Which dry food is better? good life or Rachael ray?

[petperson91]

Mod Note - moved from another thread

Hey there everyone. So im completely new to this website. I really needed some advice. Since I couldn't figure out how to make a new thread I just came to this existing thread. Could anyone direct me on how to make a new thread for the future. Anyways I've recently moved in this house a couple months ago and there's a stray cat that hangs around. He is a beautiful Siamese cat (completely pure bred). The neighbors say he belonged to the previous residents of this house. I can't understand why they left him. Any ways I've gotten close to him. He's so friendly. So I started picking up a cheap bag of cat food for him and I've been feeding him every day for about a month. But I just dont like feeding him that cheap stuff. He's already been thru enough. He deserves better food. However I can't spend too too much. So I went to the local grocery store and I've been researching. I've narrowed it down to 2 dry foods. Which is better? Goodlife dry food or Rachael ray dry food? Please help me choose what I should start feeding him.

 

[margd]

Hey there everyone. So im completely new to this website. I really needed some advice. Since I couldn't figure out how to make a new thread I just came to this existing thread. Could anyone direct me on how to make a new thread for the future. Anyways I've recently moved in this house a couple months ago and there's a stray cat that hangs around. He is a beautiful Siamese cat (completely pure bred). The neighbors say he belonged to the previous residents of this house. I can't understand why they left him. Any ways I've gotten close to him. He's so friendly. So I started picking up a cheap bag of cat food for him and I've been feeding him every day for about a month. But I just dont like feeding him that cheap stuff. He's already been thru enough. He deserves better food. However I can't spend too too much. So I went to the local grocery store and I've been researching. I've narrowed it down to 2 dry foods. Which is better? Goodlife dry food or Rachael ray dry food? Please help me choose what I should start feeding him.

I'm just learning about cat nutrition myself but the people who know about it hang out on the Cat Nutrition forum:  http://www.thecatsite.com/f/64/cat-nutrition  Click on that link and look at the left margin of the page, several inches down from the top.  You'll see a blue box that says:  Start a New Thread.  Select that and you should be on your way.

This article should help answer many of the questions you might have in using the site.  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-use-the-forums   If you're still having problems, you can PM me and I'll try to help you.

Welcome to the site btw!  

 

 

[petperson91]

Oh yeah and I've been reading that wet food is a lot better than dry. So I intend on picking up a few cans of wet food as well. But I was curious if I could take some dry food and add warm water to it till its softened and moist. That's what I do with my puppy chihuahua. Could I do that with cat food for him to get the fluids he needs? I just recently started researching about dry cat food. Wet food is a whole seperatr ball game Lol so I've got a lot of research to conduct there too. I heard Sheba is good and inexpensive.

 

[petperson91]

Thanks so much

 

[petperson91]

I will copy paste my post. Thanks for the links

 

[margd]

Well, there is some controversy about wet vs dry food, but I tend to agree with the wet food is better camp.  Wet food has more water (as you know already) and dry food tends to have a very high carbohydrate level. I've also heard it said that the dry foods often harbor bacteria, another point against them.  It's generally not a good idea to add water to the dry food if you're going to leave it out for any length of time but if it's just for a few minutes while your new kitty eats, it should be okay.  

As far as canned foods go, I feed my Paul and Chula a rotation of the Sheba and Fancy Feast pates.  These are less expensive than some of the other cat foods but from what I've read, they are still good foods.

It's very decent of you to take this kitty in.  He will add a great deal of love and happiness to your life.  

 

[NewYork1303]

Could I do that with cat food for him to get the fluids he needs? I just recently started researching about dry cat food. Wet food is a whole seperatr ball game Lol so I've got a lot of research to conduct there too. I heard Sheba is good and inexpensive.

This is what we do at the shelter that I work at. I've started doing it at home as well. Our cats get Sheba and Fancy Feast for wet as well as some Weruva and Nutro naturals. They eat nature's variety instinct for dry. 

 

[missmimz]

Nether. Feed him wet food. There are lots of options for "cheap" ones that are decent. Fancy feast classic chicken or turkey. Friskies turkey and giblet, sheba pate, or if you're near a tractor supply their 4health brand is good. 

 

[petperson91]

Oh yeah and I've been reading that wet food is a lot better than dry. So I intend on picking up a few cans of wet food as well. But I was curious if I could take some dry food and add warm water to it till its softened and moist. That's what I do with my puppy chihuahua. Could I do that with cat food for him to get the fluids he needs? I just recently started researching about dry cat food. Wet food is a whole seperatr ball game Lol so I've got a lot of research to conduct there too. I heard Sheba is good and inexpensive.

