so what food are you guys recommending then, if not Purina or another big name brand?

fyi...my cat is 4 months old....

My cat that nearly died over and over--the one I had to force feed through pancreatitis and liver shut down for months--now absolutely refuses any canned food--I guess it reminds her of the times I had to put that food in her mouth against her will--at the vets instructions.

So when she did finally start to eat again it was dry food, and it is all she will eat. With multiple cats it is hard to keep them from eating each other's food. The other two get canned, but still will munch on her dry food.

The biggest problem in this town is that i have not found a place other than petco, walmart, and the grocery stores to buy food.

I can't find any of the top rated dog and cat foods either place, but petco does carry a few of the three stars--none of the five and six that I can find.

I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but if it means that people have access to better food for their pets.....

There's a "feed store" on Wellborn road called America's Country Store (or something like that). They had quite a few of the rare brands that you don't find in major grocery stores.

I would prefer that they not get business, but there aren't other options in CS as 3rdGen said.

*PLEASE* do not buy animals from these people. They are absolutely retarded when it comes to animal care...please don't contribute to their store in this way. They buy puppies, ferrets, birds, etc from people selling crap in the newspaper. I don't care what kind of papers you get from them, you will be overpaying and you will be buying a crappy animal.

Darlin, I am not in CS, but in the Temple/Killeen area, and we have the same shortage of selllers of food you have in CS.

Gotcha...yeah, it pretty much still applies. Tractor Supply doesn't carry much either.

I live in the sticks...

Mine eat whatever they can catch...

Health is merely the slowest rate at which to die...

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so what food are you guys recommending then, if not Purina or another big name brand?

fyi...my cat is 4 months old....

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EVO, Nature's Variety, Wysong... Google "grain-free pet food" or something along those lines and you'll get a long list of higher quality diets.

I don't have cats, but I'm feeding my pup Nature's Variety Raw, and he's doing great on it. I started my older dog on it also, and within a month his vet-diagnosed "beef and chicken allergies" were completely gone, even though all he was eating was beef and chicken... I think that says something.

Since all of y'all are on-line asking about this, just about every high quality, grain-free diet can be bought on-line. And most of the places have a way to set up a recurring order, so no worries about running out of food.

Edit: Feel better 96whatever? Glad that's the important information you picked up from my post.

[This message has been edited by Lollipop Layfayette (edited 7/15/2007 12:43p).]

Main Entry: re·cur
Pronunciation: ri-'k&r
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): re·curred; re·cur·ring
Etymology: Middle English recurren to return, from Latin recurrere, literally, to run back, from re- + currere to run -- more at CAR
1 : to have recourse : RESORT
2 : to go back in thought or discourse <on recurring to my letters of that date -- Thomas Jefferson>
3 a : to come up again for consideration b : to come again to mind
4 : to occur again after an interval : occur time after time <the cancer recurred>
- re·cur·rence /-'k&r-&n(t)s, -'k&-r&n(t)s/ noun

My two furballs were on Iams multi-cat but the older male is prone to UTI's so now they're on Purina One Urinary Tract Health.

For the posters whose dogs love "kitty bon-bons" try a covered litter box. Some cats take to these easily; others don't.

I didn't read through all the posts, but re: lack of high-quality pet food in B/CS, what do you folks think about the prescription diets at PetSmart? I've seen what I thought was lots of high-quality food at PetSmart...are my standards too low?

It's a scale... Eukanuba is better than Iams is better than Purina is better than Ol' Roy, etc, etc. But if you want a diet that offers nutrition in a form that pets can actually use, you aren't going to find it in the grocery store. I don't know about PetCo/Petsmart, I haven't bought food there in forever. But again, read the labels.

Eukanuba: www.eukanuba.com

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Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Liver, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Powdered Cellulose, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Salt, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract

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Iams: www.iams.com

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Ingredients
Chicken (>26%), maize, animal fat, wheat, sorghum, poultry meal, fish meal, dried whole egg, dried beet pulp, chicken digest, brewer's dried yeast, potassium chloride, DL­methionine, sodium chloride.

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Second ingredient is Maize...

