trying to choose a wet food(s) -- lots of ?s

[stacytr]

I have been doing a ton of reading and I feel maybe more confused than when I started. Please forgive the long drawn out post!

Based on my initial reading it seemed that a lot of 'real' ingredients (vs by-products) was important. So we went out and bought Nutro max chicken and lamb (senior for our 12 yr old kitties). The first 4 ingredients seemed to be good things and we felt good. But I couldn't quit reading -- partially cause I was hoping to find something a little cheaper but still good. I didn't find a lot of love for nutro -- even though as far as I can tell the ingredients are good -- but I know it does have rice.

Ok these seem to be the main concerns in general for finding a decent food.
1) real meat vs by-products
2) not using fish (at least not on a regular basis) because of concern with contamination
3) no gluten/wheat/corn
4) no soy
5) no grain at all including rice
6) high protein ( greater than 50%), low carb (less than 10%)
7) some have concern with guar gum, and others with carrageenan

add on #8 for us -- price! I have a son with special needs -- and therapies that insurance doesn't cover, and I need to figure out a way to give our cats something good that we can afford! I would like to find something cheaper than the 85 cents a can (5.5 oz) Nutro if possible. I also understand that we should be rotating foods. My head is spinning! I picked up a few cans of Friskies -- and I live near a Trader Joes and was planning on picking up some of their food. At least one of my cats seems to like pate style food the best (in our limited wet food experience).

Even some of the premium foods seem to not be as high on protein as I've seen recommended -- more than 50% is what I've seen we should be shooting for. Food Table FAQ

I've been reading through tables and looking at ingredient lists and then trying to find what things cost till my eyes are crossed! I am hoping that some folks here can help me to one: prioritize which ones of the first 7 concerns I should be viewing as most important.
And two: have mercy on me and just list some foods for me to buy my cats that won't break the bank! As far as I know my cats don't have any major health issues -- though Thud had been throwing up dry food which is why we switched to wet. We do still want to have dry food available as sometimes we go away for a weekend -- but I can't even think about switching that yet. We did put up the dry food so it's more inaccesible to Thud that has helped a lot -- it doesn't seem to bother his sister Cricket at all.

I also have seen people say that any wet food is better than dry - so I am trying to just chill out a bit about it. I don't want to say what we've been feeding them for years (dry) -- thinking it was a good food

Thanks for your patience with my post -- I appreciate all I have already read here.

[Meezer_lover]

Think twice about Nutro.....
I lost my soul mate in January, which we believe Nutro was the cause. I had a necropsy done and the food tested by an independent lab. The food test results came back HIGH in zinc, copper, manganese, & iron, and the calcium to phosphorus ratio was completely wrong. They have some serious issues with quality control that need to be addressed, but probably never will.

They went downhill in 2007 when Mars took over. Since then, they've had recall after recall....and that's just the recalls that were public. I would bet my life that they've also had silent recalls.

[Ripley]

@Stacy
My ideas
1) I've always preferred to keep to as natural as possible with wet and dry food thrown in for variety and health.
2) I've only kept away from fish as I don't want the cat to end up smelling of cans of sardines
3) Honestly, never noticed and never noticed anything wrong with the cats
4) Again, never looked nor noticed anything wrong with the cats
5) rice was fed regularly to George (1 tablespoon in soup x3 per week) and he lapped it up and was fine
6) Cats are carnivores so definitely look for high protein foods- why I like to feed raw meats extra to the wet and dry food
7) Never looked nor noticed.

So I'd put raw food high on the list for extra protein, and better for the teeth and jaws (more chewing required).

Cheapest option I find is giving the cat bits of the food we eat but before cooking e.g. mince, fresh chicken etc. The meat is already there and cutting off meat for the cat is good because a) less meat we're eating and b) food for the cat. Giving the kitty soup when I make something like vegetable soup or chicken soup (no onion or garlic, I make it low in salt, and its full of veggies, chicken or rice).

Feeding dry food (the right type for the cat- eg. their age, health etc) is good as I find it helps keep the teeth much cleaner.

Don't know if this has been of any help, just my own experience with the kitties!

All the best with your research

[hobokendata]

Originally Posted by Meezer_lover

Think twice about Nutro.....
I lost my soul mate in January, which we believe Nutro was the cause. I had a necropsy done and the food tested by an independent lab. The food test results came back HIGH in zinc, copper, manganese, & iron, and the calcium to phosphorus ratio was completely wrong. They have some serious issues with quality control that need to be addressed, but probably never will.

They went downhill in 2007 when Mars took over. Since then, they've had recall after recall....and that's just the recalls that were public. I would bet my life that they've also had silent recalls.

