Hello everyone,
I have a question here... I know that there are tons of brands of cat food available in the market.. There are even some brands that are specially catered for certain breed of cats, eg. Royal Canin for Persians and Royal Canin for Maine Coon... What is the recommended dry cat food for Ragdolls? Is chicken meal better or fish meal better? What brand are you all using for your lovely Ragdolls? Pls share with me... Thks!
~Wilson~
There are many good foods and there is no one "best." You should start out with the food the kitten is already eating. Only after a long adjustment period in your home should you switch. Kittens are best on kitten blends, which are better blended for their needs than even all stages foods that are "appropriate" for both kittens and adults. In general, chicken would be more digestible and does not have the heavy metal risks of fish. However, often these are just flavors and there are a long list of other ingredients anyway.
JanH, thks for the quick reply! What do you think about "by-products" ingredient in the dry food? Are they considered ok? Also, I see that some leading brands have "corn gluten" or "wheat gluten" in the dry food... Is it harmful to the health of the cats?
Thks!
~Wilson~
Some cats have sensitivity to some ingredients. Most do not. I think few companies identify an ingredient as a by product, which just means it is left over from something else. Corn and wheat products are nutritious for most cats. Rice is probably a more digestible grain. If you want to avoid certain things, that is fine, although the differences may be more marketing issues than nutritional. In general, the more expensive foods are "better" and have more "improved" ingredients. However, more basic foods can also provide all of the nutritional requirements of your kitten. If you decide you want to make a change, which always risks some GI upset at least at first, it is just a matter of selecting a food that seems a better fit for you and your kitten and giving it a try to see if you like how your kitten seems to do on that food.
The link below reflects a consensus of feline nutritional experts from the major US vet schools.
http://www.consumerreports.org/health/he...ood-ov.htm
Jan - thanks, that's a great link (another one for me to bookmark)
I personally feed a mixture of Nature Variety's Instinct Rabbit Meal, Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance, and Wellness Kitten (considered holistic brands). These are products that don't have by-products, which are defined as "Whatever remains of the carcass — heads, feet, bones, blood, intestines, lungs, spleens, livers, ligaments, fat trimmings, unborn babies, and other parts not generally consumed by humans — is used in pet food, animal feed, fertilizer, industrial lubricants, soap, rubber, and other products." and has a high percentage of actual meat in the kibble.
As for corn gluten or wheat gluten, based on what I know, some cats can tolerate it, but in the long run, may develop an intolerance to it resulting in health conditions such as diabetes or IBD as their body is not really designed to process grain products.
Some other owners may have never had problems feeding their cats commercial food with these ingredients, so all I can really recommend is do your own research to what you think is best for your cats and make your own informed decision. Here's a link with an article that provides a more in-depth discussion in what is really in pet food.
http://www.catinfo.org/
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359
In addition, another thing that I have found that may be useful in determining which food to buy, is that the price/lb for Instinct, Wellness, Natural Balance is more or less about the same price as "premium" commercial food such as Science Diet, Royal Canin, etc. And from what I've heard, I haven't experienced this personally since I've never used commercial food, the cats also tend to eat less of the holistic brand due to it being more meat and less filler and also less poop in the litter box due to less fiber (from the filler: corn, wheat, etc).
Good luck!
As you can determine from the advice of the vet nutritionists at the link that I provided, there is no known health detriment in feeding non-meat ingredients to cats, or lesser meat products. These are not individual observations of ones own cats, but are based on the science and research of pet nutrition.
As for listing possible ingredients categorized as by products, this does not mean any of these are in other foods. This looks to be a list of "things we do not have in our foods" or "things that were once in this or that food" which is presented in "marketing speak" and designed to be offensive. If you do not eat hot dogs or sausage yourself, then you may not want to feed full meat sources to your cat either, but you might be surprised what is meant by "human grade" ingredients. In any event, do not confuse yourself that this is an issue of nutrition or health. (I can recall the pride in advertising of "whole hog sausage" which included everything but the squeek. All this meant was that the good cuts were used as well and not just the leftover meat in most sausage.)
Products from corn, wheat and rice are not fillers. They have nutritional content as well. They CAN provide needed fiber to the diet, but those ingredients are not the corn gluten type of ingredients that are sources of nutrition in the food. (By the way, some corn products are more expensive than meat protein, so do not be confused by the claims that foods with these ingredients are "cheapened.")
Just as with human food, there are many fringe and fad sources of misinformation, like Born Free (not a healthy status for domestic cats). If you want to get on that merry go round, you can. But recognize the chances of improving the health of your cat is not likely and some touted choices - homemade, fish predominantly and raw - are dangerous. If you just feed another AAFCO approved mainstream commercial food, as long as it is the appropriate life stage and your cat accepts it, then there is not any downside to be expected other than cost and convenience.
Natures Variety, Natural Balance and Wellness are ALL COMMERCIAL PET FOODS - and all of them contain significant non-meat ingredients (except perhaps the first, which is raw and has the contamination risks if fed raw). ; ) (By the way, I do not know of any commercial raw diets that do not contain bone, since the movement started for dogs as BARF - Bone and Raw Food. So, is it a "bad" by product or something that adds nutritional content?)
What are the credentials of Lisa Pierson, DVM? Is she board certified in any specialty. Is she on the faculty of any vet school? Her article is full of as yet unaccepted ideas. In matters of health, including for our cats, it is much wiser to stay with the consensus of the acknowledged experts.
The link seems to be for Life's Abundance. The issue for a kitten is that it is an all life stages food and not a kitten blend.
I do not know what foods are reasonably available in Singapore nor how much trouble you are prepared to accept - and you need not accept any trouble. ; ) However, the first choice is simple - feed what the kitten is on. If you decide to change, then you have to decide from among those things that you want to get based on price, convenience and your standards for quality. At that point you may want to ask for experiences of those who have tried the foods you are considering. Otherwise you are getting advice about things you cannot seriously consider.
Just be assured that there is no one "best" choice - or even a short list. Some cats accept and do well on one food and some do not accept or do well on it, but do on another.
