I like Natural Balance, which seems to be a middle of the road food product. I do like that their meat is human grade and not just junk meat by products. I think as long as you stay away from the foods high in sugars, especially with older cats, and they are getting high protein to help with their kidneys etc, you are doing great. If you have concerns, call your vet, Im certain they would be happy to talk to you about the issues you may be having.

I don't have any issues, I'm wondering what the cat people on this forum think about the addition of alfalfa in natural cat foods. And to be honest, I have never met a vet that has more than minimal knowledge of pet nutrition. I so dearly wish I had an nutritionist available. I'm sure my vet wants me to switch my cats to a Hills Rx diet so she can make her next boat payment. LOL

I've never heard of alfalfa being bad for cats; I've actually seen it recommended as a holistic treatment for arthritis.

None the less, the main reason I switched to a "natural" cat food, was simply for the quality of ingredients. SD, Iam's etc., must as well just feed Purina when the ingredients are all the same - corn meal, corn gluten, corn gluten meal - takes like the 4th or 5th ingredient to finally list a meat. Then even the meat is a "by product" - great.

Felidae, 5 out of the first 6 ingredients are meat.

I'm a 2nd year vet student and lucky enough to go to NC State, where they actually have a nutrition course. I am interested in domestic animal nutrition. I haven't been "bought" by any of the usual pet food companies, including Hills, even though I could get free or very cheap food from them. I also should mention that I am not in total agreement with my nutrition professor, who thinks that animals should eat the same food every single day of their life. And that anything that is AFCO is OK. The way AFCO tests their foods is to feed it to a group of animals for 6 months. If no animal has nutritional disease at the end of that period, they say that you can feed that food forever. I say that just because the food is an adequate diet doesn't mean that it is an optimal diet. And I'd rather have my pets and my future clients' pets' on an optimal diet.

I wasn't aware of any issues regarding alfalfa in cat food except for the fact that cats cannot digest it at all. Cats use animal protein and fat (to a lesser degree) for energy. In fact they cannot digest plant protein at all. So alfalfa in that respect is useless to a cat. From that standpoint, I too wonder why it is in cat food. But then many cat foods have hardly any animal meat at all.

However, I read on VIN that alfalfa is listed as a toxin on the ASPCA website. I'm guessing that this is the live green plant, but I am not sure. So in that respect I'd stay away from alfalfa in dog and cat food.

So, I'd look for a natural cat food that is made from human-grade meat (no by-products) and doesn't contain artificial flavorings, preservatives, colorings, or plants. I have not done personal research into cat food brands because I don't have cats. I will before I start making recommendations, but I haven't had time yet. I'd start there and see what is available that way.

Also, I am a strong believer that cats should eat canned food. Cats are not known to drink much, in general, and they are known to get kidney disease. A good way to prevent kidney problems is to not stress the kidneys by being chronically dehydrated. When you think about it, if you took an evolutionarily appropriate cat diet- rodents, birds, the occasional lizard and bug- put it in a blender and mixed it up, you would NOT end up with kibble. The closer you can get to an evolutionarily appropriate diet, the better it will be for the cat (or whatever animal you are feeding).

So that's my nutrition rant for the day. I hope it was a bit helpful.

meghane, thank you so much for your comments. That is exactly what I was hoping to receive. In my research so far, the "natural" cat food manufacturers promote ingredients like cranberries, apples and sun dried alfalfa meal. I donÂt see much benefit in apples over corn (although it sounds really good, itÂs not natural for a cat). In the case of the alfalfa meal according to reliable sources it is toxic and may be damaging the catÂs liver or kidneys.

My feeling so far is that these holistic suppliers are not necessarily giving us a better product. They have simply found a market based on peoples perception that natural is better and fruits and vegetables are good for everybody (even pets). IÂm also skeptical about their claims of human quality ingredients. What agency polices the manufacturing process and exactly what standards are they held to? I would be amazed if the quality of Felidae or any of the "all naturals" IÂve researched so far is anything close to what customers believe.

