What is a good cat food? currently give Friskies

Question

I currently feed my cats Friskies dry food (I have one cat that is a little over a year, and my male kitten is about 5 months old) I feed friskies because it's not only for adults, according to the package you can feed it to adults and kittens (they eat out of each other's bowls so it's important to me I feed them the same brand). We were doing wet food in the morning and dry in the night. I've read other comments that friskies is not good food...but I'm not sure what else to buy. I need something that I can feed to adults and kittens! When Jack (the 5 mo old) is an adult I was thinking of switching to science diet b/c that's all we feed my dog (at my parents house) and that's a good brand. I don't trust the people at Banfield for suggestions, so I was hoping to get a cat expert to help me out here! Thanks :)

Answer 1

If you have a Wal-Mart near you, they are now carrying Paul Newman's line of canned and dry cat foods.  This would be a higher quality of food than what you're feeding now.  I recommend feeding one meal of canned food and one meal of dry food a day.  

Answer 2

Good for you for upping the quality of food you are feeding!

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It's completely species inappropriate.

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild, desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They do not have a thirst mechanism because they don't need it when eating a species appropriate diet. They get all they need from what they eat. Additionally water was usually not available to them in their desert climate. So they do not often drink water. Regular ol' house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats.

So in a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl.

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones,  urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals run rampant these days. Cats are not taking in enough water to stave them off. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Overall,  wet is all around better for any cats diet, be it canned or Raw and they should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs. Kibble meets our needs… not our cats.

I recommend varying the diet with a constant rotation of accepted canned foods that your cat enjoys. If you do this, and allow your cat the same assortment they would have in nature when eating mice, bugs, birds and rabbits, your cats’ digestive system won't be so sensitive and you won't have to run around looking for a specific brand when your store is out. You will have a nice variety to choose from instead.

Canned foods I recommend for your rotation:

Nature's Variety - http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.la...

Wellness Grain Free Formula’s - http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_welln...

By Nature Organics - http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/productp...

Organix -  http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/store/org...

Evanger's Holistic Pheasant - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/20089...

Evanger's Organic Braised Chicken - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50103...

Evanger's Turkey & Butternut Squash - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50111...

Answer 3

Science  Diet is c**p and so is Friskies. Don't let them eat out of each other's bowls anymore until they are both adults. Any food that is for kittens AND cats  is c**p! Feed either Wellness or Blue Buffalo. Your cats will be much much healthier and live much much longer. Who cares what you pay, the lives and health of your 2 best friends are what matters, right?

ADD: Only buy pet food that can be bought at Pet Stores. IF it can be bought a Wallgreens, Walmart, Target, etc., it is bad food. And yes, the Wellness line does have kitten. It is a very healthy food.

Answer 4

friskes is good and i think whiskas also see which one your cat like good luck

Answer 5

A vet told me that all the brands are basically the same and the price difference is due to marketing.

I was also told by vets not to give a cat any seafood because it causes diarrhea.  

A vet also told me not feed a kitten adult cat food because it damages its heart, so just feed the adult kitten food.

I try to find a brand that has meat as the first ingredient since cats felines are the only animals that need meat in their diet (think wildcats). Most brands have meat by-products as their second or third ingredient.

I did find one that has meat as the first ingredient and that is Halo that I found at Petco (whichever one has the red/blue cat and dog logo).

Answer 6

My cat loves friskies actually and she is quite healthy. We tried her with a few other types including Fancy feast and she did not like them and/or they made her sick. She also loves Whiskas temptation treats (for a treat obviously).

Answer 7

I love the Wellness line, I use Core dry and all the wet foods Wellness offers, great results.

The Core food by wellness is for both cats and kittens.

Answer 8

i like tuna

Answer 9

The whole "special food for cats and kittens" is a marketing ploy.  The better brands of food are suitable for all life stages, because they supply the nutritional needs of the cat or kitten!  You need to get a food that does more than barely meet their nutritional needs, and then you will only have to feed one kind.  Look for food free of junk fillers - one is corn (no nutritional value for cats ) and by-products (the scraps that are deemed unfit for human consumption - spleens, intestines, beaks, spinal chords, hides, and so on - you get the idea).  Science diet is no better than Friskies - it just costs more, and contains the same corn and by products.  If you don't believe me, pick up a bag of the grocery store kitten food, and a bag of EVO - and compare.  There is considerably more nutrition in the premium food even though it's not a "kitten" food than the box of kitten food from the grocery store.  

My foster kittens are all fed Innova's EVO - they thrive.  Other brands sutiable for all life stages include California Natural, Wellness (and there is very little difference between their adult and kitten formulas - check the bag!), and Solid Gold.  There are others, but these are ones I use and are well-liked by my cats.   They all come in a wet and dry, so see what your cats like best out of them.  Wellness is now available in Petco, the others are easy to find at the non-big-chain pet stores.  

Answer 10

i feed my cats fancy feast and im almost postivite that its ok for kittens and grown up cats because my cats were fed this brand since they were kittens at the shelter so thats why we continue feeding it to them

Answer 11

my adult cats eat science diet and my kittens eat pro plan wet food and science diet dry kitten food. that is what we give all the cats at the shelter i volunteer at! Good Luck!

Answer 12

EVO

Answer 13

my cat loves Fancy feast.

Answer 14

Friskies is junk food to a cat, so is meow mix, most Fancy Feast flavors and the overwhelming majority of cat foods sold in the grocery store.  If cost is a factor, keep in mind that a cat will eat much more of these junk foods in volume than if you spent the money to buy premium foods from a pet food distributor.  

Check the ingredients on cat foods.  Ideally if the first 4-5 ingredients listed are meat, it's great quality and great for you cat.  

I've been researching this lately, and found some great information:

www.consumersearch.com/www/family/cat-...

Good luck-