Welcome to Sphynxlair! Connect with Sphynx owners & enthusiasts around the world!

what brand cat food do you use?

what brand cat food do you prefer?

  • Science Diet

    Votes: 45 8.7%
  • Iams

    Votes: 34 6.6%
  • Other

    Votes: 378 72.8%
  • Raw Diet

    Votes: 62 11.9%

  • Total voters
    519

lisamk

Lairian
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
9
Points
19
I'm new here, but I'm going to jump right in. :Laugh: Our female Sphynx will eat just about anything without complaint or problems, but our male Sphynx has allergies. We tried Green Pea and Lamb food by Wellness but Sati (female) refused to eat it. We compromised with Before Grain (chicken) and they are both very happy. They've both trimmed down their sway bellies too. :Smile:
 

Sam lewis

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,567
Points
198
I use Arden Grange coz it doesn't contain any cereals or grains which Mo is allergic to. Applaws dry food is also very good coz it doesn't have any cereal/grains. I have noticed that a lot of hypoallergenic foods still contain cereal and grains which is a shame because a lot of cats are allergic to them and can't tolerate them.
 

English Dave

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Oct 4, 2009
Messages
1,043
Points
188
Science diet light; tried a myriad other types including raw and this one is by far the most pleasant on my nostrils when it comes out the other end lol!
 

playswithfire

Lairian
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
24
Points
17
I'm new here, but I'm going to jump right in. :Laugh: Our female Sphynx will eat just about anything without complaint or problems, but our male Sphynx has allergies. We tried Green Pea and Lamb food by Wellness but Sati (female) refused to eat it. We compromised with Before Grain (chicken) and they are both very happy. They've both trimmed down their sway bellies too. :Smile:

How can you tell if you cat has food allergies, out of curiosity?
 

susi794

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
13,556
Points
673
I use Purina One--Iams and Science Diet both list corn as the first ingredient--Purina One lists chicken or salmon--not chicken meal or chicken by products--chicken. Considering the sphynx's increased metabolism speed , the need for protein seems pretty important to me. My kittens and pregnant or nursing queens also love the kitten food. I also feed wet food daily and try to supplement with an occasional can of sardines or tuna but my cats don't really like it. They did love fresh shrimp, so that's a nice treat for them when I have it. My pregnant girl, Habibi has suddenly started vomiting when she eats the turkey flavored wet food. So, we're avoiding anything with turkey for awhile.

I now make the raw diet using the supplement from felineinstincts.com--my cats love it! Didn't have trouble getting them to eat it at all and they come like a herd of horses when it's feeding time. I have also started to use Taste of the Wild or Purina One as my need something in a pinch standby. And thanks to Pitrottmommy's advice, now offer canned pumpkin too.
 

Sam lewis

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,567
Points
198
Mo has IBS, he has tried lots of differents foods but the one the vet started him on last month has been really good so far. So he is now on Hills Prescription Diet Z/D Low allergen, and it is working a treat so far!
 

wundrlust

Lairian
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
271
Points
101
Taste of the Wild canned
Tikki canned
Raw free range no hormones or anitbiotics ... Whole Foods, Bravo and Rad

According to all the research I've done, the one consistant theme is that hard food is the worst you can give any cat. Even the so called "healthy kibble" is that is sold in health conscienous stores...the owners all agree that hard food is not healthy.

I was brought up as a vegetarian on bottled water with everything fresh. Homeopathic and body work. I use both a "regular"vet as well as an "alternative".
These are my choices and I have see then benefits through the years for all the loves that have been in my life.

We all have our views and thoughts as to what is best for those we love. These are mine. I do not sit in judgement of others and hope they do not judge me for my beliefs and meathods.

One point we all agree on is that we love our babies and want only the best for them!
 

Nofuratu

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
1,659
Points
238
It is great to hear lots of different opinions on pet food! I feed my cats, both males, science diet canned and dry, adult hairball formula. I went with science diet because it is the only brand I have never seen a cat develop urinary crystals on. I am a retired vet tech and when I would reccomend food to people, they would think I had some alterier motive if I only suggested brands sold in vet clinics. Science diet is available in pet stores so as a vet clinic staff member I do not benefit from their food sales. Hills prescription diet which is also a good food, makes science diet and if your cat develops crystals or bladder stones on their food Hills used to pay for the surgery to fix it. I dont know if they still do......Anyway, working in vet medicine seeing urinary blocked male cats day after day has made me go with science diet. My boys are doing well on it and like. I feed hairball formula because only one of my cats is a sphynx, and he grooms his brother......people at the pet store think its hilarious that I feed hairball formula to a sphynx.

On the other hand, I have a friend who feeds raw medallions to her cats and they appear very healthy! Here is her blog about it
http://daisythecurlycat.blogspot.com/2009/09/we-are-rotating.html

Is anyone elses Sphynx crazy about vegetables? Nofuratu LOVES peas, carrots, lettuce....he'll eat anything really.
 