I used to make my own cat food years ago. I used "all human grade" products from the grocery store. Ground beef, chicken, beef organ meat, rice, brewers yeast, cottage cheese and tons of other things that were supposed to be good cat nutrition at that time. My cats were healthy, good weight, good coat, but I never had one that lived past the age of 10. I also had a high percentage of urinary tract problems in the male cats. So, something wasnÂt right.

I have yet to find a cat food that doesn't have some type of vegetable matter in it, whether it is strictly filler or acts as a binding agent - who knows. Unless, someone can point me to a food that has none, this particular issue is kind of a moot point.

I know my cats will eat things like parsley, spearmint, wheat grass etc and I don't think they do it for an upset stomach - or I've got cats that apparently live with upset stomachs then. I always have those plants around for them to much on too.

As far as the rest of the ingredients; pet food manufacturers are inspected just as any other food processor. When corn is the first ingredient instead of a "meat meal" of some sort it certainly makes me question the quality of the food.
"by products" are NOT meat; BHA/BHT the common preservative in most pet foods is BANNED for human consumption.

In my mind, I strongly feel there are many different levels of quality when it comes to pet food.

I have had many cats over the years, and they mostly made it to ripe old ages (15-19 years) on ordinary catfood. Some of them were show cats, others were pets.

Purina, for example, has a colony of cats that they have been feeding nothing but Purina for decades ... it's maintained breeding vigor over generations of cats fed nothing but the Purina cat chow.

There was, for quite a while, a breeder of lab animals that fed their breeding colony of cats on the most "natural" food of all: the surplus and culls from the other colonies. The cats got mice, rats, rabbits, etc and were amazingly healthy.

Once read that wild cats & dogs were 'animal' eaters. If I remember correctly the gist of the article was that they ate all parts. Meat is muscle. Meat by-products are the remaining edible parts. So cats & dogs ate the muscle and the organs and the contents. I didn't read anything about them fixing a vegetable stew for a snack.

Bancounter, for the diet you were making at home, pH was probably off for the male cats. High protein tends to elevate the urine pH, and if the cats were prone to crystals then that was contributing to the problem. Also, not having bones in the meat messed up the calcium to phosphorus ratio, possibly causing metabolic diseases such as nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism or other problems. Plus without brains, a diet of just meat is very deficient in taurine, which is an essential amino acid for cats. When you think about what cats eat in the "wild" you realize that they do not make mousey fillets- they eat the whole mouse, skin, brain, organs, bones, cartilage, and all.

I agree with minibim about the aspects of human grade meats that are better. Also pet-grade meat can be made from "downer" animals- those that are extremely sick. I doubt that any serious testing is done before it is made into pet food. Downer animals are not allowed into the human food supply. BHA/BHT is never a good idea, no matter what species you are. Also artificial colors are potentially hazardous to pets (and people). And really, dogs are supposedly colorblind and I don't think cats care what color their food is, so why are artifical colors there? For the person buying the food, which is a stupid reason IMHO.

I feed my dogs a natural diet made from human grade meat because I truly believe that proper nutrition is the cornerstone to good health. Not just adequate nutrition, but optimal. I have also in the recent past made home-cooked meals for the dogs, but things got very complicated when I discovered some food allergies. I do supplement my dogs' food with fresh meat and veggies.

I think that some natural and premium foods are better than others. Again, I haven't researched cat foods but I've found differences in dog foods for sure. There are some moderately-priced dog foods that are better than the super-premium brands. You really do have to research what's available and make the best choices for your cats. Have fun with that!

I don't disagree with any of you regarding the veggies, I'm just saying I have yet to see a food that doesn't contain them. I'm not inclined to make my own food and as beancounter pointed out, you will run into nutritional/health problems if you can't get the correct balance worked out.

Given that note, I would still prefer a food that doesn't list corn as the first ingredient.

