Is fancy feast truly horrible for cats?

[scorpgirl68]

 
how funny i was at petsupermarket just now and noticed a brand called natural balance, i decided to get their wet food, because it has so few ingredients, and ingredients i actually recognize, in contrast to fancy feast.

im going to try it and see if my cat likes it, if not, back to fancy feast! lol

im thinking of mixing half fancy feast and half natural balance in case it doesnt agree with her. i have heard wellness is supposedly even healthier, but i didnt see it at the store.

I feed my cats Natural Balance Indoor wet. So far it is the only canned they will eat. I get it at Pet Supplies Plus and it is usually on sale 1.29 per 5.5oz can. I have not yet tried FF or other less expensive brands.

 

[jd3333]

According to GoodGuide, Fancy Feast is rated slightly lower  than Innova (7.3 Innova to 6.3 for fancy feast). My vet actually started my cats on Fancy Feast Grilled Turkey. When you look at the cost difference, if you have 1 cat, it's not a big deal. I have many and the price difference, plus they all love the FF meaning the same flavor and not having to switch up, makes it a worthwhile trade off. I have never had a health issue with any cat (past 20 years) using FF. The grilled Turkey seems to be the most popular with cats since it is the 1 variety that is constantly out of stock at 2 different PetSmarts and 1 PetCo.

This site seems like a really good source: http://www.goodguide.com/categories/334088-cat-food They rated almost 700 cat food (canned) and have reviews of dry food as well

 

[raintyger]

Originally Posted by Jd3333  

This site seems like a really good source: http://www.goodguide.com/categories/334088-cat-food They rated almost 700 cat food (canned) and have reviews of dry food as well

I really don't know if I would trust this guide. It rates Science Diet, which is way too high in carbs, very highly and other brands like Wellness Core or Taste of the Wild, and Orijen, which have solid reputations low. I tried to see what these ratings were based on, but I couldn't find any explanation.

 

[andrya]

 

Originally Posted by Jd3333  

This site seems like a really good source: http://www.goodguide.com/categories/334088-cat-food They rated almost 700 cat food (canned) and have reviews of dry food as well

I really don't know if I would trust this guide. It rates Science Diet, which is way too high in carbs, very highly and other brands like Wellness Core or Taste of the Wild, and Orijen, which have solid reputations low. I tried to see what these ratings were based on, but I couldn't find any explanation.

     

   some of the ingredients it lists as "desirable" are: ground yellow corn, wheat flour, brewers rice, dried whey, soybean mill run, whole grain corn, etc!

No wonder Wellness Core is way behind Purina and SD when that is what they're judged by.

 

[pinkdagger]

It looks like they rate other things equally with nutrition,

 

Environment

This company's environmental policies, practices and performance place it among the best 25% of companies rated by GoodGuide.

Society

This company's social policies, practices and performance place it among the best 25% of companies rated by GoodGuide.

While I understand some people's need to ensure they are supporting a good company whose practices are equally good, I don't think they should be held at the same level as nutrition. The scores get skewed a lot when really good foods get ranked lower in general because they have a 7-8 point score in health, but something like a 3 in both environment and society (Wellness, Nature's Variety - these are good foods that many of our members can vouch to in some degree, but they're among the bottom ranked even though they're among the most nutritionally appropriate).

 
     

   some of the ingredients it lists as "desirable" are: ground yellow corn, wheat flour, brewers rice, dried whey, soybean mill run, whole grain corn, etc!

No wonder Wellness Core is way behind Purina and SD when that is what they're judged by.

YIKES! I didn't even realize they listed corn as desirable! That's so unfortunate because it's such a large database and people are bound to find and use it when choosing a food.

