Thread: Dry Food

Ok... currently I'm looking into the dry foods for Gryfn when we get him.
Currently we feed our moggie Whiskas but I've been looking at the higher end of the dry foods.

So what would everyone recommend....

I know it will be a case of what Gryfn likes, but I would like to know what everyone else feeds in the dry food range....



and no I'm not getting into the raw vs processed debate...

I've already decided I'm going to feed a variety of dried, raw and wet so that he gets a variety of different food and also isn't bored by the same food each day.

Not sure what would be available in Australia, but...

We feed Pro Plan Selects chicken, used to also use the salmon, but the cats decided they prefer the chicken. Note that Purina sells both regular Pro Plan and also Pro Plan Selects. Recently we got something called Blue Wilderness to try, and the kitten just loves it. The other cats, however, prefer the Pro Plan. The Blue W. is slightly higher protein than the PPS, though ingredient quality seems similar. Again, the company makes two ranges of foods, the Wilderness and the cheaper Blue Spa Selects. Our breeder feeds Orijen, however I came across web articles about Orijecn issues in Australia that led to a recall. You might want to check into that. We do not have a ready source for it so have not tried it.

I would suggest you go to your stores and spend some time reading labels. I did that again recently and posted the following in another food thread:

I spent quite a bit of time in Petco the other day looking at all the "high end" dry cat foods they sell. The Royal Canin ingredients are not terribly high quality (e.g., "chicken meal" vs. "chicken"). The best two in terms of quality of ingredients and protein levels were Pro Plan Selects and Blue Wilderness. I was extremely surprised to see even supposed "high end" dry foods with corn as a major ingredient and only 30% protein levels (PP Selects is 40% and Blue W. is 45% protein).

Incidentally, I also looked at prices of cat foods. Dry cat foods have actually become significantly more expensive than dog foods. The cheapest large bags of cat food I could find (at Walmart) were more than $.60/lb, while dry dog food can be had for $.40/lb. By contrast, the PP Selects and Blue W. are in the $3.60-$3.80/lb range--around six times the price. For that, you get mainly chicken or salmon, etc. as ingredients rather than "meals" or "meat by-products," and little "grain." One of the disturbing things is that a number of the "high end" foods at Petco are not objectively any better than the cheapest cat foods at Walmart. Don't know what you are paying for with them.

thanks for that...

so what I want to look for is something with a high protein content and actual meat rather than meal? eg.. chicken rather than chicken meal?

I was beginning to get confused the more I looked...

Acana and Orijen are both very good dry foods as is Almo Nature

None of them contain wheat or any other additives at all so I would look into whether you can get them where you are.

hey just looked at your latest pic whats your breeder feeding him on? he looks like he will be huge...9 weeks and he looks massive lol!!!!
i have so far tried applaws and iams and they prefere iams ive been introducing new brands gradually as not to upset their tummy but the seem to pick out the iams and not fussed on the applaws its all about trial and error i think and what you feel most comfortable with and more importantly what your putty kitter likes, im really trying hard to find a brand that fills them up for longer as they seem so greedy and i always try and leave food out for them but its not long before its scoffed and theyre meowing for more lol!!! i have been reading lables and dont quite understand them myself they really should simplyify them lol x

I'm not 100% certain, but I do remember her saying he was eating whiskas....
he is the biggest in the litter. Dh was worried about getting too big a wire for the run, as he didn't want him to get his paws caught... ummm I don't think that will be much of a problem.

thanks for your all of your advice.