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From the lens Cat Food Reviews- Healthiest Natural Cat Food.

  • gustafsonmel May 25, 2012 @ 9:31 pm | delete
    This article is extremely eye opening for me. I just inherited my parents cat (peaches, 8 yrs old) and she has been on science diet, Iams, and now Purina Pro Plan for all of her life. I am now looking at switching her over to something grain-free. I usually feed her a little bit of dry in the morning with a scoop of canned and a 1/2 of a can at night. She's quite a chunk so her food intake is limited. Is there a grain-free dry and/or wet that you would recommend for over-weight cats? Or all most of the grain-free going to help her lose or at least maintain her weight? Also I had been looking at the newer Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Weight Management formulas and I see you didn't mention anything about them. Is this one I should nix from my list of possibilities of food to switch her to?
  • Lady-in-the-window May 26, 2012 @ 5:11 pm | delete
    Grain free alone will help her lose weight. The fastest way to gain weight is to consume grains....as it raises blood sugar, leading to an insulin response which then signals the body to store fat....sooooo Grain Free! :) Although I should mention, some of the grain free foods can still be higher in carbs due to the alternate vegetable sources of starch they use.
  • simpsonia May 19, 2012 @ 3:35 am | delete
    Very interesting, informative read. I wonder why some cats, like my Siamese cat Saaki, lived to the grand old age of 20 fed on a diet largely consisting of proprietary wet and dry food mixed now and then with cooked chicken and fish. She was super healthy and active all of her life with not one visit to the vet for ill health until she had a stroke in the last month of her life.
  • demurish May 15, 2012 @ 12:27 pm | delete
    Thanks for sharing this info. More people need to know this stuff.

    I am lucky enough to have a holistic vet down the street from me. Has been spot on so far with providing natural remedies and really good advice. She always asks everyone what brands of food they are feeding their animals and keeps her own stats of health & diet.

    I'm always skeptical about people with businesses that seem to be too good to be true and search for second opinions. This vet is the real deal.

    From her experience, she is strongly against any dry food (grain free or not). Her #1 choice is feeding frozen raw diets from Nature's Instinct and Primal and sells them at her wholesale price at her clinic, but she also shares recipes for homemade raw meals with supplementation details stating food can be safely prepared at home with some simple routine of sanitation and good hygiene. --she did warn that problems arise when people don't take it seriously or become lazy with their routine.

    For Canned food, she agrees with Merrick's, Nature's Instinct and Wysong as long standing trusted brands. There are a lot of new brands that may be good, but she doesn't have enough historical data on them. She has become weary of Wellness. "Old Mother Hubbard" went through some major changes several years ago and they currently outsource the production of all their food. The vet noted that their change in practice coincides with an decline in health from her patients. This shocked me because my cats and I were Wellness fans as well, but internet searches have confirmed her statements. (Despite complaints about Wikipedia, this is true none-the-less: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WellPet).

    By the way, Nature's Instinct claimed personally to me that they uses the same formulas for all their cat and dog canned and raw foods. If this is true, money can be saved by buying the "dog" products. I highly advised that they revise their labels to include "Cats" if they want to sell more products.
  • sam3erry May 2, 2012 @ 4:15 am | delete
    Loved this lens!!!
    I have been working in a cattery for the last year and was aware of bad brands of cat food but didn't Know I#ms was one of the baddies. Thank you for sharing! I have always encouraged owners to feed their cats on a raw food diet, but now I realise why its so important.Keep it up!
    Samantha :)
  • lavender-blue Apr 21, 2012 @ 3:32 am | delete
    My cat is fed 1/3 cups of Acana Pacifica (dry) daily, and 1 can of wet canned, divided into 2 portions (one morning, one evening.) I offer her a variety of different canned options.. Wellness, Merrick, all grain-free. She is thriving. I have found that the in the long run, the extra cost of a more premium type of food has paid off. She eat less and she poops less.
  • ElBat Mar 4, 2012 @ 12:12 pm | delete
    Oh wow. I am a new cat owner and I really wanted to know what else I can feed my kitty. I was suspicious even before reading your lens. But what can I make for her to eat?
  • Lady-in-the-window Mar 15, 2012 @ 9:12 pm | delete
    Canned food always beats dry cat food- but try to do grain free. Grains are very damaging to kitties.
  • Lady-in-the-window May 1, 2012 @ 7:52 pm | delete
    It is very hard to met a cat's nutritional needs with a home made diet if you don't know what you are doing. Best to stick to a good grain free canned cat food for safety sake.
  • EmmaStinch Feb 22, 2012 @ 12:31 pm | delete
    I feed my cat Gourmet. She really loves it and they contain vegetables too. Although they can get quite expensive, usually look round to see where they are on offer.
  • VickyinOz Feb 20, 2012 @ 6:57 am | delete
    Unsure that wellness cat food is the way to go. Read about the cats that died on this stuff. http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/wellness-cat-food-recall.html