 

[thehistorian]

 
Every single can of Fancy Feast contains synthetic vitamin k3 - commonly known as menadion sodium bisulfate & some other names. It is banned for pets & people in Europe and for people in the US. It basically causes red blood cells to break up and burst and prevents blood coagulating. Unlike other forms of vitamin K, it is not excreted and it accumulates in the tissues. I fed my cat fancy feast for 10 years, then she cut her paw & it was all over. I brought her to the vet to stitch it - she needed only one stitch - but the bleeding wouldn't stop - she needed a blood transfusion which she got but then she still couldn't hold down food. 3 weeks (and $4000) of trying to save her life - she was put down. I started researching anemia in felines and there is case after case of these cats becoming anemic & dying for no known reason. My cat had an ultrasound, an echocardiogram - her kidneys, liver, thyroid, heart were healthy. She was spayed as a kitten had no coagulating problem then. Other ingredients that have been questioned are cranberries - which is contained in many premium brands and contain benzoid acid - the same ingredient in asprin, and Rosemary extract - causes seizures or Yucca extract - the Yucca plant is toxic to cats. Fancy Feast also contains the controversial carcinogen carrageenan in almost every can. If it is all you can afford, I strongly recommend that you alternative giving it with one of the these other brands - or giving home cooked chicken, liver, eggs on alternate days - check the web for recipees or ask your vet. After spending literally a day on the internet searching dozens of cat foods - I only found 2 that did not contain any of the ingredients I listed & they were Organix - and only the regular variety - NOT the organic grain free (which contained carreegnan) or the the pate (which contained cranberries & yucca & alfalfa which has some issues if you research) and the TIKI brand cat food. Both are expensive but the TIKI is really expensive. The HALO brand came close but only the SPOTS STEW  variety and unfortunately that contained garlic powder (and we all well know how controversial garlic is for cats), plus a lot of vegetable which add little to a cat's diet. I would recommend getting these brands and feeding alternatively with home made meals & if you have to use the fancy feast - giving that while supplementing the others. Dry food was a nightmare - every food I found contained either Rosemary Extract, carrageenan or MSB except for Petsmart's own Authority Brand kibble. And of that the only one I would recommend would be the Real Turkey for Sensitive Stomachs because the other all contained corn & corn products - high on the list - and corn is not readily digestible for cats. It was overwhelming doing this research but that is what I narrowed healthy choices down too - products without questionable or toxic ingredients and that is a damn shame isn't it? It won't be until we start SCREAMING for some regulation in the pet food industry that we will force these manufacturers to come up with safer food products at reasonable prices. IF anyone finds any other food products that don't contain these ingredients - I would love to hear about it. In fact, maybe I'll take this post and start a new thread and see what others come up with.

I am glad I read this before I started using Sheba Cat as a cheap alternative to the more expensive brands I use. It has synthetic vitamin K in it. Gross. Thank you! O_O

I will not be touching Fancy feast then. The safest and cheapest wet cat food I have found that meets my criteria as far as I can tell is Nutro Natural Choice Soft Loaf Turkey and and Chunky Loaf Chicken Pates. The place I work at and shop at sells them for 1.19 a can. They are only slightly cheaper with my employee discount. There are no grains, veggies, or carbs of any sort in the food. Furthermore, I do not see any other red flag ingredients in the labels.

Chunky Loaf Chicken:

Chicken,  Chicken Broth,  Chicken Liver,  Pork Broth,  Natural Flavors,  Guar Gum,  Sodium Phosphate,  Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols),Minerals (Calcium Carbonate,  Potassium Chloride,  Ferrous Sulfate,  Zinc Oxide,  Copper Proteinate,  Manganese Sulfate,  Sodium Selenite,Potassium Iodide),  Salt,  Vitamins (Choline Chloride,  Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1],  Vitamin E Supplement,  Niacin,  d-Calcium Pantothenate,Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6],  Vitamin A Supplement,  Vitamin D3 Supplement,  Biotin,  Vitamin B12 Supplement,  Folic Acid),  Taurine

Soft Loaf Turkey:

Turkey,  Turkey Broth,  Turkey Liver,  Pork Broth,  Natural Flavors,  Minerals (Calcium Carbonate,  Potassium Chloride,  Ferrous Sulfate,  Zinc Oxide,Copper Proteinate,  Manganese Sulfate,  Sodium Selenite,  Potassium Iodide),  Sodium Phosphate,  Xanthan Gum,  Vitamins (Choline Chloride,Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1],  Vitamin E Supplement,  Niacin,  d-Calcium Pantothenate,  Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6],  Vitamin A Supplement,  Vitamin D3 Supplement,  Biotin,  Vitamin B12 Supplement,  Folic Acid),  Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols),  Carrageenan,Carob Bean Gum,  Salt,  Taurine

