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Hi. Our new cat is still and with us ;-) and I am trying to find something she loves to eat! We are currently feeding the natural balance limited ingredients but their texture has changed, I think. It’s super thick and she doenst like it that much. So I tried Performatrin Ultra Grain Free stew and she seems to like it. I don’t find much about - it is it good?
Any other recommendations? I want to stay below 1.50 USD per 5.5 can. And she doesn’t like wellness.
A little warm water can be added to the NB to loosen it up. I'm off to have a look at the Performatrin Ultra Grain Free stew. More than one brand is better in rotation anyway.
I bolded the ingredients I would find bothersome.But that is why a rotation of brands is recommended. Well one of the reasons. Because there is no perfect processed food, so you feed a rotation to cut down on the undesirable things.
The fruits and vegetables are just filler, or in the case of the pea fiber, designed to increase the protein content on the label. Some of them make no sense at all for a pet food. And cats should not have spinach, ever.
But at least it doesn't have carrageenan, agar-agar, xanthan gum or sugar, or corn or wheat.
I can't comment much on actual brands of canned food any more, I've been raw feeding for 7 1/2 years.
I usually just suggest people learn to read labels. Avoid carrageenan, agar-agar, xanthan gum, any grains or gluten, menadione sodium bisulfate (MSB), spinach, soy, sugar. Dyes, artificial color, artificial flavor,, too many fruits or vegetables, potatoes, tapioca, starch..........
Everyone has their own list of what they are willing to tolerate in a pet food.
Introduce anything new slowly, just a teaspoon the first time, gradually increasing it until you serve a full meal of the new food (take about 10 days to two weeks) If there are no ill effects after that full meal, go ahead and add the food into the rotation.
I would suggest a minimum of three brands, with varying proteins in each brand.
Reasons for feeding a rotation include:
Preventing boredom
preventing allergic reactions to over exposure to certain ingredients
preventing addictions (ie "she won't eat anything else")
if there's a recall on one certain food, because it's only part of the rotation, the impact on the cat will be greatly lessened
if a formula changes and the cat won't eat it any more (or they add something you don't like)
if a formula is discontinued
And as already said, because there isn't any really perfect food, so the wider the rotation the more you can lessen the impact of undesirable ingredients.
Scary....most feed have something in there ... will need to go to the store. Thanks for the list for what to look out. I guess perfect won’t exist.
Working on our rotation and feeding plan. :-)
I would start w/ all 3 flavors of Organix cans by Castor Pollox -- as advised to me by catsmom. They are; turkey, a chciken & a chicken/liver combo can.
Try all 3 as they're Organic too, & it makes this quality canned food --if you can't go raw as I have for 7 yrs but now need revisit cans too, as finding a suitable replacement for RadCat has driven me nuts -- since I'm running to the very end of the few tubs of RadCat I do have left.
Some may even be freezer burned, so that is hurting my rotation since I can't buy new ones as RadCat is out of biz since 2018
Organix (the three pates mentioned, only) would be almost "perfect" as far as processed foods go, if it didn't contain peas. But, there is no perfect.
You have to keep on reading labels though because formulas (of any brand) can change at any time. And they can continue to use the old labels for up to 6 moths. Stay o top of recall information and visit the websites often to check for changes.
Castor and Pollux (the maker of Organix) is owned by Purina now. So far there haven't been any changes, but keep a sharp eye out.
I only know about Organix because I have one cat who has to have organic non-GMO Project Verified food. My cats are raw fed but I feed a small amount of canned once or twice a month to ensure, if something happens where I HAVE to feed canned, such as the power going out (which has happened), or no water (which has happened) I have something I can feed them and they will already be used to it. They don't like it much, but they will eat it and the one cat with special needs (organic non-GMO Project Verified meat only) can keep it down, which is the main thing.
However most people aren't quite that particular, and that's why I suggest learning about ingredients and reading labels. You decide what you will or won't have your cats eat and go from there.
As long as it's wet you're half way there. Aim for low carb as well, as much as possible.
She has a list of foods she feels are safe for pets, but the list is not free. Her site, and all other information and research is free on her website, but she does charge a small fee for her list, a lot of work goes into it.
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