If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Science Diet or other premium brands
I want to do the best for my 4 indoor cats and feed them well. They are
all healthy and regularly vet checked. They get mostly dry food. Once a day they get wet food usually Fancy Feast since that is the only one available that they will eat. I stopped feeding Science Diet about a year ago since I didn't like that corn (or some grain) was the first ingredient. I researched and started using Wellness and other more natural foods. My vet disagreed with my switch and said that while the ingredients in Wellness, etc. look better there is no guarantee that what they they say is in it is and further the quality of manufacturing may affect the product. She then said that Science Diet is one of the few foods that has demonstrated through research about their consistent quality of their ingredients. I think she has a point. What do you think? I told her I am feeding mostly wet since that is closest to the cat's diet (again from my research on the internet). She disagreed and said that healthy cats will get enough water from drinking from sinks and the water bowl I keep refreshed and that the dry food helps with the teeth. The canned wet food, she says, is a puree and is nothing like their native, raw diet of mice, etc. where there is bone, etc. I moved to Puerto Rico and cannot find any of the premium brands (e.g. Wellness) so I am stuck choosing between Iams, Science Diet and ProPlan. I could ship the food here but it would be too expensive. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Science Diet or other premium brands
PawsForThought wrote: Richard wrote: I stopped feeding Science Diet about a year ago since I didn't like that corn (or some grain) was the first ingredient. I researched and started using Wellness and other more natural foods. My vet disagreed with my switch and said that while the ingredients in Wellness, etc. look better there is no guarantee that what they they say is in it is and further the quality of manufacturing may affect the product. She then said that Science Diet is one of the few foods that has demonstrated through research about their consistent quality of their ingredients. I think she has a point. What do you think? Just curious, does your vet sell Science Diet? I can tell you my experience in previous cats I've had who I fed science diet was that they did poorly on it. As I said elsewhere, I am concerned about phosphorus levels. And Science Diet is the only company that will publish in the public domain, www.hillspet.com, the phosphorus levels on a dry matter basis, in addition to the other as fed and so on. That makes me feel they actually test their foods. Yes I dropped Science Diet for other foods that look better. But when I find out they don't control the phosphorus levels as low as I like, 0.70% dry matter basis, I go back to Science Diet. Now I can be critical of Science Diet. My cat on a 100% dry SD Light diet did not do as well on a 50% dry and 50% wet or something like that. Her hair or fur was dry and not at all satisfactory. I feed her a variety of wet foods but I try to feed only those wet foods with 0.70% phosphorus. This leaves out most, not all, but almost all of Purina/Nestle Fancy Feast and Friskies. I do buy 2 or 3 types of Friskies or Fancy Feast when I find them because they are extremely low in phosphorus compared to all the other types of Fancy Feast and Friskies. Like Fancy Feast Marinated Chicken or Salmon in Gravy is quite good in this regard. Here are some Friskies that I consider acceptable for my favorite feline: The percentages are phosphorus on a Dry Matter Basis: Friskies Fine Cuts With Real Chicken in Gravy...............................0.68% (DMB) Friskies Seared Filets With Turkey & Giblets..................................0.68% (DMB) Friskies Special Diet Sliced Chicken In Gravy................................0.77% (DMB) Friskies Prime Filets With Chicken In Gravy...................................0.77% (DMB) What someone said about wet food is ignorance of the science. Was this your vet? I put up a reference here a while ago to a European study which showed that cats fed 100% wet food had 0% that's right, 0% crystals in their urine, either fresh urine or urine put away for sampling and analysis. But I agree, I think Science Diet does testing and that is why they can publish a tremendous amount of information on their web site. The others are reluctant to publish the information because it is probably extremely difficult and costly to get such consistency. So if Science Diet trades off filler for consistency, I will go for consistency and try to get those Science Diet foods with less filler. For me kilocalories and phosphorus levels and pH are what I look for. If I cannot find that easily, I am extremely concerned and suspicious. And for kilocalories, I want a way to know that by grams or ounces, not just a cup of this or that. That's just too crude. It'll do in a pinch but it's a sloppy way to deal with details. pH is important for acidity compared to the age of the feline, for me. I want a pH of 6.2 to 6.4 for cats that are 7 or younger. A little more if older, like 6.4 to 6.6 perhaps. This just happens to coincide with all of SD foods I'll also inspect the protein levels, the fiber levels, the salt levels. I am way too fussy. And nope, I do not work for Science Diet. My cat could. She loves Science Diet, even when she was a street feral. She really loves Science Diet, it's weird. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
can we say gag yet?
