Help! Is Iams Cat Food Really That Bad?

Hi there!
I have two 2 year old male cats and they’ve been fed a variety of premium cats foods since we adopted them as kittens such as blue buffalo, Nutrience, Wellness, Fromm and Nulo (majority of them grain-free) and up until recently Iams Healthy adult.
However, recently one of my cats began having an allergic reaction to something that was in his Nulo Indoor Grain free cat food which he had been eating for a while. And recently I’ve been quite broke so I downgraded to Iams Healthy Adult. He received a steroid shot, some antibiotics, and is doing better and he doesn’t seem to be allergic to Iams. But I’ve read horrible things online about iams and I’m wondering should I switch back to a better cat food?? I’m just scared his allergy might get get re-triggered from a premium grain free food like with Nulo.

You could compare the ingredients to each and see if you can pinpoint what made him have an allergic flareup.

I will say this: I have not had an allergy cat *knock knock...* but from what I have heard others say, just feed them what won't make them sick/trigger a flare-up! You can experiment (most companies will send you a sample of their dry food if you ask) but if he is just miserable, keep him on the one food. So sorry he is having these problems.

I'm assuming this food is a dry kibble? Dry food for cats is very dehydrating and has the protentional to lead to many issues down the road, including urinary issues (especially for males) and obesity. Cats lack a natural thirst drive (evolved from desert dwellers) and have historically gotten all of their moisture from their food. If you can afford it (and your boy's tummy will tolerate it!), try to incorporate some wet food in his diet. Split a 5.5 can of Friskies or Special Kitty in between the two of them daily and supplement with the dry.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the reply!
I did forget to mention they get wet food 2-4 times a week, usually wellness gravies or iams perfect portions.

If there is any way you could up that wet food to daily, I would. Wet food is more filling that dry because it is more protein-heavy. And it doesn't have to be expensive like Wellness all the times! Plenty of people (including myself) rotate canned food that range in "lower-quality" to "higher-quality." I can tell you what I feed to give you an idea, if you would like.

I understand financial struggles. We had to juggle some stuff around because I am going back to school full-time in January and am therefore not working. If your budget allows it, up the wet. If not, you are doing just fine!

Your boys are so HANDSOME by the way! I have a tuxedo boy myself named Dexter.

Thank you, they are very cute haha. Your kitty also looks VERY adorable.
If you could share what you feed that would be great
Also, is it safe to say that it’s okay to feed my cat Iams? Even though there are many mixed reviews online? I mean if my cats seem healthy, then it should be alright?
And my budget has been really tight, I’m going to school part-time and working part-time, so not much wiggle room unfortunately.

I feed the following. All prices are regional to me (Middle Georgia, USA) or online,

Fancy Feast classic pates (these have unfortunately increased in price, however...)
Price: $0.64/3oz can

Crave
Price: $1.25 (I got several cases on Chewy when it was a BOGO Deal)

4Health Chicken and Whitefish (Tractor Supply brand)
Price: $0.64/5.5oz

Sheba Pates
Price: I don't remember

**Tiny Tiger (the current favorite- basically a significantly cheaper Fancy Feast)
Price: Comes out to $0.51/3.3oz on Chewy (buy in packs of 24)

**American Journey (Beef and Chicken, Turkey)
Price: $0.75ish/3oz can on Chewy (buy in 24 packs)

Only Natural Pet Rabbit and Pork (the most expensive I feed)
Price: $1.50/5.5oz can

For a treat before bed, everyone gets roughly 1/8 tbsp. of Dr. Elsey's dry food.

**Tiny Tiger and American Journey are only available on Chewy-dot-com. they have a BOGO free sale on them right now if that is something you would like to try for your boys. If they turn their noses up, Chewy will refund your money and tell you to donate the leftovers to your local shelter.

As far as "safety"...everything just has to be taken with a grain of salt, you know? Any sort of mass produced food (pets and human alike) have the potential for things to go wrong, where it be contamination or something gets into the food that isn't supposed to be in the food. Quality control only goes so far and is only as good as human error will allow.
In my opinion, Iams doesn't have the best ingredients, but it is also what is working for your boy. Some food that you cat will tolerate, eat and keep down is better than a cat that will not eat- all sorts of issues start to arise when that happens. When you have more wiggle room down the road, maybe try to switch him over, but for now, I think you are doing the right thing.

