Royal Canin...any good?

[KittyGal]

Does anyone feed Royal Canin or R.C. Sensible Choice? What about Blue? Have any good results with these brand? Mine have been eating California Natural for the past few months but aren't doing too well on it. Not to mention, they eat tons and that food is very expensive. $27 for a 16.5 lb bag.

[BoscosMum]

Sensible Choice looks a litte better.
But they both contain alot of corn and rice fillers.

[AddFran]

Kitty Gal, Royal Canin pails in comparison to the quality of California Natural. Even if your cats aren't doing well on it, California Natural is a great food. It's typically recommended for cats and dogs who have sensitivities as the ingredients and protein sources are limited - (at least i know this to be true in the dog formula) which tends to make it a bit grain heavy.

The company that makes California Natural also makes a food called Innova that is excellent. You may want to try that, it contains more protein from meats and less grains which may be utilized by your cats better and cause them to eat a little less. Innova has much more kcals per cup too.

Royal Canin isn't great, it's not the worst either. I just can't imagine switching from a food such as CN down to RC. I have not tried Blue, but hear it is a great food also. I'd surely try Blue before RC.

Just curious, what types of problems were you having with California Natural?

[Zoe&Nuny's Mom]

Royal Canin is a middle-of-the line food with a very high price. You would be able to find better foods at a cheaper price. What type of problems were you having with the California Natural?

[OsnobunnieO]

I agree that Royal Canin isn't all it says it is. Also though - if you don't like the price of California Natural, don't go for Blue. Its a good food but extremely pricey. I bought it once and ended up throwing half of it out... my cat wasn't too fond of it after a while and it had a very... kind of sour/rancid smell to it. I know it hadn't gone bad, it just smelled really full of chemicals or something.

I'd suggest trying Innova too, but the only thing I don't like is there aren't too many flavors available (or am I wrong? I could be...)

[KittyGal]

Thanks for all your opinions! I do agree that C.N. is much better than R.C. or any Petsmart brand.
2 of my 3 cats have had the runs. Although, I can't completely blame it on the food. One of them, I just noticed last night, seems to be doing a lot better in that department. So, maybe the food is finally agreeing. The other one is older and stressed with his 2 little (year old) brothers around. Not to mention the large Rottie I have. So, I can't blame the food on his runs either. I'm going to keep on the C.N. for awhile and see how it goes. They all eat it, which is really good. I was just worried because of how much they eat and how expensive it is. But once they do really well on it, I might consider the Innova because I would like to see them have more protein in their diet. Oh well. What does "kcal" mean when someone mentioned that in the Innova?

[Gudewife]

"kcal" is kilocalories (or what we'd think of as just "Calories"). This is an important consideration when switching food. For example, California Naturals Chicken & Rice has (according to my well-thumbed and scribbled-on list) 393 kcals per cup, while Innova Feline has 537 kcals per cup...so as you can see, if you're feeding a cup a day of CN, and feed the same amount of Innova, you've increased your cats' caloric intake by about 25%. The kcals should be listed on the back of the bag (or on the manufacturer's website).

[limyer]

We tried several different foods before we found one that pleased us and them. I did not want a food with meal, but with whole foods. The best one I found is flint river ranch. You do have to order over the internet, but shipping is free and it comes right to your door. We have 14 cats and 2-3 ferals. I guess we probably go through about 40 lbs every 3weeks. It also has very low ash around 4.5 (if I am remembering correctly) the vet said that low ash was better for urinary tract health. I am no expert, but you can get a sample of the food at www.flintriver.com

[AddFran]

I personally think Flint River Ranch foods are overpriced and over-rated.
The 2nd and 4th ingredients are corn products (the corn gluten meal is essentially processed glue-like remnants of corn). That's an awful lot of corn in that bag and for a hefty price too. Also, I'm not sure what your reason is for not preferring meals in the food, but just so you know, the two meat sources (chicken and lamb) are both listed as meals.

http://www.f-r-r.com/cat6.htm
Ingredients:
INGREDIENTS: Chicken Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Lamb Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid), Ground Whole Wheat, Dried Brewers Yeast, Fish Meal, Corn Germ Meal, Salt, Dried Beet Pulp, Dehydrated Cheese, Lecithin, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin DA Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin B 12, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin, Calcium Pantothenate, Choline Chloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Inositol, DL-Methionine, Manganese, Dehydrated Kelp and Zinc, Copper and Cobalt, Iron, Taurine, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Whey, Yucca Schidigera Extract (for odor control).

In terms of FUS and ash there has been a lot of recent experience showing that the elimination of large quantities of magnesium in the diet has not solved FUS problems. There are also findings that many cats eating low magnesium diets end up suffering from calcium based crystal formation. Eliminating dry food from the diet overall would much better help prevent or eliminate FUS in cats than altering the ash content of the dry foods.

Limyer: Your cats are beautiful!!!!!! Belle is so unique looking.

[mynee]

Just for some input... my cats HATED Royal Canin. Even Hot Rod wouldn't touch it, and he will eat just about anything!!! My outdoor cat, Eclipse isn't one to turn up her nose at food either, and she would take one sniff and walk away. I was very disappointed in RC, as I heard so many good things about it. I did find the smell unappealing when I opened the bag, and I think that has a big something to do with why my cats didn't like it. We're going to try Authority now, since I still have enough RC to wean the cats onto a new food.

-mynee