do you mean grain-free dry food? if that's the case, all grain-free is relatively equal (i think) except for lotus. it is baked, not extruded, so read up on both processes and you'll see why.

i had issues with bb's refusal to disclose ingredients (when so many other companies do) and decided not to use their freedom dry any longer.

and be careful about splitting (listing starches or any non-meat/proteins separately to avoid being at the top of ingredients) and animal fat/______ meal, etc.

 

All GF wet foods are pretty good, if they are truly grain free.

Once you start feeding wet foods at that level, it becomes more about what they will eat consistently rather than "who thinks what brand is the best."

The only thing we avoid from GF's is fish of any kind. Otherwise, we feed as big of a variety of brands and flavors as our four cats will let us.

 

If you're talking dry food, in addition to looking for grain free, you also need to look for high protein/fat. Using Blue Freedom and Wilderness for example...the Freedom has a significantly higher carb load....9.5% more. And if you compare Blue Basics Grain Free to Wilderness, the Basics has a 12.5% higher carb content. And if you compare it to Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken, the NB has 15.5% higher carbs.

 

Sorry, I meant dry and wet grain free food. I will keep searching. I think that she will eat pretty much anything. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App

 

I find that my cats prefer to have variety in their diet, and they'll get tired of anything if they eat it constantly, no matter how good it is. So for them, I have a list of brands I think will be good for them, and I rotate between them without worrying too much about which is "better." If your cat is not picky, it might be a good idea to use several of the different grain free brands so her diet won't become boring for her.

 

I just found out Acana Wild Prairie has 25% carb and TOTW 27% carb. No wonder, ET puts on weight that easily even when not on 100% kibbles. So far, found only Evo kibbles with the lowest % of carb.

 

snowy, keep in mind that EVO kibbles are low carb, but they are very calorie dense. so if you want ET not to gain weight, you might want to look for something else..

 

I think that I have narrowed my search down to EVO & Innova brands for my younger cat & dog. I have to ask the vet about EVO for my cat that has the diabetes & bladder issues. He has a skin allergy that I believe to be linked to his prescription diet. It is really bad right now & his medicine is not working.


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App

 

Me and I'm sure others on here will say it is not advisable to listen to your vet when it comes to what you should be feeding your cat... Your vet did not get a degree in nutrition he got it in medicine... . If your cat is eating a "prescription diet" ditch it at once.... Not even close to being worth your money and its more than likely doing your cat more harm than good. People on here can advise you what to feed your diabetic cat ten times better than your vet can especially if he prescribed one of those ridiculous "prescription diets" :lol:


Sent from my Petguide.com Free App

 

I wouldn't even ask him about the Evo. You will get some ridiculous ignorant answer. As far as I know Evo is perfect for diabetic cats because its practically carb free and that's what you want. I'm meaning Evo canned too... not the dry. I would not be feeding your diabetic cat dry at all.


Sent from my Petguide.com Free App

 

My vets have never suggested food to me. When I asked when I got my first cat, they said...whatever he will eat. I decided not to ask anymore. Also, I had a customer come in that said his dog had a wheat allergy diagnosed at the vet and when he asked what to feed it they said, Science Diet :/

 

As far as my diabetic cat goes, I have to be really careful when choosing his food because it needs to work for his bladder issues as well. He had the surgery 12 years ago to keep his bladder from getting blocked since it got blocked 3 times. That was when his skin allergy problems happened which led to 12 years of depo (steroid) shots which led to his diabetes. He hates the atopic medicine (for his skin allergy). He is a mess and doesn't feel good right now because he is itching so bad. His neck was really bloody as well as his legs. I am really tired of going to the vet & calling the vet all of the time.

EVO is looking really good to me. At this point, I am willing to try anything.


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App

 

Switching to grain free might just cure him on it's own.

Stay away from fish.

 

Anything wet food is going to be good for your cats bladder problem. Kibble or prescription kibble is the worse thing you could feed them for that. Stop going to the vet and give EVO canned a shot. Even if and when you do go back. If he tries to tell you to feed a prescription diet blah blah blah just smile and nod. And if he prods anymore just say no I am trying something else and it seems to be working.... And if he wants to know why tell him to go to feline-nutrition.org.... End of story.

And I realize not all vets are clueless. A majority of them are. Unless your vet promotes raw/high quality canned then I defiantly would not listen to them ever. Thank god I'm moving to California and found an all cat vet who promotes raw feeding. No more incompetent vets for me!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Yeah they all seem to promote Purina, Royal Canin, Hills etc.

