Science Diet Nature's Best for Cats?

Question

Our 2 cats have been raised on Science Diet. Last month, I had a coupon to try out a bag of the new Science Diet Nature's Best. It's considerably more expensive, but with the coupon, it was the same as regular.

Anyway our cats just absolutely loved it. I'm sure it's the thrill of eating something new and different. But even after 30 days, they still really enjoy it. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but they seem to be "happier" (well, as happy as a cat can be when they sleep in front of the window all day, haha) and they do seem to have less hairballs.

Is this all just coincidence or is there significant truth that buying a more expensive cat food affects the mood and health of cats?

Well, I say "more expensive"... actually the regular Science Diet is more expensive than cat food I can get at the store. So by buying a an even more expensive version, I'm wondering if this is all a waste or if it's really worth it?

Does anyone here have some input on the subject on this new breed of "natural" foods we're seeing pop up?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Higher quality food definitely better for your cat's health, but Science Diet /anything/ is not high quality.

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 diet's include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Orijen, 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 2

I agree with RuneAmok's answer. All science diet products are low quality. Nature's best is a little bit better, but still not amazing.

I feed my cat Felidae holistic cat and kitten formula and raw meat twice a week. Cats won't have to eat as much because it's so nutritous, therefore you end up paying about the same even though felidae is a bit more expensive because it takes longer to get through a bag.

My cat is so healthy on a diet rotating between raw meat and high quality kibble.

http://www.canidae.com/

What the heck Marcella D.??? that has nothing to do with cats

Answer 3

I have to agree with you on this one.  One cat was a stray and liked the cheapest food available.  I then inherited another cat (broken collar bone, missing clumps of hair, sores on her body, etc. - bad cat care), so switched them to Iams.  The second cat's hair filled in, the sores with treatment improved and lots of tlc has turned her into a beautiful cat.  The first one that loved the cheap stuff - her health definitely improved.  So I think not necessarily the price but the ingredients have a vast affect on them.

I would gladly pay the price on a more expensive (and better) cat food if it means that they will live longer, healthier lives.

Great question by the way.

Answer 4

Nature's Best is actually better than regular than regular Science Diet so its no wonder your cats like it better.

Here's the ingredients for Nature's Best: Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Oats, Brown Rice, Dried Egg Product, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Meal, Soy Protein Isolate, Brewers Rice, Cranberries, Apples, Carrots, Peas, Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Broccoli, Flaxseed, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, Oat Fiber, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Tryptophan, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Here's the ingredients for Science Diet Adult Original: Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.  

Answer 5

I Think Its Worth It! My Kitty Stays Slim And Enjoys It So Much!

Answer 6

I think that it isn't a coincidence - I switched my two smaller cats from a regular store bought brand to a more expensive brand that you get at the vet.  They are definitely happier, less hairballs, their fur is very soft and their skin isn't dry.  Their eyes are brighter, they have SO much energy!  I think that it is so worth it.  

My ragdoll, my big guy, wasn't switched along with them because he is already on a special food (Urinary SO).  

Anyways.  Worth it, yes!  

Answer 7

Oh boy.  Dry food.  I can just see the attacks that type of food will engender.  There really is nothing wrong with dry kibble, especially if you provide a source of water, especially a fountain to encourage them to drink more.

I looked at the label from the Science Diet site.  And I compared it to Original Science Diet for adult cats.  It seems to be a higher level of quality.  The first ingredient is chicken rather than chicken by-product.

Your sense of them being better may be a result of your desires since the food is more expensive.  Yes, it is hard to tell if a sleeping cat is happier or not.

But, the bottom line is that your cat is the real decider.  The finest food is of no value if your cat won't eat it.  I find food is really a smaller factor in the cost of having a cat, and good food results in a healthier cat.  If it would be $5/month more, that is really minor.

Answer 8

Many "natural" foods are just labeled that way to help them sell better.  Truly natural food would run away, not sit in a bag.  There is nothing natural about cats eating corn, wheat, and soy.

