I have a cat that just turned 1 year old and I have been feeding him Whiskas brand hard cat food for as long as he's been able to eat it, and maybe three cans of Fancy Feast as a treat each week. I had to switch food on him once to a different brand and it made him so sick I thought he was going to die. I immediately found another bag of Whiskas and when he started eating again he regained his strength and I have never changed it since. I'm not really up on cat stuff, since this is the first one that I've been in charge of caring for. Dogs are different, I grew up caring for them.

I guess what I want to know is this. Is Whiskas a good healthy cat food? If not, what are the best out there ? I know cats can be picky, and sometimes their stomachs can't handle certain things. I'm pretty sure it was Meow Mix or maybe Purina that got him sick. What do you guys recommend? Also, I'm thinking whatever I get needs to be introduced gradually into his diet so it doesn't shock his system. If I'm wrong on that let me know as well.

Thanks guys.

Oh, as far as breed. I think it's a long haired American Pisser
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Sure he looks cute, but he can be a handful.
His name. Yumi. We thought was a girl when we first got him.

I can't tell you which is the healthiest, but my vet actually favors canned over dry. I give mine both + treats of cooked chicken and canned salmon.

ETA: Very cute kitty!

Whiskas is probably not the greatest food out there (I don't know what is the best honestly, it's more of an opinion thing really) but I'm of the camp where if it's not broke, don't fix it.  If you want to change to something else, Iams, Purina, or one of the more expensive new foods is probably fine.  Just look to see if it has an AAFCO approval on the bag, that means it has been tested to be a complete diet and not just a bunch of ingredients Billy Bob threw together and calls a food.  Whatever you do make sure you mix the new food in with the old in gradually increasing amounts over 5-7 days to prevent the upset stomach problems you had last time, it is pretty common for that to happen when changing food abruptly.

Run a whole rabbit through a grinder. Then run it through again.

Trying to fatten it up for Thanksgiving???

(I kid)

Talking food in cat circles will inadvertently fire up an argument. I know tons of cat people and every one of them has a completely different opinion of what constitutes "healthy" or "good" cat food.

Rule of thumb I have always heard is dry for urinary tract health, canned for complex proteins and oils.

I feed my boys a split diet of dry and canned. Dry is Purina One, mostly because it is made here from local ingredients, no Chinese crap. Occasionally I get them a bag of Beyond One. I'd switch to Beyond completely if I could find a cheap source for it. The canned we use is Fancy Feast. Yes, yes I know "Fancy Feast au chante!" but the FF is again Purina, local and made from decent stuff. Yes this stuff is made in big metal buildings. No it is not whole earth holistic organic gluten free yadda ya whatever.

My cats love it, my vet has no problems with any of it and honestly it is probably healthier than what I eat.

Go with a grain free or low grain food.
We feed our cats Blue Buffalo Indoor Health. We buy it at either PetSmart or Tractor Supply.





http://www.bluebuffalo.com/cat-food/blue-for-cats
Blue Buffalo Wilderness is good too but a bit more expensive





http://www.bluebuffalo.com/cat-food/grain-free-wilderness
We tried "Taste of the Wild" for a while but it made their cat shit smell
truly awful. Went back to BB  
If you have a dog here's a good site:





http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/





We only give our cats (all neutered males) dry food.





When you change cat foods, do it slowly over a week mixing the old food with the new a little bit more at a time.
 

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I was used to dogs, big dogs. They were outside dogs as well, and would eat anything, didn't care, and it never bothered them to change food abruptly, ever. If food did make them smell worse when they took a dump, well, it didn't matter, they were outside. The cat on the other hand......
I need to get him neutered. Hence the Long Haired American Pisser. He only does it if a male cat shows up to look at him through the big glass doors at the patio. So it's not more than once a month that he sprays something to mark his territory. Little sucker pissed on my flip flops last month. I went outside to run of a stray male and stepped through something wet in the tall grass. Sucker had peed there. I left my flip flops out for a while and then brought them in and sat them on an old sales paper. When I wasn't in the room he went over and peed on them. Not happy with that, and he actually looked at me like I should be happy that he reclaimed them for me or something.
Can someone tell me if neutering him will change his personality? I don't want him to change. He's a great cat, and honestly, while I have put up with them for my ex, and for my son, ( this one is his too ), and have never really liked them. This one is different. He has a very loving and gentle character, he is very playful as well. He loves to hold a conversation. He will get right up to you and start meowing, and look you right in the eyes for an answer. So you say something, then he'll meow, or make one of his chirping/cackling noises. This will go on for several minutes. Then he's like, "OK, just wanted to get your opinion. " and goes off into another part of the house to do whatever it is that he does in that part of the house. He also runs up when the phone rings and meows in a way that sounds like he's trying to say hello. It sounds like hello, but instead of the L sound, it's a W, so it's like Hewwo? Hewwo? He does this when the phone rings when I'm not in the room too. He's been in other rooms and when it rings he runs in here to the phone and does it. I was playing piano in the other room when it rang, and he was in here going, "Hewwo? Hewwo?" He will sometimes do that if a female cat comes to the glass door as well. They will sit and cackle and stuff at each other. So I really don't want his personality to change. And, no, I'm not crazy, friends have seen him do the hewwo thing and tripped out over it.
Thanks guys.

