Looking into new foods for my cats...

[Artistwolf]

Hello everyone! It’s been a while.
So, to jump right in—a few months back, I finally got a job so now I’m paying for all of my cats’ stuff instead of my parents paying for it (I’m almost 20, but due to college and whatnot only got a real job now). So now that I’m making my own money... I figure I really can afford to feed my cats better than I am now.
They’re currently on a diet of one 5.5 can each of Friskies in the evenings, and some dry food (can’t quite remember how much? I’ve got an automatic feeder for that and it measures the food weirdly so I’d have to convert that) in the mornings. Currently the dry food is literally whatever seems nutritionally good (mostly according to catfooddb.com) and is on sale at the time. Currently I’m feeding Fussie Cat, but that seems to make Salt a bit gassy soooo I’m going to need to change that. Their sort of “default” food, if I can’t find anything good on sale, is Merrick Purrfect Bistro Turkey. Any suggestions for a healthier dry food would be awesome. I don’t want to pay a ton more than I am already, but I’m fine with a slight price increase. For the record, they didn’t love Tiki Cat when I tried that once, so that’s off.

Anyway—I’m currently looking for any recommendations as to fairly healthy wet and dry foods. Since I’m going through two 5.5 oz cans of wet a day, I’d rather not those be too far off from like a dollar per can. I’m currently looking at Authority and it seems to be pretty good? My cats won’t eat pate varieties though, so please keep that in mind too (and honestly I wouldn’t be so against continuing to feed them Friskies if it wasn’t for the fact that the pate is the healthiest variety in that).

And any dry food recommendations would be awesome because I’m kind of lost on that score.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[abaig]

I feel that if you want great results foodwise, you should check out this link: Best Cat Food: Top Brands, Low Prices - Free Shipping | Chewy and choose the dry & wet foods with positive ratings. In my opinion, Fancy Feast is a good wet food choice, and probably my cat's favorite. We used to give him Friskies, but he's pretty picky so we changed his wet food completely! My cat also enjoys Meow Mix. I hope you find this helpful!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! You could try taking a look at the food chart developed by a couple of members on this site - just to see if there is something that appeals to you. It might be more comprehensive than you want/need, and it only covers canned foods - but, maybe something listed in it would peak your interest.
Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients

 

[Furballsmom]

I like Merrick, blue wilderness, natural balance, red Barn, Miko, tiny tiger...

 

[movinintime]

I would avoid veggies, grains, menadione sodium bisulfite, guar gum & carrageenan for sure. Other than that, things like peas are not needed. Cats are Obligate Carnivores, thus ONLY meat as in beef, poultry, lamb, pork or venison & rabbit.

I avoid ALL fish foods. Just all IMHO.

Quik edit: The ONLY cans I use really are; Organix Organic -- chicken. Also, sometimes their Organix Organic -- turkey and a 3rd mix of Organix Organic -- chicken/liver combo. It is THE best canned I found so far, other than raw Stella & Chewy's Selects -- chicken or turkey medallions.

 

[Uncled]

The best food is the ones your cat's will eat. Friskies is a decent wet food to feed. Mine eat it they prefer pate .I don't have the luxury of buying expensive foods for my two and I don't equate expensive with quality even if I had the funds. They also like Tiny Tiger from Chewy and Paws and Claws brand from Tractor Supply. Mine don't eat dry food , I'm afraid of them blocking from eating dry food, They are male cats.

 

[movinintime]

I agree w/ the cost & quality concerns of poster above. I just feel like avoiding these certain things makes a difference however slight/small. It may be wishful thinking or erroring on side of caution but I sleep better knowing I think I did the v best I can do.

I do tho, sacrifice alot of things for g/f & I to feed our indoor & even a feral (now for nearing 3yrs w/ him outside yet) but I think it is worth it in the end. They may not live longer but may live a better quality of life for the yrs they do live. Again, no offense & I commend you for taking care of ANY cat let alone more than one. I know it is a job sometimes but oh so rewarding.

 

[Artistwolf]

Thank you for your replies, everyone! Sorry I haven’t had a chance to respond—I’ve been super busy with work.
I’ve done a ton of research, based off of these responses, and I’ve decided to go with Wysong Epigen Chicken for the dry food. For now, I’m going to try Authority for wet, but of course I still hate that that contains carrageenan and all that. Thank you so much to M movinintime for the list of things to avoid!
I definitely agree that there’s something to be said about priciest things not always being better, but I also think it’s important to look at them anyway... I’m not trying to spend as much money as I can, that’s for sure, I just want happy, healthy cats I’ll keep you updated on how they do with this diet once it all arrives from Chewy!

