What is the best Cat food?

[Thor]

http://www.vondis.co.za/food.html#catfood

Not sure how their prices compare, but some of their products seem quite good.

Looks like this option is a strict no go.

Cats are obligate (strict) carnivores and are very different from dogs in their nutritional needs. What does it mean to be an ‘obligate carnivore’? It means that your cat was built by Mother Nature to get her nutritional needs met by the consumption of a large amount of animal-based proteins (meat/organs) and derives much less nutritional support from plant-based proteins (grains/vegetables). It means that cats lack specific metabolic (enzymatic) pathways and cannot utilize plant proteins as efficiently as animal proteins.

It is very important to remember that not all proteins are created equal.

Source http://catinfo.org/

 

[Thor]

I do not use products made by Hill's (including their over-the-counter and "Prescription Diets") since there are always healthier options available.

Marketing Labels

Marketing labels such as "natural", or "premium", or "veterinarian recommended" or "prescription" are not necessarily indicative of high quality so please be careful not to fall into that trap.

"Indoor only" is another meaningless marketing label that is nothing more than an enticing gimmick. This label originally started out in the dry food market but it has now made its way to canned food labels. Cats did not stop being obligate carnivores just because we put a roof over their heads.

If you are thinking about feeding any 'breed-specific' food, please see this link for some straight-forward comments about the utterly absurd claims that these companies make regarding these diets. A Siamese is no different from Persian or a Maine Coon - or an 'alley cat' - when considering optimal dietary composition. No matter the breed, the cat is still an obligate carnivore.

Royal Canin was one of the first companies to come out with these breed specific diets as a marketing gimmick.

The labels on Hill's over-the-counter products contain a statement that says "Veterinarian Recommended".

Unfortunately, many of my colleagues do, indeed, recommend products made by Hill’s (as well as Purina, Iams, and Royal Canin) and this is a testament to the fact that most veterinarians are not well-versed in proper feline nutrition and simply defer to these large companies that have huge marketing budgets. These large budgets include substantial sums of money dedicated to sponsoring - including very heavy advertising - our professional meetings and infiltrating veterinary schools to get students ‘married’ to their products.

Keep in mind that a large marketing budget does not equate with the manufacturing of high quality or healthy products.

Looks like Hills is out. Especially after this, exactly the reason I don't listen to my VET who only tells me the food they sell is the best.

 

[Neoprod]

Anyone else getting the feeling the cops are going to be responding to a bad smell reported from Thor's house and find his cats living off his dead body?

 

[Thor]

Growing Cat weed. This just feels so illegal.

 

[furpile]

Growing Cat weed. This just feels so illegal.


Do you have any info on that label that says only 60% of cats have a hereditary reaction to catnip? Does that mean not all cats like it? I know my cats love dried catnip, but we bought a catnip plant once and they didn't even look at it. Although the cats at the nursery liked the plants so much they had to put them in cages to limit the damage

 

[furpile]

Seems that is the case:

Not all cats are affected by catnip;[19] roughly 33% are not affected by the plant.[29][30] The behavior is hereditary.[19]

 

[Thor]

Growing Cat weed. This just feels so illegal.


Do you have any info on that label that says only 60% of cats have a hereditary reaction to catnip? Does that mean not all cats like it? I know my cats love dried catnip, but we bought a catnip plant once and they didn't even look at it. Although the cats at the nursery liked the plants so much they had to put them in cages to limit the damage

Jip not all cats are affected.


Our previous cats where drug addicts whilst our neighbours one had no interest what so ever.

Issue is there isn't a lot of scientific studies on this same with usual weed weed.

And thus no one knows what and what does not trigger it.

But from past experience we introduced catnip Plants to the kittens at a youngish age and always had success, however if that is the solution thou I can't say might just be a coincidence too.

 

[diapason]

Resurrecting an old thread here.

