She doesn't like gooshyfood at all

Are you sure she's a cat? [link]

Kathy, I'm a big fan of reading the ingredients lists. Iams is a step up from, say, Special Kitty. But it is not the best by a long shot. Here is a website that can teach you how to understand the ingredients on a cat food label: [link] It also has some reviews of various brands and varieties. It sums up pretty well my thinking on the topic, and the author can point you in the direction of decent documentation for what she says.

Summing up what I look for when I am reading a cat food label, I look for foods that have specific muscle meats - not meal, not by-products - as the first ingredient. I try to avoid those with by-products altogether, as I believe it is a lower-quality. Meat meals, if they are lower down on the ingredients' list, don't ping me so much. I must avoid those with corn and wheat in any form, as Harvey does not tolerate them - besides, they really are there as filler, not for any actual benefit. The further down on the list any grain or starch is, the better. The brands I feed my cats include Eagle Pack, Felidae, Wellness, and Natural Balance. Innova is a good brand, and Innova Evo is reputed to be the best dry cat food. I have to take Harvey off the Innova due to the fish content, which we just found out he is allergic to. Different brands of similar quality are available in different places. That is why it is important to read those labels, so you know what you are getting, and can make the best decision for yourself based on what is available, and what works for your budget. But do bear in mind, that the fewer fillers in a food, the more nutritionally dense it is, and so a cat may be more satisfied on a significantly smaller portion. This can make spendier, higher quality foods more economical in the long run than they appear to be at first glance. For instance, my cats are quite happy on 1/2 cup per day of Felidae Platinum kibble, whereas they need a whole cup of Purina One kibble per day. The Felidae 4lb bag is about $11, and the Purina One comes in a 3.5lb bag, for about $9, the last time I crunched numbers. So you see, the Felidae is the more economical as it provides many more meals for only a slightly higher expense. t /soapbox

Not so dear cow-irkers:

You want to do my job? you think cutting me out of the information loop will accomplish something? fine ... I'll sit in my office, collect my salary, and hang out with my Buffistas.

whatever

me

Iams indoor cat variety (hairball control and weightloss)--is it really bad for her, and what should I get if not that?

Iams is pretty much junk pet food, too. I settled on Wellness cat food products. They make their food with human quality meat ingredients. Some of their products have a minimal amount of rice for cohesion/consistency, but they are otherwise high quality food.

And they have an Indoor Cat/Hairball/Weight Control formula.

She doesn't like gooshyfood at all, just kibble.

You'll want to do a transition to the new food, rather than just switching over from one meal to the next, but after you switch over, you might want to try giving her some of the Wellness gooshyfood.

My guy never used to like gooshyfood, and now he demands it. I give him a combo of kibble and gooshy (in seperate dish spaces) - half a 3 oz. can plus half a cup of kibble at each feeding (once in the morning, once at night). Those are the portions for a large cat. There's a feeding guide on the back of the Wellness bags.

Geez, Toddson, sounds like you and omnis can have a frustrating job situations road rally.

Are you sure she's a cat? [link]

I know! But she's weird that way--I once ran out of kibble and decided to give her tuna fish instead of running out to the grocery store at 10 pm and paying a fortune for a small bag of Iams. She turned her nose up to tuna fish!!! She loves tuna water, but ix-nay on the una-tay.

the fewer fillers in a food, the more nutritionally dense it is, and so a cat may be more satisfied on a significantly smaller portion.

This is good to know. I feed her 1/2-2/3 cup of the kibble once a day, and she still is putting on a bit of weight (last month's vet visit had her at 13 lbs, 4 oz. When I adopted her from the shelter and she was all lean and skinny, she was just under 9 lbs.

Thanks for the info!!

My cat Ivan throws up Felidae. (He also throws up Purina.)

Right now I'm feeding them "Taste of the Wild" - a no grain catfood I got at my local Natural Pet Food Store. I also give them the occasional can of Tiki Cat - an excellent 'wet' food.

I fed Iams for years and then Ivan started throwing it up. I think it is the grain content. It's like NOW he really cannot tolerate it.

Thanks, Sean! (ETA: and sumi!!) I just bought a bag of Iams last week, so it'll be a month or so before I'll switch her over--maybe after I get back from vacation at the end of July.

She had managed to hork up some of the kibble yesterday (which she does when she eats it too fast, on average once a week or so), and her food dish was empty this morning, about 15 hours after I fed her last, so I put in another 1/8 cup to tide her over until tonight.

I have found that portion guides on pet foods tend to be very very generous. So if you find yourself needing to adjust the cat's portions below the guidelines, you are not necessarily starving the cat, particularly with the higher quality foods.

Kathy, if you have a local boutique pet food store - you might go and see what they have and if they have any samples.

Also, my local organic human food coop also sells some pet food including Wellness and Wysong - a little bit cheaper than you can get it at the pet food store. If you have one of those - give it a go.