What do you feed your cats?

sheltiemom · 04-01-2007, 12:52 AM

I just switched my dogs to organic food, partly because of all the recalls, but I have been feeding my cat Purina for years. As far as I know it hasn't been recalled yet, so I'm tempted to stick with it, but I was wondering what you all feed your cats, and what are considered the premium cat foods. My girl is old, not active, and indoor only.

opokki · 04-01-2007, 01:38 AM

I'm currently feeding Purina ONE.

A few higher quality cat foods IMO:
Innova
California Natural
Wellness
Felidae
Natural Balance

Keno's Mom · 04-01-2007, 08:04 AM

We are feeding Royal Canin dry and Friskies canned to the cats. Just recently switched (before the recall) to RC, cause Charlie's breeder feeds it to her cats and highly recommends it.

IMO Purina is not the best quality - there are far better foods out there

Lorina · 04-01-2007, 08:06 AM

I'm currently feeding the cats Science Diet Adult Hairball dry food, with snacks of Fancy Feast canned. So far, Science Diet is the food they've done best on, and I got 35# of it at a good price through work. I've tried some other pricier brands and either they wouldn't eat it, or had poop issues on it.

I'm considering Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul next. I'm in the process of switching the dog to it, and depending on how he does, the cats will be next. It'll probably be a good six months before I need to buy any cat food, though.

sillylilykitty · 04-01-2007, 09:34 AM

Ok, im a little confused here.....why is it that when it comes to feeding your dogs you feed them top of the line food but when it comes to feeding your cat they get....Science Diet or Purina!! What about all those good foods? Shouldnt the cats get equal quality food to the dogs or are they just not as important??

Oh and I am in the process of switching my Lily kitty from Nutro dry to Natural Balance dry, but she is already eating Natural Balance wet.

P.S. please dont be offended by my post I just want to know why???

Wimble Woof · 04-01-2007, 09:48 AM

I find cats tend to take the back burner when it comes to pet foods as well. Its common on MANY forums. For example, dog people are very vocal about some things in dog foods. such as Menodine. where as the cat people tend to over look it?!?!? I understand what you are saying completely.

However, I feed Acana adult and raw to my cats. I would idealy like to feed Orijen to them but its not available here yet.

Lorina · 04-01-2007, 10:10 AM

I've tried a couple premium foods on my cats, and they didn't do well on it or didn't eat it. That's why they're eating Science Diet, of the foods I've tried, they've done best on it. They're very healthy, have fantastic coats, good poop, and love the food. I have yet to find a premium canned food they'll actually eat, and got tired of throwing it away. I spend much more on cat food than I do on dog food.

Up until this past week, my dog ate only Science Diet too. It's the food he was eating when I got him and he does well on, but I'd like to try Chicken Soup to see if it makes a difference. I really can't imagine him having a better coat or more energy than he already has, but if I can give him something better for a better price, it's a win-win situation.

britishbandit · 04-01-2007, 10:24 AM

My cats are fed a mix of Innova No Grain and California Natural. I prefer the Innova for them, but with all the animals in the house, I had to cut back on the food costs a bit, and the California Natural is quite a bit cheaper, but still great food.

Lorina · 04-01-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheltiemom

My girl is old, not active, and indoor only.

I missed this part the first time around. I'd at very least make sure she's getting a senior/mature formula food. Have you had a senior panel bloodwork done on her?

opokki · 04-01-2007, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillylilykitty

Ok, im a little confused here.....why is it that when it comes to feeding your dogs you feed them top of the line food but when it comes to feeding your cat they get....Science Diet or Purina!! What about all those good foods? Shouldnt the cats get equal quality food to the dogs or are they just not as important??

To give you the short version -
I don't have 7 dogs.

What I feed my cats has always been just as important to me as what I feed my dogs. In the past I've used many of the higher quality brands.

I only ended up feeding Purina ONE after an unexpected financial situation occured and I had to cut back on many of my expenses. Once things got better (about a year later) I switched back to CA Natural. All of my cats did well on it except my youngest (softer stools, going outside of the box, poop caked in the fur on his backside) and I ended up having to take him to the vet because of this. I then switched back to Purina ONE.

California Natural is about $5 more than Purina ONE for a large bag. I find this affordable but my youngest cat did not do well on it.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul is about the same price as Purina ONE. My cats loved this stuff when I first started using it and I fed it for months. Then out of the blue one day they refused to eat it...all of them. I tried it again (new bag) later on but had the same results.

Because I have 7 cats, it is difficult to find one brand of food that all of them do well on and its nearly impossible to feed them separately (I've tried numerous times).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wimble Woof

I find cats tend to take the back burner when it comes to pet foods as well. Its common on MANY forums. For example, dog people are very vocal about some things in dog foods. such as Menodine. where as the cat people tend to over look it?!?!?

