Premium, Schremium!

sharky · Jun 1, 2006

Originally Posted by shengmei

Well, I believe that if people can shell out the money for Eukaneuba, they might as well go all out and get the most premium brands.

The Iams food and the Eukaneuba food look different, smell different, and taste different (I tried

). My cats used to crazy for Eukaneuba, but they would never touch Iams.

Eukaneuba is no cheaper than Wellness. Wellness is actually pretty affordable in very large bags. I am not a big fan of Innova because of the potato content.

Ahh I get ya... I do think if your buying Eukanuba you should look at the higher end stuff in that $$ range but just last weekend I met a couple with dogs that due to Eukanuba s fish oil leval could only handle that food... I did show them that now they may have a few more options since they knew the other stuff in the food...
I dont use wellness because the main formulas are too grain heavy and the special ones can be found in other brands closer to me...lol.. it is likely great food ....
Potato other than being a starch , only fried potatos are high glcymic

shengmei · Jun 1, 2006

Originally Posted by sharky

Ahh I get ya... I do think if your buying Eukanuba you should look at the higher end stuff in that $$ range

Very true, I feed Drs. Forster & Smith. They eat way better than me.

emmylou · Jun 1, 2006

It's animal food. It has to be tested on animals. If it wasn't I'd be worried.

I don't have a problem with byproducts. I eat food with byproducts in it. Many cultures eat nearly every part of the animal, and some of what we tend to turn up our noses at based on some personal concept of ickyness is considered a delicacy elsewhere. Plus, in the wild a predatory carnivore would eat the whole animal, guts and all... the cats my family had always ate the whole mouse.

Someone quibbled with my use of the term "organic" in a comparison. Say "health food," then.

andrewweilin · Jun 1, 2006

WOW.

Thank you all very much for your replies. It seems that food is always a bit of a "hot topic" and highly controversial. In any case, I think I'm going to stick with IAMS for a bit since the poopiness that once was characteristic of my apartment has vanished.

I guess I feel that the stools are the best indication of what's happening on the inside, regardless of how we may expect our cats to react based on a list of ingredients or heresay concerning how the food is manufactured.

FYI, I've only tried IAMS, Hills, Nutro, and Natural Balance. My cats are kinda "poopy" and IAMS is the only food I've tried that eliminates frequent farting (which happens a lot when I pick them up or when they pounce on da bird... it's kinda funny), runny stools, dirty bums, etc. It's just nice to be able to go to bed without scanning the sheets for kitty skidmarks...and I'm running out of Febreeze.

Here's a picture of my boys, btw, since we all love PICS!

gingersmom · Jun 1, 2006

They are GORGEOUS!!!

Do what works best for you - I'd stick with the IAMS too, just to avoid the farting and stinky poops, LOL!!!!

white cat lover · Jun 1, 2006

Pat & Alix said:
Well this may not be popular either, but if you ask for our opinions as to what to feed, and what we feel are the better brands, we are going to tell you

I always try to explain why/how I came to my opinions, but ultimately you must weigh the information for yourself.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't have said it better Pat.

We can sit here & tell you that you are wrong, IAMS is awful, but what good would that do? The first place I *tried* to start was asking what ingredients meant, asking for reccomendations on what other's cats liked, & then I started asking sharky what things meant if I didn't know(sharky is very, very helpful

).

My cats do well on Innova, EVO, Nutro, Chicken Soup, Merrick, Felidae, Newman's Own, California Natural, Gourmet Classics, & Mewo Mix(wet only). They DO NOT do well on Iams, Eukanuba(sparingly is OK), Wellness, & Science Diet. I tried an IAMS sample packet, Twitch puked it up & Lily wouldn't touch it. What works so well for your cuties doesn't work at all for mine.

I can live off freezer pizzas. Can you? Every cat is different. Find what your cats like & feed it to them. It's as simple as that. Feel free to ask questions, we can go on forever!

shengmei · Jun 1, 2006

YAY I love black cats. I have three of them. I used to think they were unlucky but I am so glad they were forced on me.

The foods that induce less pooping, in my experience, are:

Drs. Foster and Smith ktten food

Wellness

Nutro Natural Choice Indoor kitten.

The one time I tried Nutro Natural Choice Indoor kitten it was pretty amazing. I only had to clean the litterboxes once a week (and I have five cats). Unfortunately they discontinued that food.

zissou'smom · Jun 1, 2006

Andrew-
Your cats are gorgeous!
Food is a very touchy subject here... and the funny part is nearly all of the active members here feed at least a medium quality food. Nobody ever comes on and says "Well, I think feeding my cats nothing but canned people tuna is the best diet for them" which is a conversation I've had in real life. Or a vegan diet (for a cat), which is animal abuse, nobody here does that either. So I think we bicker so much because we are all trying to do the best we possibly can.

I do have a question for you though-- are you absolutely positive yours cats don't have worms? Just plain old roundworms? That would be the first thing I'd have checked if I had two frequent farters on my hands, just a stool sample- you wouldn't even need to make them an appt at most vets. Just a thought, I don't know when their last checkup was obviously!

sharky · Jun 1, 2006

Originally Posted by shengmei

YAY I love black cats. I have three of them. I used to think they were unlucky but I am so glad they were forced on me.

The foods that induce less pooping, in my experience, are:

Drs. Foster and Smith ktten food

Wellness

Nutro Natural Choice Indoor kitten.

The one time I tried Nutro Natural Choice Indoor kitten it was pretty amazing. I only had to clean the litterboxes once a week (and I have five cats). Unfortunately they discontinued that food.

It is still made and is avail at most larger pet stores... Pm me and I will look up for your area

shengmei · Jun 1, 2006

Thanks for the INFO!!!

