Best Brands Of Wet Cat Food

[thehistorian]

I am sorry to tell you that Fancy Feast Classic Pate is what I was feeding my cat that was killing her. All "meat" what kind of "meat"? Is it human consumable? no Is is 100% organic? no Do you know that yes, it may be meat but ALL Commercial, canned pet foods are allowed and DO use meat from dead pets from "kill shelters"! See that phrase "meat by products". NOT what I am going to feed my pet. It is killing our pets. FACT: household pets lived longer when our parents and grandparents fed them tables scraps NOT commercial "pet foods". Modern "pet foods" are killing our pets way before their time. I do not expect you to believe me, read the book by Dr. R. Geoffrey Broderick, "Compassion For Pets". He has been a PRACTICING VETERINARIAN AND a world renowned expert in nutrition. He has devoted his life to improving the wellbeing and lifespan of our pets. His foods have NO added chemicals, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives sweeteners or sugars. Packed with nutrients, all-organic, and are ALL human-grade. That is what all of us want for our pets. We all love our pets like our children. We would not feed dead cats and dogs to our children. Please just read his book. Or even just e-mail him with your questions.

I think you are forgetting something very important: cats are individuals and most of of your beliefs are just that: beliefs. Did a vet or any type of animal expert tell you Fancy Feast killed your cat? I have known so many cats who lived off Fancy Feast Classic Pates and they did not just survive: they thrived for years. Why? Because cats are individuals and not all of them react the same way to every single food. As for added chemicals, colors etc. Yeah, cats are tougher than you like to think. Unless an additive is inherently toxic, the cat's system is rather adept at filtering out most needless additives - much like ours. That is - unless your cat has an underlying health issue.

Maybe Fancy Feast killed your cat because she already had an underlying problem that Fancy Feast was not the proper diet for. The fact is - based on just a fundamental understanding of biology - Fancy Feast alone did not and could not kill your cat. It is not biologically possible.

As for the hype around meat-by-products: it's bull crap. Meat-by-products are things like animal bones, intestines etc. Cats are obligate carnivores. When they are outside and hunting, they do not catch a rabbit and delicately nibble off the muscle meat like sweet little house kitties. They rip through everything. They eat guts, bones, etc. And that includes the extra junk that animal may contain in its own body.

You should feed your cats well and if it pleases you to seek fancier, human grade, etc. foods, excellent! But do not make claims that are not based in scientific fact. As for Dr. Broderick, I suspect we have a money-making scheme on his part. I looked at his website and yeah - yeah we do. But, that is your decision. Not mine. I would just rather you not spread mass hysteria.

My source of information is this lady who doesn't turn her website into a marketing gimmick:

catinfo.org

 

[thehistorian]

The best quality food in the world isn't so great if the cat won't eat it. You can't make a cat eat what you want it to. Some cats will go on a hunger strike if they don't like the food and that can cause health problems.

Bingo. Plus, a lot of the marketing gimmicks like "organic, grain-free, with fresh veggies, apples etc." are made to appeal to what humans think of as healthy for THEM - not for cats. Cats have completely different dietary needs. Personally if I could afford it, I would feed my cats a completely commercially prepared raw diet with all the necessary added vitamins and minerals, but I cannot. Luckily, my cats are thriving on their mostly wet food diet of FF and NNC supplemented with just a bit of dry. I am trying to get them off dry completely - in particular the boy.

 

[MeganLLB]

Also too add "human grade" is a made up term that pet food manufacturers use to make their food sound better. It actually doesn't have any objective standard or meaning.

When you buy meat from a meat supplier it is either "edible" or "inedible". Edible meats are what is judged as good enough for human consumption, while inedible meats may contain meat from euthanized animals, horse meat, or low quality meat. Usually pet food companies purchase this inedible meat for their food.

However the place where they make the food may be a "USDA certified processing facility " or something like that so that it is up to code to "human standards" however the actual meat is inedible. So because they make the food in a "human food safe" place they will put on their packaging "human grade".
Human grade is just a made up term by pet food companies, it doesnt have anything to do about the quality of the meat.

 

[David1953]

That is certainly true and have had only 1 cat, my last one, Livvy, that was a picky eater. Never did eat a lot for almost a decade, but I have my current cat now and think he will eat about anything. So far, I have fed him a few different kinds of wet food along with what he had been given before I got him, and he devours it all.

 

[kikilove]

I saw that site and it was a shocker...some of the best brands were on that recall list...Wellness, Natural Balance. How criminal that this stuff even can happen!

Clearly I hadn't read that site! So much for those brands.
So confusing. I'm just going to stop feeding them.

 

[MeganLLB]

Clearly I hadn't read that site! So much for those brands.
So confusing. I'm just going to stop feeding them.

