This is a great food for cats with allergies, but I wouldn't feed it to a cat that doesn't have any issues for two reasons; first because allergies can develop over time, even with a food that hypoallergenically formulated. So if your cat becomes allergic to this, you have limited options later on. Second is that it's pretty high in carbs with peas being the first ingredient.

 

why not use the normal natural balance dry food?

 

Hmm, good points. I do vary their food with every bag I buy, and I always end up mixing different foods together. They're not picky at all, and I refuse to let them get that way! Only a third of their daily food is dry, so I'm thinking the higher carbs in this will be fine. Given your point about the allergies, I guess I won't buy it again unless they develop allergies in the future.

 

why not use the normal natural balance dry food?

It contains Brewers Yeast, one of the common cat food ingredients I've learned is not good for our furry friends. Someone else would have to explain why, as I'm new to cat nutrition and it's hard enough to keep straight what ingredients I should avoid.....

 

Brewer's Yeast is a possible allergen, but does have positive qualities....it's good for skin and coat, helps reduce shedding.

 

Chicken Meal, Chicken, Brown Rice, Duck Meal, Barley, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Potatoes, Carrots, Lamb Meal, Salmon Meal, Canola Oil, Natural Flavor, Dried Egg, Brewers Yeast, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberries, L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Folic Acid.


its the fifteenth ingrediant, so i wouldn't consider it bad. though i think white rice is more digestable than brown rice. science diet sensitive stomach formula has brewers rice (i think) as the first ingrediant. we used that until i found out that science diet is horrible. i switched him now to natural balance dry and he is doing much much better even though it has brewers yeast in it.

 

Huh. I had heard that brown rice was better (what with the whole grains and all) but that might not mean it's more digestible.

I think Natural Balance is a good dry food. It's what I fed my ladies prior to switching them to Evo, and it's what my parents feed their cat. I'd say it's the cheapest and most easily available of the premium dry food.

The canned food is good, too, but not especially cheap.

 

I would not hesitate to feed the regular Natural Balance food, even with the Brewer's Yeast in it. Brown rice is better for cats (just as it is for people) as the nutrients are not compromised by processing and the fiber it provides. Rice in any form is one of the most digestible grains, so it's not something I would be concerned about.

From Wikipedia:

Brewers rice is the small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice. (AAFCO definition). Brewers rice is a processed rice product that is missing many of the nutrients contained in whole ground rice and brown rice thus reducing the quality. Brewers rice and second heads are one of the many byproducts that rice milling creates.

So basically....junk.