MYTH 1: Corn is just filler

[Silivren]

I will personally say that Blue Buffalo food is the best thing to happen to my pets. They don't eat as much anymore because they arent hungry they actually feel full. They LOVE it. It's the only type of food that my dog can keep down. She's got a violent grain allergy and will throw up any other food. We tried so many foods for her to keep her from getting sick and literally everything made her sick BUT Blue. My cats switched shortly after that because they love it too.

[Nachtwulf]

Addendum: I tried the Nature's Miracle stuff (I think that's the freeze-dried corn powder, isn't it?). -I- love it. It clumps great, dries quickly, is light weight, doesn't retain odors...

My cats, however, thought it smelled and felt weird and wouldn't use it, and ...yeah, that's not somewhere you want to go. Trust me. If you're going to switch to it, BE SURE to do it gradually, because it does smell odd if your cat is used to clay, and it may cause litter-box aversion until they have enough time to get used to it. Don't mix the two together (this doesn't work) but offer them one box with the corn based litter in it along WITH their clay litter and see if you can get them to gradually accept the new product.

Some cats may take to it right away, but mine were all 'AMG EW WHAT IS THIS YELLOW CRAP?!? D8'

[AdamSavage]

The Simply Nourish Indoor Cat Food, turns out to be a Pet Smart brand of cat food. It took some digging to find that out, because I was wondering why I couldn't find a website for them.

[zedxrgal]

As a former vet tech I can tell you 100% that "vet" foods ARE NOTHING SPECIAL. They're really not. You can actually buy something better then what the vet tells you. They, at least here, make money off selling you that food.
After my dog was switched to Nutro Max and started throwing up DAILY from it I did a lot of research into dog and cat foods. What I learned was startling. A lot of that information has already been presented here. However I'll add what I know.

Cats are 100% carnivorous unlike dogs. Especially your cat even more so. Given her breed (or breeds more like it) some Bengal owners actually feed their cats raw meat. Because it's the closest to a natural diet. Same with Savannah cat owners. Remember. These "exotic" cats are half wild cat. The only canine that is 100% carnivorous are wolves and even wolf hybrids. So feeding filler foods will do more harm then good in the long run for your cat. Three foods are the best on the market for the cheapest price:
Blue Buffalo (Blue Wilderness being the highest grade)
Wellness (Wellness core being the highest)
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul

All of these cost around $20 - $25 for a 5-7 lb bag. FYI my 60 lb dog who's on Blue Wilderness large breed formula goes through a 35 lb bag ($50) a month. That's ............ cheap for what I'm getting. Love them like family. Feed them like family. The changes in both my dog and my cat from being on Blue Buffalo have been ASTOUNDING. The cat used to throw up daily also, had strange hair patch loss, shed horribly and was constantly hungry (he was on top of the line Science Diet before) now sheds very little, no more patches and only hacks up the rare hairball. He doesn't scream and cry like he's starving to death either. He's been on This food for .............. two or more years now. My dog same thing. No major shedding outside of seasonal changes, coat looks AMAZING.
It may seem expensive but in the long run it won't be. It honestly won't. I'm sure you paid a good amount of money for your kitten (no offense meant) so feed her like it. There's a reason those foods are dirt cheap.
BLUE WILDERNESS GRAIN FREE KITTEN FOOD

[AdamSavage]

Well ironically enough, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is actually cheaper per pound then Simply Nourish. I still have to go through most of the 7 lb bag of kitten food, before I can look into trying something different. I'm aware of blue buffalo, but it has quite the price difference compared to either Simply Nourish or chicken Soup. I do want my kitten to have good food, but at the same time I don't think I need to buy the #1 food either, but I don't want to cheap out on the food either. That being said, I was not aware Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul was that good. I might just try it out.