    I think I'll stick to science diet.
  • Lady-in-the-window Mar 15, 2012 @ 9:14 pm | delete
    Thanks for the heads up- sadly though the choice of Science Diet is a very poor one. You are paying premium prices for absolute garbage. Its nothing but low quality health damaging gluten garbage grains. BAD stuff.
  • Adam641 Mar 17, 2012 @ 2:04 pm | delete
    It's understandable that you may not choose Wellness, but you should consider that they did not try to hide anything and did a voluntary recall on their affected food. Additionally, their food was not tainted, it simply may have not contained enough vitamin b1 or thiamine. Nowhere did the article read that any pet's death was definitively linked to the feeding of this food.

    Please keep in mind that Hills SD really is a poor poor food to feed any animal.
  • Melissa Feb 16, 2012 @ 11:41 am | delete
    I see that your preference is the Wellness brand. That being said, I saw that Wellness has dryfood as well. Is the Wellness brand dry food healthy, using the canned for treats? I love my cats and just accidently ran across this website and another about cat food, and of course now scared to death. I am not financially able to feed a diet of just canned I dont think. I am going to be finding out after this comment the recommended amount of canned food to feed per day per cat/kitten, but I am guessing from looking at the prices it just wont be possible. So to sum up, the natural brands offering both canned and dry foods, are the dry foods they offer ok. Or are you saying all dryfood should be avoided. I have always fed dry food ( a non- by products food) plus a wet food treat once or twice a day. Also non-byproducts. Your input would be greatly appreciated. With all the love and play that myself and my children give to our cats/kittens, it made me sick that I am causing harm that I didnt know about.
  • Lady-in-the-window Feb 19, 2012 @ 8:43 pm | delete
    Yes, dry food should be avoided as much as possible- but we all have to do the best we can under our circumstances. Go grain-free on the dry if you have to keep feeding dry.
  • Lady-in-the-window Mar 15, 2012 @ 9:17 pm | delete
    Dry food should be best left to emergency situations- such as you are away overnight and have no choice...aside from that it is simply not necessary. If you have to choose dry for financial reasons- please make it a high quality grain free if you can, We can only do our best, and that's it. Good luck to you and your kitties. :)
  • Feb 9, 2012 @ 4:19 am | delete
    A great lens. My family had two dogs years ago they would not touch dog food, my mother used to cook them fresh food everyday. I now have five cats I have fed them cat food, they do not like it. I was supicious about the standards of the cat food industry, dead animals is just disgusting. They did this in the UK with chicken feed some years ago and ending up with eggs containing salmonella. I have never fed my cats an only dry food like many people have been brainwashed to do.
    The food industry have a lot to anwser for, if people saw what rubbish goes into hot dogs and chicken nuggets etc,they would never eat them again.
  • Victoria Feb 5, 2012 @ 10:54 am | delete
    Well, it all sounds so wonderful, right and good, but I am a low income senior and I believe there are many other seniors out there that have gotten to the point of being forced to give up their old friends. For decades we spent very little on our dear pets and trusted cat food makers to feed our old pals correctly (boy were we wrong). However, now when income is meager and our own health care is costing us the bulk of our income we are feeling the heart break of not being able to afford our old friends. And forget health ins for cats, huge rip off. Got any tips on how I can keep my old pal. I'm sure he doesnt have a long time left, similar to myself but he is definately family and no one is ever asked to give up a family member!!!
  • justforcats Feb 2, 2012 @ 10:13 am | delete
    Great lens. I'm passionate about this topic, too. My cats just helped me with a lens about their favorite brands of wet food.
  • richard b Jan 31, 2012 @ 8:18 pm | delete