The only issue is that Nutro Natural Choice's other formulas have ingredients I do not approve of and thus I cannot provide her any variety on just Nutro Natural Choice. Thus, I have resorted to buying some Wild Calling every so often (so expensive but they come in 5.5 oz cans so you get a day's worth of food per can) to offer her some novel proteins without any of the crap in them. Of course, Wild Calling is packaged by Evanger's but as with most endeavors, it is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. Thus far I have had no problem with Wild Calling and she seemed to enjoy the novel protein sources so much!

Who would think feeding one's feline baby would be such an expensive pain. 

 

 

[plan]

Many would advise to let him eat as much as he wants until he is 1 year old. This has not worked out for us. I think that 6-8 months is a more appropriate age to start measuring food and introducing scheduled feeding, if you haven't already. However, he will have growth spurts. You will see that there will be times when no matter how much you feed him he'll still be hungry - that's perfectly normal. In the mean time, enjoy your kitty. Time flies by really fast.

Just wanted to say that, two months after reading your post, I've seen my kitten go through the stages you mentioned. Thanks for the good advice.

He went from eating a LOT as a tiny little guy, to eating even more, then after a major growth spurt he really dialed it back and wouldn't finish the portions the majority of the time. I got a little worried for a week or two there, but he had a full examination and there was nothing wrong with him. Now at 4 1/2 months or so, he's got a pretty big appetite again and I figure he'll probably have another growth spurt, if he's not in the middle of one already.

Surprisingly, even after he was neutered this week, he wanted food and lots of it. I was cautious and gave him smaller portions at first, but when it was clear he wasn't going to get sick, we went back to his normal routine. Overall he has handled it like a trooper and hardly missed a beat, aside from the initial post-surgery confusion and drug haze.

Thanks again for the good advice.

 

[remmiebrandt]

 
I am glad I read this before I started using Sheba Cat as a cheap alternative to the more expensive brands I use. It has synthetic vitamin K in it. Gross. Thank you! O_O

I will not be touching Fancy feast then. The safest and cheapest wet cat food I have found that meets my criteria as far as I can tell is Nutro Natural Choice Soft Loaf Turkey and and Chunky Loaf Chicken Pates. The place I work at and shop at sells them for 1.19 a can. They are only slightly cheaper with my employee discount. There are no grains, veggies, or carbs of any sort in the food. Furthermore, I do not see any other red flag ingredients in the labels.

Chunky Loaf Chicken:

Chicken,  Chicken Broth,  Chicken Liver,  Pork Broth,  Natural Flavors,  Guar Gum,  Sodium Phosphate,  Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols),Minerals (Calcium Carbonate,  Potassium Chloride,  Ferrous Sulfate,  Zinc Oxide,  Copper Proteinate,  Manganese Sulfate,  Sodium Selenite,Potassium Iodide),  Salt,  Vitamins (Choline Chloride,  Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1],  Vitamin E Supplement,  Niacin,  d-Calcium Pantothenate,Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6],  Vitamin A Supplement,  Vitamin D3 Supplement,  Biotin,  Vitamin B12 Supplement,  Folic Acid),  Taurine

Soft Loaf Turkey:

Turkey,  Turkey Broth,  Turkey Liver,  Pork Broth,  Natural Flavors,  Minerals (Calcium Carbonate,  Potassium Chloride,  Ferrous Sulfate,  Zinc Oxide,Copper Proteinate,  Manganese Sulfate,  Sodium Selenite,  Potassium Iodide),  Sodium Phosphate,  Xanthan Gum,  Vitamins (Choline Chloride,Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1],  Vitamin E Supplement,  Niacin,  d-Calcium Pantothenate,  Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6],  Vitamin A Supplement,  Vitamin D3 Supplement,  Biotin,  Vitamin B12 Supplement,  Folic Acid),  Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols),  Carrageenan,Carob Bean Gum,  Salt,  Taurine

The only issue is that Nutro Natural Choice's other formulas have ingredients I do not approve of and thus I cannot provide her any variety on just Nutro Natural Choice. Thus, I have resorted to buying some Wild Calling every so often (so expensive but they come in 5.5 oz cans so you get a day's worth of food per can) to offer her some novel proteins without any of the crap in them. Of course, Wild Calling is packaged by Evanger's but as with most endeavors, it is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. Thus far I have had no problem with Wild Calling and she seemed to enjoy the novel protein sources so much!

