[mackaroon]

I have one cat and my roommate has another, but we share cat food. We were feeding them Merricks brand cat food, but that gave my roommates cat some weird gas issues. Though, she hasn't taken the cat in to the vet so it may not be the food. Anyways, we switched them gradually over to Blue Buffalo, and then BOTH cats started having loose poops.

So basically, I'd like to find a healthy brand of food that isn't WAY too expensive and that agrees with both of our cats. Does anyone here have anything to recommend to me?

I have tried doing research on my own, but it's a pain sorting through all of the information out there. I figured I'd get some better advice from you guys, firsthand.

Thanks in advance : )

 

[marie73]

This thread is kind of old, but it may get you started until you get more responses:

http://www.catforum.com/forum/38-health-nutrition/135591-healthy-dry-food.html

Sorry, I don't know much about dry food.

 

[mackaroon]

Ah ok, thanks for the link!

 

[carbonxxkidd]

I liked Nature's Variety Instinct when I was feeding dry (I still feed the cans, which I like even better). I also fed Wysong with no problems. The only big thing you need to watch out for is making sure they are getting enough water.

If there is any way you can feed at least partially canned food, that would be best. My male cat had urinary tract problems and ended up getting a blockage when he was on dry food. We were feeding Taste of the Wild when he got his first UTI with struvite crystals, and then Natural Balance when he got blocked. Both of which are good foods, but he just wasn't getting enough water to flush his system out. Canned food (and now adding raw, too) is the best thing I ever did for him.

 

[scottd]

I would recommend Petcurean Go! Fit + Free or Orijen Cat & Kitten. They're more expensive than other foods but they're also very dense. I personally feed Go! and my cat gets 1/2 cup a day and a 16lb bag lasts her for about 16 weeks. 16lbs is $50.99 so it costs less than 46 cents a day. I get it from PetFlow.com and they're always running promotions and they accept manufacturer coupons. There was a $3 coupon for Go! on the Petcurean website. What I usually do is find a PetFlow coupon for either $8 or $10 off and order the cat food and a bag of litter for $10. I usually have a $5 off coupon for the litter so I end up spending about $46 for the food and a bag of litter and the litter lasts 1 month. It is really not expensive when you work out the details.

Wellness CORE, EVO, and Nature's Variety Instinct is a few other brands I would recommend.

 

[mackaroon]

Thanks very much to both of you!

This is my first time owning a male cat, and yeah, I'm definitely concerned about future UTI issues just because of all the horror stories I've heard. I'll definitely start feeding him some wet food along with dry food. He does drink A TON of water though which is great. I just bought him a bigger water bowl because he was finishing everything in the smaller one faster than I could keep it filled!

But yes, thanks to both of you for the info! I will look into everything and see if they seem any better for the cats than what they're eating now.

 

[Zilla]

Smelly gas just means they are getting good food haha just kidding. I would be careful with Evo or in other words anything that's Innova now because they are now made by Diamond. There is other brands they bought out too but I would have to look it up to remember. I used to use Taste of the Wild and that is another fantastic brand they took over unfortunately. After the take over they all started having recalls which is not a good sign so I would stay clear of them personally. As far as good foods in big pet chain retailers like Petco. Halo and Solid Gold are more good brands along with the others people mentioned. However I think if you do the math you get more bang for your buck (more pounds per dollar) when you buy Natures Instinct. I used to feed it and I think I remember that's what I came up with. Don't get me wrong Wellness and Blue are good brands but where I'm at they are pricey and I think Natures Instiinct is better quality. They also recently came out with dry food called raw boost. It has real dehydrated pieces of raw in it along with the kibble. Stay away from the rabbit formulas of this brand because I think i read somewhere that they get their rabbit from china. Other than that the other formulas are on point if you want access to other foods you won't find in big retail chains I get mine from chewy.com. There's no sales tax and the shipping is free if it's over 49 dollars. U can also get treats and litter from the site too. I think shipping is still pretty cheap even if it's not over that mark. I got my delivery in only like 3 days. Good foods they have are Acana, Orijen, GO Natural, Fromm, Earthborn, NOW and a lot more. You will just have to look and do ur research. Sorry for going on and on. I like to ramble when it comes to cat food.

 

[Zilla]

Also as far as the possible UTI issues. I don't know how much time u have on your hands but instead of using canned you could supplement your dry food with a food called Honest Kitchen. It comes in 2 or 4 pound boxes and for my two cats the 4 pounds lasts a LONG time and they love it. It's a straight human grade dehydrated raw food for cats and dogs. You just scoop out the amount you need and add warm water. Mix it up and presto! The next best thing after completely raw! 4 pound box makes 16 pounds of total food so I think it comes out way cheaper than canned. Chewy.com sells this too. It's called The Honest Kitchen. You can look them up directly by searching The Honest Kitchen in google. They have a lot of good tips on their website and you can get a FREE sample sent to you to try it. Like I said my cats love it and it's so healthy for them. The water u add directly in it will help with UTI issues also. Might be worth looking into for you both.

