Cats and Kittens

Tips for choosing cat food are made easy today with such a variety available. Make sure you know the age of your cat so you can give it the best possible chance of a healthy diet from the very beginning. Kittens may need a special diet to get them started and also need a smaller, softer type of pellet in their dry food so they are able to digest it until they are big enough to chew the harder adult dry food. Tinned food for kittens needs to be full of vitamins to give them a good start in life. Cat food companies make the food to suit all ages so you can make sure you get the correct dosage of all the good things your cat needs. However, there is also rubbish out there so make sure you buy a reputable brand. My husband used to work in a feed mill where they made pet food and he told me how important it was that they put in the correct amount of vitamins for each particular type of food.

Buying cat food is no different to buying our own. We want the best for our own health so our moggies need to be given the same consideration. Adult cat food is available to a certain age when it goes to the next level of seniors. As they get older I have found that dry food is more important,(the vets I have been to recommend it) and more palatable than some of the tinned food. My cat is very fussy and there is a lot of tinned food he will not eat, but Tuna in any form, is the main source of his diet.

It is not recommended that cats be given treats such as chocolate, cake or biscuits of the human kind. There are treats made especially for cats, but they should not be given too often. Their metabolism is not the same as ours and these things can be detrimental to their health.

When buying dry cat food make sure it is the type your cat likes. Don’t make the mistake of trying to get the cheapest or one that is on special if it is not the one you usually get. Cats are very fussy, not much different to humans. They have their likes and dislikes the same as us and if they take to a particular dry food, stick with it because if you try to give them another brand they will only turn their nose up and you will be left with a box of dry food that is not wanted and you still have to buy the one they want.

I don’t like the smell of any of them but a cat’s senses are very acute and they know if it is not their usual food. I have been caught a few times until I got the message. There are plenty of different types of dry food in the supermarkets and there are a lot of different blends too. Be careful if you buy a blend of two or three flavors, make sure the strongest flavor is your cat’s favorite.

One important thing to remember is not to get a large packet of dry food before you find out what your cat likes. Once the ground rules have been established everyone should be happy.

- IAMS WHAT I AM -

“Like you, we adore dogs and cats, and have a very particular passion for their nutrition. We know that good nutrition can help make a difference to your pets’ health and happiness”. As found on the iams website.

I love cats! I have two British short hairs. Brother and sister. I feed them the food that was recommended to me by my best friend whom I got my kittens from. I had previously fed all my former cats on wet food and I wasn’t really aware that this dried food was in fact complete dietary nutrition. I still wasn’t entirely convinced that I would bring them up on Iams as I felt it was a little expensive. However after using it now for nigh on seven years I have completely changed my mind.-

Iams is distinguishable by its bright orange packaging with a picture of a cat with its tail held high, to the front. The package is made of a thick, strong plastic material, and the most important piece of information that stands out for me is that Iams is developed with veterinarians and it carries the veterinary seal to display this fact. All other necessary details are entirely covering the colourful and information loaded orange packet.

- Iams – Iams is a complete balanced diet for your cat. It comes in the form of small dried nuggets of biscuit style food. It is stated as being ‘100% Complete and Balanced’ in formulation. Iams use a blend of wholegrain, cereals, protein, fish oil, fibre, vitamins, minerals and vegetable fibre. Iams promotes 7 signs of a healthy cat. The 7 signs are: 1- A glossy and healthy coat. 2- Strong immune system. 3 – Healthy teeth. 4 – Strong muscles. 5 – Strong heart. 6 – Good digestive tract. 7 – Clear urinary tract.

- Food and Nutrition – Basically Cats are carnivores Iams cat nutrition products contain all the essential nutrients required for a balanced and healthy diet. Iams only use the highest quality digestible protein sources and essential amino acids to keep the cats coat, teeth and body in prime condition. Iams Adult is made of premium quality ingredients to bring your full grown cat the best that money can buy. They have now improved their recipe so that Iams is better than ever for your cat and supplies them with all their required nutrients.

- The Ingredients of Iams- Iams dried cat food is 100% natural with no added colourings or preservatives. Their variety of flavours are delicious to cats and you will find that they will need less food as the ingredients and nutrients of Iams are completely satisfying

Iams cat food is the only dry food I feed my cats. It is a truly nutritious and delicious cat food. Iams is recommended by veterinarians and has a 100% guarantee.

The most important feature of Iams dry cat food is that my cat loves it! There’s no point in buying a healthy, expensive specialty cat food if your cat won’t eat it. I have found that all the cats I have owned over the years have all preferred the taste of Iams. They will even pick out the Iams nuggets and eat them if I mix in another dry food.