This is the saddest thing ever. I am so sorry to hear about your loss.

Stacy - I have no advice for you, unfortunately, because I just got my first cat ever a few days ago, so I'm not exactly an expert (in fact, I am just as lost as you when it comes to wet food...) but I just wanted to sympathize with your bewilderment and let you know that you're not alone! Picking out the right food is tough!

[October]

Stacy, I'm not a food expert, but when price is a consideration, as it is for most of us, it's hard to beat Trader Joe's. Do you have a Trader Joe's in your area? They have their own brand of canned food at 59 cents a can. When I asked our resident experts here for an analysis of the ingredients, they came back with a "maybe not the best, but good enough" sort of rating. And this is a tough crowd.

Here's the thread where I asked about the ingredients. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as ordering online with Trader Joe's, so you have to have one near you. I just go once a month and stock up.

Ever tried Trader Joe's wet food?

[SigmaWhisky]

Hey there!

The opinions are divided on a few of your points. I'll try to clarify as best I can and which points.

1) Real meat vs by products. By products are usually products that are not used for human consumption such as lungs. These ingredients are still very high quality but they're just not fit for human consumption.

2) The threat in fish is that it contains a vitamin that cats cannot break down so they can't get rid of any excess vitamin (I'm pretty sure it's vitamin K, but correct me if I'm wrong anybody). If this is the contamination you're speaking of; you're right. You don't have to worry however that they're going to be contaminated by germs/bacteria/viruses.

3) Right on!
4) Right on!
5) Right on!

6) This section is sort of more complicated than it seems. The first qualifier you want to find out is what kind of proteins. Cats need animal based proteins. Vegetable based proteins are not suitable for cats because they do not possess the digestive tract to dissolve the cellular matter in plant based materials. These are much harder to break down (think of Cattle with FOUR stomachs- where food spends much more time in the metabolic system vs the food of a cat which spends much less time in the cat's metabolic system.

The proteins are building blocks to make amino acids. This part is the same for all animals by the way. The difference is that cows (or any herbivore, and to a lesser extent, omnivores) have enzymes and other tools to help them convert low grade protein into the amino acids required. Cats do not have these enzymes and tools and so they need a high quality protein to begin with

7) I don't have specific information on this but my instincts tell me to stay away from plant based anything, which these are derived from. I cannot confirm however whether or not these are good or bad. One good aspect is the water retention capabilities but this is just one aspect and it seems unnatural to me.

I don't live in the US so I cannot comment on that or your local prices. I personally feed my cats one day old chicks from a chicken farmer who doesn't want these one day old chicks so he sells them for 2 cents each (!). Now obviously this isn't nice canned ready to use but I thought I'd give you the option to consider since it really is very high quality for a very low price.

General comments:

The worst wet food is always better for cats then the best dry food for a few reasons:

Dry food has but 10% water in it. Cats eat up to 78% water with the meat they eat in the wild. Their digestive system is designed to get that water like this and cats do not have a natural thirst. In the wild cats drink a lot less water than compared to on dry food and even when the cats on dry food drink more 'external water' the actual levels of water intake are still lower, in absolute comparisons. Wet food does not have this problem.

Dry food is (almost) always based on vegetable matters. This is the wrong type of protein for a cat (see my first paragraph, pt 6)

High carbohydrate content. Cats don't usually consume high carbohydrate amounts in the wild and their digestive system is not designed to cope with them.

All of these qualities make dry foods not suitable for cats. The can survive but they cannot *Thrive* on them.

There's a lot of discussion on whether or not dry food has teeth cleaning properties but there has never been any scientific proof to support this. I know some people are adamant on this but to me it doesn't make sense. A very well known veterinarian said something like: You don't give your kids potato chips to clean their teeth before they go to bed. She also commented saying because dry food is low on water when mixed with saliva it becomes a sticky like substance that can actually harm the teeth rather than clean them. Not that you can actually see this by the way. I think every just has to make up their own mind on this issue.
In the wild cats keep their teeth clean by chewing bones and meat and skin and they've been doing fine for a long time.

If you want to switch to wet food you will have to try to come up with a solution because a wet diet alone is known to cause cats to have deteriorating teeth.

Finally I thought dry food was a good food but my opinion changed.
I don't think people need to feel ashamed of this because dry foods are advertised as good foods and I believed them. We are all looking to treat our cats as best we can with what we've got available. Information and knowing what best to do is a large part of that and is a learning process for every one of us.
What works for you is up to you to decide.

[SigmaWhisky]

Well I wanted to make some changes to my post but it says my 5 minute limit has expired, so now my work is lost.

