I can’t believe that my cats’ food is being discontinued again! We went through this about two years ago and it was not fun. One cat will eat more or less anything but the other cat really had a hard time adjusting. Thankfully I do have close to a month’s supply of their current food so I can switch them very gradually, but I’m still not looking forward to the sad face by the food bowl.
Their current food is Hill’s Science Diet grain-free salmon dry cat food. I’m thinking that switching them to another Hill’s product would be least traumatic. Hill’s seems to have switched all of its dry cat food to chicken favored. it also seems that none of the Science Diet options are grain-free.
Any thoughts about the nutrition? I like that it’s grain-free (and made in the US). On the other hand, it says for ages 1 - 6, and my cats are 5. I’m wondering since they have to switch food, whether it would make sense to switch to a “mature” food. From what I can tell, the only Hill’s options for cats over 6 have grain as the second ingredient.
My cats are perfectly happy with Hills Science Diet Perfect Weight food supplemented with some Tiki Cat or Fussie Cat wet food. The cats are 4, 4 and 7.5 years old.
My cats eat Royal Canin with some Science Diet (hairball and dental) thrown into the mix. At the time I switched from Science Diet, Royal Canin had a trial size three pack: high protein, savor sensation, aromatic. I was able to test all three and now buy the high protein and the savory sensations. Aromatic did not make the cut.
I have a senior cat (13), a mature adult cat (9) and an adult cat (4 - though calling Toby an adult cat seems such a stretch as he’s adult in years only, not behavior). I’ve given up on feeding age related food and just mix it up.
My opinion on the ingredient panel is that it’s a LOT of potato and pea protein. Fresh chicken is a lot of water – so on a dry basis it may not have a lot of chicken at all. I don’t think the protein content is particularly high for a cat food. I would suggest you look at Earthborn Primitive – made by a small independent company in Ohio. The chicken and turkey meal are the first two ingredients, and those have substantially less water than fresh chicken. I also like Earthborn Holistic Wild Sea – which puts fish ingredients up front, with some turkey farther back. Protein level is 44%.
Origen is a really nice high end food. I recommend anyone looking for quality foods visit your local INDEPENDENT pet shop and ask the manager or owner for advice.
By no means am I an expert, but for the most part my experience and observations of what my cat enjoys has been positive. She typically eats everything offered to her and I have been serving grain-free recipes to her for a while now. Keep in mind that, to pet food manufacturers, grain-free doesn’t necessarily mean carbohydrate-free.
Among the fish-flavors in dry form, my cat likes the Rachael Ray Salmon variety. The rest of her dry food menu to date has been the chicken formulas from Evolve, Purina Beyond and Canidae Pure Elements. She also gets canned wet food every day. Among canned food I have found the brand ‘Natural Value’ to have a high protein content. That company uses chunks of meat in several of its recipes.
Dog person here, but I agree that Orijen is a very good high quality pet food.
I also recommend The Honest Kitchen products. If you go to their website it has a very nice food selector interface. Their products are made from human grade ingredients.
I don’t envy you, OP. Several years ago my cat had several teeth pulled and we had to switch her to wet food. I would have thought that after years of kibble, she’d have loved anything from a can, but I must have tried two dozen different foods before we found one. I tried the high-end foods but she was having none of it. We ended up with Fancy Feast (Fish and Shrimp Feast ONLY, thank you very much!), which the vet said is actually better than some of the expensive “healthy” foods. I just hope they never discontinue it.
@LasMa that Fancy Feast flavor is my cat’s absolute favorite, probably because it’s the smelliest cat food I’ve ever encountered. I’m glad your vet says its better than more expensive healthy ones. I wonder why.
I used Wellness Brand cat food for my furry friend. She would eat anything, so transitioning her was not difficult. After one week (!!), I could tell that her coat was softer and after 2 weeks, she started playing like a kitten instead of sleeping all day. Frankly, it made me pay more attention to what I was eating.
@Barbalot I can’t remember the vet’s explanation, but it made enough sense to me at the time that I put it out of my mind. It’s moot anyway, as the cat won’t eat anything else. And it sure it stinky lol.