What do you feed your cat?

[GNGiveaways]

Science Diet is a mediocre but heavilly marketed food. Vets that recommend Science Diet do so because they get paid to by the company, not because it's good for cats.
My 2 main issues with it are that it uses corn as a filler, which is one of the worst ingredients you can feed a cat (Last I checked they called it "maize" to make it sound better) and that it's way overpriced to get people to believe that it's the best food out there when really it's no different than Iams.

Just like the commercial says, Iams adds more animal protein lol. It is sort of true though. Iams has more meat in it than Science Diet. My cats (unfortunately) have lived on Iams more of their lives. They're 14 and 16 now. Baxter (16) doesn't have any known healthy problems but Chloe (14) I believe in starting to develop kidney disease from lack of moisture in her diet. If you are going to feed your pet a comecial pet food I would suggest Iams. There are lots of grain free bagged and canned foods out there though that aren't much more expensive then commercial foods and are MUCH healthier (though not perfect)

[frugal50]

my cat now refuses to eat wet food
he's hooked on dry food, which the vet recommended!

[GNGiveaways]

my cat now refuses to eat wet food
he's hooked on dry food, which the vet recommended!

Dry food is highly addictive. They coat it in animal fat so it's more palatable which also makes it very addictive. You could try mixing the two together. Or don't give him anything but the wet food. When he's desperate enough he should eat it. Just don't let him go all day without eating. If he absolutely won't eat it, give him what he wants and try the next day.

[frugal50]

my vet says it's ok that he only eats dry food
as long as he drinks lots of water, which he does.

[abbasgirl]

Just like the commercial says, Iams adds more animal protein lol. It is sort of true though. Iams has more meat in it than Science Diet. My cats (unfortunately) have lived on Iams more of their lives. They're 14 and 16 now. Baxter (16) doesn't have any known healthy problems but Chloe (14) I believe in starting to develop kidney disease from lack of moisture in her diet. If you are going to feed your pet a comecial pet food I would suggest Iams. There are lots of grain free bagged and canned foods out there though that aren't much more expensive then commercial foods and are MUCH healthier (though not perfect)

My parents have always fed their cats Iams and they've lived long, healthy lives. It's not really the best food though. It has additives like corn in it, which aren't healthy for cats. I would put it on the same level as Science Diet.
I know no one believes me because it's from the grocery store. But check out the ingredients list on the President's Choice Nutrition First food the next time you're at a Loblaws store. It's really surprisingly good. It's had good reviews when compared to other brands. It's cheaper than Iams and there's even a grain-free option.

[GNGiveaways]

My parents have always fed their cats Iams and they've lived long, healthy lives. It's not really the best food though. It has additives like corn in it, which aren't healthy for cats. I would put it on the same level as Science Diet.
I know no one believes me because it's from the grocery store. But check out the ingredients list on the President's Choice Nutrition First food the next time you're at a Loblaws store. It's really surprisingly good. It's had good reviews when compared to other brands. It's cheaper than Iams and there's even a grain-free option.

I will agree that it is better than half of the stuff out there. The "grain free" varieties usually contain brown rice which is still very bad for cats. I try to feet my cats grain and starch free foods. Just meat and vitamins.

[GNGiveaways]

my vet says it's ok that he only eats dry food
as long as he drinks lots of water, which he does.

No offense but your vet is an idiot. Cats will NEVER drink enough water to hydrate themselves. Biologically they just don't. They're designed to get moisture from their prey, not drinking. Though it may seem like your cat is drinking a lot it is not enough and they may develop kidney disease or other disease later in life from this kind of lifestyle. ALSO, dry foods are nutrient deficient because they have to be heated to such high temperatures as to not go bad and stay in dry form. This removes most nutrients from the food, not that it had any in the first place because dry foods are nearly 90% corn or wheat which is not a sufficient source of protein for cats.

[GNGiveaways]

I would just like to note that you should not be taking nutrition advice from your vet unless they've had addition nutrition training. When vets go to school they only have to take a short course on animal nutrition which is taught by pet food companies so they aren't given accurate information. Just think about it for a minute. Does it really make sense to feed your pet dry food? Is that in any way related to what they would eat in the wild? No, it's not so you should not be feeding it to them.

[abbasgirl]

I've never seen a grain-free food for cats with brown rice in it. Rice is a grain. Many companies that sell grain-free also sell other options. But the grain-free ones have no grains. They usually add something like potatoes as a filler, which aren't great, but better. Having no fillers at all would make the food too expensive for them to market.
My cats have been on the PC grain free for awhile and they are at a healthier weight and aren't constantly begging for more food because they aren't still hungry. There are no grains listed anywhere on the ingredients list.

[GNGiveaways]

I've never seen a grain-free food for cats with brown rice in it. Rice is a grain. Many companies that sell grain-free also sell other options. But the grain-free ones have no grains. They usually add something like potatoes as a filler, which aren't great, but better. Having no fillers at all would make the food too expensive for them to market.
My cats have been on the PC grain free for awhile and they are at a healthier weight and aren't constantly begging for more food because they aren't still hungry. There are no grains listed anywhere on the ingredients list.

All of varieties I have seen that say they are grain free contain brown rice for some reason.

[abbasgirl]

Really? That's odd. I'll have to look more closely at some of the labels. If they do put brown rice in them, they aren't grain-free. I know most of them do have starches in them. But there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that cats who are fed these types of food tend to have less issues with weight. This has certainly been the case with my cats. So grains seem to be a bigger issue than starch.

[GNGiveaways]

Really? That's odd. I'll have to look more closely at some of the labels. If they do put brown rice in them, they aren't grain-free. I know most of them do have starches in them. But there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that cats who are fed these types of food tend to have less issues with weight. This has certainly been the case with my cats. So grains seem to be a bigger issue than starch.

Grains are certainly worse than starches. I highly doubt a cat would encounter grains in the wild. I avoid both starches and grains because they seem to make my one cat, Chloe, very sick. She already has chronic constipation issues but keeping grains and starches out of her diet seem to help a bit.

[MortgageQueen]

I use oatmeal in my catfood and my 2 little terrorists are quite healthy. (My princess is named Chloe too!!

[bluerose]

all I ever hear from my cat is "feed me feed me"

[GNGiveaways]

I use oatmeal in my catfood and my 2 little terrorists are quite healthy. (My princess is named Chloe too!!

Chloe! Pics?