Purina: www.purina.com (This is for Purina ONE, since that is the diet a lot of vets are now carrying. They also make a huge variety of the crappy diets you see on grocery shelves.)

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Chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soy flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), fish meal (source of DHA), whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal, non-fat yogurt, wheat gluten, brewers dried yeast, phosphoric acid, caramel color, animal digest, salt, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, taurine, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, DL-Methionine, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

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I couldn't find ingredient information for Ol' Roy. Imagine that.

Think about it like this; when you watch nature shows how often do you see lions and tigers and wolves munching away on an ear of corn? Uhm, never? They eat meat in the wild. Muscle meat, organ meat, they chew the bones and eat the marrow...That's how dogs and cats should be fed. Some nutritionists argue that vegetables are needed because when predators kill an ungulate they eat the stomach and therefore the stomach content. This is still being debated, but I've yet to see a dog on a true meat-only diet that wasn't thriving.

Another mid-high quality diet that's a lot easier to find is Merricks. You can order directly from their website or search for stores in your area that carry it. I've found that A LOT of feedstores tend to have it. They add things like potatoes or rice and veggies that I personally think are unnecessary, but the main ingredients are all human grade protein sources.

Merricks: www.merrickpetcare.com

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Whitefish, Sardine, Chicken Broth, Lobster, Crab, Shrimp, Fresh Red Jacket New Potatoes, Fresh Carrots, Fresh Snow Peas, Fresh Red Apples, Dried Egg, Olive Oil, Dried Cranberry, Cassia Gum, Carrageenan, Potassium Chloride, Tricalcium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Salt, Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols, Vitamin E Supplement, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Complex, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Niacin, Lecithin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Cobalt Glucoheptanate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.

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I saw where the feed store here carries merricks. I guess I will have to get brave and tackle it some saturday. I am NOT a feed store type==and will feel really out of place there.


Also hope they have small sacks.

I wind up paying a bunch more, but can't buy more than a 20 pound sack of stuff and have trouble lifting that out of the car. No way I can get a 40 pound bag out. One time they helped me at the pet store, but I had to keep it in the trunk, cut the top open, and fill the feed bowls out of the trunk till I got it a little over half empty. I have reall problems with my right wrist, and just have to have things I can handle one handed.

Cat food sacks are just about the right size usually.

I just associate feed stores with farmers and ranchers, not town type school teachers. I feel really out of place at Tractor supply even.

Lolli -

You seem to know a lot. What do you think are the drawbacks of coming up with a ranking of food quality based solely on a list of ingredients?

i think the point of it is that a food can only be judged by the constituent ingrediants that make it up. What else is there to go by...the feel good commercials or brightly covered bag?

If the ranking takes the correct things into account, I don't think there are any real drawbacks. The problem is that pet food companies aren't required to say what goes into things like protein by-products and by-product meals. They also don't have to disclose what the sources of their proteins are. In general, the large pet food companies take the parts of the animals left over after what's fit for human consumption has been used. Not a whole lot of nutritional value left in those parts. So a low quality diet could have chicken, chicken by-product meal, and chicken fat as the top three ingredients, all of which could be considered quality protein sources by the average consumer, and still not have the proper protein requirements for your pet.

For example, Iams says that there's >26% chicken in their food. That's great... except that cats diets should be about 90-95% protein.

I think if the ranking was based on quality of the protein sources(s) and not just quantity, which is what the manufacturers want you to look at, it would be fairly informative. If it's just based on the list of ingredients on the bag or can, you'll still end up with a BETTER selection of foods, but you wouldn't necessarily want to choose a high ranked one just BECAUSE of the ranking.

rebelionel- I would guess the majority of pet owners have never looked at the ingredients list. They feed it because it's cheap, or their cat is picky and loves this one, or because it's what the vet recommended, or a dozen other reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the food itself.


[This message has been edited by Lollipop Layfayette (edited 7/15/2007 4:38p).]

Lolli – That is what I was getting at…you would do better to spend time breaking down percentages of protein, fat and carbs (on a dry matter basis) rather than ranking by ingredient lists and assigning an arbitrary ‘quality’ value to the list of ingredients.

