the great cat food debate....?

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It's completely species inappropriate.

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild, desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They do not have a thirst mechanism because they don't need it when eating a species appropriate diet. They get all they need from what they eat. Additionally water was usually not available to them in their desert climate. So they do not often drink water. Regular ol' house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats.

So in a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl.

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones, urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals run rampant these days. Cats are not taking in enough water to stave them off. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Overall, wet is all around better for any cats diet, be it canned or Raw and they should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs. Kibble meets our needs… not our cats.

I recommend varying the diet with a constant rotation of accepted canned foods that your cat enjoys. If you do this, and allow your cat the same assortment they would have in nature when eating mice, bugs, birds and rabbits, your cats’ digestive system won't be so sensitive and you won't have to run around looking for a specific brand when your store is out. You will have a nice variety to choose from instead.

Canned foods I recommend for your rotation:

Nature's Variety - http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?r=0829...

Wellness Grain Free Formula’s - http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_wellness_can_in...

By Nature Organics - http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/productpages/catma...

Organix - http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/store/organix/organ...

Evanger's Holistic Pheasant - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/20089.html

Evanger's Organic Braised Chicken - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50103.html

Evanger's Turkey & Butternut Squash - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50111.html

Are you talking about canned or dry?

BG is the best of these whether that's dry or canned. But you need to know that the canned food is not complete and balanced. That means you would either need to add a supplement or keep it to 2-3 times per week.

Next up would be Natural Balance.

I would put Nutro at the very bottom because there have been problems with it. And besides that I just don't think it's a great food. In fact, I think it's crap.

Solid Gold....not the best but defeinitely better than Nutro.

I feed my cat Purina Cat Chow. (Wait! Don't give me a thumbs down until you read the whole post.) Not sure if I have the $30 to spend on a bag of cat chow, but based on what I have been reading here, I may try another brand. Plus, I'm concerned because 2 of the 3 cats at my parents' home and the one cat I have now are all developing a belly (the 4th is pure muscle).

I don't think I would go with Natural Balance or Nutro myself. Natural Balance looks like it still has a good amount of plants in it. As for Nutro, rumor has it they use euthanized "throw away" animals from shelters and vets. (That means the euthanasia medications could be in the food.) Both Natural Balance and Nutro have had some fishy recalls/"shortages" in the past.

The Merricks BG looks interesting. I may try that out myself. I'll bite the bullet and pay the $30 for the bag of food. I'm on a student budget. I can't afford to cook my cat gourmet meals every day.

Edited: Won't be buying the Merrick's food anyway. Looked it up on the website. A TEN POUND bag of food is $30. Maybe I'll cook him those gourmet meals after all.

Merrick BG all the way! I'd put Nutro at the bottom out of that list and Merrick BG at the top. Canned/wet Merrick Before Grain would definitely be best.

Of the foods listed, I would go with the Merrick BG. Cats are obligate carnivores. They don't need grains in their diets (especially corn) and adding them can cause health issues in the long term. My cats have been on grain free food (Innova EVO) for a few years now and there's not anything that would convince me to go back. If you're not able to feed an all wet food diet, make sure that at least 1/2 of their diet is wet food. This will go further than anything to ensure that they have great coats. Cats don't naturally consume as much water as they should and the wet food helps to keep them hydrated and makes for a shiny, healthy coat.

Off that list, I'd go with the Merrick chicken.

My cat at supermarket crap and lived to the ripe old age of 20, and would NOT eat anything else.

But if I had to do it over again, I'd look for a food low in phosphates.

I think Nutro is best. I have never heard of the others. Nutro is a very healthy brand.