Kitty Food!

puffycow

For the sake of not hijacking the other kitten thread I made a new one.

I have a 10-month-old kitten and I have been feeding her dry kitten food from a pet store (it's a major label though, Purina/Science Diet or something similar) along with a wet food every once in a while. I want to know what you all feed your kittens. I just want to make sure she is getting the right stuff, for her health and for my wallet in the future.

JaysonFour

Wasn't there a pet food/cat food chart someone posted on this once?

Sheep

Feed her wet food if all possible. If you use dry, use something without corn.

puffycow

JaysonFour wrote: »

Wasn't there a pet food/cat food chart someone posted on this once?

If there was I didn't see it, but I haven't been around here that long. I'll do a search for it.

And thanks, Sheep!

Deathwing

If you have a specialty pet food store in your area, you might want to stop in and see if they can go over some of the options - premium food is more expensive, but it makes up for it with better health and less expensive vet visits. Purina and Science Diet are definitely not too far up the quality ladder as things go.

In general, feeding wet food only is much better than dry for hydration reasons (especially if the cat is male), less useless-to-a-cat junk like corn, rice, gluten, etc., less carbs, and so on. If you have to feed dry food though, at least consider one of the better brands like Wellness - but again, if you can afford a premium wet food, that's pretty much the best.

For one cat, you could probably get away with about $40-50/month for something like the Wellness - as said, it's definitely not cheap, but in turn, neither of our cats have been to the vet in years for anything beyond one emergency (male cat got a urinary blockage before we took them off dry food) and normal checkups.

Entriech

Feeding your cat a quality food is paramount. Not only will it give you a healthier, happier, more energetic cat, it'll also save you some probable vet bills down the road. I use CatInfo.Org for a lot of my information. You can also refer to this chart which is an amalgamation of the efforts of a bunch of folks to document the nutrient breakdowns in commercial cat food.

In short, your cat is an obligate carnivore, which means that it only really wants protein and fat. Carbs are fairly useless for cats, and will up their weight and blood sugar without providing much in the way of extra energy. Because carbs are also processed quickly it can lead to cats overeating, which also contributes to weight gain.

Cats also have a notoriously weak thirst drive, and are accustomed to getting most of their water via what they eat (in the wild, this would be small, furry animals). While a cat on dry food will drink more than a cat on wet food, they will still not be as hydrated on average as the wet-food fed cat.

Some people will claim that their cat is fine on dry food. And it's possible that they are. Just like people, it varies from cat to cat. We all know that one person who can eat junk food all day and never gain a pound. Same goes for cats.

So to echo what other posters have said, feed your cat a grain-free wet food, once or twice a day. I feed our cat a 6oz can of Wellness grain free per day, which usually works out between 190 and 210 calories, appropriate for a 10.5 lb male cat. In the two and a half years we've had him, we've not had a single health problem.

EggyToast

I have two cats, and they are fed:

4 Primal Raw Food Nuggest (Chicken & Salmon)
1 can (5.5oz) Weruva wet cat food (Paw Lickin' Chicken)
1/4 cup Felidae dry food (currently; this changes sometimes), Grain Free.

The dry food is so they have variety but is not their main source of food. The wet food is because one cat is finicky and doesn't like the Primal very much. But the other cat loves Primal and it's his main food.

Sheep

Stolen from Something Awful but for the sake of kittens.

CAT FOOD BASICS:
Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they require nutrients that are found ONLY in animal tissue. Cats need tons of protein and have no need for carbohydrates in their diets. Carbs basically just make cats fat and cause diseases, but dry cat foods are loaded with carbs because they help the kibble stick together in the manufacturing process. Canned foods are all very low in carbohydrates. Canned foods also have the added benefit of forcing your cat to consume more water, which is great because many of the most common cat diseases are improved by increasing water intake (kidney disease, UTIs, blockages, crystals, etc.). [If people want more info on this stuff, I'll add something later.]

So here are the criteria for a good cat food:
High Protein
Low in Carbohydrates
High in Moisture
High-Quality Ingredients
If we're looking at just carbohydrates and protein, canned food is better than dry food. Even the cheapest grocery store generic canned food is better than 99% of dry foods. Canned food is more expensive and less convenient, so to keep things simple, there are separate lists for canned foods and dry foods. The brands are primarily ranked on nutrient makeup (carbs & protein), and then bumped down a notch or two for containing low-quality ingredients.