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What else is there to go by...the feel good commercials or brightly covered bag?

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I certainly would not suggest going by the commercials, the bag color, an ingredient list, or some obscure website. Unfortunately, regulation is lacking and it can be tough to make an educated decision. I always tell clients to look first for the AAFCO feeding trial statement. The specific words “feeding trial” or “feeding tests” are what you should look for. You could throw some boot leather, wood pulp, and Crisco in a bag and meet the AAFCO “nutrient requirement”, but I prefer them to have actually fed the diet to real live animals prior to releasing the product. This is not perfect, but at least you know that the company has invested minimal time and money to get some idea of what the specific diet does in a live animal. Any diet that has done “feeding tests” is at least the minimum needed for most dogs and cats.

Beyond that, it is a matter of what your pet does well on and your individual budget. If you have problems on a certain diet, then it may be wise to move to a different or more expensive brand. The bottom line is that there are a lot of brands that meet this standard, and you do not have to order a high dollar boutique organic pet food if your dog or cat is healthy on their current diet.

Companies like Purina, Hill’s, and Iams spend a lot of money sponsoring conferences and r&d because they want to be known as the ‘leaders of the industry’. That is a good thing, but it does not mean that they are the only foods that fit your particular dog’s needs. Many other companies follow their lead and piggyback off of the information learned through Hill’s research. The truth is most dogs and cats will do well eating a number of brands (regardless of the precious ingredient list). I do not feel that dogs fed Wysong, Canidae, etc. do worse than those fed other diets. I also know that most of them certainly do not do any better. If a dog or cat has specific nutritional requirements that need to be met due to a medical problem then I will recommend a prescription food from one of a number of companies (depending on palatability to the individual pet).

IMO, it is way too simplistic to say X ingredient is good and Y ingredient is bad, likewise one should be careful not to pigeonhole brands in the same way. Most (80%) of the pets I see that eat Pedigree or Ol’ Roy have poor coats and intestinal problems. I would be foolish to tell the 20% that are doing great to make a change because I do not like the name on the bag.

As for meat byproducts, in the wild dogs and cats eat ALL the parts and just because they may be unappetizing for you doesn't mean they aren't of nutritional value. Nowadays people give their pets “meat byproducts" as treats (rawhides, bones, pig ears, cow hoofs, etc.) One of my complaints about the “raw food” crowd is that they complain about “byproducts” in commercial diets, yet they supplement with beef bones. Figure that one out…

The problem with most dogs and cats these days is not what they are fed, but how much they are fed.

I cannot think of a way to reason my way out of human grade protein sources not being better than a by-product. Despite them eating all parts in the wild, choicer protein selections can only be better.

One of our cats is supposed to be on a low Ph diet due to urinary problems. Does anyone have a good recommendation for that? We've been purchasing one from the vet because I couldn't find one that was labeled "low PH". We love our cats and want them to lead long, healthy lives.

When I ws growing up up, I had a cat "kitty" who lived to be around 15 years. She was an indoor/outdoor cat who came and went as she pleased. She was fed hard food Friskies (Ocean Fish Flavor) in the turqoise box from HEB her whole life.

aggieparent, purina one urinary health tract formula is what i was recommended for that

Thanks, Rebel!

Stupid daily post limits.

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Lolli – That is what I was getting at…you would do better to spend time breaking down percentages of protein, fat and carbs (on a dry matter basis) rather than ranking by ingredient lists and assigning an arbitrary ‘quality’ value to the list of ingredients

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I am aware of this, but I assume the people asking questions on here don’t have a degree in veterinary medicine like you, or 16 years experience in the veterinary industry like me. The suggestions I’ve made concerning the first three ingredients listed are an excellent general guideline for weeding out poor diets and I stand behind them. It is not an arbitrary assignment of value, the first 3 ingredients make up the vast majority of the diet. The more of those that are quality protein sources, the more nutritional the food. It really is as simple as that. Cats and dogs do not require carbohydrates in their diets at all, so it is a concern when a large percentage of a diet is corn, wheat, potatoes, rice, etc. Again, not arbitrary, factual.

