From the article: How Much Do You Know About Cat Food?
A recent survey discloses that many pet food consumers do not know as much as they think they know about the food their cats and dogs eat. The pet food recalls of 2007 caused more consumers to investigate the ingredients in the food they buy for their pets. Have you changed your own cat food purchasing habits? Share your experiences here. Share Your Experiences
Very Concerned About Ingredients
- When I adopted my first two cats, I started researching food choices, mostly here in the forum. At that point, I knew very little about cat food. I thought that if it was fairly expensive, it must be a good food. After much research, I made the decision to only feed foods that fell under certain requirements. The food may not contain any by-products, and the first ingredient must be a specific source of protein. I also look on the ingredients list to see how far down the first filler is. I try to feed the least amount of grain as possible. My cats get at least 90% of their diet in the form of canned food. Overall, I would say that I am fairly well educated about the ingredients in my cats' foods. As well as reading and researching on this site, I bought and read "Foods Pets Die For," by Ann Martin, which completely changed the way I thought about food. Luckily my cats will eat anything I put in front of them, so I can feed high quality foods.
- —amandaa8705
Trying hard to keep my gang healthy.
- When I got my first cat, it was just after the recall. I started feeding him Science diet, then a few months later found out how bad it ws. Lots of fillers, such as grains and by products. In my journey, I am now sharing my home with 5 wonderful cats. I have been feeding them Wellness grain free, something which they are turning their noses up to since I get the feeling they did alter their formula. I am now switching to EVO, which according to what I've read and have been told is a very high quality food which is very close to their natural diet. This for me seems to be the best option for my gang. I'd love to feed them raw, yet I feel I don't have enough knowledge of how to give them all of he vitamins and nutrients they will need. I'm still learning, but am hopeful. There are pre-packaged raw foods yet they are more than I can handle monetarily at the moment. But for now, I'm confident EVO will be what's best for them for the moment.
- —ancientgirl
I'm Another Who Tries Their Best
- I have learned SO MUCH from the members on the About.com Cats forum about food. I read labels, I understand some about what is good, and some about what is bad, but do NOT understand everything on the ingredients list 100%. I am feeding mid- to high-quality mostly canned food to my 5 girls...Well... Except for one. I needed PH lowering food FAST, and the most readily available was Friskies and it was on a great sale. It's worked and I'm afraid to switch...I DO want to get to more pet supply stores and see what else is out there that will help keep the PH low. For almost 2 yrs. I was a dry-food-free-feeder. It was difficult switching my oldest girl to the canned food, but she finally accepted several varieties. Now I feed 2 scheduled, measured canned food feedings and two very small dry food snacks of decent quality dry. I was commended by my vet for her weight loss and beautiful coat!
- —PhillysMom
Compromises sometimes needed
- I read labels. I can't say I totally understand them, and it's easy to get some of the terminology confused, but I know most of the red flags. My Raleigh is a picky eater who rejects many of the better foods. Sometimes in order to get her to eat anything at all I have to feed, or mix in with better food, some inferior foods that she likes. She also has some health issues, and my vet recommends prescription food, so I do some balancing to address the health problem, keep her eating, and still hopefully have decent quality of food for her to eat. I find it very frustrating that there is so much conflicting info out there. Some "experts" say high protein makes kidney problems worse, but without it there is muscle wasting. Other "experts" say protein is fine, only phosphorus is a problem. Many vets just know what prescription food companies with good marketing tell them. I guess all we can do is try to be informed, and then make the best choices we can.
- —HOSTPat
I know enough, but my cats choose
- I try very hard to buy foods that have real meat listed at least twice in the first 3 ingredients. I also try to feed mostly wet. I'm pretty choosy about the dry food I feed. The first 3 ingredients of their dry are meats: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal. For their wet, I do the best I can, but if they won't eat it, it doesn 't matter how good it is.
- —acter
I try my best
- I never understood cat food labels until I joined this Forum. Now I read the labels all the time. I always look if meat or fish are listed as the first ingredients. The TV commercials about supermarket food being natural and healthy are a joke if you read their ingredients. I feed both wet and dry and am trying to do my best for all my kitties.
- —BudGiz1
I have 2 Special-Needs Kitties
- I feed my two 11 year old Siamese girls a homemade raw meat diet, with 5% ground veggies and oil, supplements and broth added in. I make it up in largish batches and vacuum seal and freeze. I now have it down to a routine when I make their food to where it takes me only a few hours to make a couple of months' worth of food. One of my 2 had IBD, and is showing signs of chicken allergies, so I have switched them over to a ground rabbit diet ( I buy the ground rabbit pre-ground from Tenn.) I vary the veggies used, and then add in Taurine and the extra supplements my other girl, who has RCM (severe heart disease, probably genetic) needs. They eat 4 small meals a day, to help the RCM girl lessen the stress on her heart. I use a grainless kibble for their first "meal" of the day, and only give them less than a Tablespoon each, the IBD girl often gets less. When they get picky, I use tempting toppers . They seem to be doing well; worth it~
- —Reindeerlady
How could they?
