What is the best bagged food for my 10 year old cat?

Bradford

All of my cats life, I fed him Purina One Hairball control. Well, hes 10 years old now and I want to feed him the best cat food on the market for senior citizens. Vegetarians: If you suggest non-meat cat foods, I will ignore your answer.



Irish

You could try him on Evo dry cat food, which has the largest percentage of meat than anything else on the market. Its also grain/allergen free, and has the lowest carbohydrate percentage of any as well. When I switched my cats to a raw meat and Evo dry diet, their health greatly improved and they had no more problems with itchy skin, hairballs..you name it..gone. Their coats are super soft and shiny now as well, and their energy levels are that of my 6 month old kitten (the other two are 8 years and 13 years).



Gwyn

Iams is the best or purina i know that they have cat food 4 older cats



Alleen

I would recommend a quality cat food like iams for seniors. I had alot of dietary issues with my cats until i switched to iams.



Herma

The best food for him is one free of by-products and corn. Both are cheap fillers, with no or questionable nutritional value for cats. At his age you need to be mindful of his kidneys, as kidney function diminishes in a senior cat. One of the things that is suggested in older cats is being careful about two things: the QUALITY of the protein (ie no junk by products) and the amount of phosphorus in the food (should be less than 1%). Two foods that are well-liked and meet both of these requirements are Wellness (also comes in a senior formula) and California Natural. Both are fairly easy to get since last years pet food recall (with people demaning a higher quality food for their pets) but you wont be able to get either one in the large chain pet stores. Most of the smaller chain or mom-and-pop pet stores carry them though.



Cristi

I agree with Irish, I use Evo brand cat food also, and my kitten loves it! He is so healthy and has a nice soft, shiny coat. The food is also specially fortified so although it is expensive, they only need a small amount per day so it lasts a long time.



Mazie

Hi there, To be honest with you, and while I may not be on your top ten hit parade with this response, dry food is really not a good food for cats. It was made for human convenience and in addition to being loaded with carbs, which cats dont have a high nutritional need, it contains grain and other additives that can cause digestive disturbances. http://www. catinfo. org/There are some excellent canned foods that contain no grain that is nutritionally supportive for older cats. While cats are not considered "seniors" until 12, your cat is a middle aged feline citizen. I recommend Evo or Wellness brand. They are the best of the best. You can give laxatone for hairball prevention and treatment. Hairball foods are another "sales pitch as far as I am concerned. TroublesnifferFormer Oriental Shorthair and Siamese breederOwned by cats for over 40 years.



Lynette

Royal Canin Active Mature..http://www. petfooddirect. com/store/produ…



Kenya

Good on you firstly for ignoring the non meat advise. Cats cannot be vegetarians (its possible for dogs but not for cats).Until recently I would have said that it is ok to feed any kind of supermarket brand, but my studies (in Companion animal services) have really awoken to me to the problems with supermarket brand cat food. Firstly you need to look for food that has the words COMPLETE AND BALANCED DIET on the label. If the label on your cat food does not have those three magic words then it is not worth buying. I always thought that the more expensive food was just a ploy to get more of your money, but I now realise after having done all the nutritinal studies and learning more and more about what is required to prevent disease that we are being shortchanged with some brands. After my studies I looked at all the brands availabe in my local supermarket, and only ONE brand had the words "complete and balanced diet" on it. I always feel so bad when I see other customers buying the inferior brands because it is not doing their cats any favours. When your vet or pet store recommends a more expensive brand it is not just to get your money, it is because these complete and balanced diets DO provide all the nutrients for survival and in the long run will work out cheaper, because some cheap cat food actually promotes disease and will over many years make your cat sick (like dry food without the taurine or the correct Calcuim:posphorous ratio) I never realised the seriousness of this, and its good to see you are doing the right thing by your cat, especially as he/she enters her/his senior years. Cats do have different requirements at different times of their lives, so once you have established the magic words are on the label, go for the Senior cat diet in that range. The next really important thing is that your cat may not appear to like the change - to make the change from old food to new food you need to employ a clever mix - so for the first few days you would do a 80-20 mix of new versus old and each week change the mix so that eventually your cat is eating 100% of the new food. Vets and pet stores have a better range of complete and balanced diets than the supermarket, and your vet maybe able to recommend the best type for your cat. (there is food for extra dental care, inactive, kidney problems etc) If you go for a senior complete and balanced you are on the right track though. I hope your cat lives as long as mine - he was 21 when he died. The better brands are less likely to be bulked up with cheap fillers like wheat and have a higher protien and meat content - thus the added expense but more value for money. IAMS is defenitely a good quality product but I have issues with recommending it after it was found that they experiement on animals in its laboratories and the living conditions of these creatures was photographed and it was dismal.