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  #1  
Old June 16th, 2004, 05:27 PM
Louise Shultz Louise Shultz is offline
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Question Best quality cat food

I want to feed my 1 yr. old male cat the best cat food....could you give me a few names of cat food brands. I've been feeding him Iams since i brought him home. He was 2 months old then...Is there a better brand out there
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Old June 16th, 2004, 05:34 PM
SoccerJMK SoccerJMK is offline
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I've been feeding my cat Purina Kitten Chow for the past year. Now that she's turning 1 year old we're in the process of switching over to Purina Cat Chow. I like the Cat Chow brand because they have a specific type of food for indoor cats which my cat is. All of my friends that have cats seem to use this brand and it's rather popular. If anything I suggest asking your vet for what they prefer. Hopefully your cat won't be picky if it came down to switching foods, as I know some cats could be. Hope this helped a bit.
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Old June 16th, 2004, 05:34 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Not sure if you know this, but dry food is not the best option for neutered males. Canned is much better - just stay away from the tuna variety.

Your local pet food and supply store will have quite a choice of good brands to feed your cat. Wellness, Nutro, Felidae, California Natural and Nutrience are a few good ones I can think of off-hand.

Purina is popular because it's heavily advertised and cheap. It's NOT good food precisely because it IS cheap and consists mainly of indigestible fillers, and most of it ends up in the litter box.

Quote:
I like the Cat Chow brand because they have a specific type of food for indoor cats which my cat is
This is such a rip-off! Cats are carnivores, and I"ve never seen one who "craved" grains. What exactly would be the difference between what indoor cats and outdoor cats need?

Personally, in the past I fed all my cats (mostly neutered males) Friskies canned foods and not one of them ever had a urinary problem, or stones or crystals, which seem to be rather common in cats fed dry only.
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Old June 16th, 2004, 05:39 PM
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heidiho heidiho is offline
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No one here likes iams i can tell you that,you'll see....
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Old June 17th, 2004, 09:18 AM
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Princesss04 Princesss04 is offline
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You feed yours Friskeys soft food LR? I was thinking about changing Crybaby over to all soft food. Right now he eats both but he is use to having food out all day and he will think that he is dying! LOL!!! Cry baby loves tuna fish is that bad for him?
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Old June 17th, 2004, 09:34 AM
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mona_b mona_b is offline
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So very true LR with everything you have said...Purina and Iams are crap.

I have always fed my cats canned and dried.None of my neutered males ever had a problem with either.

The rules also apply to cats....First 4-5 ingredients should not contain corn..

I personaly don't feed my kitties any fish.I remember with one of my cats,Sassy,I fed her cat food with tuna.She ended up with a bad case of worms.She was a very healthy indoor cat.But as soon as I gave her canned fish,out came the worms

Another one is Chicken soup for the petlovers Soul....Anita(chico) has started her cats on it.

My kittens are on both...And I leave the dry out for them...
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Old June 17th, 2004, 11:09 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Princess, you can feed your a cat a little human-grade tuna (packed in water) as a treat. BTW, I just love the name CryBaby!!!! Just stay away from feeding him canned tuna catfood. Cats will get addicted to this and sometimes will eat nothing else.

I always fed my cats meals, and nothing in between. None was ever fat, or ever had urinary problems, except for one of them. He was a stray I picked up, and since he wouldn't eat the prescription food, I fed him canned Friskies. He lived to be 20.
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Old June 17th, 2004, 11:14 AM
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Princesss04 Princesss04 is offline
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Okay thanks alot. I only feed him some tuna as a treat. I have the hardest time trying to find a soft food that he will eat. He likes the 9 lives soft food but I hear that is not that good for him. I went and bought all kinds of differant things at the pet supply place and at the vet and he is not that crazy about them. So I went to Walmart and bought Fancy Feast and Friskies and 9 llives and more and the one that he likes is 9 lives. Is that kind that bed for him (he loves the sliced beef in gravy stuff)
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  #9  
Old June 17th, 2004, 11:42 AM
HuaHua HuaHua is offline
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What about Science Diet Dry Food?

I wish I found this place earlier!!! I just lost my beloved kitty Pumpkin last saturday over the blockage when they tried to release him... I have been feeding my kitties with Science Diet and just recently switched to Iams for the time being, thought it was quality food... Wish I knew better...

