Does The Perfect High Protein Low Carb Dry Cat Food Exist?

[Kitcat2017]

Hi guys!

Please guide me to choose the right food for my 11 month old neutered cat. He weighs 11 lbs right now and the visit to vet yesterday suggested we keep his weight where it is. Currently, he's a pretty healthy, playful boy but a super picky eater, who won't even lick wet food. I have tried 8 different brands of wet food so far - all straight up rejected. He's currently on Blue chicken recipe. His previous vet recommended Hill's Science Diet and his new vet is recommending Purina One or Royal Canine. On the other hand I've heard not so great things about Science Diet or Blue.. I'm looking for a high protein cat food with minimal to no controversial ingredients. So far the following has popped up in my research.. Please help me choose, preferably one that is available at Petco or Pet Smart!

Hill's Science Diet
Purina One
Purina Pro Plan
Dr. Elsey's
Chicken Soup for Cat Lover's Soul
Orijen
Nutro
Wellness

 

[lisahe]

Nutro Natural Choice is pretty decent food and it appeals to lots of picky eaters. It doesn't have any carby ingredients and our picky cat loves it. The chunky chicken loaf, minced chicken, and turkey slices are big favorites. There are currently some supply difficulties but the senior and kitten foods -- both are smooth chicken pate -- are pretty similar to the regular, all life stages foods, so I occasionally give those to our five-year-old cats. NNC is available about both Petco and Pet Smart. Those flavors don't have carrageenan but some other Nutro foods do so be sure to check labels!

Good luck!

 

[cheesycats]

So are you looking for a dry food or wet food? If you want a good dry food the dr elseys and Orijen are pretty good. If you want to stick to going to the store to get food Petco carries tiki cat now. Which is another decent try food. Their canned is good too. Natures variety raw boost is a favorite of mine as well. Can be bought at Petco or Petsmart
For canned I like soulistic (Petco), tiki (Petco), fancy feast classics (almost anywhere and if ur on a budget), weruva (mom and pop stores and online), natures variety( Petco and Petsmart)

I would avoid purina anything and hills and Royal Canin anything. None of their foods are appropriate for cats.

 

[Timmer]

So what you are saying is you really want a dry food. That might not be super easy to find.

I've only given dry food to my two cats at snack time before bed. Normally I feed canned because it's better for them all around. I do a mix of the Blue Buffalo "Freedom" indoor food and Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hairball #54 which I order from Amazon.
I found a good website called "catdb" that lists all foods and their ingredients and it's kind of fun to read.

 

[lalagimp]

We were doing Nature's Variety Instinct with raw boost for years, and we switched to Dr Elsey's cleanprotein last summer when I asked them for a sample to review before they ended up doing the big Chewy.com launch. The big bag lasts about two months for my two 9.5 lb girls along with their 5-6 oz of wet food each day. They truly did adjust to the higher protein and higher calorie so they eat less. Now, I've ordered from Dr Elsey's site and through Chewy and Dr Elsey's seems to email me whenever there is a big sale on either site. Chewy ended up on back order through their last sale, and Dr Elsey's last sale was, I believe, half off. I ended up stocking up 4 month's worth.
Years ago, I did try Orijen with the cats, and they wouldn't eat it. It also has a large amount of fruits and veggies that aren't necessary, and some people say the quality or recipe has changed from when they were producing in Canada vs when they started producing in the states.

 

[Kitcat2017]

Yes! I'm looking for a good dry food. I understand that wet food would be the best and that is what I want him to eat.. but unfortunately he won't. So I'm looking for a good dry food that doesn't have too much junk..

Are you guys saying I should try "grain free" then? Like the Blue Freedom? Does Dr. Elsey's have more protein and less fat than say Chicken Soup or Nutro?

Thank you!

 

[maggiedemi]

You said to avoid Purina, but Purina makes Fancy Feast.

 

[lalagimp]

cats can process fat without getting fat themselves
https://img.chewy.com/is/image/catalog/119079_PT3._AC_SL1500_V1492208046_.jpg
That's the analysis. The carb percentage is less than 5%

I used to think that with my boys having weight issues that they would need less fat in their diet, but Dr Pierson told me to go ahead and use all the poultry skin in my home made food for them instead of 20% , and I still have to work to keep weight ON Tom now

 

[duckpond]

I feed my 4 cats Dr. elsey's dry. It is high protein, moderate fat, and very low carb. Just my opinion but i think it the best dry i can find for my cats. and all 4 like it , i use the chicken formula, tried a small bag of the salmon and they were not as fond of it. They chicken they all like and are doing very well!

 

[cifelliac]

Orijen recently came out with the new Fit and Trim recipe. I'm going to be switching my girls to it after their Kirkland huge bag of food is done. Orijen is very expensive, if it's too much for you have you thought about looking into their sister company Arcana?

 

[Kitcat2017]

We're giving Dr. Elsey's a shot! Thank you guys! He has rejected Dr. Elsey's treats though...

 

[jclark]

Nature's Variety Originals

 

[duckpond]

Orijen recently came out with the new Fit and Trim recipe. I'm going to be switching my girls to it after their Kirkland huge bag of food is done. Orijen is very expensive, if it's too much for you have you thought about looking into their sister company Arcana?

I buy the small 1 lb bags of Orijen to give my cats as treats. they like the Tundra, and the Regions red. I bought a small bag of the Fit and Trim last time i was in the pet store. They will not eat it, i was so disappointed.

 

[cifelliac]

I buy the small 1 lb bags of Orijen to give my cats as treats. they like the Tundra, and the Regions red. I bought a small bag of the Fit and Trim last time i was in the pet store. They will not eat it, i was so disappointed.

Oh no, I hope my girls will like it. My problem is one cat will only eat dry food, we've tried to transition her to wet food many times but she refuses.

I used to feed her Acana Prairie and she liked it but it had too many calories in it (gained too much weight), so I switched to Kirkland Healthy Weight Recipe but I don't really like it as there is lots of fillers in it. My parents were complaining about food costs as we used to feed them Merrick Healthy Weight I liked that the girls ate it so I may be switching back to that.