 

[petperson91]

That's funny that you said that because I was just typing up my comment about wet food. Yeah I know I need to give him some wet food but I thought you were supposed to do both? Is that not true

 

[missmimz]

Nah you don't really want to add water to kibble because kibble is highly processed and will start to grow bacteria very quickly. Cheap kibble is really the worst. Well, even "good" kibble is still bad. Cats are obligate carnivores, they need meat based protein, and cheap kibble is loaded with everything but that. On top of that cats have a low thirst drive naturally, so when they eat kibble they don't drink enough water to compensate for the water loss. Wet food is the way to go. It's not going to be more expensive than buying a bag of kibble, but way better for the cat. 

 

[petperson91]

I really don't know a lot about cat nutrition but I'm learning

 

[petperson91]

Ok thank you for the advice

 

[miagi's_mommy]

I wouldn't water it down a cat is perfectly able to eat kibble the way it is... as long as you  provide fresh water and canned I wouldn't worry about him becoming dehydrated.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

I always rinse the food cans with warm water and pour it into a separate bowl. The cats drink it up because they like the flavor.
I try to be a good Kitty Cat Butler . ~ [emoji]128519[/emoji]`

 

[petperson91]

Thank you all for your great advice.. So which would y'all go with? Rachael ray or good life dry kibble? They are pretty Much the same price but which one do y'all think is better

 

[margd]

I checked the ingredients on both and find I'm in the same place you:  which one to choose?    Both have meat (in this case chicken) as the first ingredient which is really important.   It looks like Goodlife has more vegetables included than Rachel Ray.   Cats don't actually need vegetables so that's not a point against the Rachel Ray.   However, it might mean that more of the vitamins and minerals in Goodlife are coming from a natural vegetable source rather than from a processed source.  That's just a guess, though.  

 Rachel Ray has the Guaranteed Analysis posted which the other one doesn't - it lists the crude protein levels at 34% which is a fairly decent percentage.  That doesn't mean that Goodlife doesn't have the same percentage, just that they don't tell you.   Based on the ingredients alone, my uneducated conclusion is that they're comparable and you can't go wrong with either one.  I do like the fact that Rachel Ray posts the Guaranteed Analysis so that might tilt me towards the Rachel Ray but honestly, I think either would be a good choice.

I did this checking on amazon and checked out a few reviews.  Both kibbles get very high reviews, so that's not much help in choosing one over the other.  

Checking for recalls, it turns out that neither one has ever been recalled.  No help there, either!

In short, I think you're fine with either one.  There is one last thing to consider, however.  It all boils down to which one your cat will eat!  Ultimately that's who makes the decision. 

Just to let you know how I manage the wet vs dry issue - I feed both.  Chula and Paul are fed canned food during the day and at night I put some kibble in a puzzle feeder, where they have to work to get at it.  This means that they let me sleep through the night, which is why a lot of people do the same thing.  Both cats would do fine from a dietary standpoint without the kibble - that's really for my own convenience.  The little bit that they get shouldn't contribute to weight gain, which is another drawback to all kibble diets.  

Let us know what you finally decide and how your cats like it!  

 

[NewYork1303]

Thank you all for your great advice. So which would y'all go with? Rachael ray or good life dry kibble? They are pretty Much the same price but which one do y'all think is better

I like the looks of Goodlife based on ingredients. Rachael Ray has has corn gluten meal and I prefer to avoid anything with corn in it. 

Don't worry about  not feeding all wet food. Feeding all wet food can be really expensive even if you feed cheap brands. I feed wet and dry to help with costs. 

 

[Alicia88]

I don't know much about either of those brands.  I feed my boys Purina One kitten formula and I give them Sheba and Fancy Feast soft food.  I was giving it to them twice a day, but Mickey was having really horrible smelling poops.  I asked the vet about it and he said it's probably the soft food and recommended that I cut down on it.  I asked him about the hydration issue and he said they should be fine, especially since I got them the fountain.  They have been drinking a lot more since I got the fountain.  I have to fill it up every other day.

 

[segelkatt]

We all know that we get what we pay for. The cheap stuff is full of fillers and "meat by-products", which are beaks, feet, feathers, fish scales, fish bones, you name it. Would you eat that? Would your cat eat that?

I have found that cats get fat on stuff like that and eat a lot of it because there just isn't that much good nutrition in  it. Cats cannot digest anything but meat, no veggies of any kind. When they eat grass it's to purge their system which is why you see them throw up hairballs later on. It is better to feed them something a bit more expensive, they actually eat less of it. I feed mine Nature's Balance, between 4 cats a big bag lasts a month but they also get a whole big can of the wet food every day which is enough for all of them. The cheap stuff also can cause constipation, particularly the regular Purina Cat Chow which has a lot of ash in it. Fancy Feast is junk and so are all the foods with fancy-sounding names (Sheba and others) look at the list of ingredients, the fewer the better, Taurine should be in there, it's good for the heart. I have fed my cats good food for a long time and they never get sick or have upset tummies, I have one cat who is 17 years old and has never been sick, has only been to the vet when she was neutered and chipped and got shots, and then recently when she got an ear infection and that's it. I'm sure feeding her good food kept her out of the vet's office. No, she has not had any shots in that time either. Just a thought.