Cat Food Review - Cat Food Ratings Dry or Bagged

cotrim  says:
2 years ago

Is Natural Balance moist food for cats safe???

annicka spradlin  says:
2 years ago

Can someone tell me what are these numbers on top next to each can of food: i.e. 3/6....how is this read???????????? 1 the safest ????? 9 the worst?????????????

babette  says:
2 years ago

I dont understand the rating either.. Please explain.

Tom K  says:
2 years ago

inafrenzie, you need to get your cat to a Vet quick! It sounds like she may be needing some treatment for renal failure. Good luck, I have just went through it unfortunately my best buddy, Watch Kitty, of 15 years did not make it. I know what your going through. TK

AskSusanPeters  says:
2 years ago

Not on the recall list

AskSusanPeters  says:
2 years ago

Nan,

I took away points for the by-products. I'm going to start making reviews using a little different system. I am disturbed by the road kill in the pet food but euthanized pets is worse, I think.

No, it isn't worse the WHOLE THING is awful.

Susan Peters

AskSusanPeters  says:
18 months ago

Hannah,

I haven't done a review on the cat food. I've done one on the dry dog food. I think I'll just get one done for you!

Susan

linda A  says:
18 months ago

I have four cats and feed them friskies moist and dry food. I don't really see hardly any dry cat food reveiws and the ones that are in your list of reveiws none of them look very good wet or dry.Are there any wet and dry that are in the 10/10 range? Also maybe I could get your imput on the ash in cat food and is it beneficial to them because of there urinary tract two of them are prone to bladder problems

Lia  says:
17 months ago

what is your review on the Authority Indoor Cat formula from Petsmart? I didn't see it on the list.

Thanks for your work.

Deborah Saxe  says:
14 months ago

Is Nutro safe ?I can't find it on your list.I feed both my cats Nutro natural care weight management.

I was feeding Purina One,I was appalled when I found out how crappy the ingredients are.

What is the matter with this society when greed outweighs safety in our food supply for both pets and humans!!??

daveg  says:
14 months ago

What is your reccomendation on the best kitten food. Thanks for your help, and guidance.

Dave

Jo Ellen Barber  says:
14 months ago

I have radically used your list for canned foods. In fact i take it with me when i hit pertsmart. petco or local feed stores. some where between what are top rated, from 9/10 and above, and the flavors the cats i feed will eat (there are five), i have managed to come up with a viable and budget worthy list.

thanks for your work

April  says:
14 months ago

I've got a couple of brands I'd be interested in seeing rated 1) Spa Selections by Blue 2) Good Life 3) Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul

Thanks

will  says:
13 months ago

I am also looking for a healthy novel protein diet. My cat has started on Royal Canin's duck and pea formula, but I would prefer to feed him an organic duck formula. Royal Canin was involved in the recent recalls and although they no longer use ingredients from China, I would rather buy from a company that uses human-grade ingredients, no by-products etc. All the natural foods I've looked at have extra ingredients my kitty can't eat like grains or potatoes or lots of fruits and veggies. I'm not looking for a raw food since my kitty has IBD. Any suggestions?

Rob  says:
12 months ago

Do you have any idea of the actual nutritional (caloric) value of the 10/10 foods? I have a rather large (~20lbs) and active orange tabby, but he needs to lose a few pounds. No more of Hills Prescription Diet R/D.

Sue  says:
12 months ago

Purina Cat Chow (dry) is scary! My seven-year old cat has only known Purina Cat Chow (dry) Complete Formula. He used to also get 1 tsp canned waterever every day until he became sick & I gave all the canned food away before the recalls earlier this year).

Just opened a fresh bag of Purina (dry) and he got severe salmonella-like symptoms. Four days later, he is finally hungry, so I purchased a fresh bag - and again he fell over with salmonella symptoms (he only had perhaps 2 Tbsp of dry food this time, since his stomach shrunk). Three days later, he is hungry again - so last night I fed him a blob of Whiskas pouch that "expired" 15 months ago. He is doing great 24 hours later. Purina Cat Chow - all dry food - is terrifying and I'm exhausted from stress, cleaning up vomit, trying to find a food I can trust, etc.

For others out there, the Purina Cat Chow Complete Formula I purchased that caused salmonella symptoms:

18 lb: no expiration date, included a can of Fancy Feast (unopened, with info BEST BY JUL2009 and #72061162 L2FX6042). Bar Code ON DRY FOOD BAG is 17800 45573.