I’ve noticed that when I’ve adopted cats that have been eating different food, their coats can be dry and sometimes even scaly. After switching the cat to Iams dry food, within a week or so, their fur becomes beautiful and soft and shiny. Iams dry cat food has added Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids to their ingredients, which I believe could be the reason for the extra healthly coat of fur.

Iams has recently updated their product line and is now carrying 17 different types of dry cat food. Their most commonly purchased brand for adult cats is Iams ProActive Health Original, which comes in Chicken, Tuna, Lamb and Ocean Fish flavors. They also have varieties designed for hairball control, weight control, and digestive care as well as dry food specifically for kittens and older cats. There is an Iams food for every cat imaginable.

All types of Iams food are thoroughly tested to ensure nutritional excellence. The Iams website says: “We go above and beyond typical pet food quality assurance practices to make sure that our nutrition is healthy and safe for pets.” Iams runs more than 150 quality assurance tests on their food through all stages of the manufacturing process to ensure all food safety guidelines are met.

If you visit Iams website, www.iams.com, you can find the ingredients, calories and guaranteed nutritional analysis of all their pet foods. All Iams cat foods meet the minimum requirements for protein, fat, and the essential amino acid Taurine. They also are belwo the recommended maximum levels for ash and magnesium, two compounds that can be detrimental to your cats health in higher doses.

Another benefit of Iams cat food is that it is reasonably priced. A four pound bag is generally less than $10. Iams can be found in almost all grocery store chains as well as in big box stores like Wal-mart and Target, so there’s no need to go to your veterinarian to buy cat food.

The Iams website is a great place to get more information regarding Iams cat foods as well as their other products. The website not only provides information about food, but also veterinarian advice on pet care.

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I’m a very old retiree and on a tightly limited budget, so I’m very familiar with cat food. Writing for Helium has given me some desperately needed additional money, and now I can afford a better brand of cat food. Further, if the income gets any better, I’ll be able to share some of it with my cat.

Seriously, I must go back in memory to remember what we fed our cat, Mems. He was not the typical finicky cat. He ate anything and everything. Despite warnings from we parents, our kids often sneaked tidbits to him under the table during meals. His favorites were turkey, bacon, kosher hot dogs, mozzarella cheese and popsicles.

He should have collapsed into a blubbery, overweight mess before he was ten, but he lived until at least age 21. As a very active outside cat, we know he supplemented his diet with occasional squirrels, mice and moles. Our ghoulish kids always went running to Mems when the cat had murdered a hapless squirrel, because he put on a grisly show by holding it upright in his front paws and eating it from the head down like a bloody ice cream cone.

Another admirable trait was when Mems felt generous with a fresh kill. He’d often bring a dead critter’s body into our kitchen and make a great ceremony of presenting it to us. On several occasions, when hunting was particularly good, we’d find three or four little bodies lined up in a neat row next to the refrigerator. Mems seemed to be greatly insulted when we quickly carried his gifts to the nearest garbage can.

With a cat that had such diverse food sources, we didn’t have much need for commercial cat food. After advice from Mems’ vet, we tried different brands he recommended. Of course, when there was fresh food to be handed out, Mems often turned his nose up at canned cat food, or he’d only come back to it when it was all he could get.

Mems had his likes and dislikes. Once, when we tried to feed him a yummy-looking can of tuna with cheese balls, Mems ate the tuna and carefully spit out the cheese balls. Knowing he loved cheese, we were puzzled until we found out the cheese balls were totally artificial and mostly dough. Talk about finicky cats!

Our advice is to plan your cat’s diet at each stage of life from kitten to old age. There are many resources and advice on cat food on the internet. The most important way to see that your cat eats properly is by frequent consultations with a vet who specializes in cat care.

The food that you buy for your cat is one of the most important choices that you will make as a pet-owner, because its nutritional value will directly affect the health of your feline. Just as you do for your own food, you have to check the ingredients list and nutritional information on the package. Here are some tips on how to make the right nutritional choice for your cat.

THE FIRST FIVE

The initial thing to look for in a cat food is the first five items in its ingredients list. Choose a food that has some sort of meat protein as the first ingredient in the list. Cats are carnivores-protein must be the primary nutrient in their food to maintain proper health and digestion. Also, in light of the recent poisoning of wheat gluten, I recommend choosing a food that does not have wheat gluten in the ingredients list. The last thing I look for in the first five ingredients is natural foods. It addition to meat/animal products, look for rice, oat, or corn in its most natural form to provide necessary fiber and carbohydrates in your cat’s diet.

SUPPLEMENTS

The next thing that I consider when shopping for cat food, is the food’s supplements-vitamins, minerals, and oils. I always make sure that my cat food contains either lipotein oil or vitamin E. Lipotein and vitamin E both provide nutrients for your cat’s skin and coat health. You will notice an immediate improvement in the shine and softness your cat’s coat when you begin to feed a food containing lipotein.

