I have my mostly indoor cats, but I also feed (& TNR) homeless cats. I feed them all Purina One various formulas for variety of proteins. Wet and dry. They all thrive on Purina and I can get some at Walmart and some at Petco. They do not get treats which I think are unnecessary and more expense. My only income is my social security so cost is a factor. The cats all get plenty of catnip also and they love it. I am doing the best I can.
Thanks for feeding them! I also TNR’ed and feed about 11 cats in my neighborhood. They get mostly dry food but I try to give them wet at least a few times a week.
I fed my precious cat (born in my lap!) Purina One products and he contracted diabetes that I treated with insulin for over a year (very expensive). I asked the vet if his food was the problem and they said "No." Ultimately he died, something that devastates me to this day because after the fact research indicates that his diet WAS what gave him this disease since Purina products are made with CORN as their first ingredient and as obligate carnivores corn has NO PLACE in any cat's dietary needs, metabolizes to sugar and is the primary villain in killing cats specially (and dogs peripherally) because of overweight and diabetes. DO NOT FEED CATS ANY FOOD (dry or wet) THAT HAS CORN AS IT'S FIRST INGREDIENT!!!! No matter how much you pride yourself on "taking care" of these animals you are only contributing to their poor health by feeding them that kind of food. Insure ALL these animals are spayed and neutered to stop the problem of unwanted animals at the source. Sure, this may sound expensive but its a lot cheaper to get the surgery than feeding the progeny forever.
@@DMBerg-nc5tl which Orijen recipe does your cat eat? Mine started with Orijen Fit & Trim he currently eats Orijen Guardian 8 and Orijen 6 Fish both are 90% premium animal ingredients
So nice to see someone taking the time to help us cat owners that actually tests the things that ALL the corporations lie about. It's just horrible what monopolies have done where we now pay less for actual beef or steak that they price out cat food for. thanks for the help here.
i have watched basically all of your reviews. thank you so much for all the hard work, time, and money spent on these!! if i had a suggestion, there’s a few cat backpacks out there that i have my eyes on. excited to see what you review next :)
I’m curious why you never ever review other premium foods like Nutro or Natural Valance on this channel. I’ve been feeding my cats natural balance for the last fifteen years because it’s grain free and seems to have a much better nutritionally complete ingredients list than a lot of other formulas. There are ingredients like brewers rice etc in maintenance cat and you say you hate having it in your house yet year after year it makes your list for one of the best affordable cat food brands but you never feature other really well formulated cat food products. Why? Lately I’ve been on the fence about what im feeding my cats because there’s ubiquitous talk of grain free diets being associated with DCM in cats and dogs. My cats have been eating it for the last 15 years. My senior died a few years ago at age 22 and my other cat who is also now a senior at 11 years of age has been eating it her whole life. Neither of them ever had any heart problems or concerns of any kind. Can you also talk about the DCM/peas, lentils, potatoes/taurine/grain free controversy and review brands like natural balance? I would really love to see what you think…
@neal cassady Hi Neal, to be clear, while we do get affiliate commissions on purchases made through our links, we were not paid by any of the brands shown here. I don't really like using my cats as examples, because their preferences shouldn't be used to guide anyone's decisions, and my cats don't eat dry food, anyway.
These videos have been so incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for doing all this research and helping me be informed quickly. Been learning a lot from your channel today :)
Unfortunately, none of the brands mentioned in this video is available in my country. This is frustrating and I have started to worry that I am feeding junk to my little kitten. The brands available in my country are Josera, Reflex Plus and Happy Cat. My little kitten loves Josera and it is his primary meal.
Don't worry bro. Your cat will live alot longer and healthier eating cheap food compared to a street cat or cat eating human scraps. Just make sure its food has some vitamins and minerals in ingredients and its not made in China or SE asia. What you can also do feed cat cheap supermarket meats/organs, or butcher scraps and daily multivitamin.
My cats wont eat dry anymore, they are spoiled now to wet food. They love Wellness chicken pate and turkey pate, and I feed them Instinct rabbit pate and they go crazy for that.
Please don`t give cats dry food, its bad for them. It is a marketing ploy and the food is wrong for cats. They need high quality wet food or fresh raw meat. Cats get moisture from prey in the wild , giving dry food to a cat is like asking a human to eat weetabix without milk. Also they tend to graze on dry food raising insulin which can lead to diabetes.