I used to frequent a variety of cat forums. A majority of the folks on those forums seemed to be pretty dedicated to feeding only the best of the best to their cats. I guess maybe it depends on what type of forum you are on and whether the person is a "dog person" who also owns a cat or a "cat person".

For me, the well being of my cats is just as important to me as the well being of my dogs.

briteday · 04-01-2007, 01:19 PM

My 8 year old cat was on Purina One (which is rated the highest of the grocery store brands) when we were tight on $$$. However, since recently switching the dogs to better quality food as well (they were ok on Nutro except for some food allergies) we chose Natural Balance for the dogs. I looked at the dry cat food and made the same choice for her as well.

If you look at the ingredients for puppy/kitten, adult, and senior diets they are all pretty much the same. If you have a large breed puppy this doesn't apply. However, when my animals become older I just feed less of what they are eating instead of switching foods. They just need fewer calories as they become less active.

As much as I dislike Science Diet I find that their cat oral care nuggets keeps the tartar down on my cat's molars so she doesn't have to have a yearly dental anymore. It is expensive here, $10 for a small bag. So I jsut give her a small handfull of SD nuggets in the morning after she has cleared out her bowl of the Natural Balance. I can make a $10 bag last for a few months that way. ~$40/year for SD is a whole lot cheaper than a dental.

Renoman · 04-01-2007, 02:06 PM

My two cats, both girls and both throw aways that adopted me, eat a dry food combo that includes; Innova EVO, Timberwolf Organics Seregenti, Wellness and Eagle Pak Holistic fish formula. Once a day they have their 'junk food' fix - they each get a can of Fancy Feast.

CrzyBritNAmerica · 04-01-2007, 04:11 PM

I was feeding both cats and the dog, Purina, but I just switched all three to Natural Balance. The cats love it...and I have already noticed an amazing difference in their fur! It's so soft and shiny!! I plan to feed them NB wet as a treat too.

sheltiemom · 04-01-2007, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillylilykitty

Ok, im a little confused here.....why is it that when it comes to feeding your dogs you feed them top of the line food but when it comes to feeding your cat they get....Science Diet or Purina!! What about all those good foods? Shouldnt the cats get equal quality food to the dogs or are they just not as important??

Oh and I am in the process of switching my Lily kitty from Nutro dry to Natural Balance dry, but she is already eating Natural Balance wet.

P.S. please dont be offended by my post I just want to know why???

Well, I just switched my dogs food about two or three days ago, so it's not like they have been getting the good food and the cat hasn't. I want to switch my cat food too, I just wasn't sure if the premium brands were the same, or if there were other different recommendations for cats. I am a little worried about switching because she has been eating the same thing for so long, and I don't want to make her sick, plus with the dog foods, whenever I think something is good I find out a week later that it's not, or that it is added to the recall or something.

sillylilykitty · 04-01-2007, 08:59 PM

Well Im glad to see you all really do care about your cats health. Not saying that I thought you didnt care. Its just that on all of the dog food threads anyone who feeds their dogs Purina or anything similar everyone tells them off about how the dog should get better quality food. At least you guys tried, its not your fault if the cat doesnt like the food, I know they are usually more picky eaters than dogs are.

Cheetah · 04-01-2007, 10:33 PM

My cat is on Felidae. She was on Innova EVO, but after eating it for a good 6 months, she began scratching her face until it became all scabby. She was on a prescription allergy diet for a month and the scabs went away and she stopped scratching, so she was allergic to something in the EVO.

She's been on Felidae for about 2 months now, after I ran out of the prescription crap.

I have also noticed how many dog owners will feed their dogs top-of-the-line stuff yet the cats still get Cat Chow and Meow Mix lmao... I've also noticed that there are less GOOD diets for cats than there are for dogs.

alexnpeteysmom · 04-02-2007, 06:16 PM

My cats eat purina cat chow.
We tried to switch to a better brand of food, because they both have hairball issues (long haired cats) but they got so ill that it wasn't worth it. We did a verrrry gradual change, but the constant puking was just too much to handle. By gradual, I mean we would put maybe 5% Nutro to 95% Purina. It just made them very sick.
They both a have super sensitive stomachs though. Eddie, our Maine Coon, loves people food but barfs it all up. Poor guy. His favorite is macaroni and cheese, but he can't eat it.

sheltiemom · 04-02-2007, 07:12 PM

I'm going to try Natural Balance and see what happens. Mine had a hairball problem in the past too, which is why I was feeding the Purina Indoor Cat stuff that is supposed to control hairballs. It does actually seem to work on the hairballs, but I'll compare for a while and see if they get worse or not.