Once you have determined that the food contains lipotein or vitamin E, check the nutritional value of the food using the chart provided on the packaging. This chart is similar to the ones put on human food packaging and will tell you the nutritional content of the food. Look for a food that contains high sources of vitamin D, zinc, calcium, linoleic acid, crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber.

Lastly, I prefer to purchase foods that contain cranberry powder. Cranberry powder is vital to your cat’s urinary tract health. Cats are prone to urinary and bladder infections, and a food which contains cranberry powder will help to maintain the health of the urinary tract. It can be difficult to find foods that contain cranberry powder, but I urge you to persevere until you find one. It will promote the longevity and overall health of your pet.

NATURAL IS BEST

The final thing that I look for in a dry food is that the majority of the ingredients are natural ingredients. If I have

Iams cat food has received several awards including the “Veterinarian Recommended” stamp of approval and the “Good Housekeeping” award these two are just a few awards received by the pet food makers known as Iams.

Iams is more than just a company that makes pet food and supplies the company takes an active role in the welfare of both cats, dogs, with their “Friend for Life” program, that helps homeless, abused cats, and dogs find new homes. As part of this noble role, they also supply hundreds of animal shelters with free or very low discounted food and items for the animals in shelters. They also offer breeders and the general public an extraordinary database of knowledge on all topics of pet care. Which is why Iams is one of the leading names in pet supplies industry.

While every coin has two sides to it, Iams is also accused of trying their “food” out on actual cats and dogs. Unless they are intentionally trying to cause harm to the animals I think this debate is pretty much a mute point so let’s get on with the cat food reviews.

Iams offers cat food in three stages Kitten, Adult and Mature/Senior. They offer both dry and wet (canned) cat food. As well as veterinarian formulas.

In the dry food category they have 16 types of food including Iams Healthy Naturals brand in Atlantic salmon, ocean fish and rice and lamb and rice and chicken flavored for adult and mature cats.

Kittens have chicken, tuna and chicken in salmon flavored food. Then some of the special brands include hairball control and weight control, digestive care formulas.

Canned cat food flavors include pate as a base for most of the brands. Fillet, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb and ocean fish. All canned food comes in a three ounce can or five and a half ounce can which is the recommended amount for each feeding. The canned cat food is recommended for cats a year old and older.

The veterinarian special formulas include renal health, digestive health, skin and coat health, mobility, stress and GI health are all among the special formulas for cats.They offer a flavor for every felines taste buds and numerous special diet formals to keep cats healthy!

While Iams cat food is a bit more expensive than several other brands they come with a money back guarantee. If you visit their website you can also print off coupons some up to as much $3.00 off you will also be able to see all the cat foods and cat supplies they offer. www.iams.com

CAT FOOD REVIEWS: PURINA ONE (DRY)

The Nestle Purina PetCare Company has been in the pet food business for 75 years. The company definitely lives up to its trademarked tagline, “Your Pet, Our Passion.”

Every bag comes with a money-back guarantee, a 1-800 phone number and a website address, for additional tips on pet health and dietary nutrition or questions about their products.

I was attracted to Purina One for the simple fact that the dry food line contains “no added fillers, colors, or artificial flavors.” They use real ingredients, like chicken, turkey, rice and oatmeal, as opposed to a slew of chemicals. When reading the list of ingredients, the first item is a real food item, for instance, white meat chicken, turkey and egg, or brown rice.

My five “experts” have two favorites: Adult Cat Sensitive Systems and Natural Blends with Vitamins and Minerals, though Purina One offers everything from kitten to dental to senior and hairball formulas. There is sure to be a variety that suits your feline’s specific nutritional needs.

Two of my girls have sensitive stomachs and cannot easily digest many of the dry cat foods on the market, especially those containing nuggets with a rainbow of colors, or those containing unhealthy fillers. The Purina One Sensitive Systems formula is very digestible, is all one natural color, and also offers antioxidants, vitamin E and omega fatty acids.

The Purina One Natural Blends with Vitamins and Minerals contains additional ingredients (cranberries, soybeans, spinach, oatmeal, brown rice, and canola oil) that provide essential nutrients to aid in boosting your cat’s energy level, keeping their skin and coat in tiptop condition, and helping maintain the health of their teeth and gums.

Purina Cat Chow also offers a Naturals Plus Vitamins and Minerals that is high in protein, natural fiber, whole grains, and leafy greens. This formula uses real chicken and salmon, along with spinach and parsley.