I don't need any cat food right now. I anticipated some fiancial troubles this summer (due to no genetic classes to teach). I know I would have no income this summer so I brought 3 months worth of food when a pet store closed in April.

They were 50% off the day I brought them (one day before closing) and they became 75% off the day later. GRRR.......... I gotta have more patience.

moggiegirl · Jun 1, 2006

Hi Shengmei. Long time no write.

shengmei · Jun 1, 2006

You remind me of such good old times. I missed you so much.

Yeah and I am still pondering about feeding kitten food to my five furbabies thousands of posts in other cat forums later. I am still seeking for the truth.

Oh yeah, Ariel and I got married.

andrewweilin · Jun 1, 2006

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

I do have a question for you though-- are you absolutely positive yours cats don't have worms? Just plain old roundworms? That would be the first thing I'd have checked if I had two frequent farters on my hands, just a stool sample- you wouldn't even need to make them an appt at most vets. Just a thought, I don't know when their last checkup was obviously!

Yeah, I took them to the vet to get all their kitten shots and they both went through fecal exams cause I brought it up with the vet. He thought the poopiness came from animal shelter sicknesses/fevers, but they were both dewormed a week later just in case. I figure that because my kittens are young (6 months), their bowels are still figuring out how to preserve my white carpet.

Oh, but I should add that as far as waste issues are concerned, I'm super lucky. They've never pooed or peed outside the box, they just like to fart and leave skidmarks.

moggiegirl · Jun 1, 2006

Originally Posted by shengmei

You remind me of such good old times. I missed you so much.

Yeah and I am still pondering about feeding kitten food to my five furbabies thousands of posts in other cat forums later. I am still seeking for the truth.

Oh yeah, Ariel and I got married.

Canned kitten food is fine. It's the most high protein, low carb, high moisture cat food you can get without the high calories of dry kitten food. Dry kitten food is fattening. Congratulations on your wedding. I'm getting married too, I just don't know when yet. Welcome to the cat site.

jen · Jun 1, 2006

I guess everyone will just have their own opinions on what foods to feed their cats. It is hard to say that one particular brand is great for all cats and another is not. Because like mentioned before, all cats are very different. I just figure, if I can prevent possible bad things from happening then I will. For me, I fed Iams to my cats and it was causing major problems in my Himmie but my other cats were fine. I couldn't tell there was a problem other then he started peeing outside the litterbox. His coat was perfect and thick and shiny and his personality and behavior was exactly the same as always. But he was having kidney problems and the vet said it was directly related to what I wass feeding him. I also know that UTIs are related to diet and water intake. So I feed a wide variety of wet food and what I consider to be a high quality brand of cat food (the ones I listed earlier, Nutro, Chicken Soup, Solid Gold, etc)

In response to someones post earlier about forcing cats to eat the good stuff if they don't want it. Obviously you aren't going to starve them to geet them to eat what you want. But there is such a wide variety of brands and flavours of high quality foods. Most people are just not patient enough to find the right ones.

In a small way you can compare it to human foods in that there are fattening high carb foods and healthier low carb, low fat foods. In general, the lower fat and carb foods are going to be better for your cat but that doesn't mean your cat will get sick and die with a flat coat from eating the fattier ones. It all depends on the cats. But you are the judge on what is best for your own cats. Stear towards the healthier stuff but the mid-range stff probably won't harm them either.

chrissyr · Jun 1, 2006

I've read through all 5 pages of this topic and nowhere did I see "I feed my cats cheap stuff". LOL So, let me be the first to say I feed the majority cheap stuff. I do have a few with sensitive tummys that will only eat Purina One Urinary Tract and not get sick. But, the rest of the household and the ferals all get Wal-Mart Special Kitty dry and canned. I haven't had any problems with this food. We've been feeding it for a few years now and my kits are healthy horses (One weighs in over 15 pounds and he's almost 9). No health problems cept the Rhinovirus carrier acts up once in a while and they all get the sniffles.

jen · Jun 1, 2006

That is good to hear! I often wonder if the ones who feed the "cheap stuff" with no problems just get lucky or what? Cuz I fed Iams at first with no luck and the is supposedly an ok food. I often think, man would things be so much easier if I could just feed the cheaper foods

I guess the by-products are what bother me most and all the grains that cats don't need and are just being filled up on. Bits and pieces of who knows what being scraped off the factory floor are not what I want to be eating!

I don't know, I have mixed feelings on this stuff. Who knows what is really the right thing to feed! People can hardly eat the right foods themselves in this world with all the greasy fast foods and such. I just think of that when I am eating and when I feed my cats. Plus I always fed what I thought to be best right from the beginning so they don't know the cheapo stuff like Wiskas and Meow Mix and everything. It would be like candy to them and I am afraid they wouldn't want to go back! When I need to switch, I do it gradually and they never seem to notice the switch to newer food.

chrissyr · Jun 1, 2006

Well, if we had way fewer to feed we would probably feed a name brand food. As it is, including the ferals, we feed over 50 cats. I just don't see paying out the bum for better food when they are doing fine on what they have and the ferals catch whatever they want. Now the sensitive ones get better food. If not we end up with vomit all over the place and runny poo.

jen · Jun 1, 2006

WOW 50 cats!! That is awesome that you are caring for all those!! Ya I know a lot of people who's cats are doing just fine on grocery store brand food. All cats are different!

chrissyr · Jun 1, 2006

It's amazing what they will and won't eat, though. I have a Persian that will only eat Iams. I've tried him on Purina One and he went on a food strike. LOL

LOL It's a tough job but someone has to look out for the stray and unwanted kits.

Premium, Schremium!

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member