[Sticky] Food Recommendations  

Hi Mallory,

I do not want to feed my cat Gabby or my grandma's cat Mischief bad ingredients. I am looking for something middle of the road in price but do have some issues with certain ingredients. First, let me tell you about the 2 cats.

Mischief is 12 years old. He is a big boy at 20lbs. From the base of his neck to the base of his tail he is about 16-17 inches long. So, I know he will never be a small cat but I was hoping to get him to lose a little bit of weight. I am not sure though want is realistic for his size.

He never has a bad vet visit. The only health issue is that he get granulomas on his lips/mouth. It happens about once every 4 months. The vet said they can not say what causes it. He is currently eating Halo. My aunt is very into a holistic practice for herself and her cats and dogs. I too like the holistic way of life for myself and thought it would be good for pets but listening to your reviews it makes sense that it is not necessary to have all that plant based food in their diet. Mischief has been on a dry food diet most of his life because I could not get him to eat wet food. He does eat Halo dry and wet. I am feeding him Halo holistic salmon and whitefish grain free indoor dry food. And the Halo turkey and duck wet food. I do not like that there is carrageenan in it.

I want to switch him to whatever food makes sense for him to be healthy. If that means a wet food diet to get him to drop a few pounds I will do that. The vet likes him on a dry food diet to keep his teeth clean. That is why I was feeding Mischief fish flavored food that is wild caught. He does not seen to mind it. He does seem to enjoy the turkey and duck flavored wet food though.

Gabby is my new kitty. She was a stray and the vet thinks she is about a year old. I was feeding her bad cheap meow mix chicken flavored but I was going to give her to a rescue to get her adopted bc I did not think I would be able to keep her. Turns out I am keeping her. I tried 2 different brands of fish flavored cat food, both dry food and she will not eat them. Halo since Mischief is eating it and my aunts cat food Healthy Extension turkey and salmon flavored since Gabby would not eat those, I bought a turkey flavored cat food called pure balance (made by Walmart which I did not know until I got home). I bought it as an experiment just to see if it was the fish flavor she does not like and she is eating it. However she will eat canned salmon. So not sure how that makes sense.

Anyway, I am trying to figure out what to feed both cats I know their needs are different with the age difference so 2 different foods is not a problem.

My questions/concerns 

Is chicken an issue? Should the brand be non-gmo, no antibiotics, no hormones?

Dry vs wet? If on a wet only diet how do you keep their teeth clean?

Grain free or no?
I am not opposed to brown rice. But am concerned about wheat, corn, and soy. Is that a valid concern?

Does the source of carbs matter? Brown rice vs potatoes?

What about oils? Canola and sunflower vs actual fish oil? I have recently learned the only non rancid oils for humans are olive, coconut, avocado, and I think  grapeseed. What about with cats? 

You mentioned in a video to be more concerned about the macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs) vs ingredients how do we research that? 

Sorry for the lengthy post. 

Thank you for any assistance you can offer. 

Dawn 

P.S. the pic is Mischief 

Great question, @gabbysmama! I know that we went over all of these topics in our phone call, so I don't really have much to add here. Do you have any updates on Gabby and Mischief? 

For cats I tend to prefer low or no carb diets which more closely resembles the wild diet of the cat’s ancestors. Additionally, cats get all the energy they need through protein and don’t require carbs. If carbs are in your cat’s food, I prefer not to use wheat, corn, or soy due to possible allergies and the fact that these grains tend to be GMO and I prefer not to use GMO products. Dry food is fine and easy and convenient to feed. However, some vets prefer wet food in order to reduce the carbs. Additionally for cats with diabetes and chronic kidney or bladder issues, I prefer can/wet food. Any animal protein source is fine unless the cat has a specific food hypersensitivity. Cats require animal-based protein and cannot survive on vegetarian diets.

Dr. Shawn Messonnier

Hello

We have four felines.  One is 3 yrs old ish.  Soon to be 1 year old in 1 1/2 weeks.  2  3 month old.  