OK, here's a question to gum up the works--one of my cats appears to be allergic to animal proteins and got scaly scabby ears (the outside flaps, not inside) even from an all natural dry kibble.

After 2 visits, bloodwork and prescription cortisone cream didn't pan out so my vet prescribed a hypo-allergenic diet (dry kibble) that contains no animal protein. Is this dangerous? I asked about the protein levels, knowing that cats need a lot and the vet said that all the testing showed that there was no decrease in the amount of nutrition feeding this kibble.

Meghane, I value your opinion but I also trust my vet. Since you're saying that cats don't digest plant protein, what would be your take on the diet mine have been prescribed?

The best all natural high protien food is Innova EVO. It is dry and you can feed them only that food and it is a perfect food. I also give them Innova canned food and California natural chicken and rice. The raw food diet is the best, but I am too lazy at this point. You can't get these foods at regular pet stores only all natural pet food stores. Some websites have it, I think only natural pet might carry it.

Here are some links that should add more "food for thought"!

Cats Need Wet Food
http://www.mercola.com/2005/nov/12/cats_need_wet_food.htm

Why Cats Need Canned Food-By Jean Hofve, DVM

The Pet Food Industry and its Questionable Practices
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/petfood2.html

Hmm...I'm going to step in with a couple of things. (Disclaimer: I'm not a vet...merely a scientist who has studied way too much biochemistry).

The problem with plant proteins is NOT digestability, but rather accessiblilty and amino acid content. In other words, cats are not designed to extract protein from plants...they don't have nice flat grinding molars, certain digestive enzymes, etc necessary for starting digestion to extract proteins.

Additionally, plant proteins aren't high in taurine, an amino acid uniquely necessary for cats. So if you're going to feed all plant protein, make sure your cats are getting enough/ a well balanced mix of their 10 essential amino acids, particularly taurine and arginine.

My take on the natural foods is mixed. I've watched my cat eat real things, and let me tell you, she eats the whole part and parcel...byproducts, meal and all. We bought her a bag of Felidae once, and she turned her nose up at it, so that was the end of that, so she's been consistently getting mid-grade food since the...Nutro, Purina One, Authority, etc. It's frustrating to me when someone looks disdainfully at them, becasue A. our cat is sleek, well muscled, and not overweight....I'd hazard a guess that she'll outlive a cat fed to obesity on premium foods...which seems to be the most common epidemic amongst pet owners. B. We got her from a shelter...we, in turn, give some of the $ we save on food back to same shelter...I figure there are plenty of cats in the world, and unfortunately many come to bad ends, so it's money well spent.

So far this has been very educational. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Over the weekend I did more researching. I concentrated on the products whose manufacturers were upfront with their ingredients on the web. I looked at the premium brands Iams, Science Diet, Eukanuba, Pro Plan. And the "naturals" Felidae and Innova EVO. (I didnÂt include Nutro Max for the very "unscientific" reason that my sisterÂs cats have always been fed this product and they are not healthy and have not had long lives. But it looks good on paper.)

First I did not find BHA/BHT in any of these foods????? Next I could not consider Felidae because it contains alfalfa which is named on the ASPCA poison list for cats.

Because cats eat the entire animal when they kill, I have always been told that the contents of the stomachs and intestines of small animals give the cats needed vegetable nutrients. I have never heard that they could not digest vegetable matter, just that their intestines were not designed to get maximum useable nutrition from vegetation.

Innova Evo was very interesting. It contains 50% protein from turkey, chicken and cottage cheese. It also has turkey, herring and chicken meal. It does claim "human-grade meat". IÂm still skeptical about this claim because I know they donÂt have USDA meat inspectors in animal food plants. I really want to know what agency polices this claim. It has no grain instead it has potatoes, tomatoes, apples. According to my vet the protein content is too high for 15 year old cats. She says it would be very hard on their kidneys?????????

