Question about changing cat food for my 2 cats?

Good for you for taking in these kitties! Neither of these is the top food but I'd rather see you keep with the Whiskas if it is the canned kind. Or if you want a Purina product, Friskies canned food or Fancy Feast is better than Purina One which has grains that is difficult for a cat to get any decent nutrition from. At least try to mix them up and dont feed all dry. More vets are now coming to understand that cats do better on a diet closer to their natural one. There is no scientific evidence to the old pet food company marketer's tale that you should buy dry for their teeth.

Re labels and protein levels, Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM, says, " At first glance, it might appear that the dry food has a higher amount of protein than the canned food—but this is not true on a dry matter basis which is the accurate way to compare the two foods. Most canned foods, when figured on a dry matter basis, have more protein than dry food. And remember, even if this were not the case, the percentage numbers do not tell the whole story. It is the protein’s biological value that is critical. "

Here is tips on how to read the labels: http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/reading_labels....

Canned food is closer to a cat's needs of high protein, moderate fat and very low carb. (definitely under 10%, which is over 2x the carbs of a mouse....most dry foods have 20 or even over 40% carbs.) Long term over consumption of carbs can lead to obesity and diabetes, as well as poor nutrition since the cat is unable to absorb the nutrients from carbs as well as a human or a dog.

Also cats (originally desert animals, who had to get their moisture with their food, from the prey they ate) do not have a high thirst drive. So if they get an all dry diet, they are at risk of chronic dehydration which can lead to Many vets now think the increase in dry food feeding is related to the increase in kidney disease in cats.

Many vets have been told by pet food companies (who make a bigger profit on dry food), that dry is better for teeth- - - but cats tend to gulp their dry kibble down anyway, and when they do chew on it, the way it is made it usually just crumbles. That does not brush their teeth.

Please do not think that I am bashing vets because I say they don't all know a ton about feline nutrition. Vets have to have an incredible amount of knowledge...jand ust like in human medicine, disease is often more studied than nutrition..

Whiskas is bad.. Purina is only a small step up...

all food from grocery store is bad.. loaded with filler, not much meat.. cats are true carnivours.. even ingredients like Chicken By-Products are not meat - they are beaks feet and feathers... and hardly digestable.. when you feed these lower quality foods your cat must eat a lot more of it to get any nutrition.. also they poop more too...

when you make any food change its best to do it slowly.. mixing new food with old

again you will NOT find good food in grocery or Wal Mart.. good foods do not have commericials - they put the $ into ingredients NOT ads.. you will pay more per bag BUT your cats will eat less - thus saving you $ in the long run.. plus hopefully fewer health problems

to find a good food go to a pet supply store.. and read ingredient lables - avoid ALL that us by-products.. a sure sign of low quality

I am not being judgemental. Both are terrible foods. read the labels, I learned the hard way

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingredient a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Fo...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process them. Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. The optimum food to feed cats has no grains whatsoever, cats have no use for them and many have trouble processing them as well as the carbs. IBD is another disease that is rapidly becoming common amoung cats because of the inappropriate diets being fed.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php

Please read about cat nutrition.

http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html

http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food...

Well, if they are used to Whiskas, and it seems to be good for them, maybe you should leave it? On the other hand, if you really believe that Purina is better, gradually change their food, bit by bit, so they don't get upset. It should work out fine.

My two cats happily eat whatever we throw in their bowl - they eat Whiskas, Purina, Fancy Feast, Snappy Tom, and dry food. We used to feed them solely on Whiskas, but then began to vary their diet, and they love it!

In my opinion Whiskas is fine, as is Purina.

If you would feel better feeding your cats Purina, it should be okay. But don't do it suddenly. Give them a little bit of Purina at a time, then increase the amount, until they are weaned off Whiskas.

Well, whatever you do, good luck with your two cats. They sound wonderful.

Neither is a great brand, but I'll compare them.

Whiskas dry meaty:

Ingredients

Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with BHA/BHT), Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Flour, Rice, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Turkey By-product Meal, Caramel Color, Calcium Carbonate, dl-Methionine, Taurine, Trace Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), White Fish Meal, Vitamins (dl-Alpha Tocopherol)

Purina Cat Chow:

I couldn't copy the ingredients list.

I think the Purina is slightly ahead of Whiskas, which is a truly heinous food! At least the Purina doesn't list corn first, although it doesn't have meat first either. If these are your only two choices, I'd go with the Purina.

It would not be wrong to change their food, as long as they eat. Sometimes cats will grow accustomed to a certain type of food and refuse to change. Also, changing food may upset their stomachs for a day or two, so watch out for that. Good luck!

What happened to the owners?

Anyway, good for you for rescuing them. There is nothing wrong with you changing foods on them as long as they don't mind. Whiskas is probably ok but I'm with you on this one-I'd rather feed them Purina. I believe it is a bit healthier. But change it gradually over 5-7 days.

Whiskas is as bad as you think but the Purina is unfortunately not much better. Cats, as carnivores, should get the bulk of their diet in canned food that is meat. Fancy Feast is a good, inexpensive canned food that is meat without grain or vegetable fillers.

the best thing you could do is change their food...try Purina One and do it gradually they will appreciate the change and Purina One has many different formulas so you could find one that fits their needs...also instead of the wet Whiskas at night you might try Fancy Feast it is a better quality wet food

It's fine to change foods. There is a small chance they may not like it, but if they do, I agree it would be better for them.