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I feed Weruva in the rotation, and Soulistic (a lesser priced version of Weruva, sold only by Petco)
I feed only the shredded chicken varieties as I don't allow my cats any fish or seafood flavors.
So far they've had "grandma's chicken soup" (I pick out the carrots) and "Green eggs and Chicken". I have just ordered a case of the chicken "nine livers" to try.
The cats like these as long as I don't offer them more than once a week.
Be aware that Weruva and Soulistic are manufactured in Thailand. The claim is that their factory is USDA approved for producing human food, and is used only for their food, not other companies as well.
Click on "safety first" after going the this link, for complete info
Well I've checked all these fancy brands that the "but they're obligate carnivore and don't chew!" types are insisting everyone get for their cats.
What did I discover?
1. All of these brands sell canned AND kibble cat food. If kibble is so bad for cats, why do these brands sell it, AND why are the "obligate non-chewer" extremists encouraing people to give money to these companies, and not marching at their doors demanding that they stop damaging the domesticated darlings of the world?
2. All of the canned food AND kibble food of these brands include vegetable matter (some including carrots OMG) in their recipes, and some even include brown rice and potato starch, and the Instinct duck/turkey in particular has pea starch.. pumpkin seeds, kelp, cranberries...
Fruits and veggies, for obligate carnivores. And sea kelp - wtf? Most cats in the wild have never even seen the sea, let alone ingested vegetable matter from the sea. Why pick that particular vegetable matter for an obligate carnivore's diet?
I'm just not getting it. I actually went through the trouble of researching ingredients to find out what was so awesome about these foods y'all are pushing on people, that made them different from the stuff I get in the supermarket. And I'm finding the overall ingredients aren't really that much different. Perhaps the *quality* of ingredients are superior, but c'mon, really. Cranberries? If they're obligate carnivores, and not supposed to have anything other than meat, then why on earth are you so excited about canned food with cranberries in it? And brown rice, and pea starch... none of these things are meat.
And the whole "wet only" camp recommending companies that specialize in kibble...and even gives out coupons to convince people to try their bags of kibble...
Every company is out to make as much profit as possible, and kibble is profit because the majority of people prefer convenience over the health of their cats.
The carrots, fruits and veggies some of the premium foods tout are again, for the humans, it's a marketing scam.
Grocery store foods contain inferior ingredients, artificial ingredients, meat by product, wheat gluten and harmful preservatives.
So, even though my cats don't need blueberries or carrots, I prefer to feed them a high end canned diet that does not contain sodium nitrites, sodium nitrates and a lot of artificial junk and by product.
Some of the unexplainable things are added to provide the trace minerals that a cat needs.
Every company is out to make as much profit as possible, and kibble is profit because the majority of people prefer convenience over the health of their cats.
The carrots, fruits and veggies some of the premium foods tout are again, for the humans, it's a marketing scam.
Grocery store foods contain inferior ingredients, artificial ingredients, meat by product, wheat gluten and harmful preservatives.
So, even though my cats don't need blueberries or carrots, I prefer to feed them a high end canned diet that does not contain sodium nitrites, sodium nitrates and a lot of artificial junk and by product.
Some of the unexplainable things are added to provide the trace minerals that a cat needs.
(I pick the carrots out )
That last part is the part I'm just not understanding. If obligate carnivores, by definition, get all their nutrition from meat, then what trace minerals could they possibly need, that is not available in meat? And - if this is true, if cats really DO need non-meat foods to get those trace minerals, and that they really DO actually need them, then doesn't that mean that obligate carnivores do *not* get *all* their nutrition from meat?
I'm just seeing this "all" and "must" and "never" and "always" being pushed in threads, and then the same posters are recommending things that are "some" and "might" and "sometimes" and "occasionally." Either this stuff is necessary for their cats, or it isn't. And if it is, then they need to come out and say "yes, obligate carnivores are *primarily* meat-eaters and get *most* of their nutrition from meat, HOWEVER they ALSO get nutrition from vegetable matter, which they actually NEED because it is not available in meat."
Even Garden of Eden's raw recipe includes 2 different types of vegetable matter. If it wasn't necessary for kitty's diet, or digestion, or nutritional needs, I'm pretty sure she would not have felt it necessary to include in that recipe. It's all very confusing.
The meat used in cat food is not the entire body of the animal, so supplements of some sort or another have to be added.
When a cat eats a prey diet, the cat eats the entire animal or bird, muscle meat, organ meat, bones, intestines, brain and whatever is inside the stomach at the time.