Eukanuba Senior seems to be the second best IMHO. The senior diet has 36% protein from chicken, chicken liver and egg product. It also contains chicken-by-product meal and fish meal. It does contain grain including #4 corn grits and #7 sorghum (percentage # listed). It has a long assortment of vitamin and mineral additives.

If you can suggest other foods---please. I had never heard of Innova Evo until this thread.

My cats get nutro canned food but I vary the kind of dry food they get. Mostly, they get Eagle Pack Holistic, but I also give them Innova and Natural Balance. I believe that when feeding premium foods only, it's just fine to give them variety. We certainly need variety in our diet, and wild cats get variety since they get whatever they can catch. The reason I feed them the Nutro canned food, and it's gotta be the stupid little cans with the chunks of "meat" in the gravy, is that's the only canned food they'll eat. I've tried them all - California Natural, Eagle Pack, Precise, (they'll kind of eat that), Wellness, etc. They turn their noses up at them all. They love the Nutro, and I figure it's better than Purina or the other grocery store brands. They all have sleek coats.

I did have cats that lived to be 19 on Little Friskies, but one of them was always having health problems with her bladder and such. I didn't know then what I know now. I thought that getting them the "special diet" Little Friskies was doing the right thing. She may have had a much better life if I knew more about the right kind of foods then.

Sally

Wysong and Catz n Flocken made by Solid Gold are 2 others, I can think of.

I looked at the ASPCA list, and unless I'm blind or looking at the wrong list, I don't see alfalfa mentioned anywhere.

You won't find BHA/BHT in a natural pet food, which was one of my points as to why a natural food is better. It is the very common preservative in any grocery store food.

At the time I was deciding cat food, I definitely liked the ingredients in Innova, my biggest problem was ease of availability. There were only 2 places in our whole county(and considering I live in a pretty metro area!!!!) that wasn't good. One was a dog rescue group, whom wouldn't order the cat food for me and another specialty pet store, that was a considerable drive from my house. Maybe over the years, Innova has become more readily available?

I just went to our local pet store and got my cat some Merrick 3.2oz cans of food to supplement her dry food. The girls in the store raved about this food.
The can says No Artificial Colors, flavors or Preservatives.
Has anyone tried this Brand?
www.merrickpetcare.com

I am learning so much from you all.

Lucy

We feed our cats Royal Canin Indoor formula -- they do very well on it and are in wonderful health. That said, our one male cat has idiopathic cystitis so we are always on the lookout for ways to promote a healthy bladder (currently we add Cosequin to his dinner along with occasional wet foot). We started our cats on Nutro but switched to Royal Canin...it's an interesting topic for our family (pet nutrition) and we don't hesitate to (slowly) make a change if it seems appropriate for our pets. For example, we started our collie on Nutro when she was a pup but have since switched her to Canidae -- she does beautifully on that. We don't free-feed in our home (our furcrew gets their brekkie @ 7:00 a.m. and their supper @ 7:00 p.m. and hey, did you know my furbabies are sooo smart that they can actually tell time? They know exactly when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 7 ;-) ), we are very strict on portion control and never, ever serve them table scraps. They're a great weight and have silky coats -- if I could just control our boy's urinary issues and continue to reduce the frequency of his symptoms/flares, I'd be thrilled! (We did research vet lines/urinary formulas but our vet states that because our little guy does not have stones, crystals, etc., he doesn't actually require this formula.)

Great topic!

fivemonkeys,

What did you find in your research on urinary formulas? One of my cats had a bout of crystals, so now all of the catdom are eating Hill's C/D. I'm interested in knowing if there is a better quality food that has the right characteristics for him. They were eating Solid Gold before we switched to the rx food.

Thanks!

Susanjn,

From my own personal experience it was 2 back to back bouts of crystals with 2 of my male cats, that got me started looking for a better food. Hill's C/D was prescribed and out of curiosity I looked at the ingredients to see what made this such "better" food, especially at almost double the price. Before then, I really had paid little attention to pet food ingredients, but reading the label for the C/D was kinda enlightening, cause I thought it was "junk"!

