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
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
Not much choice
- Unfortunately there aren't a lot of choices here for cat food, so I have to buy what's available. I give maybe a 60/40 ratio of canned/dry-I got my cat as a tiny kitten and he never did get used to eating just dry food. I've a new kitten now, also tiny, getting fed all-canned, at least until he gets bigger.
- —romancoat
Cat food in Canada
- Please recommend foods we can find here in Canada. We checked both Pet Smart and Pet Etc for what you recommended and were told they didn't have those brands.
- —Guest Brenda
Small Town Shopping Issues...
- I live in a small town on a small isolated Island in Alaska. Unfortunately we only have two grocery stores which supply us with cat food, and a traveling vet who's only in town a few weeks here and there. After researching cat foods and coming to a startling realization, I knew I had to change my cats food brand. However the local stores only carry the same 3 brands. In order to convince them to order a new brand the demand for that brand needs to be high, also being a small isolated island it means our prices are almost doubled if not more, so it becomes even less likely for stores to order good quality expensive brands. Being of limited means myself in order to get my baby the proper cat food types I would need to specially order them, and then also pay for them to be shipped to me, on top of that it would become a chore to make sure that an order was placed, paid for, and able to arrive in time so he wasn't food less and delivery in Alaska isn't always guaranteed in a timely matter.
- —kyleek420247
It's overwhelming!!
- I just started looking up information about cat food and was getting not only exhausted but fed up when I found this article. Thank god. Now at least I can understand what the labels mean! We just adopted our first cat and want to do the best for him that we can. Already, I'm getting frustrated at finding good food for him. Thank you so much for taking the time to compile all this information. I found the 95%, 25%, 3% rule to be very helpful in reading the label and knowing what the content actually is.
- —ZeusW
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