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Science Diet or other premium brands
|
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Science Diet or other premium brands
Richard wrote:
: I told her I am feeding mostly wet since that is closest to the cat's : diet (again from my research on the internet). She disagreed and said : that healthy cats will get enough water from drinking from sinks and : the water bowl I keep refreshed and that the dry food helps with the : teeth. The canned wet food, she says, is a puree and is nothing like : their native, raw diet of mice, etc. where there is bone, etc. Your vet is wrong, either thru ignorance or conflict of interest; tragically both are very common. Vets as a class have no incentive to eliminate diseases. Their interest is served by managing disease conditions while you pay. You are much better off listenig to pure nutritional researchers who do not benefit from diseases. Feed your cats mostly (75%-90%) wet, but also some dry, so they will eat it when there is no other choice. As for teeth, do you try to clean yours by chewing pretzels, or do you brush them? Ask your idiot vet the same question and insist on an intelligent answer that makes sense to you, don't let her confuse and talk down to you. Your cats' teeth will be much, much cleaner if you simply learn to brush them, either with a brush or even some clean cloth wrapped around something, including your finger if you are careful enough. There are flavored tooth pastes, or you can soak the brush/cloth in tuna water or something they like. You will have to figure our something that works for you and your cats. But trust me as someone who learned this from experience, even a mediocre job of brushing once a week will keep their teeth a lot cleaner than a whole year of dry kibble. : I moved to Puerto Rico and cannot find any of the premium brands (e.g. : Wellness) so I am stuck choosing between Iams, Science Diet and : ProPlan. I could ship the food here but it would be too expensive. All are good brands. In choosing specific formulas pay attention to basics like low carb and ow phosphorous; also don't feed seafood any more than once or twice a week. You cats' tastes will do the final selection! A lot of nutritional info is available at : http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html http://webpages.charter.net/katkarma/canfood.htm http://webpages.charter.net/katkarma/canned.htm Keep in touch. Good luck. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Science Diet or other premium brands
"Richard" wrote in message oups.com... I told her I am feeding mostly wet since that is closest to the cat's diet (again from my research on the internet). She disagreed and said that healthy cats will get enough water from drinking from sinks and the water bowl Nonsense. There's another example that confirms credentials don't guarantee credibility! "The total free water intake (from food and drinking water) decreases when cats are fed dry food only, so that the water to dry matter intake ratio when fed on commercial dry foods varies from 2.0 to 2.8: 1 whereas on canned foods it varies from 3. 0 to 5.7: 1. Thus for any given dry matter intake cats have a higher (150% to 200%) water turnover on canned than on dry foods. " (National Research Council [National Academy of Science] Nutrient Requirements of Cats). http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutr...i ch_is_reall |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Science Diet formula changes? | Elizabeth Blake | Cat health & behaviour | 6 | October 4th 05 05:50 PM |
Science Diet C/D versus Waltham Royal Canin SO | Mrschief44 | Cat health & behaviour | 1 | December 20th 04 12:31 AM |
THE PET FOOD INDUSTRY AND YOUR PETS HEALTH (vol 1) | WalterNY | Cats - misc | 2 | February 22nd 04 10:03 AM |
Gaubster's Outlandish Claims (was: "Science Diet" Hairball Control Sensitivity ) | -L. | Cat health & behaviour | 283 | November 8th 03 12:26 AM |
which science diet formula? | glenn | Cats - misc | 8 | September 14th 03 04:56 PM |