Mine like just about anything different, it doesn't matter how healthy or unhealthy it is.  If it's new, it's interesting.  

Science Diet is really expensive and not really better than some of the cheaper stuff.  The bare minimum on food would be meat as the first ingredient, which at least some of those have.  But considering how much money you seem to be willing to spend you might as well get something better.  

One that was mentioned already, Evo, is what I'm feeding.  It's about $16.50 for a 6.6 pound bag.  It has more usable calories since it's grain free, so they eat less of it. Website: http://www.evopet.com/products/default.a...

I'm thinking that after awhile I'll slowly switch them to Wellness Core then back again.  But they also get  different kinds of wet food every morning, so they do get variety.  Wet food is better.  Even the Evo dry uses potatoes to hold the kibble together, so that's still some useless calories.  But they are very aggressive about their wet food and stalk me enough already, so I only give it to them once a day.

The pet food situation in general is really frustrating.  Many vets are trained with sponsorships from major pet food companies and continue to be sponsored by them in practice.  My vet had never heard of Evo.

The amount of good research on their nutritional needs is limited.  But cats are obligate carnivores, unlike dogs.  I've spent a lot of time reading labels and it gets pretty frustrating.  I've looked at some of the so called healthy foods in the fancy cat aisle in Petsmart.  Many were better than Cat Chow but most seemed to be similar in "quality" to Purina One and Iams. The front of the bag made it all sound good and the price was certainly higher but the list of ingredients did not portray quality.

Always read the ingredients, so many natural foods are completely unnatural.

Best of luck with finding the best food for you kitties!  

Answer 9

I don't know about most cats but my cat enjoys a change in flavors greatly that he wants to be fed more than his breakfast/snack/dinner so he's become my begging piggy! LOL (Not that he gets fed when he begs.) This could also be why your cat is so happy with a new flavor. Whether it's better or not? I can't say. I found my cat was gaining weight from Science Diet (corn fillers are like human carbohydrates when it comes to this!) I'd get tired of eating the same thing all the time too so I change his canned food flavors up a bit as well. It keeps him coming back for more instead of arguing with him to eat canned when I put it down!

Answer 10

Science Diet is unjustifiably overpriced food.  It's no better than what you find in the grocery store.

I doubt your cats were happy because they got something new to eat.  Chances are, this food has been sprayed with even tastier rendered fats that make it more appealing.  That is something that is done with most dry foods - they spray gunk on it to make it more palatable.

Here are the ingredients:

Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Corn Gluten Meal (BAD-ALLERGEN), Whole Grain Oats (NO GOOD), Brown Rice (NO GOOD), Dried Egg Product (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?), Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Meal, Soy Protein Isolate (BAD - ALLERGEN), Brewers Rice (NO GOOD), Cranberries, Apples, Carrots, Peas, Soybean Oil (BAD-ALLERGEN), Chicken Liver Flavor (HUH?), Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Broccoli, Flaxseed, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, Oat Fiber, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Tryptophan, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract (NOT GOOD).

Like many other companies they added more fruit and veg to make it sound healthier.

The truth is, I would say that this particular line is actually better than their usual stuff.  But is it worth paying more for?  No.  You can get the same grade of food in the grocery store.  Although I'm no fan of that type of food, many of them are coming out with "natural" or "healthy" lines that would be just as good as this.

However, I AM a big believer in the fact that better food means better health.  And quite often the better foods cost more.  But that's not a hard and fast rule.  I'm feeding the healthiest food out there - raw meat.  And it actually costs me a lot less - less even than if I were buying the crappiest food out there.

So to sum up:  I abhor the new "healthy/natural" foods that are popping up everywhere.  I think the mfrs. are morally bankrupt for their advertising methods - showing healthy HUMAN foods like fruit and veg to make people think that this is good stuff.

And more expensive doesn't necessary mean better, although all of the commercially available good foods I know of do cost more than the grocery store stuff.

Don't waste your money on this.  As I said, you can easily find something comparable at the grocery store, if you're not up to paying for a truly better food.