American Journey And Chicken Soup: Grain Free Cat Foods, Opinions?

[artgecko]

Hello all,

My cat Frazier had some issues with his previous dry foods and we've decided to try a new brand. I had previously been feeding mostly nutro max with some taste of the wild mixed in, but after all the recalls and having him throw up more than once, we switched to "4 health" the grain-free dry food offered by tractor supply that I had heard good things about from a dog trainer I know (they used and recommended it to all their clients with service dogs).

That said, he didn't take well to it either. At that point, we went with all wet food (we can only get him to eat the fancy feast pate varieties which aren't the best)... We carried this on for about 1 month to give his system time to adjust and just in case ther was an underlying tummy issues at play (he had gone through antibiotic treatment during that time too, so we gave that time to clear his system).

I have done some research and have narrowed it down to 2 brands for our next dry food attempt and would like input from those of you that have used these products. Both have similar ingredient lists and nutrition from what I can tell and neither company (to my knowledge) has had a recall issue so far.

American Journey (specifically the duck formula) and Chicken Soup (the grainfree adult formula).

He will still be on a 50% wet diet.. I'd like him on 100%, but since he refuses to eat any wet food that is "healthy", I'm hoping a better quality dry food will add some nutrition that is lacking in his choice of wet food.

Thank you for your time and help!

 

[duckpond]

If it were me i would go with the American Journey. it has less carbs than the chicken soup. I have friends that are feeding American journey and they say their cats like it. one place i use to compare foods, is CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat
hope he loves what you get him

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I don't have my carb calculator handy as I'm traveling, but I'd definitely go with the one with less carbs. And, BTW, there is nothing wrong with Fancy Feast CLASSICS (pate). They are very low in carbs, which is really what you are looking for (IMHO). NO, they are not the best, but many times cats refuse the best, as you are finding out. And some of the very expensive foods are actually much higher in carbs! Have you tried Nutro Chunky Loaf Chicken Dinner? That seems to be one that MANY cats love. Also, some of the Soulistic (Petco's house brand) are very similar to Weruva, and seem to be popular. It's the brand I used to convert my furry little beasties off of kibble (but only the ones "in gelee" are actually low enough in carbs to suit me).

 

[oonawingedwolf]

I just got my cats the dry food from chewy American Journey Duck formula and they took to it like champs, in fact they are picking it out over the old food! I am quite pleased and will be feeding a blend of the flavors offered on the website while we build up a store of canned. They get dry in the am and wet in the pm. I'm just starting my wet experience. So far we got a variety case of Friskies Cat Concoctions and they did not really like the chicken with crab sauce and Jazzy completely turned up her nose to the lamb with crab sauce. I am wondering if it was the crab as they love the other two flavors. I love all the variety on chewy and can't wait to order more food for them each month!

 

[artgecko]

Duckpond- I will try the site you listed.. I did not know there was a database available. Thanks!
Mrsgreenjeens- I totally forgot about the carbs... I honestly was just looking at ingredients and didn't even think about looking into their caloric listings, etc. I will go back and check both.

That's good to know about the fancy feast. He used to eat friskies (which I know is worse) but took to the FF pretty readily. He is on the pate type.. I only buy the beef / chicken classic pate variety packs for him. He will eat it, but not super enthusiastically. I will have to try the wet foods you mentioned and see if he will take those. I will go to the local petstores and see if I can purchase one can of the different types to try. I hate ordering new types online as you can only get them in large numbers and then are stuck with useless food if the cat won't eat them lol.

wingedwolf- I'm glad your cats like it. I'm hoping he will too. It seems reasonably priced and I like the idea of being able to order it. No local stores carry it, so ordering online will be my only option.

 

[oonawingedwolf]

The reason its only online, from what I understand, is because it is made by chewy for their customers only. Good luck with it!

 

[10009891]

"Grain Free" is the catch word for most cat foods nowadays to entice to purchase. A vet had stated on Youtube that mice in barns have grain contents in their stomach from eating grains in their enviornment and cats eat mice. Same as with birds. So grain is nothing foreign in a cats natural diet makeup.

 

[EmmiTemmi]

grain contents in their stomach from eating grains in their enviornment and cats eat mice. Same as with birds. So grain is nothing foreign in a cats natural diet makeup.

Did they mention what percent of the mouse/bird stomach contents is 'grain'? Or how much of the stomach contents cats eat? I heard somewhere that cats tend to avoid the actual stomach contents, and even if they do eat from it, the amount of undigested grain is minimal and isn't really taken into account of the cat's diet.