Healthiest dry cat food?

Question

What's the best (or what ARE the best) dry cat food brands that I can buy for my cat? I already feed them Merrick wet food twice a day so I'm looking for the most nutritious dry food to leave out for them between meals. I've been told that most dry cat foods are less nutritious than wet food (lower in protein and higher in carbs and crappy fillers, by-products and "meat meal") but I'm looking for the best of them I can find. Thanks!

Answer 1

If you must feed dry, go with one of the grain-free ones.  Some choices are Innova's EVO (the favorite here), Wellness Core (so-so ratings from my cats), and the new Merrick BG (Before Grain - sample bag was very popular).  The grain free is "best of the worst".  None of these have any grains, no by-products, and no cheap fillers.  

Answer 2

Maybe take a look at this site. I am always looking for the best food for my cats since I don't want to feed them chick beaks, feet, collars, fur, cats, dogs, etc......

I'm happy to hear that you are looking out for your cats well being unlike many people who own them.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/family...

Answer 3

science diet

Answer 4

Give Taste of the Wild a try, it's grain-free and very healthy.  A great choice for your cat!

http://tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

Answer 5

I feed Innova.  

Answer 6

your cats do not need any additional food if you are feeding them twice a day.  If you must feed them the garbage that is dry food, try innova evo.  So, your cats eat Merrick's?  I am surprised, my cats HATED merricks so I gave a bunch to my neighbor and her cat hated it too.  

Answer 7

SciencePlan biscuits are an expensive but very good brand made with high quality ingredients that promote a good diet & healthy life style for your cat.

Answer 8

you can leave canned out all day. Even hardened, it is still good to eat

That said if you insist on dry (not allowed within 5 miles of my house)

innova evo and wellness core are grain free

Answer 9

sience diet and purina are really good food.

Answer 10

The best ones are:

Innova Evo

Nature's Variety Instinct

Serengeti

Wellness Core (tho this one didn't agree with my cat)

Merrick Before Grain

Orijen

Science Diet, Nutro, Purina, and many others have the carbs with lower protein and fillers and by-products.

(chuckling at JC's reply which I didn't see until after I posted - my original post was much longer and I kept getting error messages until I had it whittled down to the above - first tried posting over an hour ago)

(edited to add Serengeti and Orijen, which I had forgotten about)

Answer 11

Wet is much better, but there are a few links with a list of the best high protein low carb dry food makes, some nutritional information on some dry food makes and an explanation about why dry food isn't the best diet option for your cat -

http://cats.about.com/od/dryfood/tp/prem...

http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/dryfo...

http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

All the best.

Answer 12

I don't see the point of adding dry since you know wet is better but here's some ideas.

Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Meow Mix.

Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Felidae, Fromm, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature's Variety, Nature's Logic.

Many of the high quality foods now put out grainless formulas. Some good grainless diet's include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Orijen, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now!, and Sold Gold Indigo Moon.

Answer 13

I use Nutro for my cats. It's relatively inexpensive, and it's very good for cats. My cat's coat became very shiny and healthy when I switched to Nutro, and it also gave him tons of energy so he stays lean and healthy.

A lot of "premium" cat foods can't be bought at regular pet stores (like petsmart and petco), and you can get Nutro at these stores.

Answer 14

When compared to other cat foods such as Friskies, Purina, and Science Diet, Life's Abundance Cat Food comes out looking like caviar. By using the best, natural ingredients and developing a plan based around the health needs of your cat, Life's Abundance Cat Food rates as a significant improvement upon other cat foods. Life's Abundance Cat Food is the only cat food worthy of the term "premium."

Answer 15

I have indoor kitties and my vet recommended Royal Canin Indoor #37 for a lot of reasons...hairball control, weight control, appetite control, proper distribution of nutrients and calories, and it is one premium cat food that my girls love.

If I were to change to another one I might try Wellness brand. I don't think you can go wrong with either one of them.