Please don't speak while still uneducated on the subject, as you obviously are. Should your cats eat wet everyday? Of course if possible at least one to two ounces. Is this realistic for every cat owner? No. Have cats live to 18 years plus on friskies and absolute cheap dry food only? YES!!! .... All that being said there are three or four that will allow your cat to live a long healthy life. And like I said already, of course if possible you should feed them at least 1 oz of wet a day in conjunction with a really high quality dry
Those prices are insane!! Yeah I hear people say better food less visits to the vet but seriously. You realize stray cats eat crap most of their lives and live a long time. I feed my cats Weruva and cat chow dry. Tiki cat is too meaty. My cats prefer very wet very little solid meat. And I have 20 cats I feed btw.
mine didn't either if it's the shredded chicken one. does not like shredded meat period turns out lol won't touch tiki cat if it's shredded varieties so maybe try a different flavor that has different texture profiles
Thanks for the help! I feed my cat wet food twice a day, and dry food twice a day. She obviously prefers the dry food, which is funny because she only has 1 tooth! I put her capsule medicine in her dry food, thats the easiest way to give it to her!
my cat loves wet food but when i give it to her she gets diarrhea. i purchase Kindfull kibble and wet food. how do you feel about that brand? i’m new 🥹
Hi Vandra, you can try Instinct's kitten food: prf.hn/l/wLNyVve Another idea is the dry kitten food from Wellness CORE: prf.hn/l/XR9bGDD Or this dry food from Nulo Freestyle: prf.hn/l/41OngRq
Id love to see a study of the life expectancy and chronic illness comparison of indoor cats who consume budget/avg($1.5-$5 lb) dry food for majority of their lives vs those who consumed only the top shelf $6-$18 /lb dry food.
Hmm, that would be really interesting. Years back, I worked in market research and it's interesting the money big pet food companies spend on getting data, it would be great if they put some effort finding out these kinds of answers.
I just wanted to say that the dry food Costco brand causes crystals in my cats urethra I also saw on Costco reviews this happened to most cats. I do not recommend it can kill your cat
Have you reviewed Bench and Fields I fed my cat that for years and they did very well and it only came to $2 a pound now I think it's three dollars a pound on their website delivered to your door.
Could you please do a review on Allando, Orijen and N&D dry cat food. These brands are one of the few thats always available in my country aside from royal canin and taste of the wild. Would really help if you could provide some inputs on the 3 brands. Thanks!
Im stressing to much on finding a healthy and not so expensive kitten food any recommendations? Some of the brands mentioned in this video are not in my local stores 😢 HELP!!!! Is IAMS a good option???? I was going to buy blue buffalo but saw they’ve had alot of recalls and I was like nope!!! I just want to feed my kittens the healthiest option that is budget friendly 😓 Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! TIA 🤍 Edit: my babies are indoor kittens!!!
Can you do a video on food toppers for cats so if I feed them dry food maybe the topper Will help with the moisture thank you PS I enjoy your videos and your cute little kitties
What’s the best for senior sterilized cats? Would Acana grasslands do the trick? Or does it need to be something like Orijen? ORIJEN Guardian 8 seems nice, but is expensive if you by 1.8kg bag (about €38/$38 (€20/$20 a KG). 4,5 is affordable enough €70/$70 (€15.5/$15.5 a KG), but I feel like the food will lose nutritional value if I buy big bag. With one ca eating about 45g a day that bag would last about 14 weeks. The Orijen whole prey is recommended to consume within 6 weeks. I don’t see that for Guardian 8, but 6 weeks may be a general recommendation?
my vet recommended have cat food WITH grain because of the potential heart concerns for the future. I had a dog pass away from a heart condition in the past and I've ready that the "grain free" might be related. I am so worried about this. What would you recommend? She also showed concern with a raw diet because of the salmonella concern
I use Orijen! I think its one of the best dry foods based on ingredients for cats. My 2nd choice is Instinct and Tiki cat. I get an employee discount for those brands at Petco, so the accessibility and money I can save helps me to feed a better diet. Its really hard to find high protein, low carb kibbles. I use freeze dried dog foods as treats and toppers since its easier to find and gives a lot more variety in proteins and animal parts. Love the list
The best dry food: there is none. Don't feed your cats dry food, feed them wet food. Some dry food, a little, very occasionally possibly but better to feed them wet food exclusively. Wet food has more moisture obviously, cats get most of their water from their food, wet food is lower in carbohydrate and gives the cat what it needs, protein. I know this channel agrees, on her website Mallory makes clear that this is the correct thing to do. It's useful to have an analysis of the better dry foods but when it comes down to it a mediocre wet food is going to be better for your cat than the best dry food. Please, feed your cats wet food.