Part of what can cause crystals, has been somewhat mentioned above; that some cats just don't drink enough water to keep their systems flushed. Anyway, in addition to Felidae dry food these 2 males get canned PetGard each evening, but I mix the Petgard with a lot of water and make almost a soup out of it. It has been quite a few years now and this approach is working; after 2 back to back bouts initially, I have not had another problem.

All my cats get the PetGard, but for these 2 cats they get it as a "soup".

Here's the link to Royal Canin's Urinary formula -- I hope the info helps (it's nice to be able to compare contents of foods, don't you think?). We're going to stay with the regular Indoor formula for now, but we offer him his kibble mixed with water (which he likes) so he is getting lots of fluids there, and we continue to feed him wet food on occasion as well. He loves water (of our three cats, two of them (the sibling pair) really love water; they come running when they hear a faucet or if I'm drawing a bath (no such thing as a "quiet bath" when I've got two tails and several paws dipping in beside me, lol!) and I really watch him to be sure he's drinking often throughout the day. I think overall this will help reduce his flares, but ultimately he does require bladder support through his Cosequin along with perhaps maturity -- our vet states that many cats outgrow idiopathic cystitis by about age 6 (we have four years to go -- aaack ;-) ). She also states that stress can bring on flares (we have three cats, one dog and five kids -- gee, ya think our house is busy? lol) but Levi is just about the most easygoing cat I can imagine -- he loves to plop down in the middle of the kitchen while I'm cooking and the kids are running and the dog is being goofy and just lay there, watching us, like a king, surveying *his* people (we are his servants, after all!). He's scrumptious! He even naps in a carefree manner:

{{!gwi}}

Best wishes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Canin Urinary S/O Formula

fivemonkeys! We have the same cat! With a slight color variation.


{{!gwi}}

Raisin even likes water on his kibble. We call it Special Kitty Soup.

Our cat we had growing up ate nothing but 9 Lives and Little Friskies. He was very picky though, and only would eat certain flavors of 9 Lives. He lived to the ripe old age of 19 and never had any urinary issues.

I am curious why cat food should be "human grade meat"? It was stated above by the vet student that you should try to mimic a cat's natural diet from the wild: if they would eat small rodents, birds, etc... I am pretty sure they would eat much more then just muscle tissue. I have seen shows about Lions where they pretty much eat a carcass clean in the wild .

Here is an interesting article that points out that cats shouldn't just be fed dry food. They need wet food on a regular basis to keep fully hydrated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cats Need Wet Food

Well, I guess I need to "eat" my words from earlier. One of my cats has developed a bladder infection that 3 weeks of Amoxitabs didn't kick. So, in addition to starting on a different antibiotic, the Vet wants to put her on Hill's Science Diet. Yuck. First of all, it has BHT/BHA as a preservative. Second of all, it doesn't look nearly as good, label to label, as the Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken and other premium foods I've been feeding her. It's to correct her Ph that the Vet want's to put her on that Science Diet.

So, I'm now trying to find an alternative to Science Diet. Maybe I'll try the "soup." Anyone know what causes the Ph to be too high, and how to correct it without resorting to Science Diet?

Sally

Sally2, there could be a good reason that amoxi didn't clear up the infection. Could be a resistent bug. My dog Max developed a resistent E. coli and had to be put on long course of Ciprofloxacin. Then he developed pylonephritis which eventually led to the destruction of one of his kidneys which had to be removed, but now he's doing great. But that's another story. The point being that unless a bacterial culture and MIC sensitivity is done you may end up with the same results as with the amoxi- no better. I know C&S are expensive, and you'd have to take the cat off all antibiotics for at least 5 days before collecting a sterile urine sample, but she's already had an infection for 3 weeks so getting her treated with the appropriate Abx sooner rather than later is good.
I've not found anything very encouraging about treating UTIs by acidifying the urine. Seems good for stone/crystal prevention but not so much bacterial stasis. Most bacteria can live in environments more acidic than you can make the urine.
If she has an underlying disease such as diabetes, hyperadrenocorticism, stones (renal or bladder) or something else, that would make getting the UTI under control very difficult. If she has not had a urinary tract ultrasound and chem panel/cbc you could be fighting a losing battle. Or it could be a simple matter of wrong antibiotics as mentioned before.
But allowing this to continue may bring about devestating effects as in my Max.
I agree that Science Diet isn't so great because of the BHA/BHT. The elevated pH is probably caused by the bacteria itself, depending on what bacteria is present (again, a C&S would determine this). Many common urinary pathogens are urease splitters which cause higher pH. Using acidifyers isn't going to help in that case. Her elevated pH is caused by the bacteria not the food. Don't eat your words quite yet; I think that feeding what you are feeding is better than switching to Science Diet.