3.5 lb: Best by April 2009. 72841086 1432LOG

AskSusanPeters  says:
12 months ago

Sue,

Purina Cat Chow scored 0 points out of ten http://hubpages.com/hub/Purina_Cat_Chow_Dry_Cat_Fo

because there is nothing good for a cat in this product. Purina Cat Chow has a Class Action filed against it for truth in advertising. Far too many cats have become ill or died using Cat Chow. http://hubpages.com/hub/Purina_Cat_Chow_Class_Acti

Your cat is very lucky you are wise and realized it was the food which caused his illness.

Blessings,

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
12 months ago

Sue,

I believe the comment you left for me is the kindest I've seen since I began this hub.  Thank you for the smile I'll have for quite a while knowing my work is helping and appreciated!

I'm very glad and thankful things are working out for you and your kitty.  I think you'll be amazed at the playfulness your kitty will continue to show since begining a healthy diet.  Good for you!

Merry Christmas,

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
11 months ago

Sue,

Happy New Year to you, too. Your words of encouragement are just what is need to get this new year off to a great start.

Thank you,

Susan

karen vanek  says:
11 months ago

I appreciate all your work... it is very helpful when I buy the food for my animals. Could you please comment on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach.... I expect it isn't very good, looking at their other reviews... however my vet recommended this and the indoor cat variety for my cat who has constant diareah... and it has helped.... if this one isn't very good... do you have a recommendation???? also just a few more dry food reviews would be great! thanks....

AskSusanPeters  says:
11 months ago

Karen,

I'm glad I've been of help to you! Remove the corn, wheat and soy from your cat's diet and the diareah will go away.

I don't really have any suggestions for another cat food for you since I don't know what is available in your area. Look through the reviews and choose something as close to a 10 as possible as points are deducted for the use of corn, wheat and soy.

I'll get to work on your Science Diet reviews. If you know of any other brands or styles of cat food you would like to see reviewed please let me know. I'll work on adding more dry foods.

Good Luck,

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
10 months ago

SanDC,

I wouldn't feed her any of this. Your vet should be shot for telling you this is a safe pet food. I'll have new reviews of the R/d formula later today.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
10 months ago

SanDC,

Your cat eats too many calories because it is trying to get the nutrients your cat's body requires to survive. Once you provide a food with real beef, chicken, pork, or fish rather than grains, the volume of food your cat consumes will be reduced and the wieght will begin to come off. Grains and junk fillers are what is causing your cat to be over weight.

Good food = Good weight.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
10 months ago

Chelle,

I'll get to work on that for you. I think having the wet/dry/pouch reviews seperate is a great idea.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
10 months ago

Suzanne,

Great advice. I couldn't have said it any better. I just finished a review on one of the Wysong dog foods. I'll continue to work on the other Wysong product reviews.

Thanks,

Susan

SanDC  says:
10 months ago

I ask this because i'm about to switch to Felidae. it look pretty good what do you think?

SanDC  says:
10 months ago

Hehe.

I'm aware of that...

It's just that alot of dry catfoods have brown rice but you don't deduct points for that in your reviews.

Kibbles need some grain to stay solid and I'm wondering if rice is a better alternative to say corn.

AskSusanPeters  says:
10 months ago

SanDC,

Ok, you got me there. I don't take points off for use of rice unless there seems to be a large amount of rice used. I don't like the use of white rice but I will accept limited amounts of brown rice. There were some recalls due to rice is the reason I stay away from white rice. Your question is if I feel rice is better than corn. Yes, by far!

Susan

Amara  says:
10 months ago

My cat's 9 years old, and throws up quite a bit. The vet suggested allergies, so I switched from Eukanuba Sensitive stomach to Wellness (with seafood ingredients). I haven't switched completely over yet, about 2/3 eukanuba and 1/3 wellness, but it seems like it's getting worse, and I don't know what to do. I was wondering what the rating is for Eukanuba sensitive stomach, since she seemed to do throw up the least on that food.

Any suggestions for a cat with either allergies or sensitive stomach?