Some cats just refuse, and some nutrition is better than starving them. Sometimes wet meal toppers (nutritious ones) might be the best bet for stubborn cats if they flat refuse at every attempt. Let’s not shame loving pet parents who are trying.
@@jamieb7989 No. It's not good to feed your cat dry food. It shortens the life of the cat. It's more convenient for the human and unhealthy for the cat. Please don't attempt to lecture me on loving cat parents. If you're that loving of a guardian you feed your cat a biologically appropriate diet. That diet is not dry food. There are exceptions, of course there are. Our 18-year-old cat loved dry food because that's what we fed him when he was younger. We didn't know better at that time. It will always haunt me wondering if he could have lived longer if I had fed him a better diet when he was a younger cat. In his situation any food was better than none. I fed him anything he would eat, I made chicken especially for him and I gave him dry food sometimes because he would eat it. That doesn't change the fact that generally speaking, dry food is not healthy for them. It has too much carbohydrate and it lacks moisture. In the wild cats get most of their water from their food. Cats will not drink enough water, feeding them dry food creates health problems. I don't want to engage on this topic anymore. Nor do I wish to be lectured on shaming anyone (how is it shaming to point out that dry food is inferior?) Wherever possible with some very limited exceptions, feed your cats what they need and what they need is a good quality wet food. I edited this comment to remove some of the tone. It is factually accurate to state that wet food is much, much better. No one should feel shamed by that statement. It should not be necessary to carefully tread to avoid exceptions. The person who feeds their cat a little dry food sometimes because their cat loves it and is a finicky eater is an exception, the person with an older cat with health issues who struggles to eat is also an exception. That doesn't alter the fact that generally speaking wet food is vastly preferable and caring means doing everything you can to feed your cat the healthiest diet you can. If your cat won't eat wet food, try cooking some chicken for them. Most cats love chopped up chicken breast. Try different brands of wet food, if you have done this and have tried many kinds of wet food and there is no way to get your cat to eat it then you're an exception.
Worried about Dr. Elsey's brand. Chewy reviews say the food has changed this past year and doesn't seem to be as high quality. Does anyone here use it?
Yes! Done correctly, raw cat food can be a great option. You do have to be careful to avoid spreading disease to the humans in the home, but it definitely looks like one of the best types of food for your cat.
I feed my cat Nutro chicken and rice recipe. It’s a grain free food, has digestive enzymes and a few other nutrients in it and the price is right! You can find it in petsmart, pet supermarket and petco. I believe it is also on chewy.
Do you have any other low carb dry food recommendations for an active, 2 year old, indoor cat who doesn't need to loose weight? Unfortunately, I'm disabled, in poverty and can only feed her one cab a day. I do add rehydrated, freeze dry toppers, and she drinks plenty of water. I'm single, in an apartment and don't have a Costco membership.
Big No to dry food . Especially meow food. It creates uti issues in male cats. On ething to remember is packed food contains preseevatives and it affects
Thank you so much Malory for the detailed explanation of each dry cat food brand. I have gained an extensive amount of knowledge about cat nutrition by watching all your videos. As a first time cat parent it's been overwhelming to choose the right food brand. I have tried Purina One, IAMS, Instinct, Hill's diet dry food. My cat loved his Purina and IAMS. I am slowly trying to transfer him to Instinct for better quality food. However, I couldn't find any reliable review about IAMS chicken flavored dry food (orange packet). Will really appreciate if you can do a review on that one. My cat didn't like the too healthy Hill's diet dry food given by his vet nor the wet food from Instinct. I am really trying to feed him healthier food without breaking my bank but I guess he likes the unhealthy stuff like we all do.
I've noticed some of these contain Potassium Chloride and when I asked Google the following question: Is potassium chloride harmful to pets? This is what I found out. Children and pets like the taste of salt, including Potassium Chloride salt. When they ingest too much of it, serious health risks occur, like stomach ulcers and internal bleeding.
you do two extremes for hard food. An expensive and a cheap option but what is the recommendation you would give for something in the middle. Someone who is willing to pay more for something better with less recalls but not quite as expensive as the clean protein.