Who would think feeding one's feline baby would be such an expensive pain. 

 

No problem - I will check into that brand myself. For some reason it sticks in my mind as having been a brand with quite a few recalls though.  It really is ridiculous that feeding these cats a healthy and affordable food they like has become such a huge issue. Our government really needs to do a better job monitoring the situation. K3 should be banned and Purina and those other brands should use a more responsible substitute of its own volition.  Firstmate seems to be the healthiest food that they like but it just isn't available in my area and online it is not affordable at $40 a case. I've been getting the hound and gatos beef which they tolerate when I mix in home cooked chicken into it. I try now to supplement their diets with home cooked and will be looking into getting the vitamins for raw to add into it because I feel irresponsible feeding raw to my pets with all the attendant risks but I'm really unable to find healthy, affordable canned foods that they like. I sometimes feed the Tiki chicken brand but I worry about that too since its made in Thailand as is wellness selects signature brand which also seems pretty non toxic except my cats don't like it. And of that there are only 2 flavors without carragenan which I also try to avoid - for people & pets. They are killing our pets slowly. In fact I just saw that there is a brand - Weruva Truluxe Peking Ducken - it actually says on the label that feeding it to your cats will increase your cats 9 lives to 10. So these manufacturers are well aware of the accumulated toxicity of the ingredients they use. This Truluxe has none of them that I saw but it is $1.50 for 2.8 ounce can - ridiculous. Organix was another brand that seemed pretty healthy but my cats wouldn't eat it. I also avoid cranberries because the benzoic acid is toxic - and rosemary & yucca because the plants are toxic. The manufacturers claim its such a small amount that it isn't toxic but then there's probably no nutritional value in it either so why bother putting it in at all and taking the chance of the long term risks of feeding them poisonous plants? I asked Halo why they insist in putting garlic powder in their spot's stew and that was their answer too - its only a small amount. So I crossed that brand off my list too which is too bad because if it wasn't for that garlic I would try it. Also I try to find a food that uses copper protenate instead of copper sulfate - which I believe the firstmate, hound & gatos beef and the regular organix do. It almost seems like they are trying to hurt our pets!

 

[ritz]

Some of us have gone to homemade cooked or raw for the reasons cited above. There is a lot of information in our subforum in nutrition.

 

[thehistorian]

 
No problem - I will check into that brand myself. For some reason it sticks in my mind as having been a brand with quite a few recalls though.  It really is ridiculous that feeding these cats a healthy and affordable food they like has become such a huge issue. Our government really needs to do a better job monitoring the situation. K3 should be banned and Purina and those other brands should use a more responsible substitute of its own volition.  Firstmate seems to be the healthiest food that they like but it just isn't available in my area and online it is not affordable at $40 a case. I've been getting the hound and gatos beef which they tolerate when I mix in home cooked chicken into it. I try now to supplement their diets with home cooked and will be looking into getting the vitamins for raw to add into it because I feel irresponsible feeding raw to my pets with all the attendant risks but I'm really unable to find healthy, affordable canned foods that they like. I sometimes feed the Tiki chicken brand but I worry about that too since its made in Thailand as is wellness selects signature brand which also seems pretty non toxic except my cats don't like it. And of that there are only 2 flavors without carragenan which I also try to avoid - for people & pets. They are killing our pets slowly. In fact I just saw that there is a brand - Weruva Truluxe Peking Ducken - it actually says on the label that feeding it to your cats will increase your cats 9 lives to 10. So these manufacturers are well aware of the accumulated toxicity of the ingredients they use. This Truluxe has none of them that I saw but it is $1.50 for 2.8 ounce can - ridiculous. Organix was another brand that seemed pretty healthy but my cats wouldn't eat it. I also avoid cranberries because the benzoic acid is toxic - and rosemary & yucca because the plants are toxic. The manufacturers claim its such a small amount that it isn't toxic but then there's probably no nutritional value in it either so why bother putting it in at all and taking the chance of the long term risks of feeding them poisonous plants? I asked Halo why they insist in putting garlic powder in their spot's stew and that was their answer too - its only a small amount. So I crossed that brand off my list too which is too bad because if it wasn't for that garlic I would try it. Also I try to find a food that uses copper protenate instead of copper sulfate - which I believe the firstmate, hound & gatos beef and the regular organix do. It almost seems like they are trying to hurt our pets!

