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I've been researching cat food. Surprised I never did this before in the 14 years I've had cats, but I suppose I'm in the majority. Just like anything one can get as picky as they want about something and in my opinion you start to encounter the law of diminishing returns. I think a lot of pet food companies are profiting from psychological guilt that owners aren't giving fluffy the "absolute best" food possible. After all they are animals, not people. I can see some people cringing at that statement, don't get me wrong, I'm a pet lover, all my pets are very healthy as confirmed by annual Vet checkups and I had already fed them good food, not the cheap supermarket junk.
If anyone's curious, for dry food I have gone with the Natural Balance Premium. The ingredients and nutrition make-up are very very similar to the other premium brands, but at closer to $2/lbs instead of $3/lbs. Their wet food is also excellent and I'm currently doing some taste test comparing Natural Balance with Avoderm as both are about $1.39 per 6 oz. can at the store although I probably could get them for less online somewhere. If I have any issues with these, I'll probably go ahead and spend a little more and go with the Halo brand which seems to have the least issues in premium cat food of all brands I've read about. Wellness Core and Innova Evo were my other choices but based on the ingredients and nutrition, they don't seem to offer any major benefit over the bit cheaper Natural Balance.
With that rant... I want to put out a question about Fancy Feast Fish & Shrimp. I think this may be a diamond in the rough. The premium brand wet foods typically have minimum protein of about 10%. Fancy Feast Fish & Shrimp has minimum 17.5% and the general objective with cat food (for a healthy cat) is to maximize the protein and minimize the grains/fillers/by-products. When I read the ingredients I was surprised this flavor has much better ingredient make-up than the other flavors. The only concern I can see is the Sodium Nitrite but it is the 9th ingredient after the Vitamin A an E supplements and if I fed my cat this, I would alternate it with something else anyway. The cost is 60% the cost of Avoderm or Natural Balance but that is comparing the 3 oz. cans. There is no 6 oz. for Fancy Feast so if you compare price per ounce with the 6 oz. Avoderm or Natural Balance, it is $0.24/ounce versus $0.17/ounce so only 30% cheaper, not 60% as I buy the 6 oz. when available. I suppose the only drawback may be they had a class action suit previously but I read it and don't think it would apply to this flavor. Any thoughts?
Per http://hubpages.com/hub/Fancy_Feast_Fla ... rimp_Feast
Fancy Feast Cat Food Ratings: Total Score = 8/10
Fancy Feast Pet Food Danger Gauge Rating 90% Safe (Questionably Safe For Pets)
Fancy Feast Cat Food Review:
Fancy Feast Fish and Shrimp Feast Goumet Cat Food tested very well in this cat food review. Not all flavors of Fancy Feast Cat Food are created equal.
SODIUM NITRITE - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Used in human and veterinary medicine as a vasodilator, a bronchodilator, an intestinal relaxant or a laxative, and an antidote for cyanide poisoning.
Ingredients:
OCEAN FISH, FISH BROTH, SHRIMP, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, VEGETABLE OIL, GUAR GUM, VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS (E, A, D3), SODIUM NITRITE (TO PROMOTE COLOR RETENTION), ZINC SULFATE, THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), MANGANESE SULFATE, RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT.
Guaranteed Analysis %:Moisture (maximum) 78 Crude Protein (minimum) 17.5 Crude Fat (minimum) 2 Crude Fiber (maximum) 1.5
If anyone's curious, for dry food I have gone with the Natural Balance Premium. The ingredients and nutrition make-up are very very similar to the other premium brands, but at closer to $2/lbs instead of $3/lbs. Their wet food is also excellent and I'm currently doing some taste test comparing Natural Balance with Avoderm as both are about $1.39 per 6 oz. can at the store although I probably could get them for less online somewhere. If I have any issues with these, I'll probably go ahead and spend a little more and go with the Halo brand which seems to have the least issues in premium cat food of all brands I've read about. Wellness Core and Innova Evo were my other choices but based on the ingredients and nutrition, they don't seem to offer any major benefit over the bit cheaper Natural Balance.
With that rant... I want to put out a question about Fancy Feast Fish & Shrimp. I think this may be a diamond in the rough. The premium brand wet foods typically have minimum protein of about 10%. Fancy Feast Fish & Shrimp has minimum 17.5% and the general objective with cat food (for a healthy cat) is to maximize the protein and minimize the grains/fillers/by-products. When I read the ingredients I was surprised this flavor has much better ingredient make-up than the other flavors. The only concern I can see is the Sodium Nitrite but it is the 9th ingredient after the Vitamin A an E supplements and if I fed my cat this, I would alternate it with something else anyway. The cost is 60% the cost of Avoderm or Natural Balance but that is comparing the 3 oz. cans. There is no 6 oz. for Fancy Feast so if you compare price per ounce with the 6 oz. Avoderm or Natural Balance, it is $0.24/ounce versus $0.17/ounce so only 30% cheaper, not 60% as I buy the 6 oz. when available. I suppose the only drawback may be they had a class action suit previously but I read it and don't think it would apply to this flavor. Any thoughts?
Per http://hubpages.com/hub/Fancy_Feast_Fla ... rimp_Feast
Fancy Feast Cat Food Ratings: Total Score = 8/10
Fancy Feast Pet Food Danger Gauge Rating 90% Safe (Questionably Safe For Pets)
Fancy Feast Cat Food Review:
Fancy Feast Fish and Shrimp Feast Goumet Cat Food tested very well in this cat food review. Not all flavors of Fancy Feast Cat Food are created equal.
SODIUM NITRITE - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Used in human and veterinary medicine as a vasodilator, a bronchodilator, an intestinal relaxant or a laxative, and an antidote for cyanide poisoning.
Ingredients:
OCEAN FISH, FISH BROTH, SHRIMP, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, VEGETABLE OIL, GUAR GUM, VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS (E, A, D3), SODIUM NITRITE (TO PROMOTE COLOR RETENTION), ZINC SULFATE, THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), MANGANESE SULFATE, RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT.
Guaranteed Analysis %:Moisture (maximum) 78 Crude Protein (minimum) 17.5 Crude Fat (minimum) 2 Crude Fiber (maximum) 1.5