What kitten food did your cat eat? My cat ate Nutro (Complete or MaxCat versions when a kitten). When he turned one I just started feeding him the same food in the Adult version. He does very well on the Nutro food - he's not fat, poop doesn't smell bad, seems to like the flavor.

I also feed him wet food twice a day which is very important for a cat's health.

Felidae.

Cynthia, why Felidae? I've heard of it. Is it available at pet stores?

I don't have cats because my husband is very allergic to them. But I have studied animal nutrition quite a bit and have come to a couple of conclusions regarding how we feed our animals.

The best thing to feed any animal is what it is designed to eat. Cats are strict carnivores and cannot utilizes any energy, protein, or nutrients from plant sources. Therefore, any diet that includes plants in it is wasting your money and filling your cat up with stuff it can't metabolize.

A cat in the wild would never eat the exact same food every single meal of every single day of its entire life. I personally believe that variety is necessary for proper nutrition. There is no such thing as the "perfect" food, and any pet food manufacturer who says otherwise is lying (see, not ALL vet students are bought by Hills). We don't even know what the best diet for HUMANS is yet, and that gets studied all the time! There is no way we know what the best food for cats is. Sure, we know certain things, like foods without taurine make cats blind, and stuff like that, but there is a HUGE difference between adequate nutrition (which almost every pet food is) and optimal nutrition (which only an evolutionarily correct diet can provide). And you don't just want what is adequate for your cat- you want what is optimal, otherwise you'd buy the cheapest crap you can find to keep your cat alive.

For 4 main reasons, I prefer canned foods for cats (and dogs too for that matter). 1) Canned foods are less processed than dry foods, and therefore retain more nutrients in a more natural state. If you take what a wild feline would eat (rodents, birds, lizards, bugs, maybe some fish) and throw it into a blender, you'd get something that looks like canned food, not at all resembling kibble. Cats evolved (were bred) eating whole live prey, not kibble, and that it what they are designed to eat. 2) Canned foods do not need artificial preservatives because the freshness is retained by the canning process. Many dry foods have artificial preservatives that have no place in the cat's diet (or any other species for that matter). Some preservatives have been banned from human foods because of risk of cancer and other diseases. Others are not so bad, but then again they are an additive that a cat does not require in its diet. 3) Cats, if they live long enough, will almost invariably get and eventually die of renal disease unless they develop something else. Some people suspect chronic dehydration plays a role in the development and progression of this disease. Cats do not generally drink enough water on their own, because they are evolutionarily programmed to get their water from their food. Canned food is mostly water, which helps provide the water cats need to possibly prevent or at least delay the onset of renal disease. 4) When you feed canned food, a cat will almost always eat the entire meal in one sitting. One of the first signs of illness in any animal is decreased appetite. If your meal-fed cat skips just one meal, you'll know it immediately. If your cat that grazes on dry food all day suffers from a decreased appetite, you may not know anything is wrong for a few days, which could mean the difference between life and death for your cat.

Remember that pet food manufacturers are trying to sell you the cheapest stuff they can make for the highest price you are willing to pay. There are a lot of myths about proper nutrition out there, many from pet food companies trying to get you to buy their product. Just remember that the best diet is going to be the most natural diet. If your cat can't make a living by killing and eating whole prey, then feeding something as close to whole prey as possible is the next best thing. Let that be your guideline...

My cats don't care for Felidae. They ate the canned for a short while before they started rejecting it, but they never would eat the dry at all.

I recently switched my cats to Innova Evo dry food and Wysong au Jus canned food (turkey, chicken, and beef flavors only). The canned foods are all-meat recipes, no fillers, and the dry is carb-free and high protein. Cats are obligate carnivores who neither require nor benefit from grain fillers in their diets.

Since switching foods about 6 weeks ago, several of my cats' coats have become noticeably and significantly slicker, shinier, and healthier looking ... and I was feeding a different premium dry cat food before I switched.

Laurie

We've had really good luck with Wellness - both wet and dry formulas.

We feed Royal Canin dry foods, mostly a mix of indoor 27 (I think that's the number) and Special 33 along with a bit of the Maine Coon special breed food. They love it and do well with it. The breeder that we use is the one that started me on buying it and I notice a huge decrease in upset tummies. Every once in a while hubby got them Fancy Feast Gold formula, it was so greasy! And they would throw it up so a stop was put to that! They also get canned food twice a day, we split a tuna sized can 3 ways for breakie and dinner each day, usually Friskies.

Are you opposed to feeding raw? Are you opposed to buying cat food online? Do you live in a major metro area? Do you want to be able to buy cat food in the same place you buy human supplies? All of these things are going to contribute to the selection of the best cat food for *you*.

In my opinion, a raw diet is best. Do my pets eat raw? Nope. Between a lack of fridge/freezer space in my apartment and a live-in boyfriend who thinks opening a can of food or adding water to a dehydrated food is an impossible feat, I don't really consider that a viable option for me right now.

If you don't want to feed raw, what pet food retailers are available to you? You'd be surprised where some of these places are hiding.

Are you willing to buy online? Obviously, if you'll buy online, you have everything available to you.

Do you have ready access to a PetSmart, Petco, or the like?

Do you want to be able to buy your cat's food at the grocery store or Wal-Mart/Target?

With a little more information about your situation, it would be much easier to suggest different brands to consider.

Very good Meghane. Thanks.

Feeding raw would not be something I'd be willing to do, but thanks for mentioning it, Jen. No, I wouldn't buy online either.

Yes, we have all the major pet stores available. I can go look for the foods which have no fillers (if there is one). I'm happy to buy the food at a pet store; I'm not looking for cheap, just a quality food.

Thanks everyone for the input.

We switched to Wellness Core (no grain) when the big recalls started. All three cats' coats have improved. My old skinny arthritic cat is seeming much less stiff, and she has gained some weight. We are very happy with the results, as are the cats!

Currently, I am feeding dry kibbles with no grains (but they do have potato starch). I like them for both the ferret and the cat. I also feed Prowl by The Honest Kitchen, which is probably my favorite commercial food of all time. You just mix equal parts food with water and serve. No grains, it's a dehydrated food. Even the absurdly picky ferret loves it, and I think it's one of the better options available. The ferret has pretty much banned all canned food, and I'm all about simplicity (the ferret and the cat have pretty much identical diet requirements - obligate carnivores who need a minimum of carbs), so I feed them Natural Gold ferret kibble with no grains and the Serengheti cat food right now (along with the Prowl).

If you're talking cat food available at PetSmart and Petco, I would recommend Petco. I'm not a huge Petco fan, but I think their cat food selection is much better than PetSmart's. Wysong and Solid Gold are my preferred cat foods from Petco. If you want to buy food at PetSmart, consider the Natural Gold (by Pretty Bird, strangely enough). It's marketed for ferrets, but identical to some of the best (high end, super premium, hippy - as my boyfriend would refer to them) cat foods. It's also much more expensive at PetSmart than you'll pay online (just like many of the premium dry foods available). However, if you really don't want to buy online, PetSmart does have that, and I'd honestly choose it over the Wysong or Solid Gold, even if it doesn't have a picture of a cat on it.

When choosing a food for a cat, just think Atkin's Diet. Cats don't need corn, wheat, rice, etc. They don't need potato starches either, but I consider them somewhat "less bad" than grains when I have to use dry kibble.