We have been trying different cat food to get everybody on same brand.  We did use CRAVE wet food but found out they are no longer selling wet food.  We switched to Tiki Cat for dry food which they loved better than CRAVE dry.  

My question is for WET food.  

We need zero or very low carb options.  Tiki cat is a good one but the jury is out with the felines. They do not like the pate or the big chunks so I need another option.  I have tried researching this but there are very few options that fit my criteria.  They love the consistency of CRAVE wet food chunks.

Hi @hollytruitt

Unfortunately, carbs are generally necessary for binding together pet foods as the starches help to bind them. This is the case even with wet food, so it can be really hard to find a no-carb option.

It might be worth considering why you're looking for a no-carb option. The most recent available evidence suggests no link between carbs and the development of diabetes or on weight gain, and also shows that cats can digest carbs just like most species can. Whilst low-carb diets are thought to help manage cats some with diabetes (although they can also successfully be managed on high-carb diets, as most of the carbs in cat food are complex and don't cause a large postprandial hyperglycemia), there's currently no evidence that using a low-carb diet preventatively is useful. 

It's also worth mentioning that, if I've read your post correctly, your two kittens should still be on kitten food, as this is better balanced for growth, and your adults should be on adult food. Food that is suitable 'for all life stages' may be appropriate, but it's important to realise this is balanced for kittens, which means it's high-energy for adults and can lead to obesity.

Lastly, when choosing a diet I recommend looking for the AAFCO statement and also following the WSAVA guidelines, which can be found here.

I'm sorry I can't give an exact brand or type of food that might help, but I hope that helps you at least narrow down your options.

Hello! Anyone who has tried Carnilove duck and pheasant cat food? I have been trying different cat food brands for my cat and trying to look for a different protein source because of her allergies. Is Carnilove a good brand? Here's a link to their ingredients: https://www.carnilove.co.uk/product/carnilove-duck-pheasant-cat-food/

My cat is a persian cat. 14 years old (senior). Weighs 6 lbs. Thank you! 

Hello!

I have one cat, Shireen. She's 2 years old and weighs around 8lbs. 

I'm a student, and I have been living outside of the US for some time. However, I will be moving back in a few months, and plan to bring my cat with me. I want to give my cat a healthy lower carb diet while sticking to a budget. I plan to feed her both wet and dry foods, but mostly dry, as it's more affordable for me and easier to work with. After looking at the reviews here and on other websites, I've narrowed down my DRY food options to Nulo Freestyle, Solid Gold Indigo Moon, American Journey, Wellness Core, Wellness Complete Health, or Kirkland Signature Maintenance. 

Could anyone rank these options from best to worst? (I'm aware Kirkland Signature is probably not the best option on this list, but I might use it as a last resort if needs be.)

I am gravitating towards Nulo Freestyle, but in case my cat ends up not liking it, I'll need other options. She isn't a picky cat. I just like having solutions for potential problems ahead of time, so I don't struggle too much when the problem comes up. 

By the way, it would be wonderful if you could make a list of the best dry cat foods for those who are on a budget!! I know there already is a general list of the best budget foods, but that one is mostly wet foods. While I agree that wet food is healthier, some people have kibble addict cats, can't afford to feed only wet food, etc. So if it isn't too much trouble, it would be really nice to have a list of the best budget dry foods to help people save more time and money! 

Sorry for the long post.

I thank anyone who could help me out with my dry food selection issue in advance!

Jannah

Also heres a picture of my sweet little cyclops kitty, Shireen : )

Hey there, 

I just adopted a cat from a friend of a friend who is now deceased. It has been challenging to figure out her history, age, etc., but I am getting there. We think she is between seven and eight years old, and her previous owner was feeding her grocery store canned and kibble cat food. I'd like to get her on something better, and I need some suggestions. I will eventually take her to my vet to get blood work done, etc., but she just had her vaccines updated in November, and I would like to give her some time to get used to her new home before I subject her to an intense vet visit. As of now, there are no known underlying conditions she might have.

I'd like a suggestion for kibble and canned, since I know canned/wet is good for kidney function. Any help you all can offer would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

Chelsie B.