There are a few non-prescription dry foods that are supposed to address urinary tract issues, but it really depends on the kind of urinary problems your cat has. Struvite crystals can be reduced with a more acidic food, but in general, we're looking for a high-moisture food to "sweep out" the urinary tract. Here are a few options that might help: www.chewy.com/purina-one-high-protein-plus-urinary/dp/167232 www.chewy.com/purina-pro-plan-focus-adult-urinary/dp/52835 www.chewy.com/hills-science-diet-adult-urinary/dp/118242
For the feral cats, it is Maintenance Cat by Costco and for my very senior cat it is Orijen. For our kitten it is purina One kitten formula. Update: I ended up mixing all of them together and they all love it, kittens to adults to seniors.
Wet food is definitely better and I need a good dry kibble food something for urinary tract health. You mention about canned or wet food being better for urinary tract health and started talking about the Stella and Chewy. It sounded nice until I seen as you were talking on your info that it was high in phosphorus which is no good for urinary health, flutd, fic or too much in general. I need a better ingredient food kibble that's low in ash, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium and low carb. Good information video.
Cost is a factor when feeding fifteen cats of different age groups. I have to go with the best I can afford. Most of mine like Hill's or Solid Gold or Instinct. They're "kibble cats" for sure! Canned food is getting very expensive so we make due with sardines sometimes.
The food I feed my cat is Nutro chicken and rice recipe. For me from what I see the ingredients are pretty good and the price is decent for me. With my income I can’t afford $100-$200 for a bag of cat food there’s just no way.
While I understand the point you were trying to get across. You never once talked about what dietary nutrition a cat needs. All you told me was what was in each that you recommended. Your low carb statement seems to lack evidence. Does science know what nutrition our cats need.
Any commercial cat food labeled as complete and balanced will have the nutrients a cat requires (scientifically). While cats evolutionarily consume a carnivorous diet of high protein, moderate fat, and low carbohydrate, it is true that they can metabolize carbs without a substantial risk, though we know that cats have a worse insulin response than a typical healthy human, and there is (weak) evidence that a high-carb diet can increase diabetes risk over time. As carnivores evolved to eat fresh prey, all complete and balanced diets model the nutrient composition of, basically, a fresh, raw mouse. If you want more safety and, presumably, quality assurances, look for a brand whose foods undergo feeding trials to ensure palatability and nutritional adequacy. Nutritionists on staff can also be a good sign. The advice in this video assumes that cats benefit from a more "prey-like" diet that includes more nutrition from food ingredients with more digestible protein sources and animal components in general, but it is true that the benefits of this are not certain, and most experts would simply advise opting for "complete and balanced" food that undergoes feeding trials and is made by a reputable company.
I do appreciate the information you provide. I have 2 cats, one prefers dry and the other wet. I would love to be able to afford to feed my cats the best but, financially that's not possible. I have a Costco a few miles away. I ended my membership because of the distance but I think I will renew it. I do like several of Costco's products and making a trip once a month would be reasonable.
In Dr.Elsey’s lab report, should I worry for my senior cat aged 13 should I be worried about the results of these substances? Cyanide-0.591, Aluminum-0.7, Ash 7.1, Phosphorus-1270, Sodium 611. My Orange Tabby birthday is today and I just bought Dr.Elsey’s & Weruva (Cats in Kitchen) to improve the quality for my senior cat. Weruva lab reports in comparison were: Cyanide-ND, Aluminum-ND, Ash-1.1, Phosphorus-134, Sodium-44.8. These numbers are drastically different but I understand that they’re also different types of food as 1 is dry and the other 1 is wet. Is that why the values are so drastically different? Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Based on the test results it looks like Stella and chewy s is the absolute best , is this true? I see it has the highest protein, lowest fat, no mercury (compared to ziwi which appears to be the 2nd best). If price wasn't a question is Stella and chewy objectively the best ingredient makeup?
Fancy feast for wet. There are several recipes with a carb content under 20%. Also, Purina One Grain Free wet food has almost decent macronutrient distribution. As far as dry foods go, I honestly couldn’t find anything with less than 40% carbs (dry matter basis), and…well, I wouldn’t use the word recommend for any of those.
I would suggest Sheba, especially if you are having trouble finding something your cat will actually eat. I get my cat the "cuts in gravy" type, and it's like kitty crack. If I get a cat food he doesn't like I just mix in with sheba and I can trick him into eating both.
