The most available pet store is me is Pet Valu. I could also go to PetSmart but it's a lot farther away...
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Concerns over popular catfoods
- Thread starter eliotfinn
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Petsmart would give you access to Nutro Natural Choice, and if budget is a concern, Petsmart's own brand - Authority is a decent food.
I always thought dry food was better and I only gave can food as a "treat"...well I guess I was wrong..
Same here. Like I said earlier, I've heard that dry food is better because it fights tartar and strengthens teeth - I have heard of people brushing their cat's teeth, but I'm afraid to attempt that. So, I just feed dry food and also some tartar control treats each day. Wet food also stinks and is messy. I've always heard to feed dry, but guess it could be just heresay...
Same here. Like I said earlier, I've heard that dry food is better because it fights tartar and strengthens teeth - I have heard of people brushing their cat's teeth, but I'm afraid to attempt that. So, I just feed dry food and also some tartar control treats each day. Wet food also stinks and is messy. I've always heard to feed dry, but guess it could be just heresay...
Thanks so much! I have to feed Pepper the Eukanuba dry food cuz I just bought the bag and can't afford to waste it. But I will certainly switch her and my kitten to Nutro. The Pet Valu by my house actually does sell Nutro Natural Choice
I really want to do well by my cats and am getting kinda confused about what is best for them...
Since I've only had Seamus for about a month I'm still experimenting with different foods for him. I recently switched from Purina Cat Chow to the Nutro Natural since it seems to come so highly recommended. I've been mixing it with the Cat Chow so he can get used to it. He was a little hesitant at first, but now seems to like it well enough. I also tried him on the Nutro Max wet food which he enjoyed. Unfortunately most of the time I'm relegated to the grocery store brands for his canned food since it runs out a lot faster than the dry and I'm unable to get to Petco/Petsmart on a regular basis (I'm a city dweller and don't own a car). However, I do stick to brands like Fancy Feast and Iams which seem to be a step above some of the other canned foods you find at the local supermarket. Next time I go to one of the pet stores, though, I'm going to stock up on the premium stuff.
By the way, I was in the Wild Oats natural foods market recently and saw that they carry Newman's Own organic dry catfood. Has anyone had any experience with this brand? I know I like a lot of his human foods.
By the way, I was in the Wild Oats natural foods market recently and saw that they carry Newman's Own organic dry catfood. Has anyone had any experience with this brand? I know I like a lot of his human foods.
I prefer feeding older kittens and adults dry as its much better for their teeth. Iams has also been a good food for me - my rexes coats feel super with it (most rex breeders feed Iams). The other brands left the coat dull and dry. And they didn't like to eat it.
They get "treats" on occasion like shredded cooked chicken, beef stew, cheese and my one rex will "kill" you for lettuce! But overall, my cats have been very healthy with no digestive problems eating Iams.
They get "treats" on occasion like shredded cooked chicken, beef stew, cheese and my one rex will "kill" you for lettuce! But overall, my cats have been very healthy with no digestive problems eating Iams.
I live in San Diego. So I've never heard of Pet Valu. What brands do they carry? Are they a small, independant store rather than a chain?
Hi Moggiegirl,
Pet Valu is a chain that is in both Canada and the U.S (the Eastern seaboard).
GoldenKitty45 said:
Actually by product is not just the stuff like brains and intestines. By products include anything that is scraped off the floor like feathers and feces. By products are not good at all. By I have to say it is the lesser of two evils compared to grains. Cats cannot digest grains at all. People who feed cats products with grains in it are forcing a carnivore to live on carbohydrates. You might as well be forcing your children to live every day on nothing but sweetened cereal.Originally Posted by BabyBee
I am in the minority here....but animal meat byproducts don't bother me, and I am not worried about them. I know my sisters cats, when they caught the birds and chipmunks and squirrels, they ate the whole thing. Not just the meat, but everything. They had food at home at all times, but for some reason they did prefer hunting and eating whatever they caught. I am not worried if the canned food has chicken brain in it or anything like that, because when I make soup, I cook the chicken head and I eat the brain myself. My dad also cooks cow stomach...and it is very tastyso is the chicken brain....Now the preservatives are another thing, I am more worried about those than the actual meat byproducts...
If your two older cats are healthy and they eat Friskies I personally wouldn't worry. I don't think they are addicted to it...but that is just my opinion....
This is a huge misconception that is doing the pet owners a disservice. Cats on a dry diet have some of the foulest mouths around. The reason is because the grains in dry food are carbohydrates. The food is cooked in a way that it is basically pre digested and it enters that cats bloosdstream as essentially sugar. We all know what sugar does to the teeth.
Further, the kibble is too small to provide benefits when chew it crushes too easily.
Lastly, people on a horrible junk food diet generally do not have good teeth because they are not getting the nutrition they need. They can brush thier teeth a million times a day and it would not make a difference. It's the same with pets. If they are gets loads of sugar in thier diet they are going to have bad teeth.