[cowmuflage]

Well ironically enough, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is actually cheaper per pound then Simply Nourish. I still have to go through most of the 7 lb bag of kitten food, before I can look into trying something different. I'm aware of blue buffalo, but it has quite the price difference compared to either Simply Nourish or chicken Soup. I do want my kitten to have good food, but at the same time I don't think I need to buy the #1 food either, but I don't want to cheap out on the food either. That being said, I was not aware Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul was that good. I might just try it out.

Buy something that's both good and that you can affored. There is no need to buy a brand that will be a hassle for you to affored to get.

[AdamSavage]

Buy something that's both good and that you can affored. There is no need to buy a brand that will be a hassle for you to affored to get.

I'm open to trying to trying the Chicken Soup for Cat lovers. Has anyone tried it, or heard good or bad about it ?

[zedxrgal]

I mentioned Blue Wilderness because it is top of the line. However. Blue Buffalo and Wellness have extremely healthy foods in their line also that is cheaper. Do not rely on internet prices!!! In store is 98% of the time cheaper I've found then online. Especially when shopping at PetSmart.
Here are the others:
Blue Buffalo Healthy Growth Kitten
Wellness Kitten Health
Chicken Soup for the Kitten

All of the above are a step down from Blue Wilderness and Wellness Core. So in turn, again at least here, they're cheaper in price. However with Chicken Soup, I've not seen it sold in either PetSmart or PetCo.
Check here: Chicken Soup Where to Buy when you're ready to get something else. About 2 weeks before she runs out buy a new bag and start mixing so she adjusts to the change over.

[AdamSavage]

I've seen Chicken Soup @ Pet Value, and we have at least 2 Pet Value stores in my end of the City.

[Nachtwulf]

Also, and you may laugh, but if you keep an eye on store flyers, canned tuna (for humans) often goes on sale for -ridiculous- prices and can easily substitute for wet cat food. You don't want to feed it 100% of the time since as far as I'm aware, there's still the potential for iodine overdose if it's the sole constituent of their diet, but don't let the chance slip by if they're on sale for $.50 a can or something.

My only caveat (and it's small) is that tuna is very rich compared to regular 'diluted' cat food, and if you feed them too much at once (they WILL gorge on it if you let them) they'll throw up which isn't fun for anyone.

[AdamSavage]

I had to lure my roommates cat, back inside with sardines once. He went nuts over it.

[Rawr]

I had to lure my roommates cat, back inside with sardines once. He went nuts over it.

I don't know of a cat that doesn't like kippers.

[cowmuflage]

I had to lure my roommates cat, back inside with sardines once. He went nuts over it.

I don't know of a cat that doesn't like kippers.

I would never waste smoked fish on a cat that stuff's way too tasty!

[Suicune]

Buy something that's both good and that you can affored. There is no need to buy a brand that will be a hassle for you to affored to get.

I'm open to trying to trying the Chicken Soup for Cat lovers. Has anyone tried it, or heard good or bad about it ?

Lol you missed my whole post I guess

[AdamSavage]

Lol you missed my whole post I guess

I forgot about it.. It got buried in the other post, and I forgot I had read it.

[AdamSavage]

What do you guys think about the Argument, that wet food is better than Dry Food and you should only feed your cats wet food.

[cowmuflage]

I feed mine both. I tend to give them dry in the morning and they share half a packet of wet and night. They love it :3

[Makoes]

Mine get both, but that's more for a change of food, since I am pretty sure eating the same thing over and over is just really dull for them. So, same dry food (sometimes a different if something comes on sale) and then a mixed variety of canned wet foods.

[Danielfboone]

Cats need a lot more protein than dogs. They really are not as fully domesticated as witnessed by the fact that they can go feral and survive much better than dogs. They are still natural predators where many dogs would have no clue how to hunt if they suddenly had to.

Cats need a good amount of animal protein in their diet and just about anything is good except for pork. Many people don't know that cats can not digest pork. Fish and poultry are probably the best choices. Corn in cat food is useless.

[AdamSavage]

I know some people do the Raw food diet, but I don't feel comfortable doing that. Handling raw meat can be risky, and the risk of contamination is high.