Hello,
I've browsed around and found a lot of really helpful information. There is just so much information out there it's really hard to know where to look or who is right.
Long story short is that: After many arguments (about cat food), my old room mate and I compromised by each buying a bag of cat food and then mixing it. We didn't agree on what was a good food and couldn't keep the cats from eating each other's food. (She is a die hard fan of Science Diet... because the vet recommended it...and thinks that the internet is a bad place to get facts about cat nutrition...) Anyways I live alone now and can buy whatever I want, but finances are pretty tight and I could never afford Orijen even with my employee discount!
I currently feed my ~3yr old cat Kirkland Brand Super Premium Maintenance Cat food (dry) she also gets Friskies or 9lives brand wet food 1x/day. I do understand the benefits of wet food and am trying to get her to eat more wet, but she will currently not eat more than 1 spoonful at a time even of the more expensive kinds and she really prefers tuna flavors. (I've tried Fancy Feast, Blue Buffalo Spa select, Tiki Cat & Weruva)
The general consensus I've seen is that the Costco brand is a good food for the price. She does seem to be doing fine on it, and has never had a problem with dry food, she will eat whatever I put down. I feel comfortable with the pricing, but am wondering if I need to mix in another brand of dry to ensure that she is getting adequate nutrition. Am I on the right page here?
I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me what they look for (or don't want to see) in a cat food both dry and wet and most importantly WHY this or that is or isn't important?
The basics that I look for are:
- Specific Meat meal (eg chicken meal) as the first ingredient, preferably meats as the first two ingredients (I've read/heard that meal is better than just plain meat as the water content means there is actually less meat and they can list it higher up in the ingredients, versus meat meal which is dried and so you know that there is actually a high concentration of protein)
- Fish should not be the primary protein source (due to mercury content in fish)
- No corn type listings (these are bad... for allergen purposes? and because they are a filler, right?)
- No ground up barely, rice etc (which aren't as good as whole brown rice?)
or if you have resources that I could read up on what should/should not be in a food that would be appreciated too! I just don't know who to believe or ask, I mean if vet aren't even knowledgable, who is there to trust?
Thanks in advance for any help, I really appreciate any advice. I love the price I pay for the Costco food (which I split with my mom who has 2 cats) but would be willing to spend a little more, or buy a small bag of higher quality food to mix in if this would help. Oh, I live in the US, in CA. Through work I can probably order most foods, but some that I've seen and heard about for the dogs are:
TOTW (about $25 for a 15lb bag)
Costco Super Premium Maintenance Cat Food (I think... about $16 for 25lbs)
Nature's Domain (about $18? for 18lbs)
California Natural (I've seen the dog food and heard its pretty good so I assume the cat food is ok?) (about $32 for a 15lb bag, or $42 for the grain free)
Tuscan Natural (not sure about their pricing, but have heard that the dog food has really good oils for skin and coat) ($40 for 15lbs or $44 for grain free)
I've browsed around and found a lot of really helpful information. There is just so much information out there it's really hard to know where to look or who is right.
Long story short is that: After many arguments (about cat food), my old room mate and I compromised by each buying a bag of cat food and then mixing it. We didn't agree on what was a good food and couldn't keep the cats from eating each other's food. (She is a die hard fan of Science Diet... because the vet recommended it...and thinks that the internet is a bad place to get facts about cat nutrition...) Anyways I live alone now and can buy whatever I want, but finances are pretty tight and I could never afford Orijen even with my employee discount!
I currently feed my ~3yr old cat Kirkland Brand Super Premium Maintenance Cat food (dry) she also gets Friskies or 9lives brand wet food 1x/day. I do understand the benefits of wet food and am trying to get her to eat more wet, but she will currently not eat more than 1 spoonful at a time even of the more expensive kinds and she really prefers tuna flavors. (I've tried Fancy Feast, Blue Buffalo Spa select, Tiki Cat & Weruva)
The general consensus I've seen is that the Costco brand is a good food for the price. She does seem to be doing fine on it, and has never had a problem with dry food, she will eat whatever I put down. I feel comfortable with the pricing, but am wondering if I need to mix in another brand of dry to ensure that she is getting adequate nutrition. Am I on the right page here?
I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me what they look for (or don't want to see) in a cat food both dry and wet and most importantly WHY this or that is or isn't important?
The basics that I look for are:
- Specific Meat meal (eg chicken meal) as the first ingredient, preferably meats as the first two ingredients (I've read/heard that meal is better than just plain meat as the water content means there is actually less meat and they can list it higher up in the ingredients, versus meat meal which is dried and so you know that there is actually a high concentration of protein)
- Fish should not be the primary protein source (due to mercury content in fish)
- No corn type listings (these are bad... for allergen purposes? and because they are a filler, right?)
- No ground up barely, rice etc (which aren't as good as whole brown rice?)
or if you have resources that I could read up on what should/should not be in a food that would be appreciated too! I just don't know who to believe or ask, I mean if vet aren't even knowledgable, who is there to trust?
Thanks in advance for any help, I really appreciate any advice. I love the price I pay for the Costco food (which I split with my mom who has 2 cats) but would be willing to spend a little more, or buy a small bag of higher quality food to mix in if this would help. Oh, I live in the US, in CA. Through work I can probably order most foods, but some that I've seen and heard about for the dogs are:
TOTW (about $25 for a 15lb bag)
Costco Super Premium Maintenance Cat Food (I think... about $16 for 25lbs)
Nature's Domain (about $18? for 18lbs)
California Natural (I've seen the dog food and heard its pretty good so I assume the cat food is ok?) (about $32 for a 15lb bag, or $42 for the grain free)
Tuscan Natural (not sure about their pricing, but have heard that the dog food has really good oils for skin and coat) ($40 for 15lbs or $44 for grain free)
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