Critique My Cat Food Selections

[bonepicker]

Fed him half a can of nutro chicken. Think he liked it a lot! Licked his bowl clean. I put in a tiny bit of more pumpkin than usual to help with digestion since this is a new food. Hes currently has normal stools since hes on antibiotics. It was so nice to watch him enjoy his meal. Ill be ordering a case from amazon.

Was it chunky chicken loaf that one has no carrageenan and is my cats favorite!

 

[lisahe]

Was it chunky chicken loaf that one has no carrageenan and is my cats favorite!

That's probably our cats' favorite, too, that and the minced chicken.

I just got the Nutro delivery from Chewy.com... free delivery turned out to be overnight this time! (It really varies a lot: it's usually two days.)

 

[bonepicker]

That's probably our cats' favorite, too, that and the minced chicken.

I just got the Nutro delivery from Chewy.com... free delivery turned out to be overnight this time! (It really varies a lot: it's usually two days.)

Mine are not as crazy for minced. That nutro along with merrick pate are two foods that never need a topper! I hope merrick recipe stays the same, they love it even though it has carrageenan.

 

[kittyluv387]

It was the chunky chicken! But from amazon i ordered the chicken one for kittens. Same ingredients, just slightly higher protein. I also ordered chunky turkey which also doesnt have carageenan. If their duck one didnt have carageenan i would have been interested in that.

 

[lisahe]

It was the chunky chicken! But from amazon i ordered the chicken one for kittens. Same ingredients, just slightly higher protein. I also ordered chunky turkey which also doesnt have carageenan. If their duck one didnt have carageenan i would have been interested in that.

Our cats love the duck but I only feed it to them occasionally, as a variety meal, because of the carrageenan.

I hope merrick recipe stays the same, they love it even though it has carrageenan.

I hope Merrick stays the same, too: our cats have really taken a liking to their LID turkey and duck, and they don't have carrageenan. They eat a lot of chicken so it's great to find a few foods that are only turkey or only duck.

 

[bonepicker]

Our cats love the duck but I only feed it to them occasionally, as a variety meal, because of the carrageenan.


I hope Merrick stays the same, too: our cats have really taken a liking to their LID turkey and duck, and they don't have carrageenan. They eat a lot of chicken so it's great to find a few foods that are only turkey or only duck.

I will have to try those I hear petco (I hate that store) might carry it!

 

[kittyluv387]

I think Im going to take the plunge and feed benny 1 can a day and not 1/2 can a day. Its obvious he loves his canned food! It'll cost quite a bit more to do this once i get the 2nd cat but i think its worth it. And i can easily afford it but i just thought it wasnt worth taking up extra of my dislosable income. This morning when i just gave him his dry food only he was like, wheres the good stuff? Lol

 

[lisahe]

I think Im going to take the plunge and feed benny 1 can a day and not 1/2 can a day. Its obvious he loves his canned food! It'll cost quite a bit more to do this once i get the 2nd cat but i think its worth it. And i can easily afford it but i just thought it wasnt worth taking up extra of my dislosable income. This morning when i just gave him his dry food only he was like, wheres the good stuff? Lol

Good for you--wet food definitely does cost more but it's so much better for them than dry food that it's totally worth it! 

I will have to try those I hear petco (I hate that store) might carry it!

That's where I first bought it. I'm not a big fan of Petco, either, because they don't have much that I want to buy, though some of their employees are pretty helpful, especially a vet tech guy who's very knowledgeable about cat food and nutrition.

 

[kittyluv387]

I keep finding better and better cat food. Currently have 3 different dry cat foods at home lol. Bennys on wellness core but orijen cat and kitten formula seems amazing. So im picking that up at the store tonight after work.

 

[kittyluv387]

Okay. After work im also picking up the 3lb raw nuggets for my Benny. Been doing all kinds of research because of his diarrhea/soft stools. I think this is the best he can get commercially. And actually its cheaper than doing high quality canned food plus dry food combo.

 

[lisahe]

Okay. After work im also picking up the 3lb raw nuggets for my Benny. Been doing all kinds of research because of his diarrhea/soft stools. I think this is the best he can get commercially. And actually its cheaper than doing high quality canned food plus dry food combo.

Hmm, are you buying Primal? Or maybe Nature's Variety?

Whichever it is, don't despair if he doesn't like it immediately... there are ways of getting them to eat it! And yes, I think you're right that raw food (at least some) is the best you can get commercially. Our cats get about 60% raw, 40% canned and I suspect the raw works out a little  cheaper because it all gets eaten.

In any case, I hope it helps with Benny's diarrhea!

 

[kittyluv387]

Thanks! The brand is primal raw. Which do you use? I bought it as a back up for last resort if his diarrhea doesnt resolve from canned and dry combo.

 

[lisahe]

Thanks! The brand is primal raw. Which do you use? I bought it as a back up for last resort if his diarrhea doesnt resolve from canned and dry combo.

Primal! They only eat the freeze-dried now but used to eat frozen, too. They also get a little Rad Cat every day. I hope Benny likes it: I do think raw food is really good for cats even if it's only a small part of their diet. (I started ours on just a little every day, as a treat.)

 

[kittyluv387]

I got back from the vet again. He recommended IAMS and said its good for pets with diarrhea and that he feeds his own pets that -.- i didnt say much since hes nice and i respect his knowledge. He didnt push prescription food on me. He said he also doesnt trust these newer companies coming out with these new pet foods. He also didnt like the idea of raw cuz of bacteria. I just kept quiet. I really cant bring myself to feed Benny grocery store brands filled with junk although hes a vet and im not. Felt awkward.

 

[LTS3]

Just because he's a vet doesn't mean that he knows what's best to feed a cat. Vet schools don't teach much about nutrition. rRemember, it's your cat so you make the decisions on what to feed. The vet may recommend certain brands but ultimately the choice is yours. Many vets are against raw food for various reasons so don't expect much support from any vet on raw diets. If done properly, a raw diet can be great for a cat. Commercial raw pet foods are a good place to start.

 

[lisahe]

I agree with @LTS3 on all counts! It might make your vet feel better to know that many of Primal's foods -- all the poultry -- are treated for bacteria. They also use a test and hold program. Here's more information about it.

I think a lot of vets get nervous about raw food and the bacteria because they've seen irresponsible feeding: unbalanced diets and people not observing common sense rules for handling and feeding raw foods.

The saddest part about all this is that, like LTS3 said, many vets don't know much at all about feline nutrition. We went through that with our previous cat's vets: some of them were super-nice but they were pretty dog-oriented and really didn't know what cats should eat. Our new vet is great: she's not big on raw but she's accepting of it. I think part of the problem is that not many people feed raw to their cats, at least where I live (this is what I hear in stores), so vets don't have much experience with it and aren't really aware that there are good commercial foods available.

Good luck, @kittyluv387, a lot of us have had these food problems with their vets for the same reasons as you: we just want to feed our cats decent food!