I think that I will just do my own thing. I called the company that makes EVO & they are going to send me coupons for the cat food & dog food

Their canned cat good is a pâté style. Do you think that would work for the bladder issues?


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App

 

i only feed canned, so i will speak for that. as a previous poster mentioned, we usually go with grain free that our cats will consistently eat and also feed fish sparingly. another thing we try to look for is to find foods where the protein is at least 8%, because some grain free foods may be high in carbs, and the lower the protein percentage, the greater the chance that it may be higher in carbs than we'd like.

 

Grain free canned food will certainly help a large number of cats with urinary issues, but it's not always the answer. Sometimes the prescription food is a necessary evil, no matter how bad the ingredients. If the prescription food is no longer an option due to his allergies, then he may need a supplement to make his urine more acidic or alkaline along with a new food. In addition, if your cat is on insulin for the diabetes, changing foods may impact the dose of insulin.

I think your situation with this cat is kind of complicated and throwing caution to the wind and just changing his food may cause other undesirable complications. I think you would be much better served by finding a new vet that is more in line with your way of thinking and work together to find a solution.

 

I think your situation with this cat is kind of complicated and throwing caution to the wind and just changing his food may cause other undesirable complications. I think you would be much better served by finding a new vet that is more in line with your way of thinking and work together to find a solution.

Yeah, I would be really careful making big dietary changes for a cat with multiple complex health issues. With a cat who is basically healthy, you can do a little trial and error, but when the cat's system is already stressed, throwing off the balance can cause serious problems.

I'm not saying don't do it, and I think a different diet would probably indeed help - I'm just saying you really need to try to find a vet who at least accepts your feeding choices even if not agreeing with them, to ensure that the cat's insulin is kept at an appropriate level and the bladder issues aren't worsening into kidney issues when the protein in the diet increases.

Please at least keep your current vet in the loop, because the amount of insulin your cat needs will probably change, and an incorrect insulin level can be lethal.

 

After talking with the vet, we are keeping him on the prescription royal Canin diabetic food. I took him to the vet tonight to get a depo shot because his skin allergy is bad. The vet wanted to do blood work to see what he is allergic to. I told him at this point my husband and I just want him to be comfortable. We are tired of having him poked and prodded. They weighed him and he has lost a pound within two weeks.

He's our baby. We hate seeing him scratching his neck raw. My cat didn't want me touching him. He cried out when I picked him up. He should start feeling better in a few days.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Awe poor guy I hope he gets better.... Good luck


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Thank you.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

On your own, you can look into common cat allergies, and then look at the ingredients in his food and see if there are any red flags.

I'm sorry to hear that he's feeling poorly.

 

Thank you.

On another note, I went to the pet store to buy EVO for my 10 month old cat & I wound up buying Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain Feline Formula. I was concerned about EVO after reading about it being made by P&G. Maybe I'm paranoid about that but the pet store employee recommended Taste of the Wild & I saw that some of you use that too. I also bought a ball chasing toy too


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Ironic...P&G hasn't made any changes to the EVO product at all since the buy out nearly 3 years ago, they also haven't had any recalls. Taste of the Wild (and a variety of other products made by Diamond) was recalled less than a year ago for possible salmonella contamination.

 

Oh goodness. I just realized my Doug's Chicken Soup food is made by Diamond. I hope her's wasn't recalled because she has been eating that for 4 years now. Ugh!

I will just keep my eye out for any recalls and check the FDA website out.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

My Doug, what? It was supposed to be Dog. Lol


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

I know a lot of people who will not feed TOTW dog food because of the recalls- that said, I transitioned my cat to TOTW from Iams because it was the ONLY food he would eat. Now I have transititoned him to Weruva (Paw Lickin Chicken because all the others seem very high carb) and Tiki Cat (which sadly only has 2 all chicken flavors). Due to the expense and because I want to get my kittens eating wet food too I am going to mix in some less costly varieties that are not necessarily grain free (but at least low grain and low carb).

For a serious health situation I would always listen to my vet though AND if I didn't trust my vet I would find a new one.

 

Hmm, I will have to check out Weruva. There are just so many different brands out there.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

Yes, Chicken Soup was recalled too. But...I wasn't advocating that you dump the TOTW...I still have a lot of confidence in them. I just thought it was ironic that you ditched EVO because of something that may happen and ended up with the food that recently had a recall. BTW...if you mentioned to the person in the store that you were wary about EVO and then they recommended TOTW, I wouldn't put a lot of confidence in them going forward.