Have you tried a feed store? The last time I went to a major feed store they had several brands of cat food available in 40-lb bags.
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- Thread starter andrewweilin
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Well, I'm a raw-feeder wanna-be...and it hasn't happened yet. I'm still very much in the researching stages of raw feeding, and my kitties are still on Nutro Natural Choice wet and dry, which they've done okay on so far. I have to admit that when I began looking into it and reading the information on raw feeding, I was skeptical. Unfortunately, after reading a lot of testimonials and literature on the subject, I found that there no commercially-prepared foods on the market that are "premium" enough...they are so easy to buy, can seem to cost a lot less than a raw diet, and have been deemed nutritionally balanced. But I did start to ask myself...when would Fergus, Ripley, or Steuben ever choose as a carnivore to eat meat-flavored cereal on their own? Sadly, I do think the answer is never. It's been said that a whole mouse is the perfect nutritional package for our feline friends...the proper amounts of protein, calcium, taurine, water, phosperous, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, etc. Sure, our pets are domesticated...but their teeth have NOT changed through the course of evolution! They are still designed to tear, shred, and rip through muscle meat, bone, ligaments, organs, etc. No where in a mouse, chicken, cornish game hen, or rabbit will you find grains, with the exception of what the prey themselves have digested, and the small amounts left in their stomach contents...and that minute amount certainly isn't in excess of ground yellow corn or corn gluten meal.
Personally, we are simply seeing too many cats going into the vets these days with diabetes, renal failure, fatty liver disease, and urinary-related problems...problems often caused by the over-abundance of carbs in commercially-prepared foods, and problems with dehydration in enthusiastic kibble-noshers (such as my own kitties at this time). Fortunately, once I get the ball rolling on feeding raw, I have calculated that I will have to spend 2-3 hours a MONTH only preparing their meals, and I will also be spending less money visiting my butcher than I currently do visiting Petsmart.
I just thought I'd take a minute to provide my
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I am in no way criticizing anyone that feeds commercial (premium or cheaper) brands...hey, that's what I've always done, and my cats have always been healthy. My last cat survived nearly 19 years on Friskies wet food alone, so I do acknowledge the role that genetic dispositions play.
It's a hot debate, but it's fun to see what everyone feeds. I think everyone should decide their cats diet based on what works best for themselves, and their animals.
Personally, we are simply seeing too many cats going into the vets these days with diabetes, renal failure, fatty liver disease, and urinary-related problems...problems often caused by the over-abundance of carbs in commercially-prepared foods, and problems with dehydration in enthusiastic kibble-noshers (such as my own kitties at this time). Fortunately, once I get the ball rolling on feeding raw, I have calculated that I will have to spend 2-3 hours a MONTH only preparing their meals, and I will also be spending less money visiting my butcher than I currently do visiting Petsmart.
I just thought I'd take a minute to provide my
I am in no way criticizing anyone that feeds commercial (premium or cheaper) brands...hey, that's what I've always done, and my cats have always been healthy. My last cat survived nearly 19 years on Friskies wet food alone, so I do acknowledge the role that genetic dispositions play.
It's a hot debate, but it's fun to see what everyone feeds. I think everyone should decide their cats diet based on what works best for themselves, and their animals.
Ooooh, I didn't even think to try there. We have a Southern States here that I could go to. Thanks!! We do visit the one store my Mom gets her dogs groomed at, but, their prices are so high it's unreal.
Ultimately what people want to feed their cats is up to them, but the "I know cats who lived long, healthy lives on grocery store brand cat food, so it must be okay" line of logic drives me crazy. Anecdotal evidence doesn't mean anything - my grandfather, for example, is an alcoholic who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, and he's well into his eighties and quite healthy - that doesn't mean that chain-smoking and and excessive drinking are healthy, it just means that some people, and some cats, beat the odds. If people want to feed 'cheap' food, well, okay (I'd never do it, but if others want to that's up to them, obviously), but claiming that cheap food is just as good as 'premium' food based on anecdotal evidence is just so erroneous.
Somehow the comparison doesn't quite match. Cigarrettes and alcohol are far more damaging to us people than grocery store cat food is to cats. Plus a significant amount of people are harmed by cigarrettes and alcohol but no significant number of cats have been harmed by eating grocery store brand foods. There is higher quality and lower quality pet food for sure and premium foods are nutritionally better than non-premium, but I've never seen any evidence or study to prove that a food such as Friskies, for example, does harm to cats. But plenty of studies have proven the harmful effects of cigarrettes and alcohol. Do you know of any veterinary case in which a cat was diagnosed with health problems because it ate Friskies or Purina Cat Chow or 9 lives all it's life and was the choice of cat food proven to be the cause? If yes, please do tell.
I agree!!!
Also, there had been plenty of cats who live to be 20+ on Fancy Feast. However, that was BEFORE Fancy Feast was brought by Nestles and changed its formulas.
Nowadays, Fancy Feast is simply not the brand it used to be.
