Changes In Cat Food?

[simbamowgli]

Hello!

This is my first thread!

On to business! I feed my cats Wellness Chicken Formula, and they love it, occasionally not finishing all of it but usually they devour it in a mere five minutes ... 

Sometimes, though, when we're out of wet food and it's not a good time for us to go out, we run to Petco and grab some cans of Blue Wilderness Kitten Chicken Flavor, and so what I wanted to ask, is that okay?

There won't be an unbalance in diet or anything, will there? My cats are pretty young, one being about 4 months and the other 5 months. 

Reply soon!

SimbaMowgli

 

[laralove]

Hi SimbaMowgli, welcome to TCS! 

Mixing types/brands of commercial food isn't a problem. Some believe it's best to mix commercial foods, since pretty much all of them have unnecessary and/or potentially harmful ingredients. Offering a variety reduces the amount of any one bad ingredient. That said, any food that says "[protein] flavor" doesn't actually have much if any protein, so those should only be offered as treats, if offered at all. They're among the lowest quality foods. I am not aware of Blue Buffalo offering that, though. Do you have a link for the one you use?

Also, is this the Wellness you're talking about? 

 

[simbamowgli]

Indeed, that's the brand I use! They seem to enjoy it quite a lot, and there haven't been any changes in weight or anything since I started using it, I use it instead of Friskies because I believe it's healthier. I also use Blue Wilderness Kitten Chicken Recipe occasionally. Thanks for the help!      

 

[laralove]

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, Zucchini, Cranberries, Blueberries, Guar Gum, Dicalcium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Iron Proteinate (a source of Chelated Iron), Beta-Carotene, Zinc Proteinate (a source of Chelated Zinc), Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Cobalt Proteinate (a source of Chelated Cobalt), Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate (a source of Chelated Copper), Folic Acid, Manganese Proteinate (a source of Chelated Manganese), Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Biotin.

Picking up from the other thread, these vegetables and fruits are really not necessary, especially in those amounts. That many and that high on the list isn't going to get processed. Guar gum and carrageenan are no good. I recommend a quick Google search, just to familiarize yourself with those two ingredients, if you aren't already familiar with them. 

I know a lot of people promote Wellness, but I just don't understand it. Fancy Feast Classics have proteins as first ingredients, no grains, fruits, or vegetables, and no carrageenan. And it costs a lot less.

 

[laralove]

 
Yes, that is the type I use! I also use Blue Wilderness Kitten Chicken Recipe occassionally. Thanks for the help!      

I can only seem to find a dry food by that name, but in the first post you said cans of it. Is it this, this, or this?

 

[simbamowgli]

It is the last "this". My cats seem to like it, but because of the unnecessary ingredients, I think I will start mixing a little to balance it out.

 

[andrya]

l use the Blue Wilderness kitten canned in my cats' rotation, though it's hard to find here. They all love it and l have no problems with the food itself. Sometimes the ingredients listed on the side of a can can be misleading in that it appears to be filled with unnecessary veggies (bad), but when the ingredients list is used in conjunction with the catinfo Food Chart, this gives a more complete picture.

http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Essentially, you're looking for high protein, moderate fat (can be mod-high for kittens), low carbs.

Unfortunately, the Blue Wilderness is not on the chart, so we have to "guesstimate" the dry matter analysis from the Guaranteed Analysis and the ingredients list.

For example:

Here is an example of a food that l had not been willing to feed my cats based solely on the ingredients list:

Merrick Cowboy Cookout (OLD recipe, l won't feed the new/current one)

View media item 199462
That looks like an awful lot of carbs to me!! lt would make a lovely Sunday dinner for humans View media item 199466

 

[simbamowgli]

Thanks! And that is a whole lot of carbs! Wouldn't mind having it on my dinner table ... 

 

[marc999]

 
Picking up from the other thread, these vegetables and fruits are really not necessary, especially in those amounts. That many and that high on the list isn't going to get processed. Guar gum and carrageenan are no good. I recommend a quick Google search, just to familiarize yourself with those two ingredients, if you aren't already familiar with them. 

I know a lot of people promote Wellness, but I just don't understand it. Fancy Feast Classics have proteins as first ingredients, no grains, fruits, or vegetables, and no carrageenan. And it costs a lot less.

Yeah, but don't most of the Fancy Feast - Classics have fish as the 4th-6th ingredient?  Whether or not that is bad is debatable I suppose. 

 

[laralove]