What is your favorite brand cat food?

Kelle

I have a cat (mixed breed) and I want to know what all you cat owners think is the best brand of cat food! THANKS!



Joelle

Hello there, Good for you for coming here and ask this question. You will see that the majority of answers here will tell you to feed grocery brand food such as Purina, Meow Mix, Friskies, Whiskas and the likes. However, before I go on suggesting what brand of food comes highly recommended, I do feel the obligation to let you know what constitutes good cat food. A majority of cat owner on this site unfortunately, have very little knowledge, or should I say, oblivious to the fact that cats should be fed a diet that is species appropriate and they have the need for quality high protein food. It is disheartening to see so many feeding a particular brand of food to their cat just because of cost, convenience, marketing/advertising, and yes, even surprisingly, based on recommendation from their vet. The latter might surprised you - why should we question food recommended by the vet? This question will be answered as you read on. How should you choose what kind of food to feed to your cat? The answer lies in the ingredient labels. The first step to do is to familiarize yourself which the listing. They they you a lot about the make up of the food, the source of protein and whether it beneficial to your cat or otherwise. Dont be fooled by the guarantee that all cat food are complete and balanced. They are not equally the same and some are simply sub standard. And one more thing before I go on any further, an exclusive wet diet is one that is highly recommended for your cat. And I will base my answer solely along the line of feeding exclusive wet. You want to feed a food which is high protein - meaning the meat source must come from wholesome muscle meat. Make sure to select only food that list chicken, lamb, rabbit, beef, turkey, venison, salmon, whitefish, herring or a combination or those and not one that says by-products (chicken by product, meat by product, fish by product)Stay away from too much fillers like corn, corn gluten meal, wheat, wheat gluten, soy, oatbrans, etc. These are all cheap filler which help reduce the cost of manufacturing but brings little to no benefit to your kitten. A new line of cat food in the market is labeled grain free and this is the latest diet that will provide the most benefit to your cat. You would also want to stay away from preservatives like BHA/BHT and Ethoxyquin which are proven to be harmful to your kitten. Also you do not want other artifical preservatives such as propylene glycol and propolyneglycol. You need natural preservatives such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A or Rosemary. Your cat need an essential amino acid called Taurine. Cats can only receive this from eating wholesome meat. Choose a food that contains ample amount of Omega 3 sources - Salmon Oil, Flaxseed Oil or Canola Oil. When you are well educated in learning how to read pet food ingredients, shopping for the best food for your cat would be easier. Now, with all that you have learn, take a look at this recommended brand of cat food and compare notes. See what makes them superior. Like I said, check the ingredient of Iams, Purina, Whiskas and do a comparison. And dont forget the Veterinarian Recomended diet. Youll see for yourself how inferior the food is. It will be an eye opener. By Nature Organicshttp://www. bynaturepetfoods. comCalifornia Naturalhttp://www. californianaturalpet. comEagle Pack Holistichttp://www. eaglepack. comEvangers http://www. evangersfood. comEVO http://www. evopet. comFelidae http://www. canidae. comNatural Balancehttp://www. naturalbalanceinc. com



Cheryle

I have used Friskies can cat food and dry for years and my cat is 15 years old so I guess it must be alright.



Jackeline

Nutro is great my cats feces and breath used to smell so bad and the fat content of the food was high and he got way too big. Ever since i have switched to nutro my cats love it it is very healthy( he has lost weight ) and no more smells. Great food give it a try. A little pricy though at 18.00 for a 8 pound bag