The same thing with Meow Mix. It had changed hands so many times over the last five years that the changes became very substantial. When people say "my cat ate Meow Mix and lived to be ______" they are talking about the old Meow Mix, which was a much better company than it is right now. Now it is owned by Del Monte. I am not too crazy about the Del Monte pet division.
Very well put. It isn't just anecdotal, because the majority of cats in the country are eating regular food (if there is evidence to the contrary, feel free to provide it) and there is an absence of proof that this is causing disease or shortening lives. It isn't just a case of a few freak cats here and there who are doing well on regular food, as some implicitly suggest. If regular food were bad for cats, we would hear about it in the news and from medical sources -- and we don't. Whereas in the case of your example (which I agree is a poor comparison), we have all kinds of medical evidence that smoking and excessive drinking are causing diseases and ill health, and there are innumerable articles about it.
If the majority of animals are "beating the odds," then those aren't actually the odds.
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Now I have this visual of a bunch of cats sitting around drinking booze and smoking it up, open cans of Fancy Feast at their little elbows, LOL!!!
LOL indeed!!!
It would be even funnier if they are drinking catsip and smoking catnip (kitty weed).
Now that would be a video I would pay for. LOL.
What about feline obesity, diabetes and bladder problems ? I don't call that doing well, and I wouldn't say it doesn't occur much. Most of it is caused by feeding dry, carbohydrate laden foods. Very good for cats indeed.
I have to step in here and say that my vet told me she had more cats come in with crystals from eating Fancy Feast than any other food.
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I don't think that anyone here would claim that Fancy Feast is a "premium" food, wet or dry.
The problem isn't so much the dry food, but how it's fed. If you don't FREE feed dry food, and give your cat a set amount each day they won't have weight problems. Most cats that are overweight are overfed and don't get much exercise, it doesn't help that dry food has more carbs, but it's not so much the carbs but the amount being fed. A cat being fed the proper amount of food everyday is not going to be overweight, but a cat being overfed will be.
Is that what they're doing when we're gone at work all day?
Our cat we had growing up lived to be 19 years old. He would only eat 9 Lives canned food (and only certain flavors) and Little Friskies dry (not sure if they still make this). He did like certain flavors of Fancy Feast but my mother considered it too expensive!Originally Posted by ChrissyR
I feed 9 lives, too. The kits think they are getting something special then. I do know that we buy roughly 50 pounds of dry food a week for everybody, including the ones on Purina One. The sensative ones also get Iams pouches. I figure it evens out that way. lol
He was the ultimate finicky cat -- if the canned food was pieces of meat with gravy he'd lick the gravy off and leave the meat.
Plus any dry food, premium, holistic, or grocery store brand can contribute to this problem if fed in excess. Someone mentioned crystals. We have no way of knowing what holistic brands may lead to crystals and was there proof that the crystals were actually caused by Fancy Feast or was it coincidence that cats with crystals were eating Fancy Feast and was it the dry food or the canned food? I would never feed the dry Fancy Feast anyway. I tried a couple of Fancy Feast cans just as treats but Rosie is not too crazy about it so I don't buy it anymore.
Moms cat Poo is very picky. He'll eat anything you put in front of him as long as it has a ton of gravy. If there's no gravy, he ignores it. If the dry has no "gravey" (you have to add water to it) he won't eat it either. Doesn't matter what brand, either. LOL
Also, I agree with Plebayo. We used to free feed because that's what I saw when I was raised. Our one girl, Boo, ended up obese then she developed fatty liver disease. Now, we control how much they eat when possible. We still get some problems out of the cats who'll steal someone else's food. More times then not, they are all eating the same amount of wet and dry a day.
Can someone explain why exactly Fancy Feast is considered junk food? It's expensive enough, and its main ingredient is meat, there is no grain included. My 11 year-old-Annie, whom I got from the shelter 2.5 years ago, would not touch canned food of any type. But I wanted to wean her away from dry. Tried about a dozen premium foods, to no avail, she would not touch them.. I finally tried Fancy Feast and, voila, she loves the stuff. When it comes to dry, she favours the cheap stuff, like Whiskas Meaty Selections, but she will eat other types of dry. So, each day she has her choice of Whiskas Meaty, Innova dry, and Fancy Feast. I think, but am not sure, that the FF is causing quite large, smelly, soft stools, so now I have a problem, because I do want her to have wet food daily but the stench of her elimination is something to gag at. When she had only dry, there wasn't that problem.
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Read the labels..
Most not all FF have by products ( heads ft intestines undeveloped eggs bood vessals ) many have soy( high allergen and cheap protein)
The grocery cat foods usually have dyes( i wont eat let alone a small mamal like a cat ) artificial colors and flavors( think "juice drinks" with 10% or less juice) grd corn ( goes in one end out the other) excessive grains( I personally like two meats to one grain but usually settle on one to one )
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At 11 your kitty needs a quality diet ( I say senior ) soem will say all stage ...
Do you have access to Petco or Petsmart??
Do you have access to Petco or Petsmart??
