Cat food recommendations?

[widebody911]

We have several outside stray cats that we've been feeding for years. I've been getting Meow Mix "Original Choice" mostly because it was inexpensive (about $12 for 15lbs @ Target) , but the cats liked it. A couple of months ago, there was some sort of re-formulation "New look same great taste!" - but the cats don't think so, and I consider them to be the final arbiter on the matter. They only eat a little bit at chow time, and the rest just sits out all day or all night. The poor cats just sniff it, look up at mean and meow with that "dafuq is this?" face. Even the neighbors' cats stopped coming by for snacks. As a final example of what crap this new formula of Meow Mix is: the ants don't even go for it.

I'm looking for a new bulk dry food. We feed them twice a day, sometimes with a snack in-between if they ask nicely. We go through about 15lbs a month for 4 cats. I bought some clearance wet food on-sale that I've been giving to my favorites, but that's not tenable long-term from a cost or time perspective.

Thoughts?

[jhynesrockmtn]

Well, may not fit your scenario but I buy pretty expensive no grain food for my 2 indoor cats and they get some wet food each morning. 5 years, 0 health issues.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

Well, may not fit your scenario but I buy pretty expensive no grain food for my 2 indoor cats and they get some wet food each morning. 5 years, 0 health issues.

We were doing the same for our indoor cats, but we stopped the wet food because the resulting flatulence was horrible. They're on some stuff now that's like $35 for a 5lb bag.

[Hugh R]

My 20 lbs. cat eats Purina "Indoor" dry stuff.

[74-911]

Can't help you with the dry food recommendation except buy some small bags of other brands and see if they bite. (Must be really bad if the ants won't touch it Our 20+ YO cat will no longer eat anything but the expensive small cans of wet food and is very picky about them. However, every night she gets her favorite food in the world, a TBL spoon of melted Blue Bell Homemade vanilla (screw the listeria, we weren't scared).. Been doing this for 5 or so years now.

[Nostril Cheese]

Arent cats supposed to eat raw meat?

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Arent cats supposed to eat raw meat?

Yes, that is what they are designed to eat... technically they are designed to eat whole dead animals.

But raw meat is expensive so most cat food manufactures cut their food with grains and cereals.

I keep telling myself we are going to put the cats on a 100% meat diet... but then there is that whole time/money thing that gets in the way.

[afterburn 549]

Male cats that are fed dry food have to have the urinary tract ingredient in it. Its plainly marked on the bag. Their plumbing plugs up and its a miserable death with out this.
Most male cats need this diet....being they are outside cats its really your only choice. Thanx for being considerate.
I do my share and care for two critters.

[Racerbvd]

I has to switch foods, as one of mine needed Gluten free food. I tried the Blue Buffalo (after trying a few other, they didn't like), and to my surprise, they liked it, but then, I found out that the BB was lasted much longer than the MM. Turns out that not only is it better for them, but because it is more filling, they eat less and it last longer
So even though BB cost more, I'm actually spending LESS on the food.
Like you you snack, if you eat something healthy, you don't eat as much to be filled, but if you eat chips, you eat, and eat, and eat.

[WPOZZZ]

My outside cats like Kit & Kaboodle from Costco, $14 for 22 lbs. They were originally fed the Kirkland food, but price kept creeping up and is now $19 for 25 lbs. The Kirkland stuff seems to last a lot longer, over a week for a bag vs 5 days for K&K.

[nota]

wife uses that Kit & Kaboodle + a can of wet for 3 cats and our dog
the dog was always stealing the cat food and not eating the dog food
and cat food is better with less fillers

[widebody911]

I'll get small bags of "Kit and Kaboodle" and "Blue Buffalo" and see what happens

[Charles Freeborn]

We feed our cats Evo
Probably more cost than the box store brands, but much closer to their native diet (grain free - all meat).
-C

[bivenator]

My cats won't eat the Meow Mix either, they did go for the Fancy Feast dry food. It is cheaper than most of the brands suggested here. Don't feed them wet if you don't intend to continue, little bastards begin to get picky.

[vash]

my cat just borrows her food. i would say 50% comes right back up. i think most of my papertowel budget is dog-earred for "cat events".

love the thing..but i have to be honest. i have googled "(what is?)normal cat lifespan" more than once.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

It's tough work finding pet food that isn't crap. There are very few regulations regarding what can/can't go into it and many of the so-called "premium" foods are junk loaded with fillers (like Chinese gluten which killed hundreds of pets a few years ago), rice, corn meal, etc.

Unlike humans, cats require certain amino acids that they can't metabolize and which can't be derived solely from plant sources (humans OTOH can manufacture 100% of what we need from plant-only sources). Felines must get them from their diet - and that means meat sources. I don't particularly like it but that's just the way they're made. Nature of the beast - it isn't their fault.

I've had good luck with Nutro Natural Choice (one of the few brands not tainted by Chinese gluten - but I still check occasionally to make sure they're not cheaping out and starting to slide it in). Keep this in mind - pet food manufacturers can radically change the composition of their foods with little or no notification. Here's a good resource about some of the things to be aware of:

Understanding Pet Food Labels | Veterinary Medical Center

The Nutro N.C dry stuff is usually good, I give them cans (wet stuff) a couple of times a week as a special treat also. Greenies are decent treats too. I also use Natural Blue treats on occasion, which they seem to like. Generally if something contains rendered anything, rennet or loads of rice or corn I skip it (pretty much everything in Walmart and similar places). A few of the "mass produced" foods actually do seem okay today though - you just have to look and carefully read the ingredients and understand what each thing means (wording and order of listing is important).

You really have to do your homework and realize that nothing is ever static too - foods that are good today can be junk tomorrow and vice-versa but there are some that seem to hold up okay over time. In the case of the Nutro Natural Choice they HAVE cheaped out a little (more filler) in the last few years but I find it to be a decent product still. I'm certainly open to new ideas / discoveries by others out there. Your mileage may vary.

[scottmandue]

Dunno if any of you have heard of:
Jackson Galaxy
"My cat from Hell" on Animal Planet,
He advocates a "Catkins diet" i.e. all meat no carbs... he claims that diabetic cats have been cured by getting them off the cheapo high carb dry cat food.
As I said I would get my cats on a no carb diet... as soon as I get myself on a healthy diet.

[John Rogers]

mice and birds!

[Crowbob]

I was going to recommend broiled but didn't think it would go over well. So I didn't.

[SoCal911T]

A thread about cat food on a Porsche board? If this goes two pages, I'm out.