For brands in this list, if one company makes grain-free and non-grain-free foods, you can usually assume that their grain-free food is at least marginally better (lower carbs, higher protein). You can also assume that any formula labeled "light, diet, weight control, or indoor" is at least marginally worse (higher carbs) than the regular stuff from the same brand.

Some flavors of food are significantly better than other flavors of the same brand. There is a huge amount of variation. If you want more detailed and accurate information, post in this thread and we'd be happy to help you choose.

CAT FOOD BRANDS

Premium Canned Foods -- These foods are very low in carbohydrates and very high in protein. They also use excellent ingredients (no corn, soy, byproducts, or anything like that). Generally <15% of the calories in these foods come from carbohydrates, which is what your cat is designed to eat.

Blue Buffalo
By Nature (95% Meat formulas)
California Naturals
Chicken Soup
Innova
Innova EVO
Merrick
Nature's Variety Instinct
Solid Gold
Tiki Cat
Wellness

Good Canned Foods -- These foods are mostly a little higher in carbs and a little lower in protein, or they use some lower-quality ingredients in relatively small amounts. But they're still very good foods and better than most dry foods.

Authority
Avoderm
By Nature Organics
Fresh Pet
Natural Balance
Nature's Variety Prairie
Nutro
Organix
Pinnacle
Purina Pro Plan (regular & Selects)
Royal Canin
Taste of the Wild

Acceptable Canned Foods -- These foods are mostly still better than dry foods in terms of nutrients, but many of them use byproducts, corn, and soy as protein sources. They may also use artifical presevatives/colors, menadione, and other low-quality ingredients. How good these foods are varies A LOT from flavor to flavor. If you have to feed these foods, I recommend that you 1) look at these two charts (here and here) and choose flavors with the biggest numbers in the protein column and the smallest numbers in the carb column, and 2) read the ingredient labels and pick the flavors with the least awful ingredients. You should also know that most of these "cheaper" canned foods contain significantly more water than the premium foods, which means you may not be saving as much money as you think. For example, if you compare the cost based on calories (instead of ounces), many Fancy Feast flavors are more expensive than Wellness.

By Nature Goldleaf Selects
Fancy Feast
Friskies
9-Lives
Science Diet
Sophisticat
Special Kitty
Whiskas


Next, Dry Foods. In case you missed this before, CANNED FOOD IS BETTER THAN DRY FOOD FOR CATS.

Good Dry Foods -- These are the few dry foods that are almost as good as canned food (in terms of being low in carbs and high in protein). If it weren't for the fact that they lack moisture, these would be equivalent to Premium or Good canned foods. These foods are also extremely dense in terms of calories per cup of food, so many cats will eat 1/3-1/2 cups a day or less. In short, you're getting more bang for your buck.
(For example, if you compare the costs based on calories (instead of lbs or kgs), Solid Gold Indigo Moon is cheaper than A LOT of dry foods, including Purina, lots of grocery store crap, and almost every food on the Acceptable list. These foods are expensive by the pound, but they really only cost $6-12 per month to feed an average sized cat.)

Innova EVO
Nature's Variety Instinct
Orijen
Solid Gold Indigo Moon
Wellness Core

Acceptable Dry Foods-- These foods use good ingredients, but they're too high in carbohydrates and/or too low in protein. Nutritionally, they're not as good as almost any canned food, but you could do a LOT worse. (These are mostly in the range of 25-30% carbohydrates; there are almost no canned foods this high in carbohydrates.)

Acana
Before Grain (Merrick)
Blue Buffalo
California Naturals
Chicken Soup
Halo/Spot's Stew
Felidae
Healthwise
Innova
Nature's Variety Prarie
Pinnacle
Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken
Taste of the Wild (Rocky Mountain Formula)
Wellness (formulas other than "Core")

Poor Dry Foods -- These aren't quite as bad as the Awful Dry Foods, but they're close. These foods either have decent ingredients but huge amounts of carbohydrates, OR they have awful ingredients and moderate amounts of carbohydrates . Most of these are also pretty overpriced for what you're getting.

Authority
By Nature
Drs Foster & Smith
Eagle Pack
Eukanuba
Flint River Ranch
Natural Balance
Natural Ultramix
Nutro
Organix
Purina Pro Plan (regular & Selects)
Royal Canin
Taste of the Wild (Canyon River Formula)
Wysong

Awful Dry Foods -- These foods are the worst - awful ingredients and tons of carbs. They're loaded with corn, soy, and byproducts. Many of these contain the minimum amount of protein required to be legally labeled "cat food". Many contain more carbohydrates than protein, which is a recipe for greasy, obese, diabetic cats.

