Cat Food - coat health?

[Justmyluck]

[QUOTE=gypsymare;7382356]
Proplan would be like upgrading from Mac and cheese to hot dogs.

It’s not hard to figure out what’s in cat food. The labels should be clear. First ingredients should be whole named meat, not byproducts. Whole chicken, Fish, etc. NO CORN, NO WHEAT, NO SOY.

Wellness Core
Innova Evo
Wellness regular
Innova regular
Taste of the Wild[/QUOTE]

You boutique food people are relentless. I have 4 cats on it and none of them have ever looked better. I am interested in what you think a byproduct is. Oh and Proplan I have my cats on the first ingredient is turkey.

[rugbygirl]

I’m kind of confused, the second ingredient in almost all of those is “chicken meal.”

[Jhein12]

[QUOTE=Justmyluck;7382440]
You boutique food people are relentless. I have 4 cats on it and none of them have ever looked better. I am interested in what you think a byproduct is. Oh and Proplan I have my cats on the first ingredient is turkey.[/QUOTE]

I don’t myself a boutique food person. I consider myself educated about basic cat/ dog nutrition and I have seen what crap food can do to an animal- cancerous lumps, bad coat, bad teeth, obesity. Just because your cats have steel stomachs doesn’t mean every cat does well on it. Some people eat junk food and McDonalds daily and are considered healthy by their doctor.
A byproduct is something from an animal that is not suitable for human consumption. This may legally include: feet, heads, feathers, brains, intestines, undeveloped eggs, meat that has been sitting out in a hot trailer, dead on arrival animals, 4-D animals. Basically what you wouldn’t eat without getting sick. Not all byproduct is bad. I feed livers, hearts ect. But I know that it is safe for human consumption. Byproducts in Pro Plan aren’t named, they are vaguely described as “chicken by-product”. But at least byproduct is meat. What do you think about corn and other grains in cat food when cats are carnivores and their bodies lack the enzymes to break down those products? You cheap pet food people are relentless in my opinion, defending something when the fact that it isn’t great is right in front of you.

[Jhein12]

[QUOTE=rugbygirl;7382464]
I’m kind of confused, the second ingredient in almost all of those is “chicken meal.”[/QUOTE]

Chicken meal is basically a meat concentrate and has way more protein than just chicken.

[rugbygirl]

Jhein, quick question, what is it about potato/sweet potato and peas that is more digestible for cats? That seems to be the grain substitute in the non-grain feeds. I think they use the vegetable product to hold the food together and provide fiber.

Corn I know has a fairly high sugar content, but also vegetable starches…similar to potato starch.

Curious about these…or are the starch sources primarily roughage? They pass through without being digested?

ETA:

Chicken meal is basically a meat concentrate and has way more protein than just chicken.

Not sure if “chicken meal” is a fundamentally different product than “chicken byproduct meal.” Based on my knowledge of meat processing, those two products would be the same.

[Jhein12]

The starches are roughage. Better foods will use beans and tapioca rather than potato. Chicken meal is ground up parts that are considered edible to us. Byproduct meal is the parts not edible for humans.

[gypsymare]

[QUOTE=Justmyluck;7382440]
You boutique food people are relentless. I have 4 cats on it and none of them have ever looked better. I am interested in what you think a byproduct is. Oh and Proplan I have my cats on the first ingredient is turkey.[/QUOTE]
I’m not sure what a boutique food is. Innova and Wellness are available at any franchised pet store in the US like PetSmart or Petco. Wellness is carried by Tractor Supply and Smartpak. Most feed mills carry one or the other. My experience with Proplan has been less than satisfactory. I transitioned my Border Collie to it 10 years ago and his black coat turned reddish, brittle, and would not shed out in the summer. Switching to Innova Evo made a huge difference and his coat was jet black, glossy and seasonally appropriate.

One of my coworkers has an 18 year old cat who ate Meow Mix his whole life but that doesn’t make it a good quality food. My mom took care of one of my cats for a few years. He was fed Deli Cat and ended up lethargic and thin with dandruff and a dull coat. A few months back to eating Innova and he was glossy and in good weight again.

