Gluten Free Foods

First question:
How would you rate this brand in comparison to Nutro Natural Choice, Felidae and Chicken Soup, cat lover's sole dry foods?

They say it contains NO animal by products, corn, wheat or soy protein, also gluten-free.

Second question: Is corn, wheat and soy bad for cats?

I'm trying to find the best dry food and would sincerely appreciate any opinions you may have.

The Blue Spay is supposed to be an excellent food. We don't have it locally so I have never been able to read the ingredient contents from their label.

Soy is definitely something you don't want in a cat food - the phytoestrogens in it can throw your cat's hormone levels off. Corn is also not good for cats - many foods you will find will have some form of corn as two of the first three ingredients.

Cat food should have 2/3 of the ingredients in high grade MEAT protein. The higher quality foods use millet or rice for the filler in their food

CA Natural uses just chicken and rice. I have a bag of Nature's Logic Duck and Salmon here now - duck meal, millet, chicken meal, chicken fat and salmon meal are the first listed ingredients - not a lot of the salmon. Each ingredient is listed by weight so usually the first three make up almost 90% of the food. Wellness and Natural Balance also make high quality cat foods.

Of the ones you mentioned Chicken Soup would be a good choice as ingredients read: chicken, salmon, chicken meal, fat, barley, white rice and oatmeal.

Felidae ingredients: chicken meal, turkey meal, brown rice, lamb meal etc.

It is best to vary your cat's menu around several brands of food so that they have protein sources other than chicken all their lives.

All the brands I have mentioned also have high quality canned foods which are much healthier for your cat than any dry food. So you should consider using canned food as many days a week as you can.

Barbara

I have been feeding Wellness my cats don’t like most of the flavors anymore. Two cats like the chicken flavor. I have six.

The main purpose for the wet food is to mix medication with. 4 of the six take medicine and I can’t leave out the the other two. They beat up on the other cats if I exclude them.

I have a diabetic cat who hates the veterinary food. I have reluctantly had to feed him Fancy Feast flavors the are gluten free. I’ll keep feeding him that but I need alternatives for my other cats. It’s too costly to feed six cats those tiny cans of Fancy Feast. I want bigger cans for the rest. They eat Wellness Core dry for the main part of their diet.

Why feed dry? Wet is healthier. The reason is, in the wild, cats normally get most of their water content directly from their prey items and drink very little. Domestic cats are no different, and because of the fact that they are designed to take in water with their meal, they have a very low thirst drive. Cats often just don't drink enough. This leads to urinary tract infections and crystals. The bit about dry food being better for teeth is a myth and has not been proven in the least (cats barely even chew their dry food and, really, does a pretzel clean /your/ teeth? Cats should have their teeth brushed with cat toothbrushes and cat toothpaste at least a few times a week as well as see the vet for dental cleanings when necessary /regardless/ of what they are being fed). Canned/wet food is better because it more closely mimics the cat's natural diet. More on why canned food is best:
http://www.catinfo.org/ (Excellent cat nutrition information by a vet)
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood
http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4.php
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

Another option to get cats to drink more would be a cat fountain. Cats tend to like to drink from running water and cat fountains see to that need, encouraging cats to take in more water.

The veterinary food is crap anyway (as is Fancy Feast), I wouldn't feed either to your diabetic cat. Dry food is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to diabetes in cats due to the amount of carbohydrates in it: http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm

As for other high quality foods that weren't part of the recalls, Innova is a good one. Wellness CORE is a great grain-free food, and Innova puts one out as well (Innova's is actually even better) called Innova EVO. Other high quality, grain-free foods that I believe were not involved in the recalls would be Orijen, Nature's Variety Instinct, Merrick Before Grain, Fromm Surf & Turf, Horizon Legacy, and Solid Gold Indigo Moon.

Darksong~

I have two 14 month old cats who have been eating Purina pro-plan their whole life. Last month, we adopted a kitten, and my wife decided that it was the right time to feed our three cats a more healthy,balance and gluten free food. So she started to feed them Natural Balance instead of Purina. The kitten loved it, but my other 2 cats went in starvation mode for one week. It has been one month already. We have tried Wellness, Merricks, Avoderm and Blue Spa, but they just won't eat it anything that doesn't taste like Purina Pro-plan. We bought dry Natural Balance, and that's the only thing they eat, but we don't want to feed then dry food only. We have tried all tricks possible. We have mixed the dry and wet food, spoon feeding, warming the food, adding gravy, etc. Are we doing something wrong. Are they addicted to Purina? We don't want to feed them Purina anymore. Please help us.

