pretty sure that I haven't seen them in petsmart/petco, or have I just not looked hard enough?
 

mikonu

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Originally Posted by SharonKay

Thank you!


We love to brush her...she loves it and it just makes me happy to see her coat so pretty and shiny now


We usually give her some dry in the AM and she munches on it through out the day, and some wet food in the early evening. That is how we used to feed our cats growing up and it seems to work for Addie.

So, where does someone find these foods? I mean, I am pretty sure that I haven't seen them in petsmart/petco, or have I just not looked hard enough?
A lot of the premium foods are not found in nationwide pet store chains (i.e. Petco, PetSmart). They are usually found in independently owned pet stores and/or health food stores. If you've found a product you really like, go to the company website and check their "store locator" for stores in your area.
 

catlover7731

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premium pet food is sold in small pet stores not in large discount pet stores. I find mine in what is called a feed store( don't ask, I never heard of one before I moved here), and I have seen some in holistic vets, whole foods sells petguard and wysong. I feed innova canned and solid gold canned and for dry I am currently on innova and chicken soup for cat lovers(my cats aren't too crazy for this so I am not sure if I will stick with it). Felidae is really a good food also. Luck on your decision.
 

tuxedokitties

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Just a note - if you decide to switch Adelaide's food, do it slowly to avoid stomach upset - adding a small amount of the new food to a meal of her old, gradually increasing proportions of the new to old day by day.

Also, my vet told me that a trial of a new food takes at least 6 weeks (unless there are obvious immediate bad reactions to a new food) - it takes that long for any problems from the old food to resolve completely.

Royal Canin Sensitive, mixed with Royal Canin Senior is what works for my girl with the delicate tummy - after many years of dealing with her vomiting 3 or more x/day, now she hasn't vomited at all for several months. But each cat is different- what works for one may bother another...you may just have to search until you find the right food for her.

I believe I've seen Natural Balance at Petco, if you're interested in trying it. It didn't work out for my bunch - made them all sick. Perhaps I got a bad batch
Again, each cat is different.
 

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We are just in the process of switching to Performatrim from PetValu which is a very good quality cat food.
 

jillian

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We feed Nutro Indoor Formula and have fed Nutro Kitten and Nutro Max Cat formulas in the past. (= Good luck choosing!
 

passiquepersian

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We feed IAMS food here and my kitties seem to love it. They enjoy the taste and batting peices all over the kitchen.


Pat
 

sanctie

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You know I fed Conner Iams as a kitten and when he reached a yr I gradually changed his diet to Purina Indoor Formula. I used to have to feed Concer the anti hairball paste. Since I have been feeding him this purina cat chow indoor formula it has been awesome. He hasnt had to take hairball paste for 6 mos. And BTW, Purina is much cheaper than science diet and is really a great trade off.
--Stevie
 

pat

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For the issues you are describing her as having, I'd recommend you check out Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Adult formula - formulated to help with hairballs, and to not cause issues for cats with sensitive stomachs.

Here is a link to read more:Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Adult

ps this is available at both Petco and Petsmart.
 

yuna

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I feed Leeloo Eukanuba, just because the vet told me to... she loves it and I've never seen her have any sort of health problem with it.
 

juniper

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Mine eat California Natural (dry and canned) - this is supposedly a good food for more sensitive stomachs because the formula is very simple, mainly just chicken and rice - Esmeralda has a sensitive stomach (we tried Felidae first and it made her quite sick; California Natural was recommended because it is far less 'rich' and it's been great for her).
 

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Just wanted to add: Baylee eats Nutro Natural Choice (at Petsmart/Petco) and Petguard wet food (from a health food store).

Also, if you are concerned about what to feed your cat, you can always do the research like I did... with some help from Pat (Pat & Alix) I looked at every brand of food and figured out what was important for kittens, then I narrowed it down. Makes me feel a lot better as to what I'm feeding Baylee.

Good luck!
 

misscharlotte

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I've been feeding my cats Wysong Nurture dry. It's the kitten version. Before I got Izzie (kitten), I was feeding Charlotte Wysong Vitality dry. I chose Wysong because it did not contain any artificial preservatives and other things along those lines. It's also a premium quality food. I've had excellent results with it. I buy it at a pet store.
 

ilovemy2cats

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I feed my cats Nutro Natural Choice, Nutro Max and sometimes a little Innova or other premium food mixed in with the Nutro to give them some variety. I've been feeding Nutro for over 3 years and I don't think my cats have had a hairball since. I also feed a little wet food, Nutro, Felidae and Authority.
 

snowleop

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My cats are currently eating SolidGold dry food and California Natural wet food (I've tried Innova, Wellness, Felidae but they only like this one brand in one flavor: Deep Water Fish). Unfortunately, Penelope, my short-haired girl, is having more problems with hairballs lately. Do you think I should switch to Nutro Complete Care dry food? I saw that "corn gluten meal" was an ingredient and thought that wasn't good for cats?
 
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