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.

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.

wrote:
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.

well lay dee da!

mine had fried turkey tonight

and baked chicken last night

pizza the night before

Jupiter stole a whole peice of bread from my stash! a giant soft wheat
roll...
there she went through the house with it

--
you're killin me with these numbers

what is it with this potpouri kick you're on!

just feed the darn cats and be done with it

There is no intellectual stimulation in "hearing" about your *petty
findings

preventative care? pfft

this one has .70% less? this one has .30% more...

what what what

some yoyo at the pet food factory will probably pick his nose and wipe
it on a piece of catfood, yure cat will walk around with a booger on
it's lips... wonder how much phosphorus is in a booger

do you WIPE your cats ass with a **** cloth? or toilet paper?

do you *burp your cat?

DO YOU EVEN HAVE A MAN?

Does anybody love you cept your cat?

what in the hell can you find so captivating about a ****ing cat?

you're killin me

you're cabinets probably have cheap ass crackers in them... NOTHING
TASTY

ain't seen cheeze whizz in 20 years!

what is cheeze whizz you say? See what I mean!

go buy yourself a pair of earrings, get a man FGS, stop boogering up
the cat care.

Tomarrow, they will say, eggs are not good for you, then the next day
they will say they are ok! I never stopped eating eggs, or Bacon either

you're killin me smalls! you're killin me

wrote:

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.

Just messin with ya treeline12345

it's a really fine post and very informative
highly delicious and nutritious

sorry I called you a girl dude

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.

"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