I have a houseful of healthy cats and feed them mostly Purina One, and gave them a little of their new brand..Natural Blend..They like what they like. They will not eat Science Diet and will eat Iams but prefer PurinaONE, but only salmon. I once got the wrong flavor and had to donate the bag to the HS.. I also feed Proplan..and Friskies Indoor mainly because the old guy likes that. They each get some wet food every morning..mostly Friskies..And I think they all drink a fair amount of water. I always have three bowls of clean water to the top.

Thanks, Meghane. I don't know what kind of culture they did, but they did collect urine and did a test on it to determine IF there was bacteria. Her bladder was very small, so they had to use ultra sound, and still poked her 3 times to get a sample. The Vet said she wasn't worried about the blood since they had to poke her so many times. My poor cat! :-( The antibiotic they have her on now is Zeniquin.

I will say she seems a bit fiestier as of yesterday and this morning. She was actually chasing a moth last night. I haven't seen her play in quite a while. Last night when I fed them, I added a little bit of water to the food (the same food I've been feeding them). She and my other cats just lapped it up happily.

Sally

Sally, depending on what's causing the infection there are a couple of things to consider.

First, a urine culture to determine if it's bacterial. We've generally been given Clavamox or Baytril to treat bladder infections. Amoxi may not be the right ABX for bladder bacteria. Duffy had a course of Orbax, which is an fluoroquinolone (similar to your Zeniquin)

Secondly if there's evidence of crystals, (which is why I assume you were given Science Diet) were they oxalate or struvite? If the diet was c/d then you've been given acidifiers to dissolve struvite crystals which form in high PH.

Duffy has this problem. He manufacturers struvite like no tomorrow! I refuse to feed Hill's Science Diet so we acidify his urine with Methio Form which is a chewable tablet that gives the same methionine that is added to the Science Diet. They are treats which he loves. The Methio-Form tablets require a prescription which your vet should be able to give you. We buy ours from Omaha Vaccine on-line. Just fax the script to them:

Methio-Form

Lastly, if the bladder problem remains unresolved you may have to resort to a curetage procedure. Duffy was an outdoor stray for about 5 years before we took him in. He continued to have chronic bladder infections and/or blood and inflammation despite all the ABX. An ultrasound determined that his bladder wall had become so scarred and ulcerated from the constant irritations over the years, that it needed to be scraped out so healthy tissue could grow back. Kind of like debriding a burn. Anyway, after the procedure and with daily acidifiers he has remained problem free now for over 3 years.

PS...About the cat food.

We have 8 cats and some will only eat dry, some will only eat canned and some will eat anything.

The best canned cat food I've found for the price is Trader Joe's. Quality ingredients, no preservatives, no dyes, no additives. Runs about 58 cents a can.

I find it is every bit as good as the pricey niche-marketed "natural" foods, and since we go through 8 cans a day, it's affordable.

Fluoroquinolones may cause crystals in urine. I think this has been specifically noted with Enroflaxin (Baytril). Not sure if it's a side effect of Zeniquin, but it may also be why your vet prescribed the c/d. As a precaution. It doesn't necessarily mean your cat produces crystals so you should ask if this acidifier is precautionary or if you're actually dealing with an existing crystal problem that may be on-going.