I know. Pet food is so difficult. I work in the pet industry right now myself. I am well aware that Nutro has had several recalls, but pretty much every brand of cat food I have ever looked at has a.) Had some sort of recall, or b.) While being 100% nontoxic, is either too fish based, too low in calories to serve as a substantial portion of the cat's calories for the day, is expensive, or all of the above. The reason I chose Nutro Natural Choice wet food is as follows: it has no vegetables, no grains, a few of the formulas have no carrageenan, and it does not use K3. I use the chicken, turkey, and duck loaf formulas because my girl likes the textures. Sadly, the duck contains carrageenan, but I rotate it out because the chicken and turkey do not contain carrageenan. She only gets Nutro Natural Choice wet food twice a week because I don't want to over dose her on the vitamin A in the liver in those formulas. The rest of the time I use Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Chicken Fricka Zee, Fowl Ball (Chicken and Turkey) and the Double Dip (Chicken and Beef). They are liver free, but the the Double Dip has some added beef lung/ A twenty-four can case of 3.2 ounce cans costs 25.49 on Chewy.com. She loves them because while they meat packed, they are still soft and kind of have a pate' feel without actually being pate. I have tried Tiki Cat with her and she does not care for it at all. She eats it very half-heartedly and I also think it contributed to some recent problems she has been having. 

As for the dry food, and I know this is controversial - I have started using Canidae Pure Elements because if you actually sit down and compare it to every other known dry cat food out there, it ultimately has more animal based protein than plant based protein. It is also has an extremely simple ingredients list aside from the added vitamins and minerals. The ingredients minus the minerals and vitamins:

Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, potatoes, peas, chicken fat, lamb meal, natural flavor, menhaden fish meal.

As opposed to something like Blue Buffalo, Wellness etc. Fromm, etc. there are no blue berries, random extracts, rosemary, or any other random fillers that should not be in there. There are just the typical old potatoes and peas and I already know what those can do in excess etc. As for the dried chicory root, apple cider vinegar, dried kelp, carrots etc. found in a lot of say, the Nature's Variety Instinct kibble, I have no idea what those do. They are just more unnecessary fillers that are potentially harmful to my furbaby. So while lower in carbs than Canidae, Nature's Variety just has too much stuff in it for me to stomach.

 

[peer jones]

My spoilt little buggers won't eat any of the pate varieties, they will go hungry rather than touch it.

Kat-Kat (aka Flash) specifically wants Ocean Whitefish with Tuna for 'breakfast' and beef in gravy shreds around 'tea time'  - plus, small can of Publix cat food. around midnight

Pauli isn't too fussed on beef, she generally want's chicken with 'whatever' shreds

They also have various 'dry' foods as they like something crunchy.

Both play really well together and do a tremendous amount of running about so neither is fat.