I’m looking at what to feed my 2 overweight cats. They’ve been eating various Hills products since I acquired them at 9 months old at the beginning of August 2008. They were switched to the 7+ diet a couple of years ago and, then, based on their weight, to the Metabolic diet which is apparently lower calorie. I have always had concerns, though, about the grains, etc in the Hills products since cats are obligate carnivores. The last few years I have been taking them to the Cape Animal Medical Centre in Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth since it is just up the road from me. It used to be just a hospital with an after-hours emergency availability. Their previous vet had very limited hours and CAMC, after it expanded into a fully-fledged vet practice, has long hours.

They have extremely nice staff, both the vets and the reception staff. When I took them for their annual check in November the vet, an older person than the previous ones, that I saw was slightly less “nice”. Not rude or anything like that – just blunt and also rather pragmatic which is an approach I like. I asked her about the Hills foods and stated that I wasn’t happy with the carb content and she agreed with me even though the practice, as with most others, sells them along with Royal Canin, etc. They also have the Vet Shop in the little Belvedere shopping centre. They have the full range of foods including the very pricey ones and raw foods. I had heard good things about Vondi’s but they also seem to have grains. They also have something called Raw Love – no grains - but the cats wouldn’t do more than sniff BRIEFLY at it – they’ve always had dry food except in the rare case when I’ve had to get medication into them in which case they get shredded tuna.

Just to give a bit of background, the picture here is of them when I adopted them http://www.adopt-a-pet.org.za/?q=node/52 (I haven’t yet figured out yet how to upload pictures here). The former Lola and Zola became Phoebe and Little Tabitha. At that stage the Adopt-a-Pet lady said that they were undernourished based on the condition of their skin, fur, etc. LT weighed just under 3.5kg and P 3.6kg. One vet has stated, a few years ago, that they should each weigh about 4 kg. Even at that the adoption stage it was apparent that P was going to be a larger cat as she was more muscular. Nowdays, Little Tabitha weighs 5.05kg, and Phoebe 6.96kg! I would be quite happy if LT got down to around 4.6kg, and Phoebe to about 6.2kg fairly quickly for starters and take it from there, maybe to about 5.5kg. Phoebe has always been more sedentary than her sister. They are totally indoors cats. LT was always very active – she would run around a room above ground level, ie jump onto a table, then leap onto a tall wall unit, then onto something else, etc. She’s just recently started slowing down a bit.

I’ve seen the expensive foods at the Vet Shop and been horrified at the prices, especially as a recent retiree on a fairly tight budget (I was never a highly paid “techie” – just someone who entered the workforce age 17 with a very mediocre Senior Certificate). I did, however, go into retirement realising that I needed to make provision for future vets bills (annual stuff is already budgeted for). I’m just wondering if it wouldn’t be more prudent to “invest” in the higher priced food in order to stave off future vet costs. The Origen looks good, although the most expensive. Acana also looks good, still expensive, but much cheaper than Orijen, but doesn’t mention taurine which is necessary for cats unless they catch their food live. Does anyone have experience of switching their cats from Hills, etc to Orijen or Alcana? Do they eat a lesser quantity given that are getting more concentrated nutrition of a better type?

 

[spiderz]

So what was the best food in the end?
@thor

 

[The_Mowgs]

So what was the best food in the end?
@thor

He died. Thor, not the cat. The cat ate his dead body which became the best cat food ever untill the cat reached the toe shoes where he choked and ultimately died next to his servant.

 

[mercurial]

Nothing less than Royal Canine. There are better ones, but Royal Canine is probably the best option in terms of price\quality. Only problem is stock.

 

[spiderz]

Nothing less than Royal Canine. There are better ones, but Royal Canine is probably the best option in terms of price\quality. Only problem is stock.

Ok, so my cats are already on hte best food then ...

 

[Goosfrabba]

Hill's is supposed to be one of the best, but our cats don't like anyway.

They quite enjoy Royal Canine which I'm satisfied is good for them. Anything beyond that (organic, raw whatever that costs a fortune) is beyond my budget. I love my kitties but if they need anything that Royal Canine can't provide, they are more than capable of catching whatever bird/rat they need

 

[Everglade3]

Hi Thor, I know this is three years later but I am so confused about what to feed my kitties. It seems you did a lot of research, could you tell me what you decided on in the end? Thanks, Sarah.

 

[Aghori]

Rats and mice.