Fancy Feast
Friskies
Iams
Meow Mix
9-Lives
Purina Cat Chow
Purina ONE
Science Diet
Sophisticat
Special Kitty
Tender Vittles
Whiskas

ceres

Wellness Core canned food is just the best. I pretty much swear by this stuff every time it comes up. Your cat will be healthier and happier. That said, consult your vet as to when it's okay to switch away from kitten food.

puffycow

That you so much, you have all been a huge help. My vet told me after about a year I can start going to cat food. Until then I should almost feed her as much as she wants since she should have high energy (which she does by sprinting around my house at all hours of the day - and I mean ALL hours).

Is there a normal feeding schedule to go by or is it something I should also check with a vet?

Sheep

puffycow wrote: »

That you so much, you have all been a huge help. My vet told me after about a year I can start going to cat food. Until then I should almost feed her as much as she wants since she should have high energy (which she does by sprinting around my house at all hours of the day - and I mean ALL hours).

Is there a normal feeding schedule to go by or is it something I should also check with a vet?

With my cats we give a little bit in the morning, a little bit at night. They're good about letting me know when they're ready to be fed.

Cat's like to "graze" or snack as well, so let her have a little bit more early in the day to last throughout the dya.

Siska

Cat&Dog Food Home Delivery!

*Disclaimer* I have not myself used this company as I am in between pets, but things sure do look reasonably priced and convenient.

puffycow

Alright, I'll see if I can slowly start waning her into "meal-time" mode. The problem is I leave for work at 5:30am and don't get back until 4:30pm. Is it acceptable to feed her a quality wet meal and then leave some dry out to snack on throughout the day until dinner time?

Deathwing

Alright, I'll see if I can slowly start waning her into "meal-time" mode. The problem is I leave for work at 5:30am and don't get back until 4:30pm. Is it acceptable to feed her a quality wet meal and then leave some dry out to snack on throughout the day until dinner time?

We do meals at 6 AM & 6 PM (1/2 a 5.5 oz can each, each feeding) with a small snack at 10-11 PM, we used to let them graze (on the Wellness Core dry food) and never really had trouble with weight gain...but our boy ate way too much compared to his water intake, which eventually got him into trouble with a blockage.

As long as you're using a quality dry food, I don't think you'd have too much to worry about, although as said before it would be better if she didn't have any dry food at all eventually for all the reasons in previous posts - considering the energy needs of a growing kitten it's probably fine to let her graze for now though.

My two cats are 3 & 5 years old, and they do just fine on the schedule I mentioned without snacks during the day, despite attempts to convince me they're about to drop dead from hunger sometimes.

Also, you really should post a picture or two

EDIT: D'awww, very cute

And a couple of mine -

TinyCat -


Evolves into WookieCat (and gains a paw-sucking fetish) -

puffycow

Surely!

She is a big Phillies fan!

I wrapped it in a Spoiler so it isn't cumbersome.

So is it too early to start meal-time feedings? She is 10 months old.

ceres

I don't *think* it's too young, but I'm not a vet. I would leave her the good dry food until she hits that year mark, though, just to make sure she's getting the energy she needs.

SniperGuy

On feeding times, I've been feeding my 7-8 month old cat by giving him his food (dry Wellness Kitten) in the morning before I take a shower, and by the next morning, the vast majority is gone. He seems to nibble on it throughout the day. Should I go to a more regimented "meal time" kind of thing with dry food?

Namel3ss

We read tons of reviews and settled on http://www.lifesabundance.com/Pets/LifesAbundance/LifesAbundanceCat.aspx

The cats love it, we have to restrict their feeding because they go batshit crazy every time you feed them.

Its all the nutrition they need and none of the stuff they don't, which was our main goal.

puffycow

That cat is adorable! My cat also loves to suck her own paw.

Aurin

I wish my cats weren't such picky eaters. >.> I was feeding them the Wellness dry food (because they tend to barf when I was feeding them the Wellness wet food) and one of them just decided that he'd rather starve than eat. I bring back the craptastic Iams and everyone's chowing down again. Blargh.

EggyToast

Yep, it's like if you were feeding a human Twinkies and tried to switch them to broccoli. They're not stupid; they'll eventually eat. They may simply not like the Wellness dry, but you should be able to transition them off of Iams. If you find a good pet food store, they'll often have dry food samples.