[Cooper's mom]

Well I'm a raw prey model advocate. My dogs have been on raw for 4 years. I've have cats again just a couple weeks and I'm still researching raw feeding of cats and kittens. I'm basically following similar guidelines for the cats as I did for the dogs before we went raw. Grain free, human grade meat because I want to avoid downed sick animals that typically used in pet food and buying from a company I trust. So right now I'm feeding Wellness to the cats. They eat mostly canned but also have free fed Wellness Core dry as I'm trying to get weight on them as they were pretty skinny when I adopted them.

Right now Wellness is my compromise food until I get them on raw. I am personally not a fan of commercial pet food even the premium stuff. Legally pet food companies have 6 months to update their packaging to reflect changes in formula so I don't 100% trust the labels. When I feed raw I know exactly what I'm giving them.

[Emelda]

Just throwing this out there, since you have multiple cats you might considering buying the larger cans about 13oz I think? They are sometimes more economical.

I know this is overwhelming, just went through this with my kitty when getting her off dry food. I honestly used this as a starting point Commercial Canned Foods by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: reading cat food labels, canned versus dry cat food

Some to most of the foods are pretty pricey, I've done some major bargain hunting! And you're on the west coast too, everything just seems to cost more here But don't give up!

[stacytr]

Originally Posted by Meezer_lover

Think twice about Nutro.....
I lost my soul mate in January, which we believe Nutro was the cause....

I am so sorry for your loss I guess we'll finish up this lot of cans and try something else.

Originally Posted by Ripley

@Stacy
...
So I'd put raw food high on the list for extra protein, and better for the teeth and jaws (more chewing required).

Cheapest option I find is giving the cat bits of the food we eat but before cooking e.g. mince, fresh chicken etc. The meat is already there and cutting off meat for the cat is good because a) less meat we're eating and b) food for the cat. Giving the kitty soup when I make something like vegetable soup or chicken soup (no onion or garlic, I make it low in salt, and its full of veggies, chicken or rice).
...
Don't know if this has been of any help, just my own experience with the kitties!

All the best with your research

raw food just isn't an option for us right now -- it is intriguing -- but it also freaks me out -- and until we get other things sorted out more (esp which therapy we will do next for my son) I just can't take on another thing. I appreciate your feedback on feeding them some of what we are eating though -- I will try that sometimes!

Originally Posted by October

Stacy, I'm not a food expert, but when price is a consideration, as it is for most of us, it's hard to beat Trader Joe's. Do you have a Trader Joe's in your area? They have their own brand of canned food at 59 cents a can. When I asked our resident experts here for an analysis of the ingredients, they came back with a "maybe not the best, but good enough" sort of rating. And this is a tough crowd.

Here's the thread where I asked about the ingredients. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as ordering online with Trader Joe's, so you have to have one near you. I just go once a month and stock up.

Ever tried Trader Joe's wet food?

We do have a Tj's near us and I will pick up some food -- is it pate style?

Originally Posted by SigmaWhisky

Hey there!
...
General comments:

The worst wet food is always better for cats then the best dry food for a few reasons:
...
If you want to switch to wet food you will have to try to come up with a solution because a wet diet alone is known to cause cats to have deteriorating teeth.

Finally I thought dry food was a good food but my opinion changed.
I don't think people need to feel ashamed of this because dry foods are advertised as good foods and I believed them. We are all looking to treat our cats as best we can with what we've got available. Information and knowing what best to do is a large part of that and is a learning process for every one of us.
What works for you is up to you to decide.

Thanks so much for all your feedback! And for alleviating some of my guilt -- I've been feeding these guys dry for their whole lives! So do I need to also get something else to clean their teeth once we find the wet food(s) that we are going to stick with?

Originally Posted by Cooper's mom

... So right now I'm feeding Wellness to the cats. They eat mostly canned but also have free fed Wellness Core dry as I'm trying to get weight on them as they were pretty skinny when I adopted them.
...

I might buy a few cans of wellness -- unfortunately for us price really is a factor too -- and I can't do just an expensive brand -- but I could give it every now and then.

Originally Posted by Emelda

Just throwing this out there, since you have multiple cats you might considering buying the larger cans about 13oz I think? They are sometimes more economical.

I know this is overwhelming, just went through this with my kitty when getting her off dry food. I honestly used this as a starting point Commercial Canned Foods by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: reading cat food labels, canned versus dry cat food

Some to most of the foods are pretty pricey, I've done some major bargain hunting! And you're on the west coast too, everything just seems to cost more here But don't give up!

I am looking at what brands sell in big cans -- do you have some you'd recommend? What about Dave's?
And thanks for that list -- I had checked it out before -- that's why I bought the particular brands of Friskies that I did