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I certainly would not suggest going by the commercials, the bag color, an ingredient list, or some obscure website. Unfortunately, regulation is lacking and it can be tough to make an educated decision. I always tell clients to look first for the AAFCO feeding trial statement. The specific words “feeding trial” or “feeding tests” are what you should look for. You could throw some boot leather, wood pulp, and Crisco in a bag and meet the AAFCO “nutrient requirement”, but I prefer them to have actually fed the diet to real live animals prior to releasing the product. This is not perfect, but at least you know that the company has invested minimal time and money to get some idea of what the specific diet does in a live animal. Any diet that has done “feeding tests” is at least the minimum needed for most dogs and cats.

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Feeding tests are a bare minimum and tell you much less than the ingredient list. As long as the diet was consumed and didn’t cause serious, immediate medical issues, it can and will be marketed. That isn’t terribly comforting.

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Beyond that, it is a matter of what your pet does well on and your individual budget. If you have problems on a certain diet, then it may be wise to move to a different or more expensive brand. The bottom line is that there are a lot of brands that meet this standard, and you do not have to order a high dollar boutique organic pet food if your dog or cat is healthy on their current diet.

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“Doing well” IS incredibly arbitrary. How do you define that? Not losing hair? Maintaining proper weight? No vomiting or diarrhea? Dogs and cats can appear to do well on a junk food diet. And the veterinary industry loves to explain away diet related problems as normal problems brought on by aging. Dental prophylaxis is not something that should be necessary on an annual basis, but it is because our pets diets do not contain the proper nutrition to maintain dental health. Do vets explain that the mechanics of chewing bones as well as the ingestion of enzymes in the bones aid in maintaining healthy teeth? Nope, they send home doggy toothbrushes and toothpaste that most people don’t use and recommend dentals annually or even semi-annually, which most people decline for financial reasons. Kidney failure is a huge issue in cats. I’ve been in clinics that had literally dozens of cats coming in for fluids each week. Improper diet is known to be the cause. Proof of this? When cats present with kidney problems, the first line treatment/control is diet change. But if we know that diet is the problem, why treat when we could prevent? Because it’s about money and no one is explaining to the average consumer what the long term effects of poor diet are, so they see no reason to buy better quality food.

You also mentioned budget. I would never look down on someone because they can’t afford a high quality diet. But the questions on this thread were about quality, so that’s how I answered. I would have to go back and read, but I’m pretty sure no one asked for cheap diet suggestions. Budget is an interesting issue though. The average pet owner is not financially prepared for serious veterinary treatments of any kind. Bills for a hospitalized pet can easily climb into the $1000’s, but before that happens it usually come down to cost of treatment vs. euthanasia. I’m absolutely positive that no pet owner would ever choose euthanasia when there are still treatment options if money wasn’t an issue, but it almost always is. Yes, it’s possible that over the lifetime of the pet the cost of feeding a high quality diet will equal the cost of that one huge emergency vet bill, but it’s affordable over a longer period of time. And no one is putting the money saved by buying a cheaper diet into a pet emergency savings account. Again, prevention vs. treatment. I’d rather spend my money keeping my pets healthy than spend money trying to fix something that was avoidable.

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Companies like Purina, Hill’s, and Iams spend a lot of money sponsoring conferences and r&d because they want to be known as the ‘leaders of the industry’. That is a good thing, but it does not mean that they are the only foods that fit your particular dog’s needs. Many other companies follow their lead and piggyback off of the information learned through Hill’s research. The truth is most dogs and cats will do well eating a number of brands (regardless of the precious ingredient list). I do not feel that dogs fed Wysong, Canidae, etc. do worse than those fed other diets. I also know that most of them certainly do not do any better. If a dog or cat has specific nutritional requirements that need to be met due to a medical problem then I will recommend a prescription food from one of a number of companies (depending on palatability to the individual pet).