 

[remmiebrandt]

 
I know. Pet food is so difficult. I work in the pet industry right now myself. I am well aware that Nutro has had several recalls, but pretty much every brand of cat food I have ever looked at has a.) Had some sort of recall, or b.) While being 100% nontoxic, is either too fish based, too low in calories to serve as a substantial portion of the cat's calories for the day, is expensive, or all of the above. The reason I chose Nutro Natural Choice wet food is as follows: it has no vegetables, no grains, a few of the formulas have no carrageenan, and it does not use K3. I use the chicken, turkey, and duck loaf formulas because my girl likes the textures. Sadly, the duck contains carrageenan, but I rotate it out because the chicken and turkey do not contain carrageenan. She only gets Nutro Natural Choice wet food twice a week because I don't want to over dose her on the vitamin A in the liver in those formulas. The rest of the time I use Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Chicken Fricka Zee, Fowl Ball (Chicken and Turkey) and the Double Dip (Chicken and Beef). They are liver free, but the the Double Dip has some added beef lung/ A twenty-four can case of 3.2 ounce cans costs 25.49 on Chewy.com. She loves them because while they meat packed, they are still soft and kind of have a pate' feel without actually being pate. I have tried Tiki Cat with her and she does not care for it at all. She eats it very half-heartedly and I also think it contributed to some recent problems she has been having. 

As for the dry food, and I know this is controversial - I have started using Canidae Pure Elements because if you actually sit down and compare it to every other known dry cat food out there, it ultimately has more animal based protein than plant based protein. It is also has an extremely simple ingredients list aside from the added vitamins and minerals. The ingredients minus the minerals and vitamins:

Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, potatoes, peas, chicken fat, lamb meal, natural flavor, menhaden fish meal.

As opposed to something like Blue Buffalo, Wellness etc. Fromm, etc. there are no blue berries, random extracts, rosemary, or any other random fillers that should not be in there. There are just the typical old potatoes and peas and I already know what those can do in excess etc. As for the dried chicory root, apple cider vinegar, dried kelp, carrots etc. found in a lot of say, the Nature's Variety Instinct kibble, I have no idea what those do. They are just more unnecessary fillers that are potentially harmful to my furbaby. So while lower in carbs than Canidae, Nature's Variety just has too much stuff in it for me to stomach.

I just found Weruva Truluxe in the pet store so I bought it even though it was really expensive - unfortunately there is no flavor of it my cat will eat. They actually would go the whole day without eating when I tried feeding it to them. The best foods I found are the Organix regular - not pate or grain free - the Hound & Gatos, Fromm and Firstmate but again, I can't get my cats to eat the Fromm or the Organix (by Castor & Pollox) which has just been bought by Merrick and they are adding flavors with cranberries and other toxic plants like yucca and rosemary which is what ruined the Merrick food for me. The Halo Spot's Stew I would have tried but won't even bother because of the garlic powder they insist on ruining it with . They liked Firstmate but it is unavailable on the East Coast in the US at least around here unless you buy it on Amazon but it is unaffordable and I read complaints that it is nearly expired when shipped so its not worth it.. So I am pulling my hair out to avoid Mendione (synthetic K3 - bisulfate - whatever they call it on the label) which I am pretty sure contributed to the death of my first cat via anemia. The 2nd one has liver issues and all they were fed was this fancy feast before I read and knew about the medione - plus most of the supermarket brands all contain it. I wish they would ban its use like they did for human use and it would make it much easier to buy a non poisonous food.  I took away dry food entirely but I still can't find a good canned food that apparently also tastes good to them. Pulling out my hair.

 

[thehistorian]

 
I just found Weruva Truluxe in the pet store so I bought it even though it was really expensive - unfortunately there is no flavor of it my cat will eat. They actually would go the whole day without eating when I tried feeding it to them. The best foods I found are the Organix regular - not pate or grain free - the Hound & Gatos, Fromm and Firstmate but again, I can't get my cats to eat the Fromm or the Organix (by Castor & Pollox) which has just been bought by Merrick and they are adding flavors with cranberries and other toxic plants like yucca and rosemary which is what ruined the Merrick food for me. The Halo Spot's Stew I would have tried but won't even bother because of the garlic powder they insist on ruining it with . They liked Firstmate but it is unavailable on the East Coast in the US at least around here unless you buy it on Amazon but it is unaffordable and I read complaints that it is nearly expired when shipped so its not worth it.. So I am pulling my hair out to avoid Mendione (synthetic K3 - bisulfate - whatever they call it on the label) which I am pretty sure contributed to the death of my first cat via anemia. The 2nd one has liver issues and all they were fed was this fancy feast before I read and knew about the medione - plus most of the supermarket brands all contain it. I wish they would ban its use like they did for human use and it would make it much easier to buy a non poisonous food.  I took away dry food entirely but I still can't find a good canned food that apparently also tastes good to them. Pulling out my hair.

