What Is The Best Non Raw Wet Food To Feed My Furbabies??? Overwhelmed!

[tigger13]

Hello everyone, first, I did spend some time reading through the threads to find this answer there first but didn't see what I was looking for so if I missed it, pease direct me, much appreciated!
I'm so overwhelmed right now with what is truly healthy wet non raw food for my 3 babies. With the latest article about grain free being a bad choice I just don't know what to feed anymore. I'm not in a place right now where I can afford raw so I'm looking for some advice on what is really healthy wet food.
I read the labels but then read an article about how you can't really go by the labels so I'm just overwhelmed. I just want to feed them something healthy, that's it but it seems so difficult to get straight answers, everything is conflicting nowadays. Just when you think you know how to shop for the good stuff some article comes out.
I heard about the new Weruva pate and was going to try that. I fed Weruva for a while but they got tired if it. Tried a few other things but they really didn't like any of it much. I do want to give them a few different ones for variety. I know about the flaxseed, the Carrageenan, the fillers and exotic ingredients, not too much fish, maybe only occasionally, I get a little confused on how to judge the correct levels of ash and mositure, so with all that in mind, I would love to hear what everyone thinks is a really good if not the best (I know opinions vary) wet food for cats with no health issues. Is there maybe a chart someone has devised to list what to look for, to stay away from, the best levels of good ingredients like Ash, moisture, veggies etc., something simple I could print out and take with me while shopping and easy to understand. It would really be helpful. I'm sure this has been asked before and is probably on the site here somewhere, I just don't know where to look. I over analysis everything so this is just so frustrating for me, I'm beyond the KISS methodology lol. I know everyone is gonna have a different opinion and unfortunately I'm a very, VERY black or white person but I will strive my best to meet in the middle on this to feed my babies something that's healthy. That's all I want. So please, if anyone can help me out I would be over the moon!!!!
Thank you all so much for your help! Really struggling here
Mel

 

[mizzely]

The honest answer is the one your cat likes, does well on, and that fits your budget.

The best means nothing if your cat won't eat it. Mine certainly won't touch a lot of the high end stuff like Rawz (which is not a raw food). There isn't a truly best food because cat's aren't all the same. My Jasmine couldn't eat anything except Friskiest before she died, so for her, that was the best!

There are many foods that are great for cats that start with the humble Fancy Feast and Sheba and go on up through Weruva, Tiki Cat, Rawz, Dr. Elsey's and more. Many of us feed several brands and varieties.

So what I'd do is:

1. Determine how much per month you can reasonably afford
2. Determine if there are any ingredients you want or need to avoid. For us, my cat hates tuna, and I avoid grains.
3. Get some cans of a few different foods to try.
4. See what works!

For what it's worth my picky feline loves the Weruva pates She gets that, Sheba, American Journey, Tiny Tiger, Nature's Variety Instinct, and whatever else is on sale at the time that I know she likes.

This may help! Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients

I often just check Chewy.com to see what they have too. They have a lot of filters that can be helpful!

 

[tigger13]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! Good information!! Thank you!!

 

[maggiedemi]

I think the Grain Free warning is just about dry food. They are adding legumes which affect taurine absorption.

Look for Pate canned food, that seems to be the best. I use Friskies Classic Pates, but there are fancier brands if you want to go that route.

 

[Azazel]

There is no wet or commercial pet food on the market without at least one questionable ingredient. On top of that, we usually don’t know the source of the ingredients. You have to either accept the reality of the pet food industry for what it is, or learn to make your own food. This is why so many of us in the homemade food sub forum do just that.

 

[KarenKat]

When I evaluate a canned food, this is my thought process:

Protein- high, I look for 50% or above. I avoid most fish foods because they are high in impurities and there is a link to hyperthyroidism and a fish diet
Fat - Medium
Carbs - low to none

After that I won’t regularly feed any food with peas, potatoes, grains, corn or soy because often this is used for the protein instead of animal protein and it’s not well digested by cats.

