What is the healthiest canned cat food?

[bif]

I keep a bowl of Iam's dried food out for my cat all day. In the evening I give her a can of Fancy Feast. Are they all about the same?

[Midnight Writer]

1. Don't know, but I have raised several healthy, long-lived cats on Fancy Feast.

I also know our local animal shelter will not accept donations of some brands, so i assume they are not all the same.

You may check the donations page of your local animal shelter and see if there are brands they exclude.

[Walleye]

2. My kitties thrive on fancy feast.

[Sanity Claws]

3. The one that they eat.

Cats are extremely finicky and won’t eat something just because it is deemed the healthiest. Mine will eat Fancy Feast and turn up their noses at the supposed more healthful brands.

[Emile]

8. +1. Thankfully my girl likes 9 Lives & Friskies,

not pate, has to be gravy.

[MuseRider]

12. Same with my two old boys

and they mainly just lick the gravy off. One of them will occasionally eat the meat. It feels like such a waste and a waste of money but....my kitties....awwww.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

25. Othello hates,hates pate

I got to get a ride to the shelter to drop off all these fancy feast pate cans he won't touch.

[Polly Hennessey]

4. I feed Millie both wet and dry.

She has been on Hill’s Science Metabolic Weight Control for years (it is a prescribed diet). I also give her wet food. The wet is either Fancy Feast, Sheba, or Hartz Senior tuna and chicken. She gets a small amount of the wet st dinner time and a bit of dry. In the morning she gets just dry. Millie is 17 years old and, so far, thriving. The canned food has been just as good as the dry prescription diet.

[wnylib]

26. My cat's vet does not like Hartz products.

The vet did not mention Hartz food, but is opposed to their flea and deworming treatments. She says they are unsafe and have made some cats sick.

For food, she recommended Hills as the first choice, but also approved Iams, Purina, 9 Lives, and Meow Mix. Purina makes Fancy Feast and Friskies. The vet advised that dry food is better for the teeth, but cats do have their preferences.

I have fed cats Fancy Feast with good health success. My current cat is not in the least bit finicky. She gets dry Purina One Indoor Formula, but will eat canned Fancy Feast, too. Not particular about which flavor, or if her food is dry or wet. For that matter, she is not particular whether it is cat or human food, and will sneak mine if I am not careful.

[Jilly_in_VA]

6. I think

it depends on your cat. Is she reasonable weight (i.e. can you just feel her ribs and backbone)? Is her fur soft and shiny and are her eyes bright? Does her poop look normal? If you can answer all that in the affirmative it's probably fine for her. The danger is in overfeeding.

I feed mine Rachael Ray dry because they like it (although I did read the nutritional content before I ordered from Chewy). They get somewhere around a half cup in the morning and I split a can of Fancy Feast between them in the evening. Someone here once said that Fancy Feast is like crack for cats and I have to say that's probably accurate. They sure do come running when they hear that can pop!

[Phoenix61]

7. I feed my cats Nutro kibble. This will sound weird but

their poo doesn’t stink and they eat less. I had switched to a cheaper brand and OMG it was awful. They could stink up the entire house. Anyway, Nutro also makes canned food. I’d think it’s be as good as their kibble.

[Chakaconcarne]

9. Against the Grain brand for my cat....

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I'd be interested in hearing the response to this. I feed a feral kitty Iams dry food and

wet Meow Mix every day, but she is really looking poor the last few weeks. I gave her some liquid worm medicine a few weeks ago, but it doesn't seem to have helped. I put food out for her twice a day. If there is something that would be better for her, I'd like to know.

I would take her to the vet, but she won't let me touch her. We've had this routine for at least 5 years and maybe as long as 7-8. I've lost track. She doesn't seem to be afraid of me. She will sit beside me on the porch and talk to me, but if she thinks I'm reaching for her, she just scoots away. I've provided a bed for her on the covered porch and she waits for me morning and evening and will sometimes ask for food in between times. I've been feeding her since she was a kitten. She is the last of a long line of feral kitties that I have fed over the years. She hasn't been spayed, but has never had kittens.

[BWdem4life]

18. We have a feral too

who won't let us touch him. We still take him to the vet, however. I would suggest trapping and taking to the vet if she's looking poor. Vets are good at handling feral cats.

[niyad]

19. Welcome to our DU family.

[BWdem4life]

23. Thank you. nt

[happybird]

11. Two great sites to look at:

https://catinfo.org/

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
It is for dog food, but most of these brands also make cat food and the quality and manufacturing of their various products are the same. The biggest difference is, for cats, you want more animal-based proteins. Cat are obligate carnivores. Dogs are omnivores. Pet food companies use things like peas to pump up the protein numbers. Cats have no use for peas or grains.


The best part of Dog Food Advisor, what makes it so helpful for evaluating cat food, is the ingredient explanation/break downs. They explain exactly what every single ingredient is, how it is sourced, if it is filler or beneficial, if it is harmful, etc, etc.

For example (which applies to dry food):
A dry food with Chicken meal contains more animal-based protein than “chicken as the first ingredient.” Why? Because the fresh chicken is weighed before cooking. After they cook it down, it’s definitely not going to be the most plentiful ingredient in the food (first listed on the bag). Chicken meal is basically powdered, dehydrated meat, chicken super-concentrate. You get more bang for your buck (and animal-based protein for your cat) buying a food that has Chicken meal as one of the first three listed ingredients. And cats don’t need any of the blueberries and spinach (stuff that’s great if you were feeding human children) that the high end brands use.

I’ve been hearing for years that they are supposed to be working on a Cat Food Advisor site but it hasn’t yet appeared.

[bif]

22. Thanks!

After reading the info on the first link my daughter said: Was that written by Cat?

[Chicagogrl1]

13. I only feed my cats dry food! 😱

Guessi should add in a can each of soft??

[BWdem4life]

17. Best to add in at least a little wet food

Often cats don't drink enough water, so dry food only can lead to dehydration.

[MichaelSoE]

14. I use this site for reference

https://allaboutcats.com

With 6 cats living here full time and the constant flow of fosters, I needed to find a relatively inexpensive food that had a high nutritional rating.

I now use Authority, which was developed as the in house food for PetSmart. Good quality and good price. If there is not a PetSmart nearby, you can always have it shipped.

[Rhiannon12866]

15. My cat gets Wellness, recommended by the vet

I was told that Fancy Feast, which he gets for a treat, is not as nutritious.

[BWdem4life]

16. Just one thing about wet food

No matter what you get them, they will punk you. They'll either turn up their nose right away, or they'll yum it up, after which you'll buy a whole bunch of it and they'll suddenly decide they don't like it anymore.

Strangely enough, they don't do the same thing with dry food.

We try to vary the wet food as much as possible, not sticking with the same brand, for this reason.

[niyad]

20. You are quite correct about the wet food. All of my cats over these many years

insisted on variety. Now that I am down to one supreme being, I make sure that he has a lot of different brands and flavours. He does not like a lot of the high end varieties at the pet stores, especially the pouches. He has his servant very well-trained!

[bif]

21. So true. Funny story...

I remember my dad (who was a product of the Great Depression and over stocking up on stuff), once went out and bought about a hundred cans of some cat food. After eating a can or two, our cat decided she no longer liked the flavor. Was he ever pissed!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

24. Othello eats ff medleys

And the creamy ones.

For kibble he eats a mix of purina one sensitive and I think nutrish or rachel ray the filet mignon and the other one.
I mix them all together.

[LisaL]

27. My cat likes fancy feast.

Since he is elderly with a few teeth left, he doesn't eat a lot of dry food anymore. So he gets fancy feast.