YMMV

[Chief2]

I had a cat with all sorts of skin issues. We used Royal Canin skin and coat, and her fur became softer and glossier. I believe the Canadian version is made in Ontario.

I will also add that while I adore the all natural, no grain foods, I have a cat with such skin sensitivities and allergies that we ended up on Rx food for allergies, then had to restart the entire food testing again. Wellness, Innova, Weruva, Solid Gold, etc. Nothing stopped her from ripping out her fur and biting holes in her skin. Even the Royal Canin only went so far, and she was right back at it. Then we tried the crappy Pro Plan, and it all stopped. We are now on a mix of Wellness and Pro Plan. If I could go back to just Wellness, I would do it, but she won’t eat most of it. It’s enough to make you crazy.

[whbar158]

My cat was “healthy” despite a dull dandruff coat when he was younger, I did some research and went grain free, and now he only has dandruff under stress and if he stays at the vets office (I let him eat their food when he boards there) and it goes away after being home on his regular food (Innova wet, previous stones, so wet only for him!).

Of course there may still be cats that don’t do well on the high end food and prefer and do better on something cheaper, I would say those are exceptions and not something to go by. I get more comments from people, including vets as we have moved around about the condition of my cat (worst thing is he is a tad over weight) but many comments about his coat/eyes/ears always being in such good condition.

I personally would try to find something that is grain free or as grain free as possible (rice instead of corn) but corn is a major allergy for pets (dogs too).

[Gestalt]

I’ve tried many of the brands listed above. My cats waste the expensive food. They don’t like it. If they won’t eat it, it doesn’t matter what the ingredients are. I feed proplan and friskies for dry and fancy feast for wet.

If I had the money to spend trying to get them to eat healthy I’d try it on myself as well.

[rugbygirl]

I personally would try to find something that is grain free or as grain free as possible (rice instead of corn) but corn is a major allergy for pets (dogs too).

I’ve heard this statement a few times now, that corn, wheat and soy are common food allergies for pets. I wasn’t really sure how this was determined, nor 100% confident on the sources that were reporting it. It seems to be common knowledge/accepted at this point, in the pet-care world. It’s not like I’m attached to corn in a particular way, I was just unsure of the statement the first few times it was reported to me.

In the interest of trying one thing at a time, I did start trying to get fish oil into the dandruffy cat, but I don’t think it has been long enough to note a real difference yet. We’ll keep that up for a few more weeks and see. Since the dandruff is fairly mild and comes and goes, we’ll give the fish oil a good solid trial, then look at some of the other feeds.

[alto]

[QUOTE=rugbygirl;7395347]
I’ve heard this statement a few times now, that corn, wheat and soy are common food allergies for pets. I wasn’t really sure how this was determined, nor 100% confident on the sources that were reporting it. [/QUOTE]

There are actual research studies - also if your vet is a Feline Specialist you’ll generally find a different skill set/knowledge base than if dealing with a general practitioner.

International companies such as Royal Canin also fund a considerable amount of research, not just into manufacturing/improving their food but also suitable foods for cats with medical issues (some of the R & D generates a profit, some is just a big black hole :lol: ) & other research grants (they also donated substantial $$$ to rescues/shelters etc, though I suspect this has dropped off with the economic downturn).

[Emryss]

[QUOTE=Jhein12;7382571]
The starches are roughage. Better foods will use beans and tapioca rather than potato. Chicken meal is ground up parts that are considered edible to us. Byproduct meal is the parts not edible for humans.[/QUOTE]

Chicken by-product meal is not considered edible by Americans.

AAFCO definition:
Chicken By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.

My dogs get chicken neck regularly as part of a meal or as a treat; same with feet - lots of good chondroitin in those cartilaginous parts. They’ve also gotten chicken offal (intestines and undeveloped eggs) as part of a meal as well. Guess where I get that stuff? The Chinese market down the road, in the meat case - and there’s all sorts of other goodies to choose from. All those “nasty bits” that we won’t eat are perfectly good protein for people and dogs.