IAMS vs Whiskas?

Hello all, I'm new to the group and somewhat new to raising cats (I
had cats as a kid 10 years ago).

At the end of April I decided my house was too empty, so I went to the
local animal shelter and adopted two cats - a 6 month old female
shorthair (Xerxes) and a 2 year old male Persian ragdoll with super
fluffy long hair (Caesar). Spayed and neutered and they get along
great together.

Well after the first bag of food which the vet gave me, we switched to
Whiskas Meaty Selections. Both of them LOVE this stuff and everything
was normal.
They loved it so much and ate so often that I thought maybe the
Whiskas was like kitty junk-food. Feeling guilty, when the Whiskas ran
out I switched to IAMS ProActive Health with Chicken (IAMS is
"premium", correct?). I think they only eat this stuff because they're
hungry, it's only been a week. Caesar will sniff the bowl of food and
then proceed to "bury" it by going through the scratching motions on
the floor and walls. They have rubber claw covers so I'm not too
concerned with the scratching.

Within a day after switching to the IAMS food Caesar had diarrhea (BTW
not cool for a cat with his coat) but it only lasted 3 days. He still
tries to bury that food every time he walks by, but will eat it
reluctantly.
Xerxes on the other hand has started showing signs of a urinary
infection - I'm finding puddles. (Caesar likes to go outside, puddles
have shown up while he's out). Her litter box quickly took on an
incredibly powerful odor of ammonia, the kind of smell that can cut
glass and curls your teeth.

So last night I bought the Whiskas again and switched litter (it was
corn based, now it's recycled paper pellets). They both seemed VERY
happy about the change, ate ALL the food and promptly took turns using
the litter box. I'll find out later today if Xerxes left another
surprise, I'm really hoping she just didn't want to melt her skin
using the smelly litter.

What do you guys think? Did the switch to IAMS annoy my cats or did it
actually cause problems?

Lord_Alex wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

Within a day after switching to the IAMS food Caesar had diarrhea (BTW
not cool for a cat with his coat) but it only lasted 3 days. He still
tries to bury that food every time he walks by, but will eat it
reluctantly.

So last night I bought the Whiskas again and switched litter (it was
corn based, now it's recycled paper pellets).

You've really confused me with corn based litter here.

Either way, obviously the IAMS has something your cats do not take to.
Neither brand is decent, but IAMS pretends to be and has a very
*slight* margin. Mostly they are more careful with the sourcing of
what they put in the food.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...wcat.php/cat/8

Sadly there is no similar site specific to cats but the brands follow
the same trends. My cat and 2 dogs are on Blue Wilderness.

In the pet food world, many make glowing 'claims' to be quality. Learn
to read the ingredient lists. wheat, corn and soy are the top
allergens for pets and they do not have the same signals as humans do
to an allergin.

"cshenk" wrote:

wheat, corn and soy are the top
allergens for pets

Not for cats, they're not. The top food allergens for cats are fish,
chicken and beef.
--

Wayne M.

There was a time that Iams was considered a premium food. Then they
were bought out by Procter and Gamble and the quality went downhill.
The best brands now are Wellness and Innova. There may be several
others.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

In article ,
---MIKE--- wrote:
There was a time that Iams was considered a premium food. Then they
were bought out by Procter and Gamble and the quality went downhill.

Is this documented or just bias against P&G? I find it incredible that P&G
would venture to 'ruin' a premium brand after paying good money to acquire
it! Just because a commercial company buys a premium brand does not mean the
quality goes down. Sadly, though, this is *sometimes* the case.

The best brands now are Wellness and Innova. There may be several
others.

I wish the market I go to stocked it. I buy my cat's food at the store where
I shop, which has basically 3 kinds: Iams, Purina, and 'The Cheap Stuff.'
There is a pet store in the next shopping center over. Mebbe, I'll take a
longer walk and get my pet food there. I don't mind spending more, since the
cat eats such a small amount of food anyway (not like a large dog!).

I used to feed my previous tabby Science, and I really noticed a difference
in her coat when I tried downgrading. Maybe I will switch to it if it is
carried by the store near me. I used to have trouble finding it even at pet
stores; they were always running out of stock of Hills/Science for some
reason.

*R* *H*


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')



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