Several of my “kids” have petite mouths and some dry food nuggets are too large for them to chew and digest properly. Purina’s morsels are just the right size for even the smallest of mouths! They are small, oval or triangular-shaped pieces that can be broken up easily and not those hard little pellets that could be used in a BB gun.

I have been a “cat mommy” for over 25 years. Though several of my “children” have been normal, healthy cats or kittens, most have been “special needs” kitties. I have tried a multitude of dry foods but Purina One and Cat Chow Naturals are, by far, not only my choice, but also the favorites of my “experts,” mainly due to the natural ingredients, digestibility, dietary needs, and morsel size.

Purina is a company that I have grown to trust and can attest to the fact that the promotional claims they make, they stand behind. Purina has been testing and developing their pet foods for 75 years and that makes me confident that I am giving “my kids” a balanced and healthy diet.

What is the purrrrfect food for your kitty? The American Humane Society claims that a healthy diet for your cat may add years to his life, and save the owner dollars for the veterinarian’s bill. This being the case, there are a few things to consider when you are making the choice for your cat’s supper:

*How old is your feline? Kittens need more easily digestible food. They may need food that is softer or at least smaller for tinier mouths. Adult cats can try a more mainstream diet, while senior cats may need a cat food that promotes a healthier, though “slower” lifestyle. Most brand name foods are labeled for the appropriateness for each age or stage of development.

*Does kitty have any medical needs? There are foods for underweight and overweight cats, and those with urinary problems and even hairball problems. Unfortunately, some cats suffer from feline diseases, and your doctor may be able to suggest a particular food for certain conditions. Science Diet makes many varieties that claim to assist cats with diet deficiences.

*What does kitty like? Cats are like humans, in that they have food preferences. Kibble (dry food) or wet food may be a preference, but a certain flavor or brand of food may be a favorite as well. Once, I had a cat who would eat Fancy Feast only, and I worried she would starve if I ever ran out.

Taking these things into consideration, choose your cat food wisely. Look at the labels, just as you would look at the labels of the food that you would eat. The first ingredient listed on the food should be an animal protein such as fish, chicken , beef, etc. Fillers such as wheat or barley should be listed toward the end, as they are not helpful in maintaining Fluffy’s health , shiny coat, and general well-being. The AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officers) maintain that a label should indicate that the dry weight protein of a food should be 26% or more. You can even look for the AAFCO approval on the packaging. The words “complete and balanced” should appear on the label , as well. Some foods are touted as being natural. To make sure they are, look for preservatives like ethoxyquin, propyl gallate, BHA and BHT…these are NOT in the best interest in your pet. Vitamin C and E can be used to preserve the food instead. Organic or natural food may cost more, but experts say they are worth the extra pennies. Last, but not least, check your pet food’s experation date and also for any unusual smells. Your vet may have some specific suggestions after a short visit with your pet, and those should be taken wisely as well. Hopefully, after some careful consideration, your kitty will have a dinner that is the cat’s meow.

WHAT IS THE BEST CAT FOOD FOR YOUR PET?

“You are what you eat” is a saying that applies to cats as well as people. Finding the best cat food for your pet is important because you want her to be healthy and strong for many years. Pet owners may sometimes think that just because something is labeled “cat food” it must be good for their cat. That’s like believing that fast food is as good for you as fresh, organic vegetables!

When choosing the best cat food, the first thing to look at is the ingredients. Avoid brands that contain “meal” or meat by-products rather than real meat. These foods are less nutrient-dense, meaning you actually have to feed more to your pet in order to meet her nutritional needs. This can result in an overweight kitty who is predisposed to a whole host of health problems. Also avoid artificial preservatives and colors. These are just as bad for your cat as they are for you.

Premium Brands are Best

In general the best cat food is one of the premium brands. These brands seem to cost more, but the cost is offset by the fact that you can feed the cat less food. It will also save you from health care costs in the long run, and you will have a happier, healthier pet that is likely to enjoy a longer life as your companion.

According to our research of consumer ratings (and the taste buds of our own pets), the best cat food brands include the premium brands Iams and the store brand Purina One. While Iams has recently been associated with the pet food recall, the company has now eliminated byproducts (it was byproducts used not only in Iams but in many cat foods that were contaminated) from its ingredient list. Purina One is a less expensive alternative for pet owners who really cannot afford a premium brand. While it does have some less desirable ingredients that include fillers like corn meal, flour and byproducts, it has more high quality ingredients than most store brands.

What about treats?

Treats should be given sparingly. Of course, like other kinds of pet food, the best cat treats are free of artificial ingredients like dyes and preservatives. One of the most popular pet treats is a product called Greenies. These treats are not only something cats love, but they also help to control tartar and keep your cat’s breath fresh. They are especially good for cats who give you are hard time about brushing their teeth!