I try and avoid carrageenan, agar-agar and gums (in that order) but I mostly compromise on gums because hey are hard to avoid.

If I’m choosing between two similar foods, I pick the one with less veggies and fillers.

I don’t really look at ash - I read it became a concern decades ago when vets thought it might be causing urine crystals but they realize now it’s something else and ash doesn’t play much role.

I also favor pates and avoid turkey because that’s what Olive prefers me to do.

In the end, there’s no bible or checklist for good/bad foods because each cat, budget and person is different. My cat is not seemingly bothered by gums, where another cat has issues. The best thing is to make your own checklist and buy a few options at the store and see if your kitty likes it and does well on it.

I read Dr Hovfe’s book “What Cats Should Eat” and took some great info away from that. She has standards that are more strict than mine, but I started there. She particularly had a great section on pet food labels and what they mean.

Catinfo.org is also a great resource.

And just to give an examples of food I like, I currently feed Rawz canned food, Life’s Abundance, and Primal freeze-dried raw. I’m experimenting with adding Fromm canned (I don’t like all the gums but Olive seems not to mind them). Our other kitty only eats two flavors of Caru brand stews. I like those because they use human grade ingredients.

 

[JulietteTruong]

Hi all,

What are your thoughts on beef? For some reason I got it in my head a while ago to avoid beef but don’t remember why.

 

[KarenKat]

I used to feed Olive Rawz beef and she loved it. She started not eating it a while ago, and I think the absurdity of a cat nomming on a cow caused me to not buy beef in another brand ... not that a chicken or turkey is any more likely. I haven’t heard any reason specifically to avoid it.

 

[JulietteTruong]

I used to feed Olive Rawz beef and she loved it. She started not eating it a while ago, and I think the absurdity of a cat nomming on a cow caused me to not buy beef in another brand ... not that a chicken or turkey is any more likely. I haven’t heard any reason specifically to avoid it.

Yeah I felt similarly to you since cows aren’t naturally part of cat diet in the wild. Also I think I was subconsciously transferring some of my own aversion to red meat lol. But I’ll give it a try and see how the kitty likes it!

 

[Talien]

Freshpet is another that's decent, though their wet food comes in rolls instead of cans so it takes a bit of prep work. There's no option to order it online so unless there's somewhere local that carries it, good luck.

 

[Monsieur Weet]

My cat seems to love the Freshpet roll. It reminds me of bologna though, so I'm wondering how healthy it really is? Does anyone else have feedback on it?

 

[Willowy]

I've heard that Freshpet is somewhat high in sodium, but I don't know if they've improved their formula since then or what. I'll see what I can find.

ETA: everything I can find about high sodium is from ~4 years ago, and their sodium levels seem reasonable to me, but if your pet has special needs it's probably worth looking into.

 

[MissClouseau]

This is one of the reasons I love giving Hima both dry and wet food. They are from different brands so if one of them isn't enough, the other might make up for it. I hope. I also totally agree after a certain point what is the best food depends on the cat and her preferences, food intolerance and other health factors.

Personally I think if you can find something that works for your cat from the brands Hill's, Royal Canin, Purina/Pro Plan... these are the safest in my opinion. I base this mostly on I can find a lot of people who can say their cat lived up to the average lifespan and been on one of these brands for the most part of their life AND these brands go on feeding trials in the USA for example (I am not from the USA.) And I know a bunch of veterinarians who feed their own animals with one of these brands. I cannot say the same about boutique brands. That doesn't make them bad necessarily but my thought process "What is there to give assurance?"

With that being said, my cat's wet food and dry food are both from boutique brands because nothing else worked so far and obviously with cats hard and potentially dangerous to try many different foods in a row. Her dry food is Acana Wild Prairie, wet food Naturea chicken, both are grain-free. (Lately I've been trying to add Pro Plan Delicate wet food or Purina Gourmet Gold wet food, the ones in mousse texture.)