I have started feeding my animals food from Flint River Ranch. They love it and it is human grade.
Lois

I feed Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Kibble free feed to my cats, they also get Friskies wet food(because it is the only kind they will eat) The feed store I work at carries Science Diet. Six years ago SD big draw was no corn. When the soy market was high we dealers recieved a letter telling us corn is fine. People were still buying SD because the marketing didn't change. Chicken soup has no presertives,corn or soy nor does it have alfalfa.

Thanks, Tally. So far, they've only found bacteria, no mention of crystals yet. I didn't know about that pill. That might be an option. She's very easy to give pills to. I've never had another cat that was so cooperative. I think she might know I'm trying to help her feel better. I just poke the pill in her mouth and she swallows. Three weeks plus doing that, and it still amazes me.

I sure wish we had a Trader Joes here in the Dallas area. I've heard so many good things about them, but alas, they aren't even anywhere near Texas, much less Dallas.

Sally

lucykt64,
Merrick's is excellent food. I have tried many brand's. Some of them are: Wellness, Halo's Spots Stew, Merricks, California Natural and Innova, all wet food. I like to feed them wet in the morning and dry in the evening. I am feeding them PetGuard wet at the moment. My vet did say to feed only Chicken or Turkey. I guess you don't see many cats chasing cows. I had to stop the Innova Evo dry because one cat was getting chubby. The vet put him on Royal Canin calorie control. An excellent website to help with calculating how much to feed a cat by age and weight is www.balanceit.com, check it out.
Donna

Thanks.

Sally

as a whole yes they are better, but still not best. The term "all natural" started with all natural preservatives verses chemical preseratives and yes that alone is better for our animals. However the phrase has since been used in ways that in reality is a joke because what's natural for us as humans is not equivalant at all as to what's natural to a dog/cats diet.In fact there is nothing natural about processed foods period.

Hello Everyone

Was wondering if I could get an opinion. I have an approx 2 yr old cat. When I first got him, I sort of appeased (spolied) him and tried all sorts of foods till he was happy. He seemed to love the Pro-plan seafood varieties. This led to a a huge blockage and urinary tract issues. Luckily, he is all better with no issues whatsoever. I switched him to Science Diet beef only for the past year. He is healthy, acitve, and has a great coat. A friend had passed on Merrick cat food to me. My cat absolutely loved it. Im thinking of switching to Merrick, but am fearful of the seafood content. I had tried a few testers and he only loved the seafood ones. I was thinking of incorporating those and the SD beef for a little variety. Im fearful of another bladder/urinary issue since he had an issue at such an early age. Any thoughts?

I personally like Life's Abundance. You can see a great little video about pet foods at best natural dog food dot com

I don't know if that will be allowed to go through, but the video is really worth watching for an overview of the history of both dog and cat foods and what's really in them.

This guy John Albrecht is really very good and he's very accessable for quesions. I've talked to him on the phone a few times and I've found him to be very honest about what's really in the products.

Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: What's really in pet food?

I think the question that is asked at the top of that web site is so apt:
"Why would you feed your pet something that you wouldn't eat?"

Well, after about 9 months of using their products, we've seen some great results after feeding Life's Abundance to dozens of cats and dogs. Their food formulator Dr. Jane Bicks really has pets best interests in mind.

I don't think there's another pet food company where you can actually talk to the person who formulates the products and get answers to questions about their choices for ingredients. Check out the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Best Natural Dog Food

My cat developed bladder stones from eating Greenies for Cats -- all pet owners beware -- diagnosis came from my vet.

I've often wondered... if cats eat small rodents in the wild, why don't they make any cat food out of mice? Is it just because it disgusts humans? Kind of sad, if that's what their bodies are evolved to thrive on.

My cats eat a mouse outside now and then, and as much as this is probably a good thing nutritionally, I fear they'll end up with one that has eaten poison from someone's basement. :-(