No good cat food available in the market!

[Saikachu]

Hello I am from India and I have this stray cat who is 1.5 yrs old I didn't plan to adopt him but I couldn't resist how cute and helpless he was when I first brought him home,I have been struggling to find the right food with balance nutrients for a cat. So in my country the leading cat food brands are the most unhealthy high in carbs brand,every store I go to,online website all i could find is cheap unhealthy cat food brand with no mention of the most crucial elements like taurine and omega 3 fatty acid. I have a tight budget but even if I try to find good food around here the bst brand I find online or in store is Royal canine which again lacks important nutrients. So I am very lost at the moment feeding him boiled chicken,with chicken organs like heart (rich in taurine) fish because I don't want him to suffer any kind of retina or cardiovascular disease because of those cheap brands. I know what I am feeding him is not sufficient and I even tried to look for a good cat food mix supplement powder and I found none. The only way I can provide him good food is to import it which would again involve heavy import charges making it more expensive for me. I don't want him to suffer any kind of disease in the long run and I do not know what to do. All that the market has to offer in India is wishkas, drools,me-too,purepet,royal canine,sheba,belotta,Applaws,Schesir and none of them make the ideal food or cats but rather complementary food for cats.

 

[StefanZ]

Royal Canine isnt that bad... Im sure an ex homeless cat will survive on this.
Applaws and Schesir shouldnt be too bad either...
Whiskas wet cat food is OK. Although I do admit their dry isnt any good.


You can proceed as you do, give him human grade food. Dont forget fat! You can perhaps find some local butcher? Cats doesnt need the very best meat, so the butcher will prob be just happy to help you for a small money.

Egg youlk is good. Raw is good, but if you do have problems with salomonella in eggs in India, boiled is OK.

Goats milk is excellent, either raw from clean goats, or most commercial products with goats milk are OK.
Raw milk from Buffalo, whom are in India is OK.
Hey, raw milk from old type cows common in India should be OK too. (old type cows give healthier milk than modern type cows).

 

[FeebysOwner]

I know Farmina has a presence in India, and at least some, if not all, of their cat food is nutritionally complete. This is their web site address - Farmina Pet Foods - Cat food. I think one I saw that was complete was called Matisse.

I also don't know about these brands, but you could look them up to see what you think of them, and if they are available in your general area
The 8 Best Cat Foods In India - Cats.com

 

[ProMeower]

I am not from India but, depending on budget and area, maybe online is easier? Heads Up for Tails looks like it has a presence there and I'm linking to "Bruno's" which is the first one I saw that looked good, there may be more.

Finding complete food: ingredients should include taurine supplement at the least. Everything after that is a bonus. I prefer wet food to dry food, and the ingredients should be mostly broth and fish/animal protein. Good ingredients are animal protein like chicken, turkey, beef, fish. Watch out for foods that list "pea protein" - it's cheap and it boosts the "protein content" but cats don't have a long enough digestive tract to digest it fully so it's kind of a cheat by the manufacturer. I avoid anything with "meal" or "byproduct". If possible, you may want to avoid certain thickeners (like carrageenan). If possible, not all meals should be fish - I worry about mercury content and that kitty may decide that fish is too delicious and refuse other protein. Unfortunately the "nutrition analysis" on most labels is not too helpful unless you can get a really detailed one from manufacturer or online, so you can spend a lot of time on it and not get very far. This is why I look at ingredients, and the list is supposed to be listed in order of how much is in the food.

That said - it depends on your budget and what's available. It's better to feed kitty lower quality than not feed kitty at all!
Some cats eat dry kibble only and they're fine. Other cats can develop urinary conditions or diabetes from kibble only (I'm not a vet, just a cat person who has had to manage kitty health through diet).

Once I find the food I liked nutritionally, and establish that the cats would eat it long-term, I buy different flavors and rotate feeding. That way if something runs out or is discontinued, it's not as big of a deal.

Hope this helps!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

One of my cats eats only Sheba right now. I don't think it's a bad food at all. Better than Royal Canin in my opinion.

If you are feeding homemade food, be sure to include liver (heart is not considered an organ for the purposes of feeding raw or homemade cat food) and spleen if you can get it, and don't forget some form of calcium. Bones (NOT cooked) or crushed egg shells. Here is a thread that might be very helpful: Helpful Resources: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food Forum

 

[jencat]

One of my cats eats some Sheba food as well. She's picky so as long as she will eat some wet I am OK with it. I don't know if the ingredients are different depending on the country, but here in America, the pate she eats has no byproducts or carrageenan listed.