    I feel like I let my pet Boo down by not feeding her a wet food diet.Unfortunately ,she was older when I got her and used to dry food and according to my previous vet when asked ,he only fed his cat dry food so i was under the assumption he knew best .hearing how most vets are treaters of illness and not nutrition experts has opened my eyes and made me realize i am the one who needs to do the research.My cat died of liver and im guessing systemic cancer.She basically stopped eating and I found her when i got home ...she had passed quickly but it was not a nice feeling knowing I could have done better for her.I plan on getting some more companions but I plan to be prepared this time and do it right ....the owners of these pet food companies should be put in jail.I remember a time when the pet food was eaten by ht extremely poor ...I say this as a point because i bet it was more human grade back in the day than it is now or we would have heard of scandals with human deaths and sickness related to consuming the pet food.profit drives everything in this world and if they allow poison in human baby formula ,then there is no limit to what they will allow in pet food knowing that the profits outweigh the possible fines.
  • newdaygardens Jan 26, 2012 @ 7:03 pm | delete
    Wonderful topic. I just recently adopted new cats from a shelter who were all on grain free and learned from the vet that my previously owned kitty is overweight primarily because she was eating a "premium" cat food that contains grains. She already has more energy in just a few weeks on the new diet...start it slowly though. Switching foods can cause an upset stomach.
    You might enjoy my lens http://www.squidoo.com/pets-autism-how-a-cat-helped-my-aspie-daughter
  • DavidDove Jan 25, 2012 @ 9:04 am | delete
    great pictures, loved the lens, thank you
  • Afteretc Jan 23, 2012 @ 9:42 am | delete
    I feed my clowder Wellness canned grain free flavors. Such an important topic, great lens!
  • Dan H Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:54 am | delete
    Nature's Variety Instinct canned is the same for dogs and cats, exact same including taurine, so you can buy the large cans for dogs, saving you money over buying the little cans for cats. Evo 95% foods bother me in that their fat percentage is higher than their protein percentage, the high fat percentage could lead to over weight cats, especially in indoor cats.
  • Robin Jan 3, 2012 @ 8:59 pm | delete
    I like everything you mentioned, but was wondering if you had any concerns about feeding the cats Wellness brand cat food after it was found to cause urinary crystals about 1 1/2 years ago? I used to use it, but when I heard about the deaths I freaked out. I don't know what was wrong with the formulation, but it scared me. Did they make changes? Is it safe now? Thanks
  • Dan H Jan 27, 2012 @ 12:55 am | delete
    Where did you hear this? I've been feeding Wellness chicken and turkey for years and the thiamine deficiency recall last year was the only recall I'm aware of, and a brief vitamin deficiency is not going to kill pets but this is a good reason to feed different brands. I feed Wellness and Nature's Variety Instinct for dogs (same as Instinct cat food) regularly to my cats because they are about the only 2 companies who use large cans that are far more economical.
  • L.P. Dec 3, 2011 @ 2:04 pm | delete
    Many of your links do not work. Just wondered if anyone else has this issue.
  • mandy Oct 16, 2011 @ 10:58 am | delete
    Amazing article, but like many others, I'm sick to my stomach that I have been feeding my beloved cat this junk, thinking I was buying her the best commercial cat meat out there (f*f* Gourmet Medley - after reading the first few ingredients it reads wheat gluten, soy and corn starch all = sugar = cancer. My cat now has cancer and Im devastated). It maybe too late now, but Ive switched to a grain free, soy free, natural meat diet to see if maybe her body can get into balance and she can fight this disease. Any advice from anyone out there with treating their cat holistically for cancer would be much appreciated.
  • VeggieGeek Oct 16, 2011 @ 2:27 pm | delete
    I really feel your pain Mandy, as I also have had a very similar experience to you. I lost my cat to kidney disease a year ago, and she was only 8. This horrible experience made me research cat health and what cats really should be eating. The best site I can recommend to you is www.feline-nutrition.org

    This is a very informative site with contributions from holistic vets around the world. There is lots of information about cancer on there and also about raw feeding, which is the best way to ensure a healthy cat or support any ill cat.