I heard that soft food only is not good for their teeth though, is that true or not?
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Old June 17th, 2004, 11:44 AM
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heidiho heidiho is offline
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Hey,not your fault every vet sells it,so i thought it was goos stuff to,but someone told me here that feeing him the solid gold will save me money in the long run,meaning vet bills......
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Old June 17th, 2004, 12:43 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Quote:
I heard that soft food only is not good for their teeth though, is that true or not?
IMO, this is not true - dry or soft, it makes no difference. Like us, some animals are more predisposed to getting tartar on their teeth. Some will need regular cleaning no matter what you feed them.
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  #12  
Old June 17th, 2004, 12:48 PM
HuaHua HuaHua is offline
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Thank you, heidiho!

I have been feeding Science Diet dry food to my kitties for years. My Pumpkin seemed fine when he was on Science Diet, I think, until I switched to Iams. Though I would like to have other pet lovers' inputs on it.
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Old June 17th, 2004, 12:51 PM
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heidiho heidiho is offline
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My dog used to bite at skin,put him on science diet for sensitive skin,still bit,i bought nutro natural selection,he stopped biting skin totally,but then i heard about solid gold,hunchen flaken,got that,so now i am mixing them together and gonna keep him on the solid gold............
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  #14  
Old June 17th, 2004, 02:48 PM
HuaHua HuaHua is offline
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oh, solid gold,hunchen flaken are brand names, I didn't realize that. Thanks.
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  #15  
Old June 18th, 2004, 07:47 AM
djeffer djeffer is offline
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Iams

You guys have got me worried now. When Mitty turned 1yr old we gradually switched her from the dry kitten food from her vets (I forget the name), to Iams furball control because I also thought that this was a good quality cat food. Usually she gets her Dry Iams in a morning with a little bit of wiskas wet food mixed in and at night she get the Iams with a few pieces of Meow Mix. I know the Meow mix is low quality cat food, but she loves it, and refuses to eat the dry Iams.
I was also under the impression that dry food was better for Mitty's teeth, but I'm not really sure where I got this idea from.

I think if this is the case I would like to switch Mitty over to wet food (I'm sure she'll be very pleased about this ) Is it best to this gradually?
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  #16  
Old June 18th, 2004, 09:07 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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djeffer - female cats are not prone to the bladder crystals and blockages male cats get. It does happen but much less frequently.

If your cat already loves wet food, no problem giving her that exclusively if you wish.

If you want to continue the wet/dry food feedings, you might want to get a little better quality dry.
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  #17  
Old June 18th, 2004, 09:27 AM
djeffer djeffer is offline
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Red face Thanks

Thanks for your advsie luckyResuce, I will be going back to the vets to purchase my dry food from now on, that must be a higher quality food, it is nothing that you can pruchase in a grocery store and it's a little more expenisve but she's worth it.
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  #18  
Old June 18th, 2004, 10:13 AM
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mona_b mona_b is offline
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djeffer,you don't have to go to the vets to get it....Your local pet food suppy store carries premium brands.....

I don't go to my vets to get their food......
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Old June 18th, 2004, 10:20 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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All the vets in this area carry only Eukanuba, Science Diet and Iams. Definitely go to a pet supply store. They carry much better brands.
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  #20  
Old June 18th, 2004, 10:40 AM
djeffer djeffer is offline
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My vet carries Medi-cal and Pescription hill?? Are these crappy brands too.

If so, what is a good brand from the pet store that I should look her.
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  #21  
Old June 18th, 2004, 10:53 AM
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mona_b mona_b is offline
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Here are some very good brands.

Wellness
Innova
Chicken soup for the Cat lovers Soul
Nutro
Felidae.

Never used the two you mentioned.....The vets will do anything to sell the foods they have.
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  #22  
Old June 18th, 2004, 10:57 AM
djeffer djeffer is offline
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thanks, I'll have a look around on the weekend.
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  #23  
Old June 18th, 2004, 11:15 AM
HuaHua HuaHua is offline
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Nutro Max Cat = Nutro?

Is Nutro Max Cat Adult the one on you list as Nutro? I have seen them in PetSmart but thought Science Diet costs a bit more, just assumed it should be better.
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  #24  
Old June 18th, 2004, 11:50 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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I've used Medi-Cal with some foster cats I've had. It was used for cats who had health problems, digestive trouble, crystals in the urine, etc. I think it's pretty good.

Really, though, if your pet is doing well on what you feed - no itchiness, not overweight or underweight, glossy healthy coat and bright eyes - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I would just stay away from Iams/Eukanuba, because of the controversy about their testing methods, and Science Diet. The last I heard, this food contains Ethoxyquin, a herbicide used as a preservative.
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