Finding a food or rather foods your cat or in your case foods your cats will like is hard. Find out what meats and textures your cats like. My single kitty right now seems to prefer pates and some brands have multiple textures of the same meat. Try Nutro Natural Choice. They minced, sliced, and pate versions of chicken and turkey for their cans. No, it is not considered the best but it is pretty simple and considered middle of the road at least. I personally will not buy Weruva Truluxe anymore because it is more water than meat and I can just add water at home. Stick to Weruva Cats in the Kitchen if you can find it. It is more economical and you can find it online at Chewy.com with free shipping for $49 dollars (plus) with free shipping. 

 

[remmiebrandt]

 
You will pay a lot more in vet fees eventually. Mendione is toxic. It is not metabolized by cats. It is not excreted. It builds up in their tissues. If you can not afford to pay for a better brand then giving a good home to a cat and feeding him what you can afford is the best you can do but it is not the best the cat food manufacturers can do and feeding them toxic poison that is affordable or leaving them in a shelter because you can't afford a non toxic brand - really isn't much of a choice for us. To me that really isn't a fair choice. Mendione, copper sulfate, carageenan, cranberries, yucca - it should all be illegal to be in pet food and we shouldn't have to pay more for a safe pet food than we spend on our own lunch!

 
Finding a food or rather foods your cat or in your case foods your cats will like is hard. Find out what meats and textures your cats like. My single kitty right now seems to prefer pates and some brands have multiple textures of the same meat. Try Nutro Natural Choice. They minced, sliced, and pate versions of chicken and turkey for their cans. No, it is not considered the best but it is pretty simple and considered middle of the road at least. I personally will not buy Weruva Truluxe anymore because it is more water than meat and I can just add water at home. Stick to Weruva Cats in the Kitchen if you can find it. It is more economical and you can find it online at Chewy.com with free shipping for $49 dollars (plus) with free shipping. 

Oh well I looked at it and was all set to try it - the ingredients look great & its on sale at pet supplies plus 10 for $8 but then I did a google search and came up with some really bad reviews - mostly dog food but no way am I taking a chance. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html 

They are recent reviews and there's a facebook page seeking a recall of the new formula. Thanks anyway - oh my gosh I think I'm going to start cooking food and buying supplements. Someone on another thread recommended this so that's where I'm headed next - http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/alnutrin_supplements.html -you can buy your own organic chicken and meat -  cook it --and then supplement and that looks like for me what I'm going to do. Just can't deal with these commercial products anymore..

 

[bonepicker]

how funny i was at petsupermarket just now and noticed a brand called natural balance, i decided to get their wet food, because it has so few ingredients, and ingredients i actually recognize, in contrast to fancy feast.

im going to try it and see if my cat likes it, if not, back to fancy feast! lol

im thinking of mixing half fancy feast and half natural balance in case it doesnt agree with her. i have heard wellness is supposedly even healthier, but i didnt see it at the store.

My cats love natural balance ultra canned and orijen dry.

 

[bonepicker]

I really don't know if I would trust this guide. It rates Science Diet, which is way too high in carbs, very highly and other brands like Wellness Core or Taste of the Wild, and Orijen, which have solid reputations low. I tried to see what these ratings were based on, but I couldn't find any explanation.

Right you are that is the worst rating system I have seen. It must have been started by the junk food companies. Try consumer reports and ask about cats. Com

 

[pharber-murphy]

This is an interesting thread. We have a (we think) 19-year-old Korat (a solid grey Siamese) who had five teeth left in his mouth and was diagnosed with CKD about a year ago. I did some research and decided to switch from Fancy Feast to a higher protein canned food. For a while he liked Wellness Chicken & Herring, Chicken & Lobster, Turkey & Salmon, and Salmon & Trout.

