A lot of people here swear by Evo, also Orijen is very good but expensive.

 

I just looked up EVO and the dry food ingedient list contains apples, cranberries and other non-meat things. Do you know why there are fruits/veggies in these foods?

 

Honestly? Because a dry kibble made of solely meat would be amazingly expensive.

In any case wet is better than dry, and raw is tops...but you have to pick what works for your family.

 

I know all about how wet is better but right now my budget doesn't allow for wet only, which is why I'm looking for a good dry food.

 

Yes, going all wet is expensive. Ummm....most grain free kibbles without rice, I have found out so far, either have tapioca, potatoe, pea, sweet potatoe or oatmeal etc, hard to find one without these. You just can't avoid feeding kibbles with these ingredients, so why not just go for lower carb % kibbles then. Evo by far has the lowest carb (6% or 7%), Origen (17.5%).

Canidae Grain Free Pure Elements All Life Stages, have potatoe/peas, no vegetables/fruits, but carb % is 35%.

 

Also, in order for it to be manufactured, kibble needs a certain amount of carbs to hold its shape. So that's why it will always have a higher percentage of carbs than a wet


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

From your list of kibbles, I have off hand carb % for TOTW (27%) and Natural Balance Original (35%). The rest you will have to work out yourself ScheyderWeb Cat Food Nutrition Calculator

 

Who said "never feed dry food with potatoes, peas and cranberries"? Some people get really obsessive with what their cats eat. Both of my cats dry and wet food contain these ingredients and they are both healthy.

 

I can tell you my two were allergic to chicken soup for some reason. They got itchy and female got an ear infection. I now feed purrfect bistro and she loves it. Male is on a prescription diet but he does love the merrick also.

 

Out of those, Wellness CORE original formula is best, lowest in carbs. Some other good ones are EVO chicken/turkey, Orijen cat/kitten, Young Again, Pinnacle Peak, Innova Prime, Now! Chicken/turkey/duck, Instinct chicken & Wysong Epigen 90.

Kibble has all that stuff you don't want in it because it needs to be made into a certain shape... if it was just meat it wouldn't look like that. And be way, way more expensive. Most wet foods have those things you're trying to avoid too with few exceptions.

 

Thanks for the help everybody!
I know I have a long way to go in giving my cats everything they need. I was confused about the fruits/veggies part of dry food bc I was under the impression that as obligate carnivores they don't need that stuff- based on this forum and another cat forum- but I looked at it more closely and I realise now that these are ingredients that are carb sources or antioxidant based and associated with the green matter they would consume in the bellies of their prey.

I am thinking of writing a list out of the foods people suggest and then bringing it to the store with me to work out which one is the best bang for my buck. I am looking at a couple of these and I have to make sure I can find a reliable supplier in my city. My regular store recently moved across town (And I don't drive) so I want to be able to find a large bag (my chicken soup food comes in 18lb bags) so I want something comparable.

Oliver is about 12 lbs and Sansa is about 5-6 lbs (approx) so I need a food which will satisfy both their hungers! Sansa seems to be always hungry and begs for food all the time. As for the chicken soup food, it works for both my cats currently but the recent change in ingredients makes me want to find something better. Sansa feels like a chinchilla, she's so soft and Oliver has the shiniest tabby coat I ever saw. Both have reduced shedding bc of their food.

 

I love Evo dry here. I've tried plenty of other higher-end foods and I keep coming back to this one. Beautiful, gorgeous coat, small no odor stools.

I add water to my guy's dry and let it soak for a bit, so he gets that extra moisture. I also do a ¼ of a 5 oz can per meal, add water and mix it all together.

Honestly, why are the other ingredients added? Well for one, humans like to "see" the cranberries, broccoli and herbs added because it's what WE would like to eat. Secondly, kibble won't hold its shape if there isn't something starchy to hold it together, and thirdly, they DO need fiber to make good stool.

I've watched my cat catch and eat many mice. He eats the entire thing. the fur acts as fiber and makes it more comfortable for the cat to 'go.' So it makes sense there would be some vegetable matter to make up for the lack of hair or feathers that they ingest.

 

Thanks for the reply shamrock!
There's a special at the local pet supply store on Natural Balance and Go! so tomorrow or Friday I'll go up and ask the people there. This is a place called Pet Planet where the employees are actually trained to be knowledgable about pet food so I'll see what they say too.

 

After reading so many posts on food on this forum, I decided that I would just vary their diet with all kinds of canned food and EVO as some dry. I do mostly canned but do give some dry with wet a couple of times a week now and may actually do more. I am buying a few cans of friskies, trader joe's. Dave's, and others now and then. My female will eat a raw tip of a chicken wing and my male catches wild things all the time. Hopefully this will work.

 

Isn't Evo high in protein? I've been using Blue Buffalo for awhile, but keep getting recurring bladder infections (UTI) so I'm looking for a diet no so high in protein?

Any suggestions?

 

I'm looking for a diet no so high in protein

Why? Cats are carnivores. They don't require any carbs in their diet.

 

Isn't high protein a good thing though?
I found out that proctor and gamble owns Evo so I'll stay away from that as part of my years long boycott on P&G.

