Is the Food Your Cat is Eating Really Healthy?

62 comments

Happy Tuesday everyone! I have been getting a lot of emails lately asking me if I want to share infographs, guest posts and all kinds of information. At first, I tried to accommodate everyone because I don’t like to hurt anyone’s feelings. This year, I am being more discriminate. I want to make sure the information is relevant to my readers and that it hasn’t already been posted in several places.

Reviews.com recently asked if I wanted to share their research on pet foods. It took me a while to have time to review it because it is so thorough, but I definitely wanted to share it. As you know purchasing a cat food made with high quality ingredients that your cat will actually eat is no easy task. Science has never been my strong point and I feel like one needs to be a scientist to understand labels.

This study was done on 1, 759 cat foods ( I had no idea there were that many). Only 163 made the cut to be considered the best for cats. 457 were disqualified because of questionable ingredients like carrageenan. Some brands had certain formulas removed, but others the entire brand was removed including Fancy Feast, Friskies and Rachel Ray.

The pet food store in my town, Dave’s is a small chain of stores in 2 states, but they have their own brand of food. I was amazed this study even included that and sadly, it got disqualified because the manufacturer is unknown. If they don’t want to tell you where it is made then it can’t be good.

Here is the link: http://www.reviews.com/cat-food/   

If you click on top picks, there is a list of all the recommended foods. There is a filter on the side to search for wet, dry, adult, etc. I hope you find this as useful as I do. I need to do an overhaul on the foods our cats eat.

And now: marbles Phoebe thinks we must have lost some marbles to waste this on marbles, but I think it looks good. My hubby was fortunate to have found his childhood marbles recently.

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62 comments

  1. Hi! That is an interesting list of foods for sure. I’ve never even heard of many of the companies that made the list. Thanks for sharing!

    1. You’re welcome. I have never heard of many of them either, but that is part of why I was impressed with it because it was so comprehensive.

  3. We received that same email. TBT looked it over and told them they had their Brand flavors out of whack with their descriptions. They replied saying he was right and corrected their spreadsheet.

    After the corrections, we decided NOT to post their review. We are suspicious kittehs about advertisments. TBT says he will stick to our Wellness Stinky Goodness.

    But we will say their list IS good quality foods!

    1. That was nice of TBT to point that out- I am glad it was corrected. I probably can’t afford to feed 14 cats any of the foods that made the cut, but I will look into it.

    2. We felt the same. We wanted them to reveal all funding sources (were any food manufacturers subsidizing this research?). They thanked us and told us to let them know if we changed our minds.

      🙁

        1. That is an excellent question and I am suspicious now that they wouldn’t tell you who funded the study. I am going to email them about that to see if I can get an answer.

  4. Wow! Marbles!?! I wouldn’t have ever guessed it!! Does this mean if I put a quarter in the machine I get a marble? Love you!!

    1. Sorry Toby, you would be out a quarter, but no marble. We would give you some treats to compensate though. 🙂 XO and love to you too!

  5. How awesome to have this list! Especially right now, since my human is getting ready to order more food for us! And I really, really HATE to say this… but those marbles look really good in that dispenser… although I still think it should contain treats.

    1. Thank you for admitting the marbles look good in there 🙂 I hope the list proves to be useful.

  6. Thanks for the list…….great info to have……………….Love the gumball machine with marbles – what a PERFECT thing to keep them in!

    Hugs, Sammy

    1. Thank you, I didn’t recognize a lot of them either, but I am glad to know they covered everything. Purrs to you too.

  9. Thank you for this link! I think I’ve become pretty good at food, but it’s always good to have a second thought!

    I agree – you don’t have to post everything people / companies want you to do. It’s your blog, not theirs.

    1. You’re welcome. I am trying to be more selective and just explain something wouldn’t be relevant to my readers so I won;t hurt anyone’s feelings.

  10. Thank you for this list. We haven’t heard of most of these brands but it’s a good source. We will definitely check it out.
    Angel Normie, Mika, Sasha & Grady Lewis

  11. Thank you for sharing all of that food info with us! I don’t recognize most of their recommended brands, so I’ll certainly be doing some research to learn more.

    Although treats would have been purrfect, Phoebe, I must say that I really like the look of those marbles in the gumball machine! Purrs!

    1. Thank you, I am glad you like the marbles in the machine 🙂 I need to do a lot more research on the approved foods too and hope I can find an affordable one for 14 cats.

  12. Sometimes, while walking the aisles at pet food stores, I want to ask people why they are picking the cat food that they do! I worry about where some of the food that’s in cat food is sourced, after all the problems with recalls, etc. And, of course, the really good stuff is much too expensive when you have multiple cats, even if you factor in less travel to vets due to food-caused illnesses. It’s really hard to know what to do, but I will study this list..thanks for sharing it!

    1. You’re welcome. I know the good stuff is more expensive. It is overwhelming trying to find a good brand without going broke.

  13. I don’t give credence to the list. I think a lot of criteria are unimportant. What is healthy to eat as far as ingredients go is an argument when it comes to human food for sale. Whole grains are NOT good for you! The important information is not addressed. How long do kitties live who only eat brand X? What is their death rate? How many kitties got cancer eating brand Y? What is in the food is not always an indicator of how “good” it is. My opinion is the meat and fish YOU eat yourself is what they should eat, supplemented by vitamins, etc. The problem with making your own cat food is it is inconvenient and difficult if you have many cats. You have to be a short order chef every day. I am leaning more and more in that direction, at least for some meals. I cannot be home whipping up lunch everyday. Thanks for the post, and you don’t have to post things if you don’t want to, or don’t feel like it.

