I won't get specific, but any name brand grain free wet and dry would probably be on that list. Just go on a pet food site and narrow the options to see what pops up.

 

i like merricks chicken dry cat food. price/quality is good.

 

I really don't think this is possible. *MY* idea of best and worst is going to be very very very different than someone elses.

For example I would list Evo, By Nature, and wellness up with the best and nature's variety, natural balance, and merrick's new line down with the worst.

My scale wouldn't even contain things like friskies, fancy feast, and whiskas because I would have to be living in my car and destitute before I'd put that stuff in my cats....


It's all subjective....

 

@MowMow may I ask for a summary of why those would be under worst? I was under the assumption they were middle-quality, but haven't done much looking into those as I feed Wellness. Thanks Just curious

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That was kind of my point. What you would consider middle quality I would consider low... because the grocery store crap isn't even ON my list. Before anyone gets butthurt and defensive let me clarify that if they feed grocery store food to their cats then all the more power to them. I scrimp and save in other areas because IMO the boys food is a MAJOR priority and if I have to go without to feed them top shelf then so be it. It's my choice and I sure don't expect anyone else to feel that way.

When I buy cat food I look for the least ingredients that still give them all that they need. Even Wellness is kind of iffy for me at this point, besides my boys don't like it AND my vet sent out a note a while back saying they would no longer carry it because they feel it's quality has declined and they brought in the By Nature Organics to replace it (I was using By Nature LONG before my vet started carrying it, but I'm thrilled that they agree with my assessment of it).

I just think that Natural balance is WAY too high incarbs for my boys and the Nature's Variety seems to have a lot of extra...junk in it.

THe more 'extras' in the food the more likely my boys (and I) are to reject it.

 

oh thank goodness I remembered correctly!
I was told by my vet after Sunny's surgery that we need to give her wet food for 10 days.
I went to my local global pet foods (known for having better quality food) and I tried to remember what I read on this forum looong ago.
So, we got the 'evo' brand (buy 1 get 1 free) and I was just paranoid that my first introduction into wet food for the little one would be a bad or 'junky' wet food brand.

I'm glad I read correctly.

 

Dry = worst

canned = better

raw = best

I agree with Mow Mow there isn't much point in listing brands as everyone's opinions differ. I stopped recommending specific brands when I once saw an old old post of mine listing brands I wouldn't dream of feeding my cats now. I fed foods even two years ago I wouldn't feed now, as my knowledge continues to grow.

Here's a good place for anyone to start, a website devoted to feline nutrition by a vet who has made it her life's work.:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health.

Also on that site Dr Pierson has a list of canned foods with their protein, fat and carb percentages.

 

I think pretty much any raw or canned food is going to be better than dry, no matter what the quality of it.

 

Low grade are things loaded with grains, gluten, by-products. The food is likely very cheap. Friskies, Whiskas, Meow Mix -- Meow Mix is dead last compared to anything else I've looked at anywhere, you can get much better for a cat than it while still spending the same amount. Pretty much most things in a grocery store are in this category. There are a few exceptions; hardly anything comes to mind... but there's Trader Joe's (from Trader Joe's), President's Choice (from any store owned by Jim Pattison; Canadian), 4Health (from the Tractor Supply Company)... all are mid-grade foods.

Mid-grade foods usually have things like several named meats and meat meals in the top 5 ingredients, they may or may not have grains -- they likely will, but will be things like brown rice instead of corn. The food is a step up at least, Kirkland kibble, Chicken Soup, Nutrience and a bunch of other brands in pet stores that I look over for the most part, some pet foods have a high price tag but aren't all that great (for instance, I consider Halo Spot's Stew closer to mid-grade with all the fillers in it, but yet it's more expensive than almost any of the higher quality foods).

Higher quality will be found in a pet store and will likely be quite expensive, and have no grains and hopefully very little to no peas or potatoes. The better foods will have more meat, less fruit and vegetables. There's sort of a split here, low high quality where there's fruit and vegetables and then high, high quality where there's considerably less of everything but meat. The more basic and understandable label, the better. A few brands: EVO, First Mate, Wellness CORE, Wild Calling, Before Grain (which is discontinued but you may still be able to find), Addiction, Tiki Cat, Weruva.

 

This is something I've been on the fence about for almost a year now. We usually stick with high quality, we used to even do raw for a few years until we got a new dog that is allergic to chicken which was our raw ingredient. So it's been back to high quality kibble and canned for my group of cats and dogs. As far as brand, if it's 2 bucks a can that's a good start! LOL! I've got an extremely ill cat that I'm trying to put weight back onto and he is currently getting whatever he will eat, which right now is a mixture of canned pumpkin, nutrical and prescription a/d or fancy feast. I know, fancy feast, but he eats it and he needs to gain weight! I feel like I have a kid living on snickers bars sometimes.