Carlee  says:
10 months ago

I am so excited to have found your review page susan because i have spent the last 7 hours on the internet researching natural wholistic cat food for my 9 year old cat. she has always been really skinny but she just reasently became super finicky and wont eat much. I ordered three samples of canned cat food and i dont believe that you have reviewed them yet, and i was hoping for your opinion on them.

the fist is Petite Cuisine Gourmet Cat Food, there is a variety 4 pack sampler, $5.00 shipping on www.petitecuisine.com

Also Life Abundance and Instinctive choice the two come together in a sampler at healthypetnet.com. http://www.healthypetnet.com/HealthyPetNet/Catalog

and then lastly i am really interested to know more about Wild Kitty canned food, but i haven't found a reasonably priced sampler online.

thanks so much and Miss Kittly and I can't wait to hear back from you!!

- Miss Kitty & Carlee

Carlee  says:
10 months ago

hello again, i forgot to add that i gave miss kitty Nature's Variety Prairie Homestyle Canned Cat Food in the beef and liver flavor at www.onlynaturalpet.com and she went nuts for it, she ate the whole portion before it got hard and gross. it has serious chunks of veggies and meat it looked good to me, but its a little pricey.

-Carlee

Terrie  says:
9 months ago

Susan, your site and reviews is just the kind of thing I've been looking for. I try to look at the labels when I choose food for my cats, but I'm just not very educated on what's good and what's not for cats. Currently I have a 15 year old and two 2 year olds. They all eat the same thing. The older one is skinny (always has been) and the younger ones are getting overweight. At least one of them has problems with hairballs, but since they are all about the same color, I'm not sure who, or even if it is all of them. I think the younger ones will go to a new home soon, anyway (because I am pregnant, and they not suitable to have around a baby), so then I will just have the older one to feed. My question is, as a mature cat, what do I have to be on the lookout for in his food that might be different than for younger cats? Would the foods you rated highly be good for him as well, despite some differences in nutritional needs due to his age? If not, can you rate some dry foods for mature cats that will hopefully rate well? Thanks so much!

Terrie  says:
9 months ago

Thank you so much! I just leave the dry food out for them, so if they are hungry, they eat...therefore there is no way to increase the amount I feed my older one. The food I currently have is running low, so now I have your list to help me select what to buy from now on (and will check back periodically for updates).

Terrie

nancy  says:
9 months ago

Is california natural dry and canned cat food a good food for cats. The dry chicken and rice formula was a top pick on the website aboutcats.com

AskSusanPeters  says:
9 months ago

Nancy,

I'll get to work on that review for you.

Susan

Lori  says:
9 months ago

Could you a review for Maximum Nitrition for Cats and Kitten formula? I feed this to my pets and would be interested in learning the results. Thanks for time and efforts they are much appreciated.

AskSusanPeters  says:
9 months ago

Lori,

I just returned from Wal Mart. It was my intentions to purchase a couple of the cat flavors of Maxximum for my cats but when I began reading the contents I put the bags back on the shelf. I could buy bags of corn at the feed store for much less than 12.00.

I will have to look for a site with the complete list of ingredients to provide those reviews for you...........Not a safe choice in cat food.

Susan

Sue  says:
8 months ago

Susan,

Mine was the my cat who got really sick last December 07 on Purina Cat Chow - and I'd moved him over to Professional Brand thanks to you (Please search for retailers online people - stores that carry this are not "mainstream").

It's been a good three months now, and today he played like I have not seen in five years. No more "hairballs", throwing up, runs, etc - solid as a rock ... and very loving, happy, energetic.

My cousin called me after she switched her dog over to Professional and she had three comments: Her cats were immediately drawn into eating the dog's food (and were pooping less!); she is moving them over to Professional brand cat food as well; and her dog has so much more energy now that she is a bit "freaked out" ... heh heh heh. She had a hard time finding Professional - until she looked online and discovered it at a nearby feed store. (When she couldn't find it at first, she settled on a "Premium" brand from a Petco or PetSmart -- and saw that everything was still going downhill. I honestly believe the petfood at these places are hideous -- same with grocery stores. All essentially poison ...)

Initially, it looks like we pay more per ounce for the food -- but our pets eat half as much (without all those nasty fillers) so we are actually saving money - and bonus, I am saving a bundle on cat litter. Still feeding the human grade canned tuna and chicken to my cat as a treat (a bit concerned about mercury in the fish tho -- but there is not one can or bag of food at Safeway that I would EVER purchase - and ounce for ounce, I just feel better about this for now). Thanks again and again and AGAIN for your important work.