 

[rightsaidfed]

I consider Taste of the Wild by FAR to have the best value to quality ratio. It's about $30 for a 15-lb bag that is grain free and 43% protein. Wet food is still better.

If you incorporate more wet food, don't be alarmed that you don't see your cat drinking -- it just means he's getting his moisture from his diet as nature intended. I feed mostly wet, but keep dry on hand for when I'll be out for an extended period of time and for treats.

The loose poops on BB might be related to switching them too fast. Blue Buffalo has fallen out of many people's good graces lately. Someone did a study on food quality, and BB refused to release information. This doesn't mean it's bad food, but it means that the company isn't as transparent as others, and it makes you think...

I was feeding wellness. If you sign up for their newsletter, you get coupons once a month for $3 off dry and $1 off wet. At the major pet stores, it's usually on sale around once a month so I was able to get wellness at a reasonable, but still by no means cheap price.

I'm transitioning to taste of the wild at the moment from a cost perspective, and if my kitten does well on it I will continue with it.

It's true that Diamond is a company that's had a number of recalls, but the list of pet food companies that have never had a recall is extremely short these days. I do recommend buying food ahead of time and not the moment you need it/run out. Keep all pet food bags even if you transfer to storage containers. This allows you to be able to identify lot numbers and expiration dates in case there is a recall. It also gives others the chance to report problems before you use the food since you're not only buying food when you're totally out and desperate.

 

[Zilla]

Yes Taste of the Wild is an amazing value. By far the best I've seen. However I also read that people have compared old ingredient lists to the new ones after the buy out and they say they have changed the formulas slightly. I have not done this personally because I dont have an old bag. But to scary for me. Crazy cat lady over playing "what if that happened to my cats" in my head haha Im wondering if anyone here has compared the lists??

 

[3furbabies]

My favourite for dry and wet is natures variety instincts. No problems at all with that food.

 

[doodlebug]

I would be careful with Evo or in other words anything that's Innova now because they are now made by Diamond. There is other brands they bought out too but I would have to look it up to remember. I used to use Taste of the Wild and that is another fantastic brand they took over unfortunately.

Yes Taste of the Wild is an amazing value. By far the best I've seen. However I also read that people have compared old ingredient lists to the new ones after the buy out and they say they have changed the formulas slightly. I have not done this personally because I dont have an old bag. But to scary for me. Crazy cat lady over playing "what if that happened to my cats" in my head haha Im wondering if anyone here has compared the lists??

Evo and Innova were not taken over by Diamond. They were bought out by P&G. There have been no significant changes to the manufacturing facility (other than to expand it) or the formulas. The food is still made at the Natura facility that it was made at prior to the acquisition.

Taste of the Wild was not bought out by Diamond, it has always been a Diamond brand. It also has not undergone any detrimental formula changes.

 

[Zilla]

I stand corrected Proctor & Gamble.... That includes these brands Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma. I think i read people are afraid they are going to come up with cheaper ingredients later down the road. The company who makes Iams I do not trust.... So I could see them doing it.

Taste of the wild has ALWAYS been a diamond product??? I did not know this. I thought they were bought out. Hmmm.... I don't know what I was reading before that said they were bought out but thanks for the correction.

 

[doodlebug]

I stand corrected Proctor & Gamble.... That includes these brands Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma. I think i read people are afraid they are going to come up with cheaper ingredients later down the road. The company who makes Iams I do not trust.... So I could see them doing it.

It would make no sense from a business standpoint for them to cheapen the formula. They wanted in to the high end market and didn't want to develop a food and work for the reputation...so they bought it. They already have a mid range market with Iams and Eukanuba, to cheapen the Natura products would just bring them down to that level...so what would be the purpose? It's been 2 1/2 years since the acquisition and there have been no detrimental changes.

On a side note...while there are tons of internet rumors about how Iams was cheapened by P&G, from what I can tell there is no actual proof. I have never seen anyone that can provide an old label vs a new one. I would think that info would be out there if it was actually true. I used to feed Iams years and years ago and don't remember it being any better than it is today. What did have some truth to it was that dogs were getting diarrhea from it...I was told (by someone who worked for Iams at the time but no longer does) the reason for that was that they changed manufacturing plants (to expand production capability when they went into big box and grocery stores). There were some process differences and also the water change was suspected. Changing water sources in a recipe can cause all kinds of havoc. I know this because my father used to work for Thomas' English Muffins. When they decided to expand and build a new bakery (I think it was Chicago) they could not get the muffins to come out right. They ended up trucking water from NJ for months until they could adjust the recipe using local water.