    1. Those are good points you make about death rates, etc. I am going to do a little research to see if there are any studies on that. I would be interested in that too. I did like a lot about this research though which is why I shared it. I like that they checked the country it was made in. They also eliminated brands because of certain ingredients. I know a lot of my readers don’t want carrageenan in the food because it causes loose stools. Facts like that made me feel this list was worth sharing. I would love to go raw with mine, but I am too lazy to make it.

  15. phoebe….thanx ta yur mom for takin de time ta ree view this & ta post it….whoa….sew much for R dietz !!!!

    N frank lee we haz never hurd oh like 98 purr cent oh….de “good stuff”….we dont get out much huh !!! ~~~~

    oh, N de marbles……..they look awesum in de gum ball masheen…..even tho bonito flakes wooda looked kewl two !! ♥♥♥

    1. I haven’t heard of a lot of those brands either. I am going to look into them, but I probably can’t afford them. Glad you like the marbles. 🙂

  16. We though ’bout marbles, but like Phoebe we kuldn’t magine wastin’ dat paawsum machine on sumfin’ you kuldn’t eat or use. MOL Weez’ll have to check out dat link. Altho’ me fur sure is eatin’ really well these days it wuld be innerestin’ to find out where our noms are on da list. Fanks. Have a pawsumly blest day.

    Luv ya’

    Dezi and Lexi

  17. We appreciate you sharing the information on cat food with all of us Phoebe and we think you might have some fun chasing those marbles around.

  18. Deerest gurl you look beeuteefull in yur foto….an why wee not fink of marbles wee not know! That iss a furabuluss idea!
    An mee can say meeeatss onlee thee BEST foods….no more Fancey Feest or Friskiess or icky kibbull fur mee! Havin Irritabull Bowelss iss sorta a good fing….because now mee eatss onlee Royal Canin an Blue Wilderness…
    Mee iss trulee pampurred!
    An mee trulee <3 LUVSS <3 mee Purrincess Phoebe <3
    ***paw kissesss*** yur well fed Purrince, Siddhartha Henry xxxxxxxxxxxx

    1. My sweet boy, I am glad you get to eat high quality noms. I eat Friskies- but, not for long, MOm is doing an overhaul of our diets soon. Phooey! XOXOXO Love, Phoebes

  19. Ohhh I love the marble machine. All those pretty colors add such a pop of excitement to a room.
    Hugs madi your bfff

  20. Mom is quit an expert on the food we eat. She makes or own food (Lucky us).
    Cat food should not have grain/sugar. Grain and sugar is bad for kitties. I’m one of th victims of bad food with my diabetes.
    Mom believes that dry food is the biggest reason a lot of kitties get sick: diabetes, kidney failure, cancer,… Pet owners should feed more quality wet food for their cats.
    It is very easy: when chicken,turkey or beef is in promotion, put portions in the freezer and give them a small portion. (25gr a day for every cat). Very cheap, very healthy.
    And watch out with tuna, we love it to death but it got a lot of heavy metals in it.
    If you go for good food, go for Acana, Applaws, Taste of The Wild, …

    Purs,
    Billly The Time Cat

    1. I am definitely making some changes. I have been thinking of raw, but it is a big commitment with 14 cats. Purrs to you Billy. XO

  21. I haven’t heard of most of those brands, but it is good to have a list of good quality food. Unfortunately Flynn is very picky and will only eat what he wants, and it appears that the better the quality, the less chance there is of him eating it. I am often taking tins of very good (and expensive) food to our local shelter.
    The marbles look good in the dispenser. It brings back memories of the gob stopper machine outside the general store when I was a child.

    1. I have bought expensive high quality foods only to have the kitties snub them too. Glad you like the marbles- thank you 🙂

    1. As long as your kitties are healthy then I am sure your food is fine. I was impressed at how many brands they looked into and thought it would be interesting to readers.

  25. Our foods didn’t make the list but we are picky! Our mommy has tried just about every food and we turn our noses up to all but one. List makers don’t ask kitties what they like!

    The marbles look good even if they aren’t goldfish!

  26. Coming from a science/research background, I’m with Maxwell and Faraday on wanting to know who funded that study. I’m guessing some companies from the United States, Canada, and New Zealand (the only acceptable manufacturing locations) had something to do with this. Europe is entirely excluded, which seems just a bit odd to me. But it does have some interesting information to consider if you’re looking into pet food.

  27. oh forgot aout the marble pot, I think my vet has a big pot with marbles. Certainly two are mine, I lost them the first time I visited her.

    Purs,
    Billy The Time cat

  28. Oh! I heard momma say she wishes she had HER childhood marbles! (she was reared with two older brothers and followed their lead!) It would please her to see even one of them. xoxo

    1. I am sorry your Mom lost her marbles- that doesn’t sound good, but you know what I mean. XOXO

  30. I was looking for a new brand of food for my cats and I just happened to stumble upon this old post! Thank you for sharing the review.com article, I will have a thorough read through it and perhaps try a couple of the brands.

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