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Post by horse656 on Jan 24, 2011 11:19:01 GMT -5
i'm looking for a better brand of cat food, as right now i believe they are on whiskers, which the first few ingredients are chicken by product and corn meal.... is blue buffalo a good brand? other brand suggestions are good too
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Post by jacksmomma on Jan 24, 2011 11:28:25 GMT -5
I'm using a mixture of Blue Buffalo Wilderness (duck) and Orijen chicken right now. Both have high protein content and seem to be (i guess you never really know) of high quality. My 2 cats (and my stray) are eating this pretty greedily, so I guess they like it. I used to feed Halo but re-thought it after really starting to look at ingredients. The second ingredient is pea-protein. So really, the best thing you can do is just read the ingredients list of many, many different brands. And just a warning, even blue buffalo has a line that is NOT really good for cats. I don't remember what it's called but it has a lot of fruits and veggies and not enough meat. Even "good brands" have bad lines
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Post by Jackie on Jan 24, 2011 11:37:28 GMT -5
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Post by Jackie on Jan 24, 2011 11:49:22 GMT -5
I just did the calculations for blue wilderness duck and it scored a 39.7. It would be at the bottom on the green tier, or top of the blue one. It lost points for having potato starch as the fourth ingredient.
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 24, 2011 14:11:31 GMT -5
Wellnes Core is another good one. Regular Wellness is ok but the Core variety is grain free.
Are they eating wet or dry food? Cats, like ferrets, are meant to get most of their hydration from their food. They aren't thirst driven like dogs and won't drink enough water to make up for the moisture they're missing in their food if they're eating dry.
Alternately, have you considered seeing how they take to raw? Cats are supposed to be difficult to switch but the four cats I've had since feeding raw diets all loved raw meat.
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Post by rarnold18 on Jan 24, 2011 17:51:11 GMT -5
I switched my cats away from BlueBuffalo last summer... the were eating the adult spa select but they changed their formula and is now has a higher ash content and with in two weeks one of my girls was pee'ing blood...no bueno! So I did some research and found Acana Wild Praire here's a link www.championpetfoods.com/acana/show-product.php?formulation=pffc they do not use ethoxiquin as a preservative, which is a big thing for me, and so far so good here, no blood, crystals, or blockages thankgoodness!
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Post by jacksmomma on Jan 24, 2011 18:03:53 GMT -5
That's the one i was referring to when i first said Blue had a bad line... the spa select!
One of my cats really, really likes Stella & Chewys Duck, duck Goose... the other does not. But that could be a great alternative to kibble for you as well
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Post by Jackie on Jan 24, 2011 18:04:13 GMT -5
I'd be weary of that food, Rose. The first ingredient is a chicken meal, the second is potato. It's also 35% fruits and veggies. They advertise it as grain free, yet it's got starches as the second ingredient, which are just as bad =/
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Post by goingpostal on Jan 25, 2011 22:33:06 GMT -5
I feed canned, mostly Felidae, Evo 95% meat, Evo cat/kitten, Artemis, Foster and Smith Chicken and Turkey, have fed Before Grain all meats, nature's variety, blue buffalo and a pile of other ones. The base are those mentioned as she loves and does well on them, no puking or refusing food and they aren't too badly priced. Some canned is $50 and up a case and I can't afford that, especially since it's all ordered online and I have to pay shipping.
That said I am feeding her more and more raw, she loves mice, chicken, eggs, sardines and eats bone no issue and she is around 16 or so, she will not touch beef or venison however at all. When I fed kibble last it was Before Grain chicken.
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candiceboggs
Going Natural
Ferrets are nature's anti-depressant.
Posts: 187
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Post by candiceboggs on Jan 25, 2011 23:06:27 GMT -5
The best thing you can do for your cat(s) is to switch to a raw diet. I was one of the lucky ones in that my cats took to it right away (my cats are former outdoor/feral stock cats). If you can switch a ferret to a raw diet, you can switch a cat. Some people might disagree with that but I've known many that have done it. A great source is www.rawfedcats.org . Just like switching ferrets, it takes patience, but it's more than worth it. The evidence is in my cat's glossiness from head to toe - glossy whiskers, svelte figures, everything. My cat that has a wasting disease is now almost overweight, he is no longer a bone and healthy as can be. I was afraid I was going to lose him but raw saved him. If you want to transition to raw I recommend buying a lot of canned cat food and getting rid of kibble. I recommend any of Merrick's Before Grain canned and Blue Wilderness' canned cat food line, because they are 95% meat. If you MUST feed kibble I recommend Orijen Chicken or Salmon cat food. I bought some for my in-laws allergic cat and her allergies have gone away so that is all they feed now. Another brand to look at would be Merrick's Before Grain dry kibble, though I don't know how good it is. Grain-free is very important and both canned varieties I mentioned and the Orijen are grain-free.
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Post by Heather on Jan 25, 2011 23:58:27 GMT -5
All my kitties eat raw. I switched a 13 yr old finicky siamese to raw. It took almost a year but I did it. Actually the hardest part was to convince the kibble addict that moist food was indeed food. Once I found a moist food that he would eat, the rest was a piece of cake. The switching process was the same as adding different proteins to a ferret who will only eat one type of protein. Adding minute pieces of raw to the moist increasing it until they're eating raw. I know others haven't been successful and it depends on the cat and the person doing the switch but if my 80 yr old MIL can switch her to fat kibble eaters to commercial raw, it can't be all bad ciao
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Post by horse656 on Jan 26, 2011 11:41:12 GMT -5
i was trying to switch them awhile ago, but that didn't work so well. but that could be i wasn't soooo committed to waiting forever, since my cats are picky. i could leave out some soup that i haven't used just to see if they take it... but i'll check out good wet foods for them.
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