 

[Everglade3]

My research has led me to thinking Acana and Dr Hahnz are the best options.

 

[ThatGuy_ZA]

I moved my tortoiseshell kitty from Royal Canin Indoor Adult to Acana and have been very impressed with the difference.

She eats less of the Acana than she did of the Royal Canin (1.8kg lasts exactly a month in her trickle feeder) and this shows in her weight - she was a bit plump before and is much healthier now.
Her coat is softer, glossier and healthier.
She's more active, affectionate and (touch wood) hasn't been sick.

That said, her poops smell pretty bad now (she's an indoor cat in my flat - yay for litter boxes) :/

 

[PsYTraNc3]

The best food is raw food.

 

[milkyway@sea]

Hi Everglade3 (Sarah) & diapason. I know its a year and a half later but I thought I would tell you what my research and own experimentation found.

My cats have been on everything from Whiskas to Royal Canin to Orijen. The best food currently available in SA pet stores:

Dry Food : Orijen & Arcana ( with the win going to Orijen)
Wet Food : Weruva

These brands have a high protein content and they also use high quality ingredients.

My cats absolutely love Weruva (but it is very expensive and unfortunately I cannot feed it to them every single day).
As to moving cats from Hills/Royal Canin to Orijen/Arcana. I've found my cats preferred Orijen over Arcana (my cats primarily ate Royal Canin). If I present my cats with both Orijen and Royal Canin they will always go for Royal Canin. Royal Canin is addictive. Basically it's like comparing fast food to a well balanced meal. Like humans , cats can also get addicted to "fast food". Comparing Royal Canin to fast food is perhaps a bit harsh but it's certainly true for your supermarket cat food brands.

The best choice I've made for my cats is to stop free feeding them. Especially for indoor only cats. I give them 2 - 3 meals a day (never let your cat go too long between meals). This way I can control the amount they eat. It's helped my almost obese cat to lose weight and yes while she begs for food every time I go to the kitchen, she has a lot more energy, she is playing with her toys again and she just seems happier overall.

Wet food is superior to dry food (especially for cats that have urinary or kidney problems). Please do not listen to the myth "Dry food is better for your cat's teeth". This comes from the belief that while cats crunch on dry food, the texture of dry food will rub/brush their teeth. Most dry cat food is so small that it gets swallowed before they even bite into it. Also a lot of dry cat food is primarily carbohydrates, so essentially it would have the same effect as humans brushing their teeth with bread or a potato (which gets converted into sugar...).

I've been reading up on a raw diet for my cats. Some vets will advise against this diet because of the health risk associated with handling raw meat. Please do not cut up pieces of meat and feed it to your cats. In the wild cats would not just eat the breast of the bird, but its beak, claws, feathers etc. There are specific recipes online to prepare your own raw cat food to make sure your cats receive all the nutrients it needs. Alternatively companies such as Raw Love and Pawsome Raw prepare raw cat/dog food. Just know that converting to this diet takes time and patience. I've tried to feed my cats a meal from Pawsome Raw and only one of my four cats took to it. My other young female cat started eating it the second time I presented it to her. My two older cats refused to even acknowledge it as food. It takes time to move from fast food to healthier option. Raw cat food also seems to be a more affordable option to expensive cat food brands. Also note that it takes a while for your cat's gut to become more acidic to effectively digest raw cat food especially if you have been feeding your cat a dry cat food diet (which is high in carbs). It's suggested that you do not feed dry and raw together.

All that being said. Cost is a factor and if you cannot afford the Weruva's and Orijen's out there, please try to buy Royal Canin / Hills over grocery store brands. If you cannot afford them please read the labels of grocery store brands. For wet food choose Petleys over Pampers.

 

[diapason]

Hi @Everglade3 (Sarah) & @diapason. I know its a year and a half later but I thought I would tell you what my research and own experimentation found.

I'd forgotten about my long screed from Jan 2017. My cats were on Acana for a couple of years. Both lost some weight. Recently, for affordability, I've tried Propac and the animals seem to like it. Most importantly, like the Acana, it's grain-free. They've never taken to wet food.