Cat food - what's best?

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lokhor

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#119619 7-Jun-2013 23:16

So my wife and I are getting a new kitten, a bengal and I was wondering what people reckon are the best cat food brands.

So far I've been looking at premium brands like Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Nutrience and Iams but not sure what will be best for the little guy. It's difficult to find reviews for this sort of thing :/

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

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#832474 8-Jun-2013 00:21

Cats are like humans, they like different things. My cat is a bit special and cant make up his mind so eats biscuits one week, then jellymeat the next. Where as previous cats would mix between or simply insist on whiskers brand jellymeat.

Though I gotta say, he does tend to prefer Whiskers brand stuff.

But, the best thing you can do is give the cat different stuff every so often, see what he likes, see what he doesn't, and go from there. Or, just start feeding him budget brand stuff so he gets used to it, and you'll be sussed for a while unless he develops an attitude or something.

edit:
Forgot to mention, keep the cats water and food separate, or offer two choices of water source.
It stems from their ancestors or something where they dont like to drink water thats near their food, because it may be contaminated by the animal they're eating or something like that and apparently they still think thats the case. So we have one dish of water next to his food, and another downstairs near his cat flap outside.

He tends to prefer the outside one, but I guess thats because hes an outdoors kinda cat, he only comes inside to sleep and eat usually.

But yeh, just thought you might like to know that as well :)

Good luck! Enjoy the kitten while its still cute and hasnt developed claws

JamjarsNZ

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#832475 8-Jun-2013 00:22

I researched the hell out of this when I got my kitten and puppy. Here is what I found for my boys and you wont find healthier animals with nice glossy coats and good teeth.

First thing to remember is that cats are obligate carnivornes, which means they get all of their nutrients from meat alone. So I give my cat a raw meat diet, and I dont mean jellymeat. Raw meat you by in punnets at the supermarket. The only tinned food he gets is the occasional tin of fish, with as much whole fish in it as possible.

If you really want to stick to a dry food diet, I would say forget the stuff the vets will push on you (I dont trust a vet who recommmends only brands they sell) and have a look at Orijen or Acana. The Orijen NZ website has a list of suppliers around the country. The main selling point of these brands is the fact that they are made from a mainly meat based source and not a carbohytrate based recipe that the main "vet approved" brands have.

My cat has Orijen biscuits to browse on between meals but hardly touches them cause he fills up on meat.

It may not be the cheapest diet, but you will end up with a healthy cat in the end.

mjb

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#832481 8-Jun-2013 00:55

Jellymeat is one of the worst possible things you can feed a cat, as it gives them terrible oral health. You will not appreciate the dental bills you'll get later on.

Personally, we feed our cat Royal Canin Dental - and no set feeding times, the bowl is just always full... well, when we remember. ;)

Wet food is ok as a treat, but largely you should stick to dry stuff, that will conveniently assist them with keeping their teeth clean (which is where bones would normally come in).

I'm undecided about feeding raw meat.

edit: source: My veterinarian sister.

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farcus

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#832484 8-Jun-2013 01:56

got a cat a few years ago from the spca and the vet there recommended we only feed the cat dry food. She specified to not give them canned food as it is like feeding them fast food. She also said they don't need meat.
Also recommended to stay away from the bulk supermarket brands like friskies, chef etc for the dry food.

ZollyMonsta

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#832488 8-Jun-2013 03:26

Our cat is 20 yeas old so on a 'special' diet. We alternate his meals between punnets of raw meat (Jimbos) and Royal Canin Renal to keep him as healthy as we can while keeping his weight on/keeping him interested.

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jarledb

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#832489 8-Jun-2013 03:32

mjb: Wet food is ok as a treat, but largely you should stick to dry stuff, that will conveniently assist them with keeping their teeth clean (which is where bones would normally come in).

This.

Have had quite a few cats now and feeding them dry food with good nutrients (and not too much salt) has had very good effect, keeps the cats healthy and since they have all been outdoor/indoor cats they also get their meat treats when hunting.

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JamesL

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#832515 8-Jun-2013 09:15

We've been feeding our Birmans nutrience, might take a look at the Orijen food as I've always been concerned about the grains/carbs in normal dry food

We used to feed them raw cubes of meat from that the breeder supplied us but one of them got really sick so we have stuck to dry food.

The great thing about dry food is that keeping it stocked, within reason, the cats don't have that expectation that its feeding time which means you don't get woken up by a cat expecting to be fed at 5am in the morning :D

Wade

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#832519 8-Jun-2013 09:32

Our two cats live solely on a diet of Purina pro plan and couldn't be happier or healthier

JamesL

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#832520 8-Jun-2013 09:36

Forgot to add, we also mix in the dental biscuits every now and then too

JamjarsNZ

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#832529 8-Jun-2013 09:49

I don't understand how we try and avoid highly processed food ourselves because we know it is bad for us but we are happy to feed it to our pets. Have a look at the ingredients of you pet food, notice that there are a lot of grains and rice going into that food? Do you think a cat in the wild would chose grains over meat?

I am sceptical about vets advice on nutrition, I know they do a great job but they have a vested interest in pushing dry food that they stock in their clinics. I don't think they think they are doing anything wrong but a lot of them get their training on nutrition sponsored by the food manufacturers.

Article on dry pet food industry

sen8or

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#832564 8-Jun-2013 11:02

Some cats take a long time training their owners as to what food should be supplied to them, in quantities that they desire and according to their schedule. The sooner their humans get their heads around the pecking order, the more pleasant they will be to them......

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Batman

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#832572 8-Jun-2013 11:11

Rib eye steak with fish cream sauce

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#832574 8-Jun-2013 11:12

Probably cheaper too

MikeSkyrme

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#832631 8-Jun-2013 13:07

sen8or: Some cats take a long time training their owners as to what food should be supplied to them, in quantities that they desire and according to their schedule. The sooner their humans get their heads around the pecking order, the more pleasant they will be to them......

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richms

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#832632 8-Jun-2013 13:07

Ive settled on excellence, but its only available at countdown now which is a pain since it means a special shopping trip there just for food.

Any of the cheaper ones full of fillers they just chomp thru so fast. Even purena one isnt all that good, even tho it seems a bowl full lasts a lot longer than the really cheap stuff like the purple bag ones.

Richard rich.ms

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