Canned cat food question. My poor old skinny kitteh with the bad teeth seems to

[GreenPartyVoter]

be able to eat it just fine, but I am concerned about what brand is best. Between the contamination scare and now hearing that high ash content can cause urinary tract infections, what should we get?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Wellness is good -- it doesn't have grain in it. My guys love it.

[Madrone]

2. There are more - but off the top of my head:

Wellness is indeed a good brand.
Innova
Merrick
Natural Balance
Pinnacle

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[Flaxbee]

3. in a pinch, I'll give my cats Fancy Feast -

FF was not on the recall list.

Our cats also have liked Spot's Stew (which your old girl /fella might like - has lots of broth and 'loose' meat).

Also, if you can find California Natural moist - our cats LOVED it, and they're very finicky customers.

[bicentennial_baby]

4. Wellness

That's what our kitteh eats, wet and dry. Excellent choice.

[huskerlaw]

5. I third the Wellness suggestion

Mine love it and it's great quality.

[bullwinkle428]

6. Solid Gold Blended Tuna is a great product - my cat goes crazy for it!

http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=10&code=240

[hyphenate]

7. Really depends on how much

you want to spend on it. Any of the major manufacturers are normally pretty good, but if you can afford it, you might want to get Hill's Science Diet. You can buy some formulae at Petco, but there are some you can only get at the vet's and get charged an arm and a leg for them.

I don't trust Iams at all--there are lots and lots of rumors and a website (www.iamscruelty.com) that give you more info on that topic.

I use Friskies in the can when I need to give them that kind of a diet, but I would certainly pick something else if it were required, and if I could afford it.

In that way, too, you might opt for the "prime cuts" instead of the "loaf" style, because it has a higher protein base, IIRC.

People always assume that the special diet food is worth purchasing over the regular stuff on the shelves--in fact, the regular stuff is what feeds a majority of pets in the country, and their health is hardly different than those on "special" diets.

Still make sure they can eat dry food, though, because it helps to keep their teeth cleaner in the long run.

[Madrone]

10. While I hate to be contrary - I feel a need to speak up in this case.

#1 - Dry food DOES NOT keep teeth cleaner in the long run. In fact, the opposite is true. I know it's what we've always been told, but it is 100% false. Here are a couple of links to save me the time of trying to explain this myself:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth
http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

#2 - Premium vs. grocery store food. I have a diabetic cat and a cat in renal failure who would beg to differ regarding the health benefit of premium vs. "regular" food. Unfortunately, I've had to learn the hard way and I've made many mistakes while doing so. It didn't help that I was dead broke and there was no internet (ie: no information available) when I started. See below.
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/petfood1.html
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/
http://www.preciouspets.org/truth.htm

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Ugh. I don't want my kittehs eating other pets

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. UPDATE: hubby got the canned Purina Friskies. We'll see how teh kittehs like it :^) I am still givin

them the grass indoor formula Purina kibble, but Pretzel can't eat it with his infected teeth unless I wet it down and let it get soft for him. :( (We've come full circle. I did this exact same thing for them when they were bebbies.)

Thanks for all the suggestions, though. I will tell hubby to look for Wellness in the future.

[MonkeyFunk]

9. When one of my cats got real old,

the vet recommended the meat baby foods - it's just pure pureed meats. She absolutely loved it.

Beef, chicken, lamb... it was her favorite.

[Pavulon]

12. Vet can prescribe Science Diet AD

very high calorie content. I would set up a visit with your vet and see if they think it is appropriate.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. We were just there. We're waiting on blood test results to find out why he

has been losing weight (besides a sore mouth) but hyperthyroidism is looking very likely. After that we'll get some meds and see what food the doc recommends. We may have to get different foods for each of the cats, since one is super skinny and the other is a little barrel on dainty little legs. LOL