    Contact me directly if you need any other help. I am a trained vet nurse and now work for a holistic vet. Best of luck.
  • Emilee Oct 22, 2011 @ 11:15 am | delete
    I am doing research right now to find answers for my poor cat Lulu. She is only 7. We moved her to a new state 2 months ago and moved to a new house 5 weeks ago, so she has had some recent stress. I noticed that she has gotten very skinny very quickly and then discovered that her urine was bright orange. I took her to the vet who found that she has extremely elevated liver enzyes and bilirubin. Her bilirubin is so high that it is spilling over into her urine. Her thyroid and glucose are normal and the vet didn't have any answers for me. He said we can do more diagnostics on Monday. In the meantime, I am supposed to watch her closely and bring her to the ER for IV and a feeding tube if she is vomiting or won't eat. I am concerned that this could be fatty liver, secondary to anorexia from the stress of moving. I had been feeding her Avoderm weight control, but she shares a bowl with my other cat, so I am not sure if she had been eating enough or not.
    I want to provide her with as much nutrition and hydration as I can at home so that she can stay here with me and not at the hospital over the weekend. She does like wet food. Any nutritious, liver-supportive, high-calorie suggestions?
  • Lady-in-the-window Oct 22, 2011 @ 6:45 pm | delete
    Hi Emilee,
    I am sorry I don't have any helpful advice for you- but maybe someone else here can help...My advice is to go to Yahoo Groups and join a natural cat health group- preferably one who specializes in raw feeding. You will get some great advice from groups like that...my best to you and your sweet Lulu. Hugs and love to you both- Donna
  • billyd47 Oct 15, 2011 @ 11:55 am | delete
    Great Lens. Wish I had read this before I first two Loves passed with Kidney Failure and another with Cancer. I will be following your links and advise.
  • Lady-in-the-window Oct 22, 2011 @ 6:45 pm | delete
    I am SO sorry---sadly this is all too common with store food fed kitties..
  • Lady-in-the-window Oct 22, 2011 @ 6:45 pm | delete
    I am SO sorry---sadly this is all too common with store food fed kitties..
  • fionamckay9 Jul 28, 2011 @ 3:19 am | delete
    I had to stop reading half-way through 'cos I was sick to my stomach - I mean, roadkill and euthanased pets - that's is disgusting - I'll be visiting your link to check out what I can feed my little Sox. (Although she is in disgrace at the moment for stealing mommy's breakfast)
  • askhelen Jul 23, 2011 @ 8:18 pm | delete
    I wish I had seen your lens before my cat got diabetes! We live in New Zealand so I am on a mission to find healthy cat food here. Thanks for your lens!
  • lioncrusher Jul 15, 2011 @ 9:04 am | delete
    Excellent lens great sources of information!
  • pawpaw911 Jun 10, 2011 @ 8:51 am | delete
    We have one cat that always bothers us if we are cooking bacon, or chicken.
  • cinstress Mar 11, 2011 @ 5:28 pm | delete
    thanks
    I just had a cat pass away - 12 years old.
    But we want to get a pair of kittens later this year. I'm making this a favorite page so I can remember these foods.