 

Yes, I won't feed anything owned by them, or any other large corp. Or anything manufactured by Diamond... limits me to (for kibble) Petcurian (Go and Now) which is manufactured by someone else, so I dont like to feed that either, Fromm, Champion (Orijen, Acana), Horizon, and First Mate. I believe in feeding a variety, so my dogs and cat get something different every meal. My cat doea not get dry tho.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

I am SO with you there! I just cannot find another dry food that even comes close to the results I get with Evo. Not even close! Poppy barely sheds, his poop doesn't stink at all, his coat is shiny and silky.
Even Orijen didn't produce the results that Evo does. Much as I can't stand P&G, this is my one exception

 

I'm not aware of any connection between high protein and UTIs....in fact, quite the opposite:

Generally speaking, the basic diet recommendation for the average cat with urinary tract issues is a high protein/low carbohydrate canned food with added water.
Taking it one step further, look for one that is low in phosphorus - either below ~1.0-1.2% dry matter (not 'as fed'), or below ~250-300 mg/100 kcal.
When considering water versus phosphorus content, as noted above, the water issue is the most important but if you are really worried about crystals (even though they are not an abnormal finding in cat urine as discussed below), pick a diet that is low in phosphorous.
Phosphorus is a general indicator of the calcium and magnesium load of the diet. If a diet is low in phosphorus, chances are it is also fairly low in calcium and magnesium since all of those minerals are high in bone material and if a diet is low in phosphorus, it is probably low in bone matter.
Note that fish tends to be high in phosphorus because fish comes with its own bones so stay away from fish.

Feline Urinary Tract Health: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: cat urinary tract health

 

I'm a huge fan of Champion pet foods' Orijen and Acana. My dogs and cats all thrive on it, and I trust the ingredients and the company SO much more than many others on the market. I've also found the kibble to be almost moist and smells good, whereas brands like Merrick for example are dry and flaky.

I wouldn't recommend Taste of the Wild... any pet food owned by Diamond or other big companies known for cutting corners are a big no-no for me.

 

Okay, so I went to Pet Planet today and looked at some of the bags but my sister and I were already weighted down pretty heavily with other stuff so I just gauged quickly. I cannot afford Orijen, Acana and I doubt I'll get my bf on board to pay the price for Go!..

The one there that's affordable was Natural Balance. Can someone run through the pros and cons with that one? And which one is the best in that line for dry food? There was a 3$ off tag stuck on the Ultra ones but when I checked the ingredients on the low-cal one only has meat as the first 2 ingredients then it gets into wheat and potatoes and stuff.

 

Natural Balance is owned by Del Monte and made by Diamond Pet Foods... and has a high carb content... there's no way in heck I'd feed it, it fails my first three criteria lol

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

So that doesn't really answer my question though. Unless you tell me why I should avoid Del Monte/Diamond. Carbs is a good reason. But what's your third criteria?

 

My first criteria is who owns the food. A large corp that dabbles in pet food isn't going to give a crap about integrity of ingredients or the health of our pets.

My second criteria ia who manufactures the food. I will only feed foods manufactured by the company that owns the food. And Diamond had massive recalls due to horrific sanitation practices and bad QC

My third criteria is quality and integrity of ingredients, and the least carbs possible that fit within my first two criteria.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

This is what I have in my spreadsheet, is this what you want? You can buy based on the carb % listed, if NB is what you want to buy.

Natural Balance - Alpha Turkey&Duck (Potatoe/Pea/Beans/Sw Potatoe/Potatoe Starch) - 39.5%
Natural Balance - Fat Cats Low Calorie (Garbanzo Bean/ D Peas/Pea Protein/Oatmeal) - 36.5%
Natural Balance - Indoor Ultra Chick&Salmon (B Rice/Oatmeal/D Potatoe) - 38.0%
Natural Balance - Ultra Rabbit&Salmon (Brown Rice/Pea Protein/Oats/Pea Starch) - 38.0%
Natural Balance - LID Gr Pea&Chicken (Pea/Pea Protein) - 44.0%
Natural Balance - LID Gr Pea&Duck (Pea/Pea Protein) - 44.0%
Natural Balance - Original Ultra (B Rice/Barley/Oatmeal/Potatoe) - 35.0%
Natural Balance - Reduced Calorie B Rice/ (D (Potatoes/Oats/Barley/Pea Protein/Potatoe[/I]) - 36.5%

 

Oh I see, thanks Snowy. Those seem awful high in carbs. But I trusted Pet Planet to have researched good brands (despite who owns them) to carry only the best. Hmm. That's why it's so cheap to buy then.

I want to buy Go! but the largest bag PP carries is 6.6 lbs and it's close to 60$. Since they're not aching for new food yet and have 2-3 weeks left of Chicken Soup I'll keep shopping around.

Thanks DD&C, so Diamond seems as big as Mars brands. I don't know who else to look at than bigger companies because I am on this stupid budget.

 

Thanks DD&C, so Diamond seems as big as Mars brands. I don't know who else to look at than bigger companies because I am on this stupid budget.

Too bad Horizon doesn't make cat food. It's cheapish food, it's made in Saskatchewan in their own factory... but so far they only make dog food.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App