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
raw meat seems to be best for cats
- i agree with dru- raw meat is what cats were meant to eat- to jasmine who is feeding her kitten cooked chicken with peas & carrots- this is appropriate for you but not kitty~! just skip the veggies & give her raw meat... with bone~! start her young & it should be easy... vary the type of meat, get it fresh from a butcher, if you go for ground you must supplement with taurine... add raw egg yolk sometimes- they love it~! & read as much as you can to be sure you are giving complete nutrition... you can provide a balanced diet over time- they dont need everything everyday but variety is one key... whole meat, bones, organs, eggs- all raw... this is what cats thrive on it seems... never feed cooked bones~!!! & really, there is no reason to cook meat for a cat... i have been reading & researching like crazy & there is so much info it can be confusing... thanx to all out there who give the right info~!!! rawfedcats.org is a good source...
- —sundizzle
home made diet for 4 month old kitten
- I started giving my kitten chicken, but its cooked nothing add to it expect pea, carrotts is this ok. thanks
- —Guest jasmine
Feeding My Cat
- My indoor-only, neutered cat is almost 15 yrs old now - I rescued him from the shelter when he was a kitten. For as long as I have had him, he has had trouble holding his food down. At the time, the vet said that it was just one of those things so I lived with it as did my cat. For the last 5 years I have rotated foods trying to find 1 that he will tolerate better. It seems that I have found a wet food, Wellness that he holds down pretty well, but I am still looking for a quality dry food that he will eat. Generally he'll eat a dry food for a few days and then get tired of it. I try to wait him out, but it rarely works... He won't eat actual meat from the kitchen, whether raw or cooked, so I don't think a raw diet is the answer for him.
- —Guest Laura
Very Helpful
- After reading all the articles and taking the course, I've changed my cats over to a more appropriate diet. Some raw, pork, chicken, beef, some venison, but they're refusing organs and veggies. So they also get some ground green tripe and the rest of their diet is grain free canned. I've pulled all dry away from my 9 y.o. fixed male as I realized it was making him sick. Now I'll njoin the forum, I'm so impressed. Fuzzmom
- —Guest Fuzzmom
Cat Food (Comida para Gatos) a México
- I'd say we're fortunate with our 3 - ages 14, 12 & 8, males - 2 strays adopted us, 1 rescue. Always in excellent health, sweet, big fun, goofy, extremely adaptable. After some chaos (foreclosure, homeless, cats farmed out for months, emigration), we're all happily settled in a mid-sized city off the tourist path in southern México. Cat food comes in limited variety & supply here: many brands of dry food including unlabeled; wet comes in 2 kinds: Wiskas (3 flavors) & Friskies rarely, always expensive. The boys ate 90% dry the last couple years till recently, have no complaints about 90% wet now. We do though - cost & future health concerns. Ok, got a kitchen, a blender, soon a grinder. My Spanish is limited. Carnicerias (butchers) abound, but dunno how they work. I can read recipes, ask for chicken & turkey, rabbit & organ meats might be available, but how to find omega-3 & taurine supps? Tiny freezer, soon remedied, so we're ready to go raw, guidance needed & welcomed.
- —mrgnwilson
Already feeding holistic/grain-free diet
- I feed my cats Natural Balance, a grain free, holistic dry food. Both have been thriving off of it... I switched them from Royal Canin over a year ago. With the switch, their poop/pee smelled much less, their coats got healthier, and both have much more energy now. As for the raw food diet... I am still waiting on research to be done in this area. I wish I could find more people who feed these diets... but get an UNBIASED opinion. I visited rawfedcats.org and I did not feel that the website helped at all. It was very biased and the person was writing essentially through her own experience. I have heard of cats having a lot of problems with digestion, etc with the raw fed diet... but none of those are mentioned on the website... I really wish there were more unbiased sources out there...
- —Guest Shae
Feed your cats the best you can afford
- Our cat Sylvester developed Crystals and was put on Prescription food. It had a lot of corn in it, to which he developed an allergy. We did some research and switched him -- first, to the Pet Store brand made by the same company and then to Felidae Senior which has cranberry for Urinary tract health and, more importantly, no corn. I had to take our other cat to the vet and he asked how Sylvester was and I told him about the allergy and he was concerned about the feeding but I took a copy of the label to him and he was really impressed. So both cats are happy campers on Felidae senior and the wet food we feed twice a day -- which is human grade. By the way, our feed bills are about the same with the more expensive food because they don't eat as much.
- —Guest railbird
Feed raw.
- I work in the pet food industry and I will only feed my cats a homemade raw diet. Veterinarians (in North America at least) actually receive very little training on nutrition in vet school. Ask your vet how much of their schooling was spent discussion nutrition. What information they do receive is usually provided by the companies that manufacture prescription pet foods. I have four cats on raw whole-prey diet and they are amazing. They are lean, energetic, their coats are beautiful and their teeth are in great shape. One of my boys is twelve and he's never had a problem with crystals and also has no detectable arthritis. There are not enough good things I can say about feeding a Raw Meaty Bones type of diet. Everything about it makes sense. It's also easy! Once cats learn to gnaw there is no need to grind or cut the meat. I buy my meat locally from a family farm and it works out to be cheaper than feeding commercial canned food.
- —Guest Dru
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