    How old have your cats typically been living to on these diets?
  • Lady-in-the-window Mar 11, 2011 @ 5:35 pm | delete
    I am so sorry on the passing of your cat. My heart goes out to you. I have only been feeding like this since about 6 years now. I have cats that range from about 12 down to 5-1/2. So, I never had a cat that was on this for more than 6 years. I also have a lens on supplementing your cats diet with raw foods. I believe this makes a huge difference in their health. My cats really never get sick. Thank goodness for that! :)
  • Pennielaynze Apr 30, 2010 @ 4:55 pm | delete
    Thanks soo much for all of this information. Today I threw away the Hills Science diet Crap & went & purchased some Wellness & Merricks for my 4 cats & 1 dog.
    I was appolled after reading this..No wonder why my cats are always hungry..YUK
    Its going to take sometime for them to get used to the food change for my little "Halo" but the rest will do just fine..I am so grateful that you took the time to list this valuable infoirmation in which I will spread the word so everyone gets this knowledge !
  • Lady-in-the-window Apr 30, 2010 @ 7:47 pm | delete
    If you have to, mix in some of the old with the new to get them used to it. Also, when you feed grain free you will notice MUCH less stool, and it will be smaller as well. Don't be alarmed...LOL!! With no grain to bulk out the diet, it's natural that less is being excreted. Please do spread the word to all cat lovers. Thank you so much for writing, and for helping your kitties lead a happier and healthier life. God Bless! :)
  • Jan 13, 2010 @ 4:56 am | delete
    A good post keep up the good work, it was useful to me for what i need it for thank you again! 5 stars automatic calorie counter
  • Allen Sugar Nov 2, 2009 @ 10:21 am | delete
    I was shocked when I read your info on pet food. I have 8 cats and one dog and the switch is happening today to Wellness food. I was wondering , what is your feeding routine? How much and how often each day. Thank you from Bonita(dog) , Colby, Angle, Petunia, Ding Dong, Tiggy, Vally,Astro and Ling Ling.
  • Lady-in-the-window Dec 6, 2009 @ 7:35 pm | delete
    Hi,
    My feeding routine for my 11 cats is to mix 1-1/4 lbs of raw food ( ground chicken breast, gizzards, ground chicken frames for the calcium, and turkey hearts for the taurine ) I mix this with 2 large cans of either Wellness grain free flavors or any of the canned EVO foods- which now include a 99% meat one in several varieties. This feeds all the kids as they do not eat as much when they are not fed grains. Stool is very small and compact, and you use less litter as well. At dinner time they also get cooked chicken breasts as a side dish. :)) Your mileage may vary. This is what works for us, but you will probably need to experiment with mixing the new good food with some of the old stinky stuff until they acclimate to a better diet/ Food like Friskies and 9-Lives smells so much that it really appeals to the cats, and they may put up a fuss. Add in a small amount of the new food to a lot of the old, until they get used to it and add more and more until it is all switched over. And then you will have happy healthy kids. :)
    God Bless :)
  • LadyRose May 12, 2009 @ 5:20 pm | delete
    Thanks for all the great information and making it FREE to read!!! I have been feeding my cats Meow Mix for awhile now and now I'm scared and would like to feed them some of those good foods you mentioned. Do you know of any stores that would sell them??
  • Lady-in-the-window Dec 6, 2009 @ 7:38 pm | delete
    Hi Lady Rose,
    It is usually the more holistic style pet stores or privately owned ones that carry the better foods. Pets-Plus is one name in CT that carries Wellness and a couple others but I know that PetsMart does not.
  • EelKat Apr 11, 2009 @ 1:17 pm | delete
    In November of 2006, one of my cats suddenly became terribly sick. We rushed him to the vet, who tested him, and was so shocked at the results, retested him 3 more times, before telling us he had 'more toxins in his system than it would take to kill a great dane'. He died the next morning. Within the next few weeks, five more of our cats, followed. Our vet was alarmed, because it wasn't just our cats --- several of her other patients were having cats drop dead suddenly, and test results showing toxins. She asked for a list of food we were feeding them, and than made up a report to send to the FDA. She than told us that in the 4 months to follow, she had found 6,000 sudden cat deaths reported nationwide, by other vets all of whom reported the cats eating the same food. In March of 2007 the FDA announced the Menu Foods recall. Sadly, Menu Foods, only acknowledges the 16 deaths of cats who died in their own factory/labs, and has done nothing about the pet deaths nation wide.
  • Lady-in-the-window Dec 6, 2009 @ 7:41 pm | delete
    My best friend was in the class action law suit against Menu Foods. It has been 2 years since they were found liable and she still has not received the settlement.
    My heart goes out to you EelKat. I am truly sorry this tragedy came upon your babies.
  • Megan Aug 20, 2008 @ 10:38 am | delete
    I also feed my cats Wellness. I used to feed them Friskies, then i was educated on fillers and by-proucts and I quickly made the change. My question is this though, I didn't know that kibble was that bad, I feed my cats dry Wellness CORE (grain-free) dry food, as well as the canned grain-free food. Is this bad for them too?
  • Dan H Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:35 am | delete
    Grain free, canned is great, but there is no such thing as good dry food because the main problem with dry food is it's dry. More info at catinfo.org
  • AllThingsAnimals Jul 30, 2008 @ 8:39 pm | delete
    Great lens! I'm glad you're educating people about this! So many pet owners just have no idea!
    -Mia C.
  • 2FriendsTreasures Jul 21, 2008 @ 6:11 am | delete
    Excellent lens ~ great information ~ will be referring and re-reading this lens and most importantly changing my cat's diet immediately. Also emailed this lens to my cat-loving friends~ the brainwashing must stop! Definitly a five star.
  • Lady-in-the-window Jul 7, 2008 @ 4:23 pm | delete
    Hi Lady-in-the-Window,
    Your article on cat food is super. It covers just about everything one needs to know about cat food. I give you a 5 star rating.
    Shirley B.
  • Lynn Jul 7, 2008 @ 9:50 am | delete
    Great info D! UGH! Please don't tell me my poor little kitties and puppy were made into pet food..that is just too sad to think about. I DO read labels when buying Katie's food, but will do even more so now:)

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Lady-in-the-window

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