Sue

kimberly65  says:
8 months ago

Can you review timberwolf Serengeti dry cat food and taste of the wild dry cat food?

Michelle   says:
7 months ago

Susan, When get caught up . Could you review Adoderm Naturals. http://www.breeders-choice.com/ both the dry and canned foods. The link I have provided lists all the ingrience. I think you will flunk the dry food. thanks,

Michelle tulsa, ok

AskSusanPeters  says:
7 months ago

Michelle,

I have a sampling of the AvoDerm Naturals both canned and dry http://hubpages.com/hub/Breeders-Choice-Cat-Food-H

Let me know if there are others you would like to see reviewed.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
7 months ago

Kim,

The Orijen Cat Food Acana review is a revised review and pretty much reflects how I feel about the product.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
6 months ago

Gail,

This product (without a full review) will be only 60% safe. I sure wouldn't use this for a cat with a sensive stomach. I'm behind in my reviews so it will be a little bit before I get a full review for you.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
6 months ago

Vince,

Smart cat!

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
6 months ago

Michelle,

I might not understand your question but the picture is of Complete Health Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal & Rice Dry and so is the review. 8/10 is correct for the rating system used. I am a little daft these days! :-)

Susan

catfriend  says:
6 months ago

Hi Susan,

Can you review the dry adult cat food from Costco, Kirkland Super Premium Maintenance Chicken and Rice formula.

I have two burmese adult cats. They were on the Royal Canin 33, but the female tends to throw up a LOT with this. I read your rating of the RC 33, now I know why she was throwing it up! So I decided to switch to the Kirkland brand. Now the female is getting fat and the male is maintaining well. I don't think burmese should get this heavy in such a short amount of time (since December 07). The female isn't throwing up nearly as much with this, but I would still like to know how you would rate it.

Thanks for your help.

Polly

catfriend  says:
6 months ago

Susan,

Is there anyway to send you an attachment with the ingredients? I'd scan them and send them to you.

Thx

Polly

Cat Woman  says:
6 months ago

Hi Susan,

Thanks for all your hard work...I have been looking for a review on Evo dry food for cats & kittens, and Evo 95% beef canned. I have been feeding canned Purina Pro PLan (the only kind my cats will eat that offers a low magnesium/low ash. The vet put them on royal canine urinary so...they hated it. I realize now that the purina pro plan isn't so great for them....by products and such. I read that evo is good for urinary health. My cats won't eat the canned of wellness or evo. They will the dry. They love the Life's abundance...but only the dry. So, the only canned they will eat is purina pro plan. and I found Friskie's special diet canned chicken & turkey with low ash/magnesium which is what Dr says to look for....but all the other bad ingredients is making me nervous...I want to feed them something that is good all way around...anyone else battling this dilemma?

Thanks!

buy absinthe  says:
6 months ago

great info thank you

Alice  says:
6 months ago

Hi Susan,

I've heard that the EVO Dry Cat & Kitten food is supposed to be great for cats as long as they don't have kidney problems that would be affected by the high protein content. I'd love to hear your opinion on it. Thanks so much!

Turkey, Chicken Meal, Chicken, Herring Meal, Chicken Fat, Potatoes, Egg, Turkey Meal, Natural Flavors, Vitamins, Apples, Potassium Chloride, Carrots, Cranberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Minerals, Tomatoes, Herring Oil, Cottage Cheese, Ascorbic Acid, Dried Chicory Root Extract, Direct-Fed Microbials, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurin, DL-Methionine, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract.

buy absinthe  says:
6 months ago

great info thank you

Kim  says:
6 months ago

Hi Susan,

I was curious about potatoes and oatmeal added to pet foods. Is oatmeal better than potatoes or should I stay away from both?

Thanks,

Kim

AskSusanPeters  says:
6 months ago

Alice,

Here is your Innova Evo review. http://hubpages.com/hub/Natura-Cat-Foods-Healthy-P

Please be aware that Innova Dry Dog Foods have tested positive for *acetaminophen but were not recalled.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
5 months ago

Ell,

Make sure you are feeding according to the instructions. New food and grain free foods require much less than a pet food with grains. Your cat will probably gobble up the food because the grains were starving her. Diarrhea is not a good thing and can dehidrate a kitty pretty fast. Try some pumpkin (like you would use for making pie) to settle her tummy. Again, make sure you are not over feeding her.

