Which food is best?

[Buddycat ❤️]

Hi, I'm wondering if raw , home cooked or wet store bought cat food is best?

 

[LTS3]

You'll get lots of opinions. Many people feel raw is best since that's a natural diet for a cat. Cats who won't go near raw might eat a cooked diet. Cats who won't either of those, or maybe there's a reason why a pet owner can't / won't / whatever feed raw or cooked, are just fine on a high quality canned food. There is no perfect commercially available canned cat food. Most contain fillers of some sort, whether grains or gums or useless veggies and fruits and herbs or other things. Rawz canned cat food is close but it's also pricey and typically sold only at independent pet stores and authorized online retailers (Amazon is not one).

You'll get more info about cat nutrition at Catinfo.org Feel free to check out the sticky threads here on the TCS Raw and Home Cooked forum and the general Nutrition forum, too.

 

[Azazel]

Well, for starters, pet feed is not food, so that gets rid of about 98% of the pet "foods" available on the market, as they are marked as feed, they are not made with "food" grade ingredients.

Now, ask any human doctor and they'll tell you that fresh food is better than processed (again, that discounts about 98% of the pet "food" industry). They'll also tell you that you need to meet a variety of nutritional needs to survive and thrive. So, ideally you want a diet that consists of primarily fresh food (not feed) and that is nutritionally balanced. Cats are obligate carnivores and wouldn't be able to survive in the wild without eating their meat raw because they cannot synthesize many of the nutrients they need in cooked form. There is also some research to suggest that raw food is more easily digestible than cooked food in carnivores. That being said, feeding a nutritionally complete and fresh cooked food (emphasis on fresh and food - two things that the pet "food" industry doesn't supply much of) can still be healthy. It will need to consist of added supplements to ensure nutritional adequacy, such as supplemented taurine.

 

[Danneq]

So at the very basic level, if you're buying canned food, reading the labels is key. You have to look for certain phrases to make sure it's a complete and balaned meal. This exact phrasing probably depends on where you live... The food I give my cats says, "FORMULATED TO MEET THE NUTRITIONAL LEVELS ESTABLISHED BY THE AAFCO CAT FOOD NUTRIENT PROFILES FOR ALL LIFE STAGES." AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials; if you're outside the US, you should look for your local equivalent. If a label doesn't say that it meets those standards, then it is not a "complete" meal, ie it is missing nutrients that your cat needs. A lot of cat treats fit that category. Good for the occasional snack, but not for a daily meal. You couldn't live just on candy, and your cat can't either.

You also want to look at the ingredient list and eliminate anything with too many ingredients that aren't meat. Many companies put "fillers" into their food to make it less expensive (meat is more expensive than veggies). But my cat would not eat grains, peas, carrots, rice, corn, etc. if she were feeding herself, so I avoid getting food that contains those things. I also avoid anything with too many "byproducts." I want to feed my cats high quality meat, not secondary leftovers.

Even if you're buying raw, you still need to make sure it's properly formulated. If you want to make it yourself, you should do research beforehand to make sure you're doing everything safely and that your cat is getting all the proper nutrients.

 

[Azazel]

So at the very basic level, if you're buying canned food, reading the labels is key. You have to look for certain phrases to make sure it's a complete and balaned meal. This exact phrasing probably depends on where you live... The food I give my cats says, "FORMULATED TO MEET THE NUTRITIONAL LEVELS ESTABLISHED BY THE AAFCO CAT FOOD NUTRIENT PROFILES FOR ALL LIFE STAGES." AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials; if you're outside the US, you should look for your local equivalent. If a label doesn't say that it meets those standards, then it is not a "complete" meal, ie it is missing nutrients that your cat needs. A lot of cat treats fit that category. Good for the occasional snack, but not for a daily meal. You couldn't live just on candy, and your cat can't either.

You also want to look at the ingredient list and eliminate anything with too many ingredients that aren't meat. Many companies put "fillers" into their food to make it less expensive (meat is more expensive than veggies). But my cat would not eat grains, peas, carrots, rice, corn, etc. if she were feeding herself, so I avoid getting food that contains those things. I also avoid anything with too many "byproducts." I want to feed my cats high quality meat, not secondary leftovers.

Even if you're buying raw, you still need to make sure it's properly formulated. If you want to make it yourself, you should do research beforehand to make sure you're doing everything safely and that your cat is getting all the proper nutrients.