However, when it comes to dry, I do tend to rotate a bit so my cats don't get bored.

Aurin

EggyToast wrote: »

Yep, it's like if you were feeding a human Twinkies and tried to switch them to broccoli. They're not stupid; they'll eventually eat. They may simply not like the Wellness dry, but you should be able to transition them off of Iams. If you find a good pet food store, they'll often have dry food samples.

However, when it comes to dry, I do tend to rotate a bit so my cats don't get bored.

Amusingly enough, they were on Wellness dry for a month before one started going on a hunger strike. My cats just like their crap too much. I'll probably try again eventually, or just straight up mix the crap with good stuff. >.>

Edit: So the moral of my story is to get them started on good food early. Otherwise they'll be picky little wieners. >.>

Orogogus

I've read that picky cats can malnourish themselves into liver damage.

First hit I got from Google:

http://www.felineonline.com/feeding-advice-for-fussy-cats/

If a cat eats only one particular cat food, problems occur if that variety is unavailable or the recipe changes. Many owners believe that cats eventually eat what it is offered rather than starve. In practice (such as the laboratory cats fed on potato), a cat may not recognise an unfamiliar food as being edible and a prolonged fast can cause liver damage. Wean the cat onto other varieties by mixing small amounts of the new food into its usual food and gradually changing the ratio of new flavour to old.

EDIT: I feed my cats the Wellness Core canned food, too, but they had a recall a few months ago due to insufficient thiamine, I think, in certain lots. Amazon stopped selling it directly at that point, and never restarted.

elevature

I am planning on getting a kitten very soon and this thread looks super helpful. I was wondering what kind of food I should get. Thanks duders!

edit: read this a day later and caught an embarrassing typo. Oops.

puffycow

If you scroll up there is a pretty helpful chart posted. It goes (top to bottom) best/expensive to worse/cheap.

Entriech

Orogogus wrote: »

I've read that picky cats can malnourish themselves into liver damage.

First hit I got from Google:

http://www.felineonline.com/feeding-advice-for-fussy-cats/

If a cat eats only one particular cat food, problems occur if that variety is unavailable or the recipe changes. Many owners believe that cats eventually eat what it is offered rather than starve. In practice (such as the laboratory cats fed on potato), a cat may not recognise an unfamiliar food as being edible and a prolonged fast can cause liver damage. Wean the cat onto other varieties by mixing small amounts of the new food into its usual food and gradually changing the ratio of new flavour to old.

EDIT: I feed my cats the Wellness Core canned food, too, but they had a recall a few months ago due to insufficient thiamine, I think, in certain lots. Amazon stopped selling it directly at that point, and never restarted.

Fortunately the Thiamine deficiency was only a reduction, not an absence, so I'm hopeful that any pet owner would have noticed erratic behaviour in their animal before things got too serious. That being said they did come right out and make it public quickly.

Regarding the starving into liver damage, it's true. Basically you never want a cat to go more than 24 hours without food. If they aren't cooperating at that point, better to get some nutrition into them at all than have them damage themselves via starvation.

Some tricks to get a cat into new food. As mentioned above, you can do a shifting mix to transition them in. That's what we did with ours. We got him from the shelter, and he only wanted the shitty Purina garbage they were feeding him. Over the course of a week we went from a little Wellness wet and the Purina all the way over to straight canned food, and it hasn't been an issue since. Remember that your cat may also not be eating due to stress or changes in the environment, especially if you've just brought them home for the first time. You can also do things to make food appealing by sprinkling a little parmesan cheese over it, or using some tuna or tuna oil.

LadyM

puffycow wrote: »

If you scroll up there is a pretty helpful chart posted. It goes (top to bottom) best/expensive to worse/cheap.

It's true that a lot of the top foods are also the most expensive, but I want to add a caution--some foods are more expensive and are STILL crap. I've picked up a tiny bag of food at Petco, read the ingredients list, and thought "$25 for THIS?". Whereas Kirklands (Costco's brand) is one of the cheapest foods around and is a great, meat-based food.

Before I started them on Kirklands, I had my cats on Nutro for a while. It gave them the most foul smelling poop. I had them on it quite a while but it never got better. Results may vary!

Wet food is good, but I alternate wet and dry food with my cats.

fadingathedges

"Ah, a list for folks getting meows, wait where's.. scrolling down... still down... Oh fuck you Iams! I trusted you with ma kitties!" - me just now.

