Help! Freaking out over cat food!?

Question

Okay, I just read a rather disturbing article about by-products and cat foods such as Fancy Feast and Friskies...both of which my cat loves. I did not realize that by-products were labeled as 'not fit for human consumption' and now I'm scared to continue feeding it to my 8 month old cat. I also have another kitten on the way. So, what's a decent canned food that I can give both of my boys so I don't have to worry about what they are eating? Thanks!

Answer 1

I feed mine whiskas, but you can always try an organic food found at Whole Food stores.

Answer 2

You need to look at the descriptions that are used for cat foods--each is extremely specific.  Then you make informed choices.  Try searching on google.com for 'reading pet food labels.

By-products are 'meat' sources from just about anything that gets taken to a rendering plant and rendered down into a meat sludge that's been cooked so long all nutritional value is gone, which is why so many chemicals have to be added to bring vitamin content back up.  The meat parts can be from cancerous parts cut off cows not allowed into the human food chain, some euthenized cats and dogs from shelters who don't cremate (the dead animals are hauled to athe rendering plant for disposal), 'downed' animals too sick to walk into a slaughter house, road kill, etc.  What's bad is that any euthenization chemicals used on these animals does NOT disappear with the rendering process, they're still in there contaminating whatever batch they end up in.  Especially prions, heat does not kill prions very easily, they found this out after hospital sterilization proceedures didn't clean the equipment 100% of them.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?...

Ingredient list

All pet foods must list the ingredients present in the food. The ingredients must be listed in order of weight. This is one of the best ways to determine the quality of the food. With a little knowledge of the ingredients, you can choose a food that is highly digestible and free of unwanted products. Be careful of one tactic used by manufacturers to disguise less desirable ingredients. Breaking an ingredient into several different smaller ingredients and listing them individually is used to lower these undesirable ingredients farther down the ingredient list. For example, a product list could contain chicken, ground corn, corn gluten, ground wheat, corn bran, wheat flour, wheat middling, etc. If we were to group all of the corn ingredients as one, they would probably far out-weigh the amount of chicken, and wheat.

As a consumer, you must read all of the ingredients carefully including the ingredients at the end, to know the type of preservatives and colorings that are used. I have listed a few of the more common ingredients and their definitions.

Meat: Meat is the clean flesh of slaughtered animals (chicken, cattle, lamb, turkey, etc.). The flesh can include striated skeletal muscle, tongue, diaphragm, heart, esophagus, overlying fat and the skin, sinew, nerves and blood vessels normally found with that flesh.

Meat By-products: Meat by-products are clean parts of slaughtered animals, not including meat. These include lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, and stomach and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth, or hooves.

Poultry By-products: Poultry by-products are clean parts of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, and internal organs (like heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, abdomen, and intestines). It does not contain feathers.

Fish Meal: Fish meal is the clean ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, with or without the oil extracted.

Beef Tallow: Beef tallow is fat derived from beef.

Ground Corn: Ground corn is the entire corn kernel ground or chopped.

Corn Gluten Meal: Corn gluten meal is the by-product after the manufacture of corn syrup or starch, and is the dried residue after the removal of the bran, germ, and starch.

Brewers Rice: Brewers rice is the small fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from larger kernels of milled rice.

Brown Rice: Brown rice is the unpolished rice left over after the kernels have been removed.

Soybean Meal: Soybean meal is a by-product of the production of soybean oil.

Answer 3

I thought those foods were find.

My cats have sensitive stomachs, though. I think we use Nature Balance, and that seems to be fine. And the Meow Mix Cat Food Pouches are great for treats. :]

And the Purina One stuff is also okay I believe.

Answer 4

Any soft cat food that doesn't have an ingredient called manganese sulfate is ok for a cat.  The byproducts in the food that "aren't fit for human consumption" are not harmful to the cats and in some cases are good for them, like bone-meal..which is common in those foods. Since you have male cats definitely stay away from foods like friskies or nine lives.  

Answer 5

what pet food IS fit for humans?

I think there are FDA guidelines that at least ensure nutritional needs and safe for ANIMAL consumption....

All are about the same ....I think

Answer 6

Not all pet food is made equally. A lot of it is full of corn, by-products, dyes, unhealthy preservatives, filler grains and all sorts of nasty stuff. A lot of pet food companies are perfectly happy to dump cheap leftovers in. Will it kill your cat? No, it has to be nutritionally complete and safe to even be marketed. Is it healthy? Not by a long shot.

Corn is a low quality ingredient you never want to see in your pet food. Corn and low quality grains are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to food allergies in our pets.

Thankfully, there are some excellent cat foods being made these days that include organic, human grade ingredients rather than trash not fit for human consumption.

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 Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature's Variety Prairie, Nature's Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix, Timber Wolf Organics.

Although the high quality foods are more expensive, you're getting what you're paying for. Less filler material means more concentrated nutrients... this means you typically need to feed far less of the high quality food than you would of the low quality one. Which also means less p**p!

A great option is to go with an entirely grainless diet. Diets high in grain have been attributed to problems with diabetes in cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, so why should there be grain in their diet? Many of the high quality foods now put out grainless formulas. Some good grainless diets include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Merrick Before Grain, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now!, and Sold Gold Indigo Moon, Taste of the Wild.

Some pretty decent foods can even be found in common pet stores. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo products (such as the excellent grain free diet Blue Wilderness). Petco carries Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo. If you can't find a food, most of the high quality food brands have websites with store locators on them.