Let me know how it goes. Maybe I can be of further help to you.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
5 months ago

Ell,

Please do email me with the ingredients for Pedialyte. It has been a while since I've looked at any to know for sure what is included in the formula.

From where I sit - sounds like a good idea.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
5 months ago

Cheryl,

Use of Nutro & Purina sure is not getting him away from the grains. Cats can't handle any grains in their diets. Cats are strickly meat eaters. Check the contents for other fillers such as rice and barley. By-products of beer and wine products cause huge problems. The wine/beer by-products are usually listed barley, rice, ....fermintation products.

IBS/IBD are names given to symptoms not the cause of problems. Your problems probably are still with the pet foods since there are so few good ones on the market. Forget about buying anything for "Urinary Tract" problems because these are still the same old cheap pet foods with a fancy name so people will buy the product. Just because the products say urinary tract formula does not mean there is a single ingredient designed to help with this condition.

If you were happy with the Wellness and it seemed to be doing a good job then go back to it but keep your eyes open for something better. I hope and pray the pet food industry discovers we don't like sick pets and change their formulas before it is much too late.

Susan

Jenny  says:
5 months ago

Oops! it would help to post the link! :)

www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

--Jenny

Kim  says:
5 months ago

I just wanted to comment about the adding of pedialite to Elle's cat's diet. I have found that since unflavored pedialite has a high sugar content it makes diarhea worse. Dextrose is the #2 ingredient. Also, I have a diabetic cat and cannot use this due to the high dextrose content unless her blood sugar numbers go exotremely low and I am worried about her seizing. I know Susan doesn't recommend dairy products but I have been using unflavored yogurt with great success. I can't recommend this to you as I am not qualified but with my cats everything else seems to make the diarhea worse. I haven't had much luck with the pumpkin.

Maybe Susan can comment on this as I am having issues with my new kitten having diarhea since it was brought to me at the age of one day old. It is now 7 weeks old and if I take it off the yogurt it gets diarhea with the consistancy of water. I have had the kitten to the vets several times and she doesn't have worms or any interstinal problems. The vet put her on pro-pectalin which did absolutely nothing for her diarhea. However, if I stop the yogurt now or try and wing her off the yogurt she goes right back very watery diarhea.

Any suggestions, Susan?

Thanks,

Kim

John Montgomery  says:
5 months ago

Susan,

What specifically are your qualifications to be speaking on or rating pet foods??

Any backround in animal nutrition??Are you a vet??

AskSusanPeters  says:
5 months ago

John Montgomery,

I have owned an animal diagnostic lab. or a number of years. I have pets which fallen ill and two pets which have died from the ingredients included in pet food. I do not proclaim to be a nutritionist although I have studied human and pet health realated nutrition quite extesively over the last ten years.

Susan

AskSusanPeters  says:
5 months ago

John,

You are welcome.

Susan

Kim  says:
5 months ago

Susan,

Happy Birthday......a little late! I'm glad you got to get away, have a well deserved break and enjoyed your family and friends.

Thanks for the review. I appreciate it!

Kim

Ell2  says:
5 months ago

Susan, I wanted to follow up on how my 12 yr old kitty is doing now that it's been about a month since we've eliminated all the "bad" stuff from her diet. (For some reason I couldn't sign in under my user name Ell) She no longer has runny stools for the first time in almost a year.  There was a rough patch there during the transition, but sticking with it is important.  She & my 1 yr old male kitty now eat a combination of Wellness dry and canned and the difference has been significant.  I don't think I mentioned it at time, but my male often threw up after eating, and that hardly ever happens anymore. Thank you SO much for this site - I am a true believer that diet is the single most important thing in managing the health of our furry friends and I will never feed them by-products, soy, wheat or corn again. 

Michelle - thank you for that tip about the high blood pressure.  I will mention that the next time we're at the vet.

Ell2  says:
4 months ago

Susan, all I changed was her diet. I know this is what did the trick because I had one little can of Fancy Feast leftover & fed it to her - the very next day she had diarrhea again.

TheCatLady  says:
3 months ago

Dear Susan,

I have been following your advice-and eliminated wheat, soy and corn. I so much appreciate your caring and efforts! But, please just tell me (and the rest of us cat lovers!) what you are feeding your own cats now?! It seems that there just aren't any real choices left! Any that are great quality, affordable, and also liked by cats??