Yea but the stuff we eat and use has recalls all the time too. Like my mom's car had a recall and she had to bring it in to get something fixed, but that didn't stop me from buying a Toyota. And there was a brand of granola bars that was recalled, but I still buy them.

There are recalls on all kinds of things all time, why would cat food not be subject to recalls too? I don't think that's any reason not to buy a particular brand anymore. Unless there is a company with a history of a lot of recalls then that might be concerning, but overall all kinds of things get recalled and I don't think it's something worth fussing over.

 

[kikilove]

Yea but the stuff we eat and use has recalls all the time too. Like my mom's car had a recall and she had to bring it in to get something fixed, but that didn't stop me from buying a Toyota. And there was a brand of granola bars that was recalled, but I still buy them.

There are recalls on all kinds of things all time, why would cat food not be subject to recalls too? I don't think that's any reason not to buy a particular brand anymore. Unless there is a company with a history of a lot of recalls then that might be concerning, but overall all kinds of things get recalled and I don't think it's something worth fussing over.

Hi Megan... I totally get it. Was just kidding. They're still getting Natural Balance because it's the one thing they all agree on.

 

[MeganLLB]

Hi Megan... I totally get it. Was just kidding. They're still getting Natural Balance because it's the one thing they all agree on.

But I have encountered people who will totally freak over a recall, and have tried to convince me not to buy a certain brand because of a recent recall. So you never know how people are.

 

[Jojo&Tutu]

My cat has inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatitis. Currently she is doing well on Lotus Foods Just Juicy Venison. It only has venison,a tiny bit of potato starch and an occasional tiny piece of carrot which you can remove if you want and there is a lot of juice. (& vitamins & taurine). It is made by Centinela Feed/Lotus. It looks like pulled pork. No guar gum No pea. I add a tablespoon of baby food organic pumpkin per can as my cat gets constipated. I do warn you about Ziwipeak Venison.. They changed their formula adding a lot of chickpea and my cat ended up with severe pancreatitis which she has never fully gotten rid of. She remains on antibiotics, steroids and anti acids for life. Switching to Just Juicy Venison has helped her tremendously.. She used to use Natural Balance and Royal Canin but too many dented cans, found mold and rocks in them, &too much green pea made her sicker.[/QUOTE]

 

[David1953]

Clearly I hadn't read that site! So much for those brands.
So confusing. I'm just going to stop feeding them.

Really makes you think when you see things like that, doesn't it? I went to my pet store today and looked at many brands of wet cat food. I had a list with me of the ingredients that should not be in any cat food. The worst one seemed to be 'meat by-products' and 'bone/corn meal' They are listed at the very beginning of the ingredient section and these 2 were on that list of no-no's. The veggies are not a problem since there isn't much of those and have read that some of these, like pumpkin and such are beneficial as are added vitamins. But if the vitamins are of the synthetic kind, those are really bad since they are reported to cause toxicity in cats. Careegenan was in some, but was towards the end of the ingredient list so not too bad, but still want to avoid that. The guar gum was high on some, low on other brands, so I just didn't mess with any food that had that listed. I did find a few that were very good and some had none of those unnecessary ingredients or harmful ones. Organix was one, Cornucopia was another and I think another was Whole Earth. I ended up getting Organix to try and also the Instinct brand frozen raw diet food.

But in reality, just like with humans, finding a food without any harmful things in them is very difficult, but it seems the pet industry can get away with more since they are not as tightly regulated. What a rough couple of days doing this research, but at least I have a better understanding and some knowledge or what to avoid from now on, at least until they discover some other ingredient that is really bad in the future. Never ends it seems!

 

[kashmir64]

You should read this article. It's for dogs, but the way pet food is processed is the same for cats. It clarifies the myths behind all the by-product phobias.
The Truth About Animal By-Products in Dog Food

 

[Mary Ann P]

I appreciate ALL the input and responses to this thread. After starting this thread, I started to research about what a good cat food should have and what it shouldn't. I was shocked at what some of these supposedly 'Excellent' cat foods have in them...things like Carrageenan, bone meal, guar gum, and just plain garbage such as diseased dead animal parts, meat by-products, feathers, etc. and so many veggies that should not even be in a cat's diet. And not to mention the artificial colors and other junk I don't even know what they are and need a chemist degree to know what it is. Really opens your eyes, at least it did for me. My first job is to go to my pet store with my list of no-no's for ingredients and find some that have very little or none of the above crap in them. At least with all of your help, I have a starting point to some brands and also raw food and freeze dried cat food that I didn't even know they have. THANKS TO YOU ALL!