If you can't feed your cats a raw, natural diet give then high quality canned only. It is much better for them because it has little to no grain depending on what you buy. It is a food souce much closer to nature then dry kibble.Originally Posted by Pepper Girl
Thanks so much! I have to feed Pepper the Eukanuba dry food cuz I just bought the bag and can't afford to waste it. But I will certainly switch her and my kitten to Nutro. The Pet Valu by my house actually does sell Nutro Natural ChoiceI seen it when I was there last. Also, should I switch the kits to Nutro can/moist food or is Fancy Feast ok? And increase their intake of moist food from a couple of tablespoons per day to a can or half a can per day??
I really want to do well by my cats and am getting kinda confused about what is best for them...
I would say that even cat foods that claim to have no by-products DO indeed have unsavory ingredients, such as, feathers, feces, rat tails, etc. Same thing with human food. No factory is immune to these things. Many fast food restaurant chains have been found to contain feces in their kitchens and serving areas. I have worked at a steakhouse, and my wishful thinking about clean, sanitary conditions, and food safety in general went out the door. I can't buy into beliefs about "organic," "natural," "pure," cat foods -any of those are buzz words that set off my BS meter. This world is not a perfect one, and unless I'm actually watching the processes that go into making the food, I have my doubts...
Their in-store brand is called Performatrin and is a fairly good quality product (the dry Performatrin Ultra is supposedly very good).Originally Posted by Pepper Girl
Hi Moggiegirl,
Pet Valu is a chain that is in both Canada and the U.S (the Eastern seaboard).They can carry a variety of brands, those I know of are Nutro, Royal Canin, Iams, Eukanuba, Whiskas and Friskies (of course), there's a no-name brand (I forget the actual name), etc. There are others but I don't know them off the top of my head.
We free-feed the Performatrin Ultra (about 1/2 cup per day) and do wet food at dinner/supper time.
I've recently been trying different brands (and yes I've been lucky with no soft poopies). They do not like Paul Newman's brand nor the Chicken Soup brand but have been eating the others quite well.
I would use Performatrin wet food but it also has by-products and I don't want to feed anything with by-products any more.
My vet "suggested" we not feed Fancy Feast as she said the cats she has treated for crystals have been eating Fancy Feast. I will however, give them a can once in awhile as a treat (junk food for cats).
I agree to a point - but at least we probably aren't giving the quantity of by-products that would otherwise be in the food if by-products are listed as an ingredient.
Me too, just across the road.
They sell the Newman's. I've recently switched to Newman's Own because it was listed on the PETA website as approved by them for their manufactoring and testing processes. My cats love the dry, not big fans of the wet, which is unfortunate as I want to feed them mainly wet after what I've learned on this site.
I would go with Nutro.Originally Posted by Pepper Girl
Hi Moggiegirl,
Pet Valu is a chain that is in both Canada and the U.S (the Eastern seaboard).They can carry a variety of brands, those I know of are Nutro, Royal Canin, Iams, Eukanuba, Whiskas and Friskies (of course), there's a no-name brand (I forget the actual name), etc. There are others but I don't know them off the top of my head.
I am in no way saying that byproducts are good, I just said that I am not worried about them. I have read somewhere, and tried to find it so I can link it, that cats don't get all the nutrition they need from the meat only. I don't know if that is accurate info or not....So if that is true I would assume that if you feed your cats meat only then you would have to supplement the diet...But I might be wrong about that as well.
I have to somewhat agree with Maiseycat, unfortunately it's not just cat food it's all food. My friends dad worked as a butcher for a company I wish not to name...and many would be surprised what actually goes into the sausages they make for people to eat.
I cook meat and what not that I give to my cats..I did try the raw meat as well, but I feared salmonella...so instead I decided to cook the meat. But my question is, and this is not to cause a big argument or anything like that, just wondering since I think we can all learn something from each other...if intestines, brain, feet, tails and all that is called byproduct bad for the cat, then my sisters cats who caught birds and what not, why did they eat the whole thing? why didn't they just eat the meat off the bone? so since they did this many times, with all kinds of stuff they cought, I would think that that is what is natural no? so if we say a raw natural diet, then that would include indeed the whole animal...I might be getting it wrong
The veterinary community is changing it's position on this...here is an interesting article by a vet re why wet/canned food does NOT cause increased dental issues. click here for article
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Cats that are trained (by momcat) to hunt properly will not eat the entire kill. They will eat everything but the gut sack and the head of a mouse, and they will eat all but the beak and feet of the birds.A starving cat cannot hunt effectively, a well-fed cat is a good hunter and females excel at hunting over the males. It is all instinctive. We take away their ability to get their natural food and expect them to eat dry kibble and stay healthy- it just won't happen. they need wet food, they all do.