 

[lisahe]

I definitely agree that there’s something to be said about priciest things not always being better, but I also think it’s important to look at them anyway... I’m not trying to spend as much money as I can, that’s for sure, I just want happy, healthy cats I’ll keep you updated on how they do with this diet once it all arrives from Chewy!

Yes to all this! We feed a range of foods, both in terms of price and "mode." Our cats eat everything from Sheba pates to homemade cooked food to Stella & Chewy's Selects raw food and various freeze-dried raw foods. Our cats have some stomach quirks so those foods have two big things in common: high protein and low carbs. I also won't feed carrageenan or fish. (Among other things...) And prefer to keep the menadione down.

Beyond that, individual cat health needs mean that I couldn't/wouldn't, for example, feed the Organix food that M movinintime likes: it has peas. I also can't feed potatoes. Or agar-agar or green lipped mussels. Lots of cats can tolerate those ingredients but one of ours can't! (And neither can handle agar-agar.)

Artistwolf, since you said that Fussie Cat makes your cat gassy, I might check the ingredient list to see if it has tapioca: it's become a popular thickener and is fairly carby. I try to keep that one to a minimum, too, even though it doesn't seem to cause problems for either cat. Good luck with the new foods!

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Look into American Journey on Chewy! I'm pretty sure their chunky variety comes in their big 13oz cans, which should easily feed your cats for a day!

 

[CatLover49]

Hello everyone! It’s been a while.
So, to jump right in—a few months back, I finally got a job so now I’m paying for all of my cats’ stuff instead of my parents paying for it (I’m almost 20, but due to college and whatnot only got a real job now). So now that I’m making my own money... I figure I really can afford to feed my cats better than I am now.
They’re currently on a diet of one 5.5 can each of Friskies in the evenings, and some dry food (can’t quite remember how much? I’ve got an automatic feeder for that and it measures the food weirdly so I’d have to convert that) in the mornings. Currently the dry food is literally whatever seems nutritionally good (mostly according to catfooddb.com) and is on sale at the time. Currently I’m feeding Fussie Cat, but that seems to make Salt a bit gassy soooo I’m going to need to change that. Their sort of “default” food, if I can’t find anything good on sale, is Merrick Purrfect Bistro Turkey. Any suggestions for a healthier dry food would be awesome. I don’t want to pay a ton more than I am already, but I’m fine with a slight price increase. For the record, they didn’t love Tiki Cat when I tried that once, so that’s off.

Anyway—I’m currently looking for any recommendations as to fairly healthy wet and dry foods. Since I’m going through two 5.5 oz cans of wet a day, I’d rather not those be too far off from like a dollar per can. I’m currently looking at Authority and it seems to be pretty good? My cats won’t eat pate varieties though, so please keep that in mind too (and honestly I wouldn’t be so against continuing to feed them Friskies if it wasn’t for the fact that the pate is the healthiest variety in that).

And any dry food recommendations would be awesome because I’m kind of lost on that score.

Thanks in advance for your help!

American Journey

 

[Artistwolf]

Sorry it’s been so long!! I meant to update you sooner but then things got crazy.

Bad news: my cats would not touch the Authority flaked food. They actually like the pate better, which is just... I don’t even know what to say about that. But they don’t love either. At all.

Good news: The Wysong Epigen dry is *amazing*. Salt hasn’t had any problems with gas the whole time he’s been on it, and his stools seem a little more normal (they’ve always been a little soft. He’s got a very sensitive stomach).
Out of ideas, I needed to buy some new flea collars from Petco (Seresto collars are the only flea treatment I’ve ever found to work, by the way), and I stumbled across Wholehearted wet food on sale. I cautiously bought a pack and... well, I’ve never seen either of my cats inhale their wet food so fast. I’m really really impressed. I’ve also bought some Fancy Feast and I’ve been giving them a can and a half each, which seems to be going well. They’re consistently eating the flaked Wholehearted and Fancy Feast, so I think I’ll just keep them on that for a while. I‘m feeding them a little less of that than they used to get, but they’ve always got dry food available (they’re super active cats so they’ve never gained weight from that, and it’s still a measured amount but they just never finish it). Right now this just seems to be working best, and I’m happy to have an alternative to Friskies.

Thanks for all your advice, and feel free to keep throwing ideas at me! Also, a note on the American Journey—I cant find anything besides pate in big cans on Chewy.

 

[Furballsmom]

What a great update!
Try online Only Natural Pet, they have their own line plus they carry other brands.