The prey eats the grain and berries and vegetable matter and converts it to what the cat needs.
So when a domestic cat is fed food designed by humans, supplementing is necessary
It is very confusing. And when you think how the much-more-studied field of human nutrition is constantly evolving, I don't think any of us can be 100% certain of most of this. I think we can all agree though that there should be more truth in labelling for pet food, and more government funded studies (good luck on that in this economy) so that there isn't even the appearance of biased results due to corporate funding.
And because I'm getting frustrated with my girl cat's attitude toward food, I'll say it would also help if the darn cats would co-operate better with the feeding plans we struggle to come up with for them!
PS we must also keep in mind that it is not completely known exactly everything a cat needs to remain healthy. The necessity of taurine, for example was only discovered in the 1980s.
So we buy the best foods we can afford and hope they are going to be what our cats need.
Many of us are continually experimenting and searching for more brands and formulas our cats will eat. Keeping the diet varied is one way hopefully to ensure they are getting everything they need. Meaning, if one of those premium foods happens to be slightly lacking in some essential nutrient, one of the other brands may not be.
And as I said before, even in the high end foods, there are things that are touted simply because the manufacturers think that the HUMANS will think, oh well if it has all those antioxidant fruits in it, it must be good, when the reality is, cats' bodies don't really process some of those things in the same way human bodies do.
Some kind of supplementation is always going to be necessary in commercial and home made feline diets.
But, at least those foods don't contain all the other harmful crap such as artificial colors, artificial flavors and artificial preservatives.
It is very confusing. And when you think how the much-more-studied field of human nutrition is constantly evolving, I don't think any of us can be 100% certain of most of this. I think we can all agree though that there should be more truth in labelling for pet food, and more government funded studies (good luck on that in this economy) so that there isn't even the appearance of biased results due to corporate funding. And because I'm getting frustrated with my girl cat's attitude toward food, I'll say it would also help if the darn cats would co-operate better with the feeding plans we struggle to come up with for them!
Oh yeah, lol. The best diet in the world isn't going to work, if the cat won't eat it.
The meat used in cat food is not the entire body of the animal, so supplements of some sort or another have to be added.
When a cat eats a prey diet, the cat eats the entire animal or bird, muscle meat, organ meat, bones, intestines, brain and whatever is inside the stomach at the time.
The prey eats the grain and berries and vegetable matter and converts it to what the cat needs.
So when a domestic cat is fed food designed by humans, supplementing is necessary
That is exactly what I've been saying, and in fact I've even posted somewhere around here that wild cat eating habits != domestic cat eating habits - because domestic cats don't hunt for their dinner, they don't bury the leftovers in dirt, they -do- gnaw on the bones, which helps with healthy teeth and gums...
And I'm told no, I'm absolutely wrong, domestic cats can only thrive if they are fed exclusively meat, exclusively wet, and that any cats who have thrived eating anything else, was thriving in spite of irresponsible feeding, OR they all died at ripe old ages - of kidney and liver failure directly attributed to their poor eating habits, and not because they were old.
This is WHY I am confused. Had I not actually checked out the ingredients of weleva and nature's whatever, and read Garden's recipe, I would not have realized that these things -also- have vegetables in it, and many also have grain, and all of the brand name food companies sell kibble for cats - even the ones recommended by veterinarians who insist that cats can't chew and should never be fed kibble.
For what it's worth, I -do- give my cat canned food every day. And I leave kibble out 24/7 for when she gets the munchies. The kibble I leave for her is currently Purevita, with Purina's "One Beyond" which has white meat as #1 ingredient, DOES have grain, but does NOT have wheat or corn. She also goes through around 1/2 cup of water every day, right out of the bowl, and licks the water off my leg when I get out of the shower. She's weird like that though. She really likes water fresh out of the spout.
it would also help if the darn cats would co-operate better with the feeding plans we struggle to come up with for them!
Ain't it the truth! I keep trying to explain to them that Mommy has shelled out $1.09 for this can of delicious turkey with sweet potatoes and cranberries, and how it's so much better for them than the $0.40 (when did the cents sign disappear from keyboards ...?) can of Friskies lamb and rice that probably doesn't have any real lamb in it. And how it's better for them even than their beloved Blue Buffalo salmon kibble. Do they listen to me? Nooooo ...
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And how it's better for them even than their beloved Blue Buffalo salmon kibble. Do they listen to me? Nooooo ...