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Again, what’s better or worse? Arbitrary. How do you know how a pet will do on a different diet? You don’t until they try it. I’ve yet to see a dog not improve on a diet that is closer to what they would eat in the wild. Whether the improvement was a healthier coat, food allergies going away, anal gland issues resolving or just having smaller, firmer stool, there has always been a tangible benefit to improved diet. I know it sounds corny, but wolves and lions and tigers don’t have a vet to go to. They don’t need dentals every years starting at 3 years of age to keep their teeth from falling out. And based on lifespan data, they are probably not getting UTI’s, kidney stones or going into kidney failure with anywhere near the regularity we see in domesticated pets. So, yes, pets can survive on poor quality diets. Humans can survive on McDonalds. But not many people would claim that you’re doing “well” on a diet like that, and it shouldn’t be any different for our pets.

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IMO, it is way too simplistic to say X ingredient is good and Y ingredient is bad, likewise one should be careful not to pigeonhole brands in the same way.

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It IS simplistic. Protein is good. Carbs are bad. They need protein, they don’t need carbs. Dogs and cats do not utilize the nutrition in corn. It goes in and comes back out. It doesn’t make nutritional sense to feed a diet that is mostly corn to an animal that isn’t getting any nutrition from it. That is bad. Some protein sources are better than others. There is protein in chicken feet, but it is not the same quality protein as in a chicken breast. Simple and true.

What is wrong with saying Brand A is poorer quality than Brand B when it’s a fact? Eukanuba is an ok food. It’s not going to kill your pet or cause most pets any serious issues. But there are MUCH better foods out there. Companies are marketing “nutritionally balanced” foods that contain things pets do not need. Consumers are not educated and their ignorance on the issue is being used by these companies to make money. That gives me, and anyone else who wants to, the right to pigeon-hole. I’ll take it back when they start being honest about what they’re producing.

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Most (80%) of the pets I see that eat Pedigree or Ol’ Roy have poor coats and intestinal problems. I would be foolish to tell the 20% that are doing great to make a change because I do not like the name on the bag.

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You and I are lucky enough to have had first hand experience with pets on a variety of diets. We are aware of the differences. I like to share my knowledge. I’ve seen the problems, I’ve seen the benefits and I’ve done a ton of research on the issue. If this were about a new vaccine or a better heartworm prevention, I’m sure you would make your recommendations without a second thought. Blood work, U/A’s, ECG’s, Glaucoma Testing… these are things that vets recommend and educate their clients on because it is in the best interest of the pet to be tested. Early detection is key, and these tests allow you to monitor for issues that become serious problems quickly. A lot of clients decline the tests, but that doesn’t stop vets from continuing to recommend them. Why should diets be any different? It’s one of the most important controls we have over our pets health. Dietary recommendations for the pet’s optimal health should be made, and if the client declines, so be it. But at least they have been educated on what is available to them. How would it effect anyone negatively for you to tell that 20% that’s “doing well” that there are better options?

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As for meat byproducts, in the wild dogs and cats eat ALL the parts and just because they may be unappetizing for you doesn't mean they aren't of nutritional value. Nowadays people give their pets “meat byproducts" as treats (rawhides, bones, pig ears, cow hoofs, etc.) One of my complaints about the “raw food” crowd is that they complain about “byproducts” in commercial diets, yet they supplement with beef bones. Figure that one out…

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I did not mention meat by-products because I find them gross or unappetizing. I mention them because they make up a large percentage of most big name commercial diets and this should not be the case. You are correct, animals in the wild do eat ALL the parts. But ALL is the key word. Most commercial pet foods aren’t including the excellent quality protein sources in their diets, it’s not cost effective. So our pets are getting lots of by-product and lots of lesser quality proteins, and that is far from eating ALL the parts like they do in the wild.

Your complaint about the “raw food” crowd might very well be valid. If they are feeding true raw or BARF and complaining about by-products, they haven’t fully educated themselves. Bones are an important part of the diet for several reasons. But they definitely don’t make up a large percentage of the diet , like you said, it’s a supplement. The majority of the diet is muscle and organ meat. If they are whining about by-products as a whole, than they are just ignorant on the issue. If they are complaining about by-products being nutritionally deficient as a diet staple, they are well within their rights to complain and continue feeding bones. I figured it out for you.

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The problem with most dogs and cats these days is not what they are fed, but how much they are fed.