@@anamaxa I had (have?) a kibble addict that I FINALLY converted to wet food through Sheba; she can definitely tell if I put ANYTHING else in the bowl trying to hide it with Sheba because she WILL NOT eat it if I've "contaminated" it with anything else. Picky picky picky. (I rescued her from "the streets" and I call her "Lucky")
@@judithsmith9582 I don't know, I can only speak from my own personal experience. I've actually hid other food and smothered it in sheba and they ate it. I've tried different foods and it worked for me. But I'm glad you responded so people know, as is often the case, it depends on the cat. :)
WOW. Your information is wonderful! My cat became allergic to her dry food, I took it away, tried freeze dried, but she wouldn't eat it. It was a really difficult thing to do....but, this information has given me some hope that I can find a pretty healthy dry food. So happy I found you. You are a treasure!
I got a cat from my ex who couldn’t take care of her. I love my kitty, but she is 1 and was fed dry food and refuses wet. Is Buffalo Blue good food? Can I add water to it? Or get a kitty fountain? I watched the 10 things I wish I knew before getting a cat… and I hope it’s not too late for some things! (Still working on scratching.) I’m on an extremely tight budget and am going without to make sure she is taken care of.
Oh geez. I just read your review on All About Cats about Buffalo Blue. My ex’s mom must have been buying that food, because of plant based and life bits. 🙄. Ok, I’m going to work on switching her over to better food asap. Thanks for your awesome work helping us cat guardians!
I think I found the only affordable, low carb, cat food under $4/lb (if purchasing the 14lb bag) on chewy! The nulo freestyle brand is the only one I found. I'm disabled and poor, so I hope my cat will like one of them.
Thank you for this video! We often hear that wet food is better, but most of the vetenarians here don”t recommend it… My vetenarian want me to avoid wet food, saying that my kitten teeth will go very bad… It would be great to see a video about where to start if we want something better, why wet is better and what do you cats eat in a day. Thank you!
Problem with the budget Kirkland food is that 25lbs is too much for a single cat to eat before it goes stale. 25lbs is also too much for me and my disabilities to handle. Any other really good budget foods to recommend?
im thinking could just split it up and store whatever i want in an airtight sealed container n keep it back in the cabinet or smthing so its less likely to perish. then ill mix it with wet food or a topper to help freshen it up.
Hi, just curious as to what your opinion is Raws dry food is? I noticed in your 'wet cat food' video it is very highly rated but on this video it is not listed. I feed my cat both Raws wet and dry currently.
Good question! Rawz dry food wasn't on my radar at the time when I made this video, but it's definitely one of the better options out there and would be on this list if I re-made it now. Good choice.
Hi, anyone know how was "CRAVE Grain Free Indoor Adult Dry Cat Food with Protein from Chicken & Salmon" compare with "Dr. Elsey's" or "Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Deboned Chicken & Egg Recipe"? Seemed CRAVE has much less calories and also high protein + low carb
What to do with cats that have refused every high end food 🥺🥺, have given up now , they're happy with a few fancy feast and some whiskas flavors 🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽,lost a whole lot of money tossing out uneaten cans of expensive food .
I switched all of our cats to Applaws. They all like it and now they don't have so much stomach upset and seems like they are losing weight. I got it off chewy.
Can you review products that would be available at a local Walmart/Tractor Supply? We live out in the country and pet stores can be over an hour drive.
I just took a quick glance at the online Walmart site. IDK which products are available in store or have to be ordered, but of the products they carry, Blue Buffalo, Nutro, Purina One, and Wellness may be worth looking into. As most reviewers do, look at the first five ingredients - you're looking for mostly meat or meat products. Keep in mind product descriptor rules: X cat food - product must contain at least 95% of X X recipe food, or X dinner, or X platter - product must contain 25 to 95% of X cat food with X - product must contain between 3 and 25% of X X flavor cat food - product is not required to contain X at all, but must have a detectable flavor of X Look at the guaranteed analysis and find the ones with the highest protein percentage. Make sure corn or wheat products are not listed in the ingredients. Also, transition your pets from one product to another. Going from Friskies one day to a higher end food the next can result in anything from refusal to eat to upset stomach.
I read somewhere that the Tractor Supply house brand of wet cat food was supposed to be surprisingly decent given the low cost, so I made the 30 minute drive to buy a sample of flavors. Naturally, mine turned their noses up at it.
Since putting my cat on a healthy and strict can food diet and taking her off the prescription food she went from a little butterball to slim and trim. Her overall health has greatly improved also. She is now able to eat dry food in moderation. After eating her can food in the morning. If I know I will be away for a day I can leave dry food out so she doesn't have to wait till evening to eat. Your videos have helped point out there are much healthier and better foods out there for my cat.
