I am not going to pretend to know everything there is to know about the proper or even natural way to feed pets but it does stand to reason that cats in the wild do not eat anything even remotely similar to Cat Chow. My cats are strictly indoor and therefore do not have the luxury of getting a bit of natural food through their own hunting. Being an animal lover I am relieved that they are not out there murdering birds and rabbits but the unfortunate fact remains, they are carnivores and as the hand that feeds them I am not doing a very good job.
Now that I reflect back on my years of Cat Chow, I am afraid I was feeding them the equivalent of Doritos every day for the last decade. They had hairballs, constipation, and a terrible shedding problem. I blamed all of the above on age, rather than diet. I have noticed that some of my friend's cats that eat Iams had much healthier coats and didnt shed nearly as much as mine.
I switched to Iams a couple of months ago but I have read that Iams isnt much better and still doesnt approximate the diet that the cats would get in the wild. Going back to common sense I realize that cats in the wild would not eat grains or fillers at all. They would pretty much eat raw, Atkins type of diets.
I found two types of dry cat food which I am trying out for now and I will report back on how the cats seem to like them. The first is called Raw Instinct. Here is a Nature Varieties own description of the food.
"Nature's Variety Dry Kibble Diets provide biologically appropriate nutrition that can facilitate health, optimum body weight, and longer pet life. Dry kibble diets containing more high quality meat protein and fewer carbohydrates can aid in reducing the incidence of stomach bloat, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), some urinary tract crystals, allergies, and other diseases. This nutritionally dense kibble formula is appropriate for all life stages based on high meat protein content and whole grains. "
This food has received 5 stars by Amazon reviewers. In the week that I have been feeding it to them, their coats are much shinier and I dont notice much shedding at all. They seem to enjoy the flavor. They still prefer their wet food so there is a little competition for flavors but so far it seems to have a majority vote.
I also purchased TimberWolf Organics Serengeti Herbal Feline Formula Cat Food . There are no stars on Amazon for this product and the description is pretty sparse. "A special carnivore specific felid diet that promotes low urinary pH and assists in the removal of hair balls." Naturally that doesnt mean anything so I am here to test it for you.
I bought a four pound bag of each and I have four cats so they wont last long. I am going to use up the Raw Instincts first and then the Timberwolf and I will report back.
You can find both products at my store or you can purchase them on Amazon by clicking the links in this post. Please feel free to comment here if you have any experience with these foods whether positive or negative as I am learning here too.
Thanks for visiting & see you soon!
Sheryl