Buy some Purina and let them EAT first of all. And then slowly try to transfer them to the other stuff.

The only wheat gluten-free, natural pouch on the market! Available in 8 succulent flavors, including 4 new Grain-Free varieties!

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For indoor cats over 10 years of age. Features odor reduction, anti-age complex, and ultra-soft kibble. Maturity and inactivity can lead to a loss of muscle mass. At the same time, adipose tissues will accumulate. Leaving the risk of obesity very high. The mature cat can lose its appetite because of dental problems and a poorer sense of smell and taste. The affects of aging become apparent especially in terms of kidney, joint function, immune and digestive system. This formula offers your cat optimal calorie control, tartar control, and hairball formation control. Royal Canin Mature 27 is made by an exclusive process that guarantees small, firm and considerably less smelly feces. The anti-age complex reduces phosphorus and sodium contents to maintain kidney function and an exclusive combination of synergistic antioxidants (green tea polyphenols and high concentrations of vitamins E and C) to combat the attacks of free radicals responsible for cell aging. The kibbles have a very soft texture perfectly suited to the dentition of cats over the age of 10 years. Provides an ideal balance between the food's energy supply and your cat's energy expenditure, in relation to its lifestyle and level of activity. Improves oral hygiene by reducing the occurrence of tartar deposits on your cat's teeth. Stimulates the elimination of hairs from the intestines and reduces the risk of hairball formation. Ingredients: chicken, corn gluten meal, corn, barley, brown rice, chicken fat (naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract and citric acid), chicken meal, natural chicken flavor, beet pulp (sugar removed), pea fiber, dried brewers yeast, rice hulls, salmon oil, dried egg powder, fructo-oligosaccharides, sodium silico aluminate, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, soya oil, choline chloride, borage oil, DL-methionine, salt, taurine, Vitamins [dl-alpha tocopherol (source of vitamin E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C),

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- RM-10 Immune System Food 10 Organically Grown Mushrooms - RM-10 is a combination of 10 organically grown, tonic mushrooms, that have been specially selected for their superior genetic heritage and then carefully cultivated to ensure they maintain their integrity and potency. - This proprietary blend is synergistically balanced with Cats Claw and Poten-Zyme Selenium, a highly absorbable form of selenium. - Cats Claw has been traditionally used in the Peruvian culture for centuries and science has now validated its antioxidant effect. - Selenium supports immune cell function and response. - Select ingredients are prepared through the Garden of Life proprietary Poten-Zyme fermentation to make the nutrients more available to the body. - RM-10 is vegetarian, does not contain dairy and is free of artificial colors and preservatives. - Gluten free. Supplement Facts: Serving Size: 2 Caplets Servings Per Container 60 Amount Per Serving - % Daily Value Total Calories 10 Total Carbohydrate 2g 1% Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Selenium 100mcg 143% RM-10 Poten-Zyme Organic Mushroom Blend 1165mg Cat’s Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) Bark 240mg Who will benefit from using RM-10? Adults seeking an immune health formula made with organic fermented mushrooms. What are the key ingredients in RM-10? RM-10 includes a Poten-Zyme Organic Mushroom Blend composed of 10 tonic mushrooms. This proprietary blend is synergistically balanced with Cats Claw and Poten-Zyme (fermented) selenium, a highly absorbable form of selenium. Selenium supports immune cell function and response. The Poten-Zyme fermentation process makes nutrients more available to the body. What is the difference between RM-10 and RM-10 ULTRA? Both products contain the same 10 organic tonic mushrooms. However the key differences are that RM-10 contains fermented organic mushrooms in a caplet form, whereas RM-10 ULTRA contains 10 organic mushrooms along with other added ingredients that support immune health and is available in UltraZorbe

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The only wheat gluten-free, natural pouch on the market! Available in 8 succulent flavors. 4 Grain-Free flavors too!

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A menu of succulent morsels paired with delectable sauces for a taste cats love. The only wheat gluten-free, natural pouch on the market!

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A menu of succulent morsels paired with delectable sauces for a taste cats love. The only wheat gluten-free, natural pouch on the market!

Read the rest of this entry »

A menu of succulent morsels paired with delectable sauces for a taste cats love. The only wheat gluten-free, natural pouch on the market!

Read the rest of this entry »