New cats, have only been on dry food

Ravensong

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I will be getting two new cats by the end of the month - rescues - and both have been eating only dry food. One is eating Blue (salmon), the other is on Meow Mix. I have always fed both dry and wet and want to eventually get these girls on a healthy food. I'm slogging through all of the research and will continue to do so, but there is so much of it and all of it is contradictory. I also will talk to their new vet, but that might not be for a bit and since all vets have their own preferences, I'd like to go in prepared.

Would be interested to hear if you have any suggestions, and also if you have had any experience with:
Fromm
Wild Frontier
American Journey

I've been looking primarily at the fish recipes.
 

klunick

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Only one I have heard of is American Journey. Lots of folks on here feed it and recommend it.
 

di and bob

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There are all kinds of good dry foods now, just look at the reviews and see what they say. Make sure you have plenty of water around. Try to gradually switch over too, to avoid stomach upset.
 

LTS3

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Avoid fish based foods if possible. It's not good for cats to eat fish / seafood all the time.


Rawz is one of the better brands out there. It's available in both dry and canned. It is pricey and only independent pet stores / boutiques sell it as well as a few authorized online retailers. You *can* find it on Amazon but it's sold through third party sellers at typically marked up prices and you don't know if the product is expired or tampered with or whatever.

For something more affordable, most any other brand you find at independent pet stores are good. Stick with grain-free and look for real meat at the ingredient.
 
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Ravensong

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Only one I have heard of is American Journey. Lots of folks on here feed it and recommend it.
Thank you! And btw...what beautiful babies! :-)

Avoid fish based foods if possible. It's not good for cats to eat fish / seafood all the time.
Yes, I'm familiar with the concerns around fish-based foods. It's funny, though, because my vet always told me fish was fine. And I fed my other cats fish all their lives. 'rissa was 17 when she died, and she was robustly healthy until she contracted lymphoma.

My vet told me not to feed my cats chicken, yet I hear all kinds of good things about it. Neither were allergic; the vet just said it wasn't good for them.

This is why I'm looking for a high quality food. From the article: "If you’re feeding good quality commercial cat food manufactured by a reputable company, you can safely feed fish-based food without risking thiamine-deficiency or pansteatitis."

It's no wonder people are so confused about what to feed their cats. LOL
 

game misconduct

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not sure about the brands or if your just switching out different dry foods the way i did it with graycie was slowly . a bit at a time gradually mixing new brand in with the old until it was only new brand i was feeding her. same with wet food a lil mixed in each feeding until she got used to it. swap it out to fast the cat might end up with the runs no fun for you or cat then
 
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Ravensong

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not sure about the brands or if your just switching out different dry foods the way i did it with graycie was slowly . a bit at a time gradually mixing new brand in with the old until it was only new brand i was feeding her. same with wet food a lil mixed in each feeding until she got used to it. swap it out to fast the cat might end up with the runs no fun for you or cat then
Yeah...I am familiar with switching out foods. Had to do that with my last cats a few times.

Thanks for the reminder!
 

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Thank you! And btw...what beautiful babies! :-)



Yes, I'm familiar with the concerns around fish-based foods. It's funny, though, because my vet always told me fish was fine. And I fed my other cats fish all their lives. 'rissa was 17 when she died, and she was robustly healthy until she contracted lymphoma.

My vet told me not to feed my cats chicken, yet I hear all kinds of good things about it. Neither were allergic; the vet just said it wasn't good for them.

This is why I'm looking for a high quality food. From the article: "If you’re feeding good quality commercial cat food manufactured by a reputable company, you can safely feed fish-based food without risking thiamine-deficiency or pansteatitis."

It's no wonder people are so confused about what to feed their cats. LOL
I think one of the main concerns currently with feeding fish only is that most fish now have high levels of heavy metals. It's becoming more of an issue then it was in the past, even humans are told not to eat too much fish in their diet because of the same issue. Obviously it does depend on the type of fish, smaller fish are going to be less of an issue then larger ones.
 
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Ravensong

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I think one of the main concerns currently with feeding fish only is that most fish now have high levels of heavy metals.
Ah, yes. Do you know of a good resource that provides info on heavy metals in fish used in pet foods?
 

amethyst

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Ah, yes. Do you know of a good resource that provides info on heavy metals in fish used in pet foods?
No I don't, I don't think they have done enough research yet to find out long term cumulative effects, but maybe some one else might know of one. Even for humans though it's been fairly recently that they have told people to cut back on eating large amounts of fish. I can't imagine that pet food companies would really be more strict about the food they use then the human food companies. Cats might not live long enough for it to be a problem though, but it is something to consider, cats are living longer now a days, with good health, care, genetics, some reaching into their 20s.

Personally I like to give my cats a variety of proteins anyway, the dry food stays the same (though I do switch brands from time to time), but the wet food I do a variety (fish, chicken, turkey, beef, etc), it can help prevent any issues that might arise from having a single protein/flavor, like if the food gets recalled do to a contamination or is out of stock, or if the cat develops an allergy, some cats can become picky eaters and refuse new foods if not use to a variety. Even if you just go with fish flavors I would still still suggest give a variety of brands rather then sticking with a single one if you can.
 
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Ravensong

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Personally I like to give my cats a variety of proteins anyway, t
Oh...I like the idea of giving them a variety. I had one cat that ate fish and turkey, but she wasn't sold on the others. I will definitely look into that!
 

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I feed wet meals ( fancy feast) but for a snack Fromm. The Fromm I feed is mostly duck and rabbit. Tuff absolutely loves it.
 

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This might help catfooddb.com.
No fish. My. Cats eat variety of proteins. Some high fat average protein, some high protein low fat. All canned so dont know much about dry. All low carb

dr elseys,rawz,hound and Gatos American journey,tiki,fancy feast classics turkey&giblets,sheba roasted beef or chicken perfect porrions

for treats pure bites freeze dried chicken or american journey. Very helpful for toppers.
 
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Ravensong

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Thanks, maggie101 maggie101 . I notice that all but two of the "top" wet foods on that list have fish in them. I didn't know about the pure bites...will look that up.

So far, looks like American Journey is a good and popular one!
 

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Thanks, maggie101 maggie101 . I notice that all but two of the "top" wet foods on that list have fish in them. I didn't know about the pure bites...will look that up.

So far, looks like American Journey is a good and popular one!
I need to try that brand next for my cats. They liked the wild fronteir but I stopped after reading it had zanthan gum so only occasionallg. Right now my cabinet is full of cat food.
 
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Ravensong

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I need to try that brand next for my cats. They liked the wild fronteir but I stopped after reading it had zanthan gum so only occasionallg. Right now my cabinet is full of cat food.
I might also try Smalls again. My other cats wouldn't touch it, but maybe these will be different.
 

ladytimedramon

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Delilah loved Fromm, but I wound up switching to Krave Indoor dry because of calories, protein, cost, and availability. There is a website called "Pawdiet" where you can compare the nutrition on 2 specific brands.
 
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