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-   -   Nutro equivalent- cats (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=65281)

embean August 29th, 2009 01:36 PM

Nutro equivalent- cats
 
I recently got a new cat and her previous owners were feeding her whiskas. I definitely want to upgrade because I don't think whiskas is the most nutritionally sound stuff. The last time I had cats, a few years ago, I always fed them Nutro, but learned that it's been recalled (since I can't find it anywhere).

In the meantime I got some science diet kitten (cat is about a year old but is underweight).

Are there advantages/disadvantages to either? Whenever Nutro comes back out, I don't know if I want to make another food change.

sugarcatmom August 29th, 2009 06:21 PM

[QUOTE=embean;820006]I recently got a new cat and her previous owners were feeding her whiskas. I definitely want to upgrade because I don't think whiskas is the most nutritionally sound stuff.[/quote]

Congrats on your new kitty! You're quite right about Whiskas being very poor nutrition for a cat. Here are the ingredients of Whiskas Meaty Selections:[INDENT]
[QUOTE]Ingredients:
Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with BHA/BHT), Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Flour, Rice, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, .... Turkey By-Product Meal, Caramel Color, ...White Fish Meal, ... Red 3, Ethoxyquin (A Preservative). [/QUOTE][/INDENT]
Cats are obligate carnivores. That means they MUST eat meat. This food is full of corn, wheat, and rice, (with around 36% calories from carbohydrates) and the meat that it does contain are by-products (discarded waste from the human food-industry). It also contains some nasty preservatives thought to be carcinogenic (BHA/BHT and ethoxyquin), as well food colouring to make the unappealing grey pulp more appealing to humans - cats don't care what colour their food is. Definitely stay far far away from this "food" :yuck:.

[QUOTE=embean;820006]
Are there advantages/disadvantages to either? Whenever Nutro comes back out, I don't know if I want to make another food change.[/QUOTE]

There are only disadvantages to both. For starters, cats should be eating wet food, not dry. A kibble-only diet is linked to kidney failure, bladder and urinary tract problems, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, dental disease, and allergies. There is no good reason to feed a cat dry food, and way too many reasons not to.

Here are the ingredients for Science Diet Kitten:
[INDENT][QUOTE]Ingredients
Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Brewers Rice, Fish Oil, Flaxseed, Dried Egg Product, Soybean Mill Run, .....
[/QUOTE][/INDENT]
At least there is a named meat source as the first ingredient, but there are still too many grains. Carbohydrates are 21% of calories. Cats should be eating less than 10% carbs.

Ingredients for Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Kitten:
[INDENT][QUOTE]Ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavors, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Oat Fiber, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Yeast Culture, .....
[/QUOTE][/INDENT]
Carbs are again much too high at 31% of calories. Yeast is a common feline allergen, and dried beet pulp and oat fiber are cheap fillers used to firm up cat poop.

[QUOTE=embean;820006]Soooo, what to feed instead? [/quote]

Wet food and only wet food. There are some decent canned foods on the market, or else you could do some research into a raw food diet, which is the ultimate if done correctly. You can read more here about why wet food is the way to go, and how to make balanced raw meals for your kitty: [url]http://www.catinfo.org/[/url]

For canned, some good choices are Wellness, Nature's Variety, Innova EVO, By Nature, ZiwiPeak, Evanger's, Merrick...... You won't find any of these brands at a grocery store. There's a link here to some of the websites where you might be able to find a store locator: [url]http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=819891&highlight=grain#post819891[/url]

embean August 30th, 2009 07:19 AM

It seems like wet food is the new "shift" in cat food... back in the 90s it seemed like everyone thought wet food was bad/made your cat fat. Also, what about the benefits of dry food to keeping teeth clean?

Not that we should all follow cat food "trends," whether they are right or not.

The cat is underweight so I was considering getting wet food (but if you say this, the fact that it makes cats put on weight, may be a misconception).

sugarcatmom August 30th, 2009 11:20 AM

[QUOTE=embean;820131]It seems like wet food is the new "shift" in cat food... back in the 90s it seemed like everyone thought wet food was bad/made your cat fat. [/quote]

And before that, there was a "trend" of feeding cats semi-moist food like Tender Vittles :yuck:, which we eventually learned was very bad for cats. We only need to look at what cats eat in nature to see what their ideal diet is: fresh rodents, birds, maybe some lizards. It's certainly not dry nuggets of cereal. Canned food is closer to juicy prey because of the water content, higher amount of protein, and lower carbohydrates.

[QUOTE=embean;820131]Also, what about the benefits of dry food to keeping teeth clean?[/quote]

Dry food doesn't keep teeth clean. People don't eat pretzels and cookies to clean their teeth, right? Why should it be different for cats, who have teeth and jaws designed for tearing into flesh and bone, not grinding plants and grains (like a cow). What kibble mostly does is shatter when bitten into, leaving small shards of starchy carbs to get trapped between teeth and under the gumline, where it feeds bacteria. If you really want to feed something that benefits your cat's dental hygiene, feed raw meat and bones.

[url]http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth[/url]
[url]http://home.ivillage.com/pets/cats/0,,p8ds,00.html[/url]

[QUOTE=embean;820131]The cat is underweight so I was considering getting wet food (but if you say this, the fact that it makes cats put on weight, may be a misconception).[/QUOTE]

Your cat (what's her name, by the way?) may be better able to utilize the higher protein of wet food and would gain an appropriate amount of muscle tone, instead of just fat.

embean August 30th, 2009 11:23 AM

I got some wellness cans today, so I'll probably try introducing that gradually.
And, the cat's name is Panties... named by previous owners, not me! :confused:

sugarcatmom August 30th, 2009 08:32 PM

[QUOTE=embean;820170]I got some wellness cans today, so I'll probably try introducing that gradually. [/quote]

Awesome! Let me know how the transition goes.

[QUOTE=embean;820170]And, the cat's name is Panties... named by previous owners, not me! :confused:[/QUOTE]

Hilarious [url=http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php][img]http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing013.gif[/img][/url]. And very original...


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