Hi,
  I can attest to a sudden change in their diet causing them to be sick too. Food types and scheduling changes can both strain them. We've had ours - 2 , for two years and one has a sensitive system and is picky. The other can and will eat anything with seemingly no problem. Very different constitutions and tastes.
 We primarilly feed them canned Friskies "meaty bits and prime filets" - chicken, both with some nutritional yeast sprinkled on it. They split a can twice a day about 12 hours apart consistently. I occasionally give them some raw chicken or egg instead of a can. Dinner meal they get a little dry mixed in - but not much. The dried food helps the little one's belly. They both crave the dry food and will eat too much if allowed. The dry food makes them both too heavy. Cats don't need much for carbs and many dry foods are way too much starch and salt for them. We've tried a few different higher quality dried foods and don't use any particular one regularly. They graze on "cat-grass" freely. It's really just wheat-grass and there are a couple pots around. We generally don't give them people food or seafood and no dairy - only occasional bit of yogurt. I've never heard of a cat catching a tuna in the wild.
 Having two is definately better IMO. They keep each other company and occupied. Both of ours are female. Anytime I've been around paired males indoors has sucked; Not a good combo IMO. Mixed pairs seems to work if spayed / neutered. We used to foster bunches of them, but now just have our two.

-JC

We feed our cat a mix of Flint River Ranch and Purina One urinary formula.

Our cat, ( my son's really, since he was unable to go out and spend much time with our dog due to health reasons, and I didn't want a dog inside ), irritates both of us when we get any kind of meal with meat in it. I usually give him a little piece or two the size of a .45 bullet of what ever it is so he'll leave me alone and let me eat, and because he likes it. He really likes chicken nuggets from Wendy's, but again, only a couple of small treat size pieces. I dropped a fry on the floor once and picked it up and put it on the magazine/newspaper table that I use for my computer screen and keys and such. I forgot to throw it away when I got up to go to the restroom. Well, he got up there and got it. Bad thing was, it had spicy seasoning on it. Dang cat wound up dragging his butt around after about thirty minutes. I had to put him in his room. He won't get near them now. lol

Pairs of unaltered males will be near impossible to keep together past about 8 months of age. Heck just one unaltered male will be a handful. Pairs or more of altered males can get along just fine depending on their personality. I currently have two neutered male British Shorthairs and they are like heckle and jeckle. They were litter mates and have been together their whole lives... but Brits are very low key compared to other breeds.

What goes for dogs, usually goes for cats (but with a larger protein count). I'd stay away from products with grains. Diamond makes a great cat food, as does Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalow.

I used to feed mine Iams, but I wasn't sure it was good for her.  All the info I found online was that a high protein ratio in dry food is very important, because cats are carnivorous.

So I went to PetSmart and looked at the ingredient breakdown on every food they have, all of them list it.  Protein 20%, grain 40%, whatever whatever.  Naturally, the most expensive cat food had the highest protein fraction.

But, really, a huge bag of the most expensive stuff isn't really any more expensive per serving than a little bag of the cheap stuff.

So I got a huge bag and put some in a dish next to her Iams, and she immediately went for it.  She never ate Iams again.

I give her canned food two or three times a week, for variety.

And I eventually got her a drinking fountain thing from walmart.  Cheapest one I could find, I was just curious if she'd go for it.  Not only did she, but it's worked great for half a year.  She won't drink out of a normal dish any more, she likes the clean running water.  Animals know that running water in nature is usually safer and cleaner than standing water.

Premium Edge dry food mixed with 1/2 can wet food.

http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/prowl/

Lost a cat to kidney stones.  Vet said all low ash food!  Other cat lasted 12 more years on low ash food.

My retards get the Costco brand cat food.

I had them on Wellness Core since one of them had a grain sensitivity. Stuff is freaking expensive.

She's grown out of the grain sensitivity, so it's back to the more economical stuff.

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