Should i give my cat indoor cat food

Question

Purina just came out with this dry cat food that says indoor cat,i have a mommie cat and 3, 5 month old kittens that i'm giving kitten chow and a can of wet food mixed up and they love it.Since their indoor cats should i get the one marked indoor cat and if so what are the benefits for my cat..Thank You For Any Advise

Answer 1

My suggestion would be to stay away from Purina altogether. Look for a high quality cat food with plenty of protein from meat sources, Recommended brands include Innova, EVO, Wellness, Nature's Variety, Solid Gold, there are others but these are top choices in my books. Definitely continue to add canned food, cats do not have a sufficient thirst drive to maintain proper hydration when eating only dry food, same brands for canned food would be ideal. Good luck.  

Answer 2

There really is nothing much different then the name. What you should do is feed species appropriate food  which means NO kitty crack! (dry food)  



Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Answer 3

Probably not.  Look at the ingredients and buy whatever has the least fillers and most actual meat that you can afford.

Anything like "poultry by product" or any specific by product is not desirable nor is all the corn stuff.  

I know with Iams the regular has meat as the first ingredient but the indoor version does not.  Neither food is great but the regular one should be better between those two.

I'm sure people will answer about the lack of quality in purina food in general so I won't bother since I'm less educated than some contributors but between kitten food and indoor food, they should have kitten food.  

Answer 4

Give Taste of the Wild a try.  It's an all-stages food, is very good quality and grain-free.  It's also a great option for indoor cats.

http://tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

Answer 5

Indoor formulas can be helpful because they usually have lower fat levels, vitamins and minerals to help with hairballs and stomach problems, and fatty acids to keep their coats healthier. However, Purina is a terrible, low grade brand of food. Take a look at the ingredients on the bag and you will notice that the food is comprised mostly of ground yellow corn and by-products (the leftovers from the slaughterhouse that includes but is not limited to chicken head and feet, bones, and intestines). The best thing you can do is look for a food that has a good by-product free meat meal as the first ingredient and no carcinogenic preservatives such as BHA or BHT.

A good band that is closer in price to Purina is Nutro, which has quite a variety of foods for indoor cats.