Remember that foods should be switched gradually, especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies.

Another option for feeding cats is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:

http://www.barfworld.com/

http://www.rawfedcats.org/

http://www.rawfed.com/

http://www.wysong.net/controversies/rawm...

Now the question is, do you feed wet or dry? Wet is the correct answer. The reason is, in the wild, cats normally get most of their water content directly from their prey items and drink very little. Domestic cats are no different, and because of the fact that they are designed to take in water with their meal, they have a very low thirst drive. Cats often just don't drink enough. This leads to urinary tract infections and crystals. The bit about dry food being better for teeth is a myth and has not been proven in the least. Canned/wet food is better because it more closely mimics the cat's natural diet. More on why canned food is best:

http://www.catinfo.org/  (Excellent cat nutrition information by a vet)

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canne...

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...

Another option to get cats to drink more would be a cat fountain. Cats tend to like to drink from running water and cat fountains see to that need, encouraging cats to take in more water.

More:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_... (Dog food reviews. It's for dogs, but most of the high quality brands also put out excellent cat foods. Four stars is a decent food, five stars is a great food, and six stars is an excellent food.)

Answer 7

Look for the premium brands such as Hills, Royal Canin and the like and keep your boys on kitten food until they are about 12 months old.  The same goes for dried food, if you feed a well balanced diet to a cat all it's life it is less likely to have digestive upsets and stands a better chance on remaining fit and healthy! :)

Answer 8

doesn't that just mean that homosapiens shouldn't be eating the food- tht its just ment for cats or dogs???

Answer 9

I would probably look at stuff next time you buy stuff. Cats, like humans, get fat too, if you overfeed them. Those by-products are okay, they are safe to consume in moderation. I usually leave a dish of dry food out, some water, and a bowl of meaty cat food or maybe fish, then they can eat whatever they like, but they'll probably go for the meaty one.

Answer 10

I would recommend talking to your vet to get a list of what is appropriate and available in your area.

I get my cat food directly from my vet as it is a healthier alternative to what is available in most stores in my area.

I hope that helps.

Answer 11

evo, blue spa or wellness

Answer 12

dont totally freak , your cats will be fine , just change there diet , cr*p cat food is very tasty for cats just like fast food is to us , the compaines play dirty so cats get addicted

try an organic brand or what your vet recomends

Answer 13

Don't worry. Cats eat cockroaches, moths, rats, rotten animals and so force. They l**k clean the areas...... Meanwhile you need to have a very nice cup of tea and overdose of your boys' happy sound. You will know that you are doing ok.

Answer 14

Well... I went through a period where my cat was getting sick from the food (hard food)... So I started making her own food and freezing them for like 3 months until I found an organic cat food (hard food)...

Maybe you should try that... Most importantly go to the vet and have them run certain tests that predict if they are getting sick from their food etc. That would be the best bet before anything... In your case.

Always remember which many of us dont when we have pets, they are animals... Cats are natural carnivores... So things with corn, and vegetables are not really meant for them to be eating. Just make sure that the food has no glutton or wheat germ products... Those are NOT good for the pets at all...  

Answer 15

Iams is good for healthy digestion and lengthing the lives of you cats. Just make sure you buy the right brand for you cat. If it's a kitten buy him Iams Kitten food not Iams Cat food.

-Kayleigh :-)

Answer 16

Welcome to my world!

First, take a deep breath and relax.  It's true what you read but there's no reason to panic.  You're right to look for something better though, and better foods are out there.

If you really want ultimate control over what your cats eat, look into raw feeding.  I do this for one cat, the other will get there someday...

Next up on the quality ladder is grainless canned foods, followed by grainless dry, followed by c**p.

Good quality canned foods can be found here:  What to feed:  

http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedf...

Grainless dry:  The best of the worst - dry foods: My personal picks are Wellness Core, Innova Evo or Nature's Variety Instincts. A new line that looks decent is Merrick's B.G. (Before Grain).  I agree with some of the foods listed here but not all. I am happy to review ingredient lists if requested: http://cats.about.com/cs/nutrition/tp/pr...

I can't tell you that one brand is the best - there are several good ones to choose from and what's best will depend on many different factors.  But I would back any of those.

Answer 17

We just got a 14 week old Kitten,,,,reading the pet food labels kinda grossed me out too...especially when you think of what bi-products are,,like chicken lips and beaks and feet and cow who knows what, probably butt or something...ewwwwww

Answer 18

I would suggest going for a premium brand of cat food as they tend to have better quality ingredients.  I use Royal Canin for my kittens and they love it.  Even better, I know it's good for them.

If you are in the uk, petplanet.co.uk sell premium brand food and will deliver it to your door.  It is cost effective if you buy premium dry food because they eat less of it as there's no "fillers" in the food so you don't buy as much of it.  

You can spend the same amount per month on Whiskas as you do on Royal Canin, the difference being that the 2kg bag of Royal Canin will last a month while the 2kg bag of Whiskas will last a week so although Whiskas looks cheaper, it isn't cost effective in the long term.

Dry food also helps to keep their teeth clean so will save on the dental bills in later life!

I had a kitten who was used to a meat only diet but eventually I got her eating mostly Hills Science with 1 pouch of felix per day.  Oh, and her poo didn't smell as much when I switched her!  You have to do it gradually though.

It also worked out cheaper to feed her the dry food even though it was a premium brand!

Answer 19

None canned food is good for your cat give them healthy packet beads food