Deathwing

"Ah, a list for folks getting meows, wait where's.. scrolling down... still down... Oh fuck you Iams! I trusted you with ma kitties!" - me just now.

I know how you feel, we fed one of our cats Iams while she was a kitten before we knew any better - and Fancy Feast too, she used to eat almost 2 cans of that + dry food to be full each day compared to 1 (or less) of the Wellness.

Never too late to switch to a better food though

fadingathedges

Yeah, I'm going to take this list with me next time I run out of food.

It just pisses me off that I bought the 'healthy' marketing without researching it for so long. My cats are at least 8 or 9 now, and I've given them Iams their whole lives. I love the fuck out of my cats, and I've seen cats get old and unwell before, and I hate the feeling that I've let them down.


e~ I'ma write a letter.

wonderpug

I hear you, fading. I used to think "oh! Science Diet! It has science!" and I had a similar moment when I found out I'd been had.

puffycow

Luckily I found out with my kitty only being 10 minutes. I purchased some Wellness out of recommendation. Hopefully she likes it, we'll find out in a few days.

Also, is there a downside do giving my kitten tuna from a can every once in a while as a treat?

ceres

wonderpug wrote: »

I hear you, fading. I used to think "oh! Science Diet! It has science!" and I had a similar moment when I found out I'd been had.

Science Diet is the one that got me, years ago. My vet had it so I was like "cool".

Tornelco

I took in some stray kittens a few months back and I got totally conflicting information from the local vet. This is rather disheartening. Now I'm really unsure what to do.

Deathwing

I took in some stray kittens a few months back and I got totally conflicting information from the local vet. This is rather disheartening. Now I'm really unsure what to do.

Well, many vets do not get a lot of education in nutrition, and pretty much take what the giant pet food companies tell them at face value. After a point, if what you're being told just clashes completely with common sense and reality, find another vet, and do your own research. I'm not by any means saying just blindly trust anything you read or see on the internet, but think of it as a second opinion at least. The chart posted earlier is absolutely good advice.

After our boy got a blockage, our (former) vet became convinced that the problem couldn't just be that he was having too much dry food, but that there was something wrong with his wet food too. She wanted to switch him from the Wellness Core canned food onto one of Royal Canin's ($75/case) special urinary foods that was full of grains, byproducts and other junk - but that was okay, because it had extra salt that was going to force him to drink more! If we didn't switch, she was convinced he would be blocked again within months, if not weeks.

We tried it for about a week, after 3 days he flat-out refused to eat it, even with cheese, catnip, tuna, nothing worked. Put him back on the Wellness (which he immediately started devouring again), took away the dry food completely, and lo and behold...he's been perfectly fine for almost 2 years now.

Anzekay

fadingathedges wrote: »

Yeah, I'm going to take this list with me next time I run out of food.

It just pisses me off that I bought the 'healthy' marketing without researching it for so long. My cats are at least 8 or 9 now, and I've given them Iams their whole lives. I love the fuck out of my cats, and I've seen cats get old and unwell before, and I hate the feeling that I've let them down.


e~ I'ma write a letter.

I just had a similar moment, since I've been feeding my cat Iams since he was a kitten ('06) after a Vet suggested the food to me.

It's a little frustrating too since I only feed him dry food, and our feeding setup for him revolves around it being dry food. Little stumped about how to deal with this new info =/

EDIT: and it's even more disheartening since he's never had any issues, period, and is in pretty much perfect health, so to find out he isn't getting the best food is very confusing considering all that.

puffycow

Well, cats are like people in a way. Some people can eat McDonald's/fast food all their life and they can be fit and healthy till the end. Others gain weight so easily and have health problems even when doing the best possible thing. Your kitties could be lucky, but feeding them healthy food can never be bad.

zucchini

So this is going to seem like a strange side question for the topic, but ceres do you get your pet supplies from a chain or a local store?

I used to work/live in Wayne, so I'd go to Braxtons, but I live in the lionville/exton area now and am not really sure where to go.

If I remember correctly that's pretty close to where you are, puffy's location reminded me of this fact.

ceres

Okay, I shop right next to you. Pickering Valley Farm and Feed for our cat food (Wellness Core canned food). If you make a right on 113 from 100N, it's less than a mile down the road in a small shopping center on your left. It's the closest place to us that sells it.

If you happen to see it in the vicinity for cheaper though, let me know.

zucchini

That is like... literally across the street. I'll check it out tomorrow.

Skoal Cat

Pennsylvania PA meet up?