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I have been feeding Blue Buffalo indoor formula for years to the cat I have had the longest, and she is 11. She has done very well on it, loves it, and has firm low-odor stools.
My two newest additions (both 4 year old males) don't seem to do as well on the Blue Buffalo. Their stool has a lot of odor, and they seem to vomit fairly frequently. Frequently their stools are soft although not like diarrhea. Sometimes they pick at the food, looking through the dish like they are hoping to find something else.
When I adopted them they had been eating Iams, as the shelter they came from received free Iams from the company for the shelter animals. They liked the Iams but I didn't like some of the ingredients so I gradually switched them to Blue Buffalo.
I will mention that they have been vet checked and have a clean bill of health. They are both indoor only.
A wet food is much better for them. I do feed half wet and half dry. Unfortunately the only wet food they'll eat is Fancy Feast Classic. It's not the best but the Classic doesn't contain any grains, rice, or potatoes, which a cat doesn't need, so it's better than some other choices. For the dry, I used to feed Evo and they did well on it. It's pretty high calorie though. I'm currently feeding Before Grain Chicken, and they do well on that too. I don't know why they're so picky about wet food but it seems they'll eat any kibble I put in front of them.
One of my cats won't touch wet food, I don't know why.
One of my friends recommended Wysong, but they don't sell it around here. He lives in Illinois and believes in it so much that he offered to send me some to try.
One of my cats won't touch wet food, I don't know why.
One of my friends recommended Wysong, but they don't sell it around here. He lives in Illinois and believes in it so much that he offered to send me some to try.
I second the Wysong recommendation.
A local independent pet food store may be able to order it, or you can buy on-line direct from Wysong, they offer promo discounts when you sign up on their website.
Specifically the Epigen line for dry food, Archetype for freeze-dried "raw"
I have been feeding Blue Buffalo indoor formula for years to the cat I have had the longest, and she is 11. She has done very well on it, loves it, and has firm low-odor stools.
My two newest additions (both 4 year old males) don't seem to do as well on the Blue Buffalo. Their stool has a lot of odor, and they seem to vomit fairly frequently. Frequently their stools are soft although not like diarrhea. Sometimes they pick at the food, looking through the dish like they are hoping to find something else.
When I adopted them they had been eating Iams, as the shelter they came from received free Iams from the company for the shelter animals. They liked the Iams but I didn't like some of the ingredients so I gradually switched them to Blue Buffalo.
I will mention that they have been vet checked and have a clean bill of health. They are both indoor only.
What cat food has worked best for you?
I was wondering what the vet said when you told him or her that the stool is soft. (I read that they have a clean bill of health, but I wonder what the vet thought about the soft stool regardless.)
I have been feeding Blue Buffalo indoor formula for years to the cat I have had the longest, and she is 11. She has done very well on it, loves it, and has firm low-odor stools.
My two newest additions (both 4 year old males) don't seem to do as well on the Blue Buffalo. Their stool has a lot of odor, and they seem to vomit fairly frequently. Frequently their stools are soft although not like diarrhea. Sometimes they pick at the food, looking through the dish like they are hoping to find something else.
When I adopted them they had been eating Iams, as the shelter they came from received free Iams from the company for the shelter animals. They liked the Iams but I didn't like some of the ingredients so I gradually switched them to Blue Buffalo.
I will mention that they have been vet checked and have a clean bill of health. They are both indoor only.
What cat food has worked best for you?
I have had universal success with Natural Balance turkey and giblets wet with my 7 indoor, 2 outdoor and also my late cats. They seem to like it above all other brands, and an award winning vet tech (he won a Humane Vet award) told me Natural Balance is the best canned food. I do use Weruva sometimes but not all of the cats will eat it. I have no bowl problems with my cats with NB wet.
Wysong doesn't contain any added taurine, which is an essential nutrient for cats. It's great for any of three things:
1. To wean a cat onto wet food by giving it the Wysong in conjunction with kibble (which contains plenty of taurine).
2. As a treat.
3. By itself, but you'd buy supplemental taurine and add it (that'd be a guess, but I've never tried to do that so I don't know if it's possible or practical or safe).
I like freeze-dried raw food, because it makes great dry treats, and it's awesome wet food (just add water).
Since one of your cats is eating exclusively dried food, it's *imperative* that he also drink water. Not that he have access to it, but that he actually drinks it. Cats don't tend to really like water much, and don't have a very healthy thirst drive. That means they find most of their moisture from food. And cats need to be hydrated, just like all mammals need to be hydrated. That's why wet food is preferable to dried. But if your cat is drinking plenty of water and is otherwise healthy, just try to stick with *small* sized grain-free kibble. Blue Buffalo advertises that it has all these wonderful lovely vegetables and fruits - but uh..cats don't eat vegetables and fruits. They eat meat. Blue Buffalo appeals to *your* sense of *human* diet, which includes vegetables and fruits.