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How much is definitely a problem, no doubt about it. But what and how much are not mutually exclusive. A person can sit down with a huge bag of tortilla chips and down the whole thing without any feeling of “fullness”. This would not be the case if they ate the same amount by weight of chicken or beef. High quality foods fill you up. The same goes for our pets. I am not claiming that it is going to stop your dog or cat from begging for people food. But it does follow logically that pets will feel more satisfied after a high quality meal than after the nutritional equivalent of a bag of tortilla chips with a little fajita meat thrown on top.


Damn that was a lot of typing.

I used to be hooked on Science Diet (after working at vet clinics through college), but we recently decided to try Felidae and Canidae. While switching foods, you should transition them slowly, but it's been hard to do with the dogs, because they tend to pick around the Science Diet and only want to eat the Canidae. Guess they like it. The cats seem to really like the Felidae too.

I don't feed a raw diet because of a disdain for byproducts. I also don't try to convert people to raw. I convert them to what works best for their pets and them, whatever that is. I started feeding raw because it's the only way to control Cheyenne's food allergies. Over a year later she's the happiest and healthiest she's ever been and her teeth and gums are cleaner than dogs less than half her age (she's 5). Raw was a last ditch effort to find something that would work with her. Now there's no way I would ever consider not feeding a dog a raw diet unless there was some sort of medical issue or the dog genuinely did not do well on the diet. I've had plenty of vets lecture me on it but they have no other suggestions. I tried the grain free foods, I tried other high end kibbles, I tried junk kibble...raw is the only thing that worked. There are several people that post here that can vouch for the drastic improvement she has made. I'll admit even I was skeptic but certainly not anymore.

I am probably a terrible example, but affordability is mentioned. I try to feed a pretty good quality food to my critters most of the time, but I am on a really tight budget. When a month comes along with "emergencies" then the cut has to be in the pet food. That is why I know there is a difference in litter box and shedding. But I have three cats--and three dogs. When the water heater breaks and has to be replaced, or the air conditioner needs a new compressor, then for short term, they have to go back on cheap food. They actually LOVE to eat it. Don't lose weight, but do lose that gloss to their coats and the litter box gets iffy.

When those months happen, and payday comes, the first stop I usually make if for pet food.
I aquired somehow my kids pets when they transitioned through college and first jobs. I did not intend to have six animals and in technical terms only ONE is mine, but they all fall to my care and since I have had one cat for fourteen years, I think it is pretty much mine by now.

I drew the line with the ferret that was dropped off by one of my kids--gave him two weeks to find another home, and I will dog sit for my daughter like on her recent honeymoon, but I don't plan on adding any more animals.

But last summer I had a thermostat go bad and a seven hundred dollar light bill--and my animals stayed alive on the cheap food.

I do see a real difference when they are at least on a mid level food, and the cost difference between mid level an dtop of the line is actually pretty small. The cheap stuff is cheap. Then it was only four dollars a bad difference between a four star and a two star dog food at petco just now.




[This message has been edited by 3rd Generation Ag (edited 7/16/2007 4:55p).]

I'm not trying to convert anyone, just offer information. And I won't lie, I enjoy debating this issue with vets. But I know cuterebra isn't going to change his/her mind because of what I said, and that wasn't my goal when I posted my response.

But I honestly don't care what people feed if they're making an educated decision. It's just kinda sad to see people feed Ol' Roy and Friskies because they honestly think there is no difference.

Being on a budget and feeding what you can afford is completely different from feeding the $10 for 50 pounds food because "all pet foods are the same."

I am a first time cat owner. I got him about two months ago. He is one of the coolest cats I have ever been around that is why I have him.

Copert I use to feel the same way as you about guys that had cats. I live in an apartment that is too small for a dog plus I don't have time for a puppy.

I am feeding him Fancey Feast. He really likes the chicken and tuna ones. I don't have a litter box. He goes outside to do his jobs. I let him out in the morning for a few hours and feed him when he gets back inside and when I get home at night, I take him outside and then give him the other half of the can after I get him back in the house. I leave dry Meow Mix out during the day. His name is "Dude". He is only about a year old.




Grammar is for most foreigners and geeks

holy **** people are really arguing over cat food

buy the 8 dollar 18 lb bag from walmart