The AAFCO statement has nothing to do with health. It does indicate that the meal can be considered nutritionally complete. But it has no bearing on the quality of it.

 

[Danneq]

The AAFCO statement has nothing to do with health. It does indicate that the meal can be considered nutritionally complete. But it has no bearing on the quality of it.

I'm aware. I said that was the bare minimum you want to look for.

 

[maggie101]

Hi, I'm wondering if raw , home cooked or wet store bought cat food is best?

raw food can be contaminated and wont last long. Home cooked,lots of research. I would worry about forgetting to add in an ingredient that cats need, so I by canned or freeze dried.

 

[Buddycat ❤️]

raw food can be contaminated and wont last long. Home cooked,lots of research. I would worry about forgetting to add in an ingredient that cats need, so I by canned or freeze dried.

Okay, thanks

 

[maggie101]

Also I use catfooddb.com to easily get a list of ingredients and other info

 

[Azazel]

raw food can be contaminated and wont last long. Home cooked,lots of research. I would worry about forgetting to add in an ingredient that cats need, so I by canned or freeze dried.

Cooked and highly processed food can also be contaminated.

I would be weary of putting your full trust in pet feed companies. Many, many, recalls of commercial food (and unfortunate deaths of animals) have occurred due to someone just 'forgetting' to add an important ingredient.

 

[maggie101]

Cooked and highly processed food can also be contaminated.

I would be weary of putting your full trust in pet feed companies. Many, many, recalls of commercial food (and unfortunate deaths of animals) have occurred due to someone just 'forgetting' to add an important ingredient.

This true, but I would worry more about leaving out raw food than cooked. Not just because my cat but my apt. I have forgotten about canned food left on the counter so raw I would too.

 

[LTS3]

I feed a commercial brand of frozen raw food that undergoes high pressure processing to ensure a quality product that isn't contaminated with bacteria. Freeze dried raw and dehydrated raw may undergo a similar processing. If you're making raw from scratch following a recipe and are using store bought raw meat, then there is a risk of contaminated meat. If you use the same meat and cook it, the risk is less but still there.

Raw food of any kind should never be left out for hours. A Frosty Bowl might help keep the food cold a little longer but it's still risky. Feed canned food if a meal needs to be fed in between the raw meals.

 

[Azazel]

I feed fresh human grade raw meat and organs under the assumption that it will contain some bacteria but that cats have short and acidic digestive tracts that are made to handle it. I, on the other hand, being a human, cannot handle it and that’s why I don’t eat it.

Of course it’s important to follow safe food handling procedures, just as you would with any raw food. After all, the number one source of bacterial infection from food in humans is from raw vegetables that are poorly handled.

 

[daftcat75]

I don’t trust any one food to be “best.” Hedge your bets and give a little of each. I never liked feeding exclusively one food in case there were supply issues or the cat got bored. Or an allergy or intolerance. Or a recipe change.

I also believe commercial raw uses too much bone. If you’re going to buy premade raw, maybe look for a boneless recipe instead.

For canned, I like Rawz. Great, clean, appropriate recipes with responsibly sourced ingredients. Tiki Cat is a mid-grade that uses human quality ingredients and has clean recipes. And then on the economy line, I like Fancy Feast Classic pates. The ingredient sourcing may not be quite as good the other two, but the recipe is sane, clean, and appropriate.

What does that mean? Meat, moisture, organs, and supplements. Some vitamins and minerals don’t survive processing/transportation and need to be supplemented. Accept that. Anything plant based (besides pumpkin for tummy issues) is unnecessary and probably inappropriate. No grains, starches, fruits, vegetables. No f**n cranberries unless you want to clean cranberry vomit.

Cats have a carnivore’s gut. They don’t digest or tolerate carbs very well. They also don’t get nutrients from plant-based sources as effectively, if at all. For example, carrots are wasted on cats. They can neither taste sweet if it’s there for flavor nor can they convert beta-carotene to vitamin A. If the “food” has carrots, that’s not cat food. If the recipe looks like something you might eat with chickpeas and kale and cranberries and flaxseed, these are all poorly tolerated and poorly digested by cats. If it looks good to you, then you’re falling for marketing because those foods are inappropriate for a cat.

Stick to meat, moisture, organs and supplements (or bone if you want that in your homemade raw) and the rest of the differences are just the quality of the ingredients and the preparation.