Iams isn't the best but it's not the worst. I'd try to increase the wet food intake and try to keep the dry food down to just snacks/toppers. As mentioned above, Friskies canned is a good choice. Especially the pates. It's not expensive and most cats seem to like them a lot. Mine love their turkey & giblets pate.

EmersonandEvie said:

I feed the following. All prices are regional to me (Middle Georgia, USA) or online,

Fancy Feast classic pates (these have unfortunately increased in price, however...)
Price: $0.64/3oz can

Crave
Price: $1.25 (I got several cases on Chewy when it was a BOGO Deal)

4Health Chicken and Whitefish (Tractor Supply brand)
Price: $0.64/5.5oz

Sheba Pates
Price: I don't remember

**Tiny Tiger (the current favorite- basically a significantly cheaper Fancy Feast)
Price: Comes out to $0.51/3.3oz on Chewy (buy in packs of 24)

**American Journey (Beef and Chicken, Turkey)
Price: $0.75ish/3oz can on Chewy (buy in 24 packs)

Only Natural Pet Rabbit and Pork (the most expensive I feed)
Price: $1.50/5.5oz can

For a treat before bed, everyone gets roughly 1/8 tbsp. of Dr. Elsey's dry food.

**Tiny Tiger and American Journey are only available on Chewy-dot-com. they have a BOGO free sale on them right now if that is something you would like to try for your boys. If they turn their noses up, Chewy will refund your money and tell you to donate the leftovers to your local shelter.

As far as "safety"...everything just has to be taken with a grain of salt, you know? Any sort of mass produced food (pets and human alike) have the potential for things to go wrong, where it be contamination or something gets into the food that isn't supposed to be in the food. Quality control only goes so far and is only as good as human error will allow.
In my opinion, Iams doesn't have the best ingredients, but it is also what is working for your boy. Some food that you cat will tolerate, eat and keep down is better than a cat that will not eat- all sorts of issues start to arise when that happens. When you have more wiggle room down the road, maybe try to switch him over, but for now, I think you are doing the right thing.

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Okay, thanks so much!
I’m actually Canadian, so some of the items listed are more expensive here for example, I believe fancy feast is $0.75-$0.80 and unfortunately Chewy doesn’t ship to Canada yet My iams perfect portions is usually $1.00- $1.25 and the 5.5 cans of wellness are $2.80.
But thank you so much for your feedback, it’s greatly appreciated!

My childhood cat lived to 20-21 on half Iams and half fancy feast so I have a bit of a softer spot for Iams than the other big brand foods. It’s still loaded with corn tho unfortunately. Which isn’t exactly usable or digestible for cats.

I always forget about Canada when talking about Chewy...

I think there are quite a few threads on here about Canadian brands if you search it in the little search tab!

EmersonandEvie said:

I always forget about Canada when talking about Chewy...

I think there are quite a few threads on here about Canadian brands if you search it in the little search tab!

Click to expand...

Chewy needs to step it up and start shipping to Canada. They also need to start taking PayPal. I asked them in a chat once why they won't take PayPal. The rep said that they didn't think it was "safe". They are owned by Petsmart and THEY take it so nice try.

Iams is one of 4 peer reviewed pet food brands along with hills, purina and walthams (makes royal canin, whiskas and pedigree i believe) so theyre up there

Kittykat1998 said:

Hi there!
I have two 2 year old male cats and they’ve been fed a variety of premium cats foods since we adopted them as kittens such as blue buffalo, Nutrience, Wellness, Fromm and Nulo (majority of them grain-free) and up until recently Iams Healthy adult.
However, recently one of my cats began having an allergic reaction to something that was in his Nulo Indoor Grain free cat food which he had been eating for a while. And recently I’ve been quite broke so I downgraded to Iams Healthy Adult. He received a steroid shot, some antibiotics, and is doing better and he doesn’t seem to be allergic to Iams. But I’ve read horrible things online about iams and I’m wondering should I switch back to a better cat food?? I’m just scared his allergy might get get re-triggered from a premium grain free food like with Nulo.

Click to expand...

Iams isn't the best food out there, but at least it doesn't have a lot of artificial colors and other garbage like some other foods (Meow Mix, Kit N Caboodle, etc) do. It's decent enough, and if your cat with the allergies is doing well on it, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.