You are right, it is hard to find good food, the big companies don't make it or sell it because they are making millions by selling garbage for us to feed to our beloved pets. The truth is they don't care if it kills them, BUT we do, we love them, usually like a member of our family. I have spent months and months researching pet foods, I am sure that there may be some options that I have missed but the best options for me are either to buy whole animals (rabbits, chickens and grind them myself, buy them already ground and then I still may need to add some additives. I just don't want to do that, some may want to. I do believe that their are benefits to that as when a cat catches an animal in the wild they eat the whole animal, organs, eyes, fur, feathers everything. But that is just not for me. Out of the FEW good choices out there I am trying Cornucopia. I have purchased the food and all of the recommended additives. I will get my new kitten approximately the first week of September. She already loves wet food so I do not anticipate having any problems with her switching to this food. IF she does I will post my solution here.
I don't think that you will find anything in the Pet Store that will be a QUALITY food for your cat. Try emailing Dr. Broderick at Cornucopia about his food and see what you think? By the way your kitty is beautiful, reminds me very much of the last kitty my mother had, a real sweetie!

 

[Mary Ann P]

You might check the ingredients on Fancy Feast--Classic only. It does have by-products but I think by products are not bad at all. They are certainly part of a natural diet in the wild. Check out some articles on by products and draw your own conclusion. My cat thrives on this food.

Email Dr. Broderick at Cornucopia pet foods and ask him what "byproducts" are.

 

[David1953]

You should read this article. It's for dogs, but the way pet food is processed is the same for cats. It clarifies the myths behind all the by-product phobias.
The Truth About Animal By-Products in Dog Food

Thank you for this link. I have been reading up on this 'by products' topic and I appreciate this link. Unbelievable...using dead animals from disease, road kill, and the remains of euthanized pets? That is OUTRAGEOUS! Sick people out there! This is just criminal!!!

 

[kashmir64]

Thank you for this link. I have been reading up on this 'by products' topic and I appreciate this link. Unbelievable...using dead animals from disease, road kill, and the remains of euthanized pets? That is OUTRAGEOUS! Sick people out there! This is just criminal!!!

But you need to remember that their digestive system is different than ours. I personally can't eat red meat without being sick. But I do agree with you about the euthanized animal products in the food.

 

[Jojo&Tutu]

Really makes you think when you see things like that, doesn't it? I went to my pet store today and looked at many brands of wet cat food. I had a list with me of the ingredients that should not be in any cat food. The worst one seemed to be 'meat by-products' and 'bone/corn meal' They are listed at the very beginning of the ingredient section and these 2 were on that list of no-no's. The veggies are not a problem since there isn't much of those and have read that some of these, like pumpkin and such are beneficial as are added vitamins. But if the vitamins are of the synthetic kind, those are really bad since they are reported to cause toxicity in cats. Careegenan was in some, but was towards the end of the ingredient list so not too bad, but still want to avoid that. The guar gum was high on some, low on other brands, so I just didn't mess with any food that had that listed. I did find a few that were very good and some had none of those unnecessary ingredients or harmful ones. Organix was one, Cornucopia was another and I think another was Whole Earth. I ended up getting Organix to try and also the Instinct brand frozen raw diet food.

But in reality, just like with humans, finding a food without any harmful things in them is very difficult, but it seems the pet industry can get away with more since they are not as tightly regulated. What a rough couple of days doing this research, but at least I have a better understanding and some knowledge or what to avoid from now on, at least until they discover some other ingredient that is really bad in the future. Never ends it seems!

Not Synthetic vitamins what vitamins are not synthetic? I am allergic to vitamins and cannot eat anything with D added. Any suggestions?
In the meantime try lotus foods canned feline just juicy venison or other just juicy flavors. It is real meat you can see not ground up looks like it is pulled off the bone and not byproducts. They are very responsive to suggested changes too. A smaller local California company and I so far am impressed. Chewy might carry it. Centinela Feed carried it.

 

[Mary Ann P]

But you need to remember that their digestive system is different than ours. I personally can't eat red meat without being sick. But I do agree with you about the euthanized animal products in the food.

Dr. Broderick IS Vet and animal nutritionalist and has been studying what THE best food to feed our pets would be for his entire career! And we are talking about our PETS not ourselves right?

 

[Mary Ann P]

David, Sounds like you did a great job in your search. Let me know what you think of the food Organix after you use it for awhile. Hope it works out great for you and kitty!

 

[kashmir64]

Dr. Broderick IS Vet and animal nutritionalist and has been studying what THE best food to feed our pets would be for his entire career! And we are talking about our PETS not ourselves right?

I was not talking about him. I was talking about the by-products such as liver, heart giblet, brain, etc.

 

[MeganLLB]

by-products such as liver, heart giblet, brain, etc.

That's what you want to feed a cat. Organs are the best part of the animal to eat. People who feed raw go nuts trying to get heart, giblets, tripe, etc.