He went back to the vet about a month ago for an annual check-up (with blood work, since he has been diagnosed with CKD) and they pulled another tooth. When I got him home that night, he immediately tried to bite into a Royal Canin Oral Sensitive kibble, which must have hurt an awful lot because he stopped eating altogether. It got to the point that I watered down the Wellness food and force fed him a few times. I think it was at that point that he decided he hated Wellness and now he will barely touch it.

I will say that while he was on the Wellness diet, he did gain weight (he only weighs about 6 pounds). Now that he's back on the Fancy Feast, he is eating (up to 2 whole cans a day!). However, he has not picked up the weight he lost over those two-three days that I was force-feeding him. His hip bones stick out and you can feel every vertebrae in his spine. I told hubby the other day that a stranger would report me to the SPCA because he looks so malnourished!

I've been reading some more on CKD - one site recommends that phosphorous be kept to an absolute minimum (0.50%). Only a few brands of canned food fit this criteria and I'm not even sure they sell them here in Canada. But, I'm willing to try anything. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me put some weight back on Mr. Grimsby? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

BTW, our other cat Bertha won't touch canned food (although she loves the occasional bite of raw chicken or fish) and only eats kibble. Her teeth are in great shape; I don't know about her digestive tract because she's too young to have blood work done according to our vet's standard practice. She's about five-years-old and seriously overweight. In our defense, she had an eating disorder when we brought her home from the shelter. She's finally gotten much better about food - she doesn't think she has to eat everything in sight immediately and will walk away from food in her bowl now.

Thank you for your input.

Best regards,

Phyllis (wait staff of Mr. Grimsby and Bertha)

 

[Kat0121]

 
Finding a food or rather foods your cat or in your case foods your cats will like is hard. Find out what meats and textures your cats like. My single kitty right now seems to prefer pates and some brands have multiple textures of the same meat. Try Nutro Natural Choice. They minced, sliced, and pate versions of chicken and turkey for their cans. No, it is not considered the best but it is pretty simple and considered middle of the road at least. I personally will not buy Weruva Truluxe anymore because it is more water than meat and I can just add water at home. Stick to Weruva Cats in the Kitchen if you can find it. It is more economical and you can find it online at Chewy.com with free shipping for $49 dollars (plus) with free shipping. 

Weruva is also available on Amazon. 24 5.5 ounce cans of paw lickin chicken are $42.40 and 24 6 ounce cans of Cats in the Kitchen chicken frick a zee are $39.99. Both would qualify for free shipping. I just ordered a case of the chicken frick a zee for Lilith and Sophie. It works out to .83 cents a serving. I pay more than that for some supermarket brands. I have been using Amazon Smile and with that, they will make a donation to the charity of my choice which is the branch of the Humane Society where I adopted them and their canine sister Bailey from. It's a win -win situation. 

 

[dd1509]

Not at all! In fact if you do your research, certain Fancy Feast is the best available! They make great offerings which are very high protein and very low carbs which is exactly what you want to feed you cat. If you want to do some research, go to http://mydiabeticcat.com. This site is the very best, straight info, about feeding your cat or kitten.

Feeding your cat crappy dry food is creating a diabetic cat. They will not live to their golden years. There are few if any dry foods which are good for your cat, period!!!

They need protein, period! No veggies, no carbs, just plain protein! The less protein you feed them, sorry to say, you are slowly killing them!

We had. 10 yr. old who became diabetic because we gave him all-he-could-eat crappy dry food. He balooned to 16 lbs. and became diabetic. We saved his life by giving him all wet food diet, which was Fancy Feast and insulin for about 6 months. However we chose only certain cans which were very high protein and almost the lowest carbs they offered. We actually went too low in carbs originally and the cat was always hungry so we chose slightly higher carbs FancyFeast. It worked wonderfully.

He lost 6 lbs over a year, he got off the insulin and is doing very well.

Thanks to Fancy Feast! Sure there are other great wet foods out there and we used them for awhile but net-net, if you want high quality food and at a good price, you can't go wrong with FF!

DD

 

[ander35]

DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE! Now my cat is addicted to crap dry food because I chose to listen to these crazy old cat ladys!