- Cat foods seem healthy, but who really reads the ingredients? I read them, thinking.. What does meat/chicken/etc. Buy-product mean? This means, only 5% of it needs to be chicken or beef to be called that. The other 95% is ground up cat, dog, cow, and other animals. Including flea collars, leashes, bags, garbage, intestines, the animals diseases. Very nasty. I also read dried eggs, or veggies. This mean, they have been sitting out for weeks, maybe months! True story. I switched to a new food for my cats, called Evo. It is 95% meat, and instead of it saying dried, it says dehydrated. Which means it has been put in a machine and dried, not rotting in a barrel for months. Soy, wheat, corn, all of this is very bad for cats. I read that Vitamin K gives them cancer, So think about what you buy for your cat! And always read the label before you buy. You don't want your cat eating that junk! Same with dogs too. Editor's Note: Read this with an eye out for speculation and misinformation.
- —Guest Blank---
Lynda
- I've got 12 cats, all rescues, and I feed them all tinned food plus dry food. I won't buy any food that has wheat in it, as I believe wheat is bad for cat kidneys, but I am very concerned with the rubbish that is put in all cat food- even higher-priced brands. I feel I'm supporting cruelty to animals by buying the stuff, but few of my cats will eat raw meat, rabbit or chicken. I'm still working on it! Must give some wheat-free recipes a go.
- —Guest Witchypoo
trying to use common sense
- There seems to me to be a lot of exaggeration and a lot of anecdotal claims about cat diets (including by some vets). Since the pet food recall I have been reading a lot on the web and trying to sort out an approach that works for me and my cats, based on experience (21 years, four cats) and my scientific training). I am NOT A VET OR MD, but have phd from UC Berkeley in a bioscience. Dry food and free feeding are not the abominable menace one might believe from the web. I have always free-fed dry food; my cats have self-maintained proper body weight - the visible "waist" - and there have been no kidney problems, no diabetes, no chronic disease at all. My current older male is 9 and my vet comments about how healthy he is (though he does have some dental issues). Assuming foods meet AAFCO std for taurine & Mg and don't have melamine, I think proper vaccinations, exercise and plenty of water matter much more than whether food has grain or carbohydrate in it. More later.
- —sswee
just goes to show
- i'm just getting ready to switch my almost 9 year old cats to a more nutritionally sound choice of food. i've read about different foods and (just recently) articles here and elsewhere online since the middle of june. i had pretty much just today decided on science diet. a link in this article took me to a webpage with science diet foods listed - the link is to an "often found at vets food" which now doesn't sound like THE choice for my cats new food. just goes to show how very hard it is to understand the ingredients (which i had read) and to know what is good nutritionally for my cats. i guess it's back to the drawing board as far as finding their new food.
- —devotedtomands
Non Rx food for cats with issues
- I have a Mega Colon boy and I am always searching for a wet food he will eat that might help out with his chronic constipation. I go with mid to high quality foods but I am so surpeised there is not any brand that targets this issue. Indoor formulas and hairball formulas actually give him too much fiber and makes dry hard stools. I will not give him the prescription diet brand from the vet because of the poor quality and b/c the first ingredient is by- products!(beaks and feet!lol!) My little girl has idiopathic cystitis with no chrystals evident so I search for wet with cranberries but I feel the amount in the ingredients is probably insignificant as is a lot of the other ingredients listed such as fish oil, flax oil and such. I have not bought supermarket cat foods in over 4 years. I usually get them EVO for their dry snack food. Anyway, can't some of the foods be made to really target some of their issues and conditions a little bit?
- —ksue46
Fat Kats
- I also have been one that just believed in feeding dry cat food only until recently. My 7 cats are getting way to fat. It was suggested to switch them to can cat food. All of my cats are rescued, 6 were bottle feed and of them 2 were near death when I got them. So I want to make sure I keep them healthy since they all had a bad start in life. The 2 that were on death door I had to supplement their food with additional minerals and vitamins. One of them is a little wacko as he is very clumsy for a cat. I still need to learn more on what to feed them to keep the satisfied. Plus their ages range from 6yrs, 1-1/2 yrs, 1yr to 10mos so I am still trying to adjust according to their ages as well.
- —Guest Jusjokin
Good Food Counts
- When I was first married, my husband had a cat named Sonny who had eaten some kind of cheap grocery kibble. His hair was like straw. When he was switched to a good kibble, it became very soft and shiny. I have to think that if it was good for his coat, it was also probably helping him on the inside. I also saw a cat's gut nearly ruined when an adoptive parent switched him to cheap kitten kibble. The only way I saved him from chronic diarrhea was when I tried a raw diet. It stopped immediately. Then I went to premium canned food; it stayed stopped. Years later, he could eat good kibble and be okay. I like to go for things that have solid meat listed as the first ingredient. If it has to have a starch, it needs to be rice or oats, but never corn or wheat. I also like to see fish oil in there for a good coat. Anyway, I consider myself relatively concerned and knowledgeable about cat food. Thanks for a great article!
- —drussell41
Cat Food
- I absolutely believe in making my own cat food. Canned or dry food cannot be safe or nurishing enough. My male cats have never had a blockage with home made food. When you can find boneless chicken breasts on sale the price for home made is much less than processed cat food.
- —Guest Scott
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