Daphne

Not all pet food is made equally. A lot of it is full of corn, by-products, dyes, unhealthy preservatives, filler grains and all sorts of nasty stuff. A lot of pet food companies are perfectly happy to the dump cheap leftovers and things that arent safe for human consumption (from human food processing plants) into their foods. Will it kill your cat? No, it has to be nutritionally complete and safe to even be marketed. Is it healthy? Not by a long shot. Corn is a low quality ingredient you never want to see in your pet food. Corn and low quality grains are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to food allergies in our pets. Thankfully, there are some excellent cat foods being made these days that include organic, human grade ingredients rather than trash not fit for human consumption. Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Meow Mix. Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Felidae, Fromm Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Natures Variety Prairie, Natures Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix, Timber Wolf Organics. Although the high quality foods are more expensive, youre getting what youre paying for. Less filler material means more concentrated nutrients... this means you typically need to feed far less of the high quality food than you would of the low quality one. Which also means less poop! Before following your vets food recommendation, keep in mind that vets get /very/ little nutritional training during their schooling. Besides that, what training they /do/ get is usually sponsored or taught by the crappy pet food companies! They also often get paid to sell some of their products at their clinics (Science Diet, Royal Canin etc.)A great option is to go with an entirely grainless diet. Diets high in grain have been attributed to problems with diabetes in cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, so why should there be grain in their diet? Many of the high quality foods now put out grainless formulas. Some good grainless diets include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Natures Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Merrick Before Grain, Fromm Surf Turf, Now!, and Sold Gold Indigo Moon, Taste of the Wild. Some pretty decent foods can even be found in common pet stores. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo products (such as the excellent grain free diet Blue Wilderness). Petco carries Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Castor Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo. If you cant find a food, most of the high quality food brands have websites with store locators on them. Another option, if you cant find anywhere around you that sells good foods, is to order your pet food online. Heres an excellent place to do so: http://www. petfooddirect. com/store/Remember that foods should be switched gradually (mixing new slowly in with the old over about a two week period), especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies. Another option for feeding cats is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:http://www. barfworld. com/http://www. rawfedcats. org/http://www. rawfed. com/http://www. wysong. net/controversies/rawm…Now the question is, do you feed wet or dry? Wet is the correct answer. The reason is, in the wild, cats normally get most of their water content directly from their prey items and drink very little. Domestic cats are no different, and because of the fact that they are designed to take in water with their meal, they have a very low thirst drive. Cats often just dont drink enough. This leads to urinary tract infections and crystals. The bit about dry food being better for teeth is a myth and has not been proven in the least (cats barely even chew their dry food and, really, does a pretzel clean /your/ teeth? Cats should have their teeth brushed with cat toothbrushes and cat toothpaste at least a few times a week as well as see the vet for dental cleanings when necessary /regardless/ of what they are being fed). Canned/wet food is better because it more closely mimics the cats natural diet. More on why canned food is best:http://www. catinfo. org/ (Excellent cat nutrition information by a vet)http://cats. about. com/cs/catfood/a/canne…http://www. littlebigcat. com/index. php? ac…http://www. felinefuture. com/nutrition/bp…Another option to get cats to drink more would be a cat fountain. Cats tend to like to drink from running water and cat fountains see to that need, encouraging cats to take in more water. More:http://www. dogfoodanalysis. com/dog_food_… (Dog food reviews. Its for dogs, but most of the high quality brands also put out excellent cat foods. Four stars is a decent food, five stars is a great food, and six stars is an excellent food.)



Sherice

We use Purina One (salmon tuna flavor). My husbands cat has always liked it when I moved in with my 2 cats I didnt think they would but they loved it wouldnt touch their other dry food anymore.



Ka

My answer is the same as I answered your same question 5 hrs ago. Fancy Feast



Moon

My cat like Snappy Tom (a brand In Australia. You might not have it over there).But my old cat liked Friskies.



Alesha

My two cats eat Wellness canned food (grain-free varieties) and a bit (about 1/4 of a cup) of Blue Buffalo dry food.



Bobby

I feed my cats Fromm Duck dry and Meow Mix Wholesome Delights canned.



Lynnette

I really, really like Purina ONE, (not just regular purina) I have 4 kitties and I saw a big difference in them when I switched over. As a matter of fact, if you go to the purina website you can get a free bag (coupon) for the "30 day challenge" give it a try, it is really good.



Eilene

I give her fresh sardines (not the raw one)- she likes it!



Gwen

My two cats and I have settled on Wellness and Natures Variety Instincts. These two brands are acceptable to both of us. They like the taste and I like the ingredients. The Instincts is pricier ($1.95 per 5.5 oz can v. the Wellness which is about $1.35) but thats ok since the cat who eats it mainly eats raw and the canned is just fed twice per week. I use dry food as a treat and for that we have chosen Natures Variety Instincts. They offer both rabbit and chicken and the girls will eat either. Other good foods:What to feed: http://www. catinfo. org/commercialcannedf… The best of the worst - dry foods: My personal picks are Wellness Core, Innova Evo or Natures Variety Instincts. A new line that looks decent is Merricks B. G. (Before Grain). I agree with some of the foods listed here but not all. I am happy to review ingredient lists if requested: http://cats. about. com/cs/nutrition/tp/pr…