I personally use Pure Vita for the dried food (my cat gets 1/4 cup to "graze" on every day), and 2 of the little cans of food (or one big can, split into a morning and evening serving) daily. And water of course - but she doesn't really drink much. I alternate the cans with Stella and Chewy's freezedried raw food with water added, but mostly because it's insanely expensive and I just can't afford to give it to her exclusively (plus she's finicky and I'd have to switch it up anyway or she wouldn't eat).
Wysong doesn't contain any added taurine, which is an essential nutrient for cats. It's great for any of three things:
1. To wean a cat onto wet food by giving it the Wysong in conjunction with kibble (which contains plenty of taurine).
2. As a treat.
3. By itself, but you'd buy supplemental taurine and add it (that'd be a guess, but I've never tried to do that so I don't know if it's possible or practical or safe).
I like freeze-dried raw food, because it makes great dry treats, and it's awesome wet food (just add water).
Since one of your cats is eating exclusively dried food, it's *imperative* that he also drink water. Not that he have access to it, but that he actually drinks it. Cats don't tend to really like water much, and don't have a very healthy thirst drive. That means they find most of their moisture from food. And cats need to be hydrated, just like all mammals need to be hydrated. That's why wet food is preferable to dried. But if your cat is drinking plenty of water and is otherwise healthy, just try to stick with *small* sized grain-free kibble. Blue Buffalo advertises that it has all these wonderful lovely vegetables and fruits - but uh..cats don't eat vegetables and fruits. They eat meat. Blue Buffalo appeals to *your* sense of *human* diet, which includes vegetables and fruits.
I personally use Pure Vita for the dried food (my cat gets 1/4 cup to "graze" on every day), and 2 of the little cans of food (or one big can, split into a morning and evening serving) daily. And water of course - but she doesn't really drink much. I alternate the cans with Stella and Chewy's freezedried raw food with water added, but mostly because it's insanely expensive and I just can't afford to give it to her exclusively (plus she's finicky and I'd have to switch it up anyway or she wouldn't eat).
I would give freeze dried raw, too, if I could afford it but we feed 9 cats a day and I know many here feed more than that. It's a shame because it IS the best: raw food.
As far as dry food is concerned, I have written this elsewhere but would like to repeat it: I was told by a vet who was in a post-DVM program for a board certification in a famous teaching hospital that the DVM research endocrinologist calls dry food "the McDonald's of cat food". (And I DO use a little dry food, but almost all wet.) She explained it this way: First of all, most cats are not able to get sufficient water by drinking if they eat only dry food. They just don't drink enough to make up the difference. And, if the cat has any tendency towards renal disease, either from illness or a genetic condition, or has a pre-disposition towards diabetes, the research doctor said, dry food is going to likely tip the balance in favor of getting these conditions. She advised to only use wet food for all cats, regardless. I do use a bit of dry but very little. It is cheaper and more convenient to use dry and that is why cat owners usually use it. For the human's convenience, and then they say that it is because the cat likes it and won't eat anything else as an excuse.
I feed mine Orijen dry. They get several kinds of wet. They eat something for awhile then as a group decide it's not for them anymore LOL - in a few weeks they will eat it again and look at me like where has this been all my life - Cats!
For now they get Dave's brand (off and on) And Weruva. They also get canned chicken, tuna, salmon, and crab meat people food from Trader Joe's mixed with the canned cat food. I will also buy them frozen fish like cod or tuna and sear it for them.
I do try to keep the deep water fish such as tuna or salmon to a minimum due to mercury concerns - but many of the "fish is bad" theories are just not true if you feed quality fish with no ethoxyquin and low sodium content. But I really think as long as they are only getting once or twice a week - I'm good.
Yes, lots of doctors say this. And lots of doctors say that dry food is perfectly fine. The people on THIS forum, generally side with the doctors who say dried food = evil.
The people on THIS forum convinced me to wean my cats more toward wet food, but since my cats *do* drink water (some more than others), a dried food of good quality is acceptable to me, in small quantities.
On the other hand, I had two cats prior to my current, who lived to be 18 and 17 respectively. They both ate almost exclusively dry food, both had hearty thirst drives, and were active and all their blood work and checkups came up normal and healthy all the way til their last year each. Putting one down after the other after having lived with each for 17+ years was heartbreaking for me, but I don't think for one moment that I did anything to contribute to their death. Most wet-food cats don't live that long, OR are that active when they get that old.
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