Funnaturechic

Lairian
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
12
Points
19
Life's Abundance...is wonderful, organic food. If you are interested, let me know. :)

It's shipped straight to your home...no running to the store..and you don't have to run out... It can be auto-shipped regularly at whatever time you set it to arrive... :)

Sending smiles,
Christina and Binky :)
 

PitRottMommy

Banned
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
860
Points
0
It is great to hear lots of different opinions on pet food! I feed my cats, both males, science diet canned and dry, adult hairball formula. I went with science diet because it is the only brand I have never seen a cat develop urinary crystals on. I am a retired vet tech and when I would reccomend food to people, they would think I had some alterier motive if I only suggested brands sold in vet clinics. Science diet is available in pet stores so as a vet clinic staff member I do not benefit from their food sales. Hills prescription diet which is also a good food, makes science diet and if your cat develops crystals or bladder stones on their food Hills used to pay for the surgery to fix it. I dont know if they still do......Anyway, working in vet medicine seeing urinary blocked male cats day after day has made me go with science diet. My boys are doing well on it and like. I feed hairball formula because only one of my cats is a sphynx, and he grooms his brother......people at the pet store think its hilarious that I feed hairball formula to a sphynx.

Being a Veterinary Technician, here's something ironic I've found:

Cats fed "regular" science diet often get struvite crystals...and are promptly put on Science Diet C/D. Many of these cases have urine with absolutely no WBC or bacteria (which indicates that UTD is not the cause...).

I'm not interested in a food that causes urinary crystals. Research has found that foods that contain grains negatively affect the pH of the urine (either making it more acidic or more basic). Science diet, Iams and other middle-range foods chock their foods full of corn, wheat and other fillers. High pH causes struvites and low pH causes calcium oxalate crystals/stones. The only good thing behind having struvites over CaOx is that they're dissolvable and often treatable before surgery is required. Caox, however, often causes so many problems and so fast...that surgery is often needed.

I'm assisting in a surgery on a cat this Friday named Fendi who has been on Science Diet Hairball formula his entire life (a whole 3 years). He has CaOx crystals that have not only affected his bladder...there are actually stones in his kidneys. This cat, even with surgery to remove crystals from his bladder, will not have a long life because his kidneys are plugged with stones.

In addition, we as Veterinary Technicians and Veterinarians, suggest Hills/Science Diet to clients because they pay to come into our schools and speak with us. When I worked at Banfield, I was practically paid to feed this food (and this diet would be provided to me free of charge if I were to feed it now, at the clinic I currently manage). To say that there is no bias would be completely wrong, because this is the one of the only companies that can afford to come into the schools and put a bug in everyone's ear. When you have nothing to compare it to, you consider it the Gold Standard. That is why so many Veterinarians recommend the food...not because it's the best. Unfortunately, many Veterinarians don't bother doing their own research on food. They don't educate themselves. Many assume what they're being taught is correct. It's sad, but that is the cut and dry truth when it comes to food and Veterinary Medicine.
 

purrsrus

Lairian
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Messages
3
Points
17
We only use Wellness CORE® - Fish & Fowl for Adult Cats & Kittens
Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whitefish & Salmon Meals!!! Also Wellness CORE canned food or Blue Buffalo canned food Chicken only!! It seem to be the best that we have found and the only food that doesnt make Tabby have gas and a belly ache!! We also use a all natural litter its Swheat Scoop and it is chemical free and dust free.. :BigSmile:
 

laurelfagan

Lairian
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Messages
4
Points
14
I have the Peterbald that has corn allergies. I feed my cats Taste of the Wild, grain free and also switch off with Orjen and Blue Spa Select that also do not have corn fillers. For wet food twice a day I use Wellness canned but my cats do not like Wellness kiddle.
 

ilovemysphynx

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Joined
Feb 2, 2009
Messages
4,987
Points
271
We use science diet also and Love it. From what I have read and been told by breeders that I purchased my cats from ( both fed science diet also) that it is not A specific food that causes crystals but lack of water so if the cat is only fed dry food without any wet food in the diet and or not given enough water to drink A cat become ill from crystals.
Thank god we have never had any health issues with our cats, but I swear by this food and always send our babies home with it also.
 

PitRottMommy

Banned
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
860
Points
0
We use science diet also and Love it. From what I have read and been told by breeders that I purchased my cats from ( both fed science diet also) that it is not A specific food that causes crystals but lack of water so if the cat is only fed dry food without any wet food in the diet and or not given enough water to drink A cat become ill from crystals.
Thank god we have never had any health issues with our cats, but I swear by this food and always send our babies home with it also.

Most cats that eat kibble are chronically dehydrated, which is why everyone is recommending canned food to you. If it were absolutely true about Science Diet (it is in some cases), that only cats that don't get enough water develop crystals...not only would the cats show up dehydrated on bloodwork (many of them don't) when they went in for diagnostics, they would also show up dehydrated on their urinalysis. With that, their kidneys would have already started showing signs (many of them still have great kidney function).

I'm afraid the people who are advising you may still be under "old school" information. We've learned a great deal over the last 5 years, including the fact that not all cases of struvites are secondary to bacterial infections or dehydration (although some are). Again, in cases where there is no bacteria...and there is no sign of dehydration...there are only so many other things that factor in. Diet is a factor that is huge.

This is a wonderful source that discusses grains and carbs in diet and their relation to illness: http://www.aht.org.uk/sa_deafness.html.
 

ilovemysphynx

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We do give canned food 2 times A day and leave dry out all the time, along with water. All I am saying is that if it is not broken then there is nothing to fix and for us that is the case.

New info or not what works works, I have A friend that has A cat that is 19 years old and all it has ever eaten its whole long life is wiskas dry kibble.
 

PitRottMommy

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May 28, 2009
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Sami- I'm trying to find the article but this link brought me to canine deafness. I'm interested in reading it - I searched the site but can't find it yet.

Thanks,
Heather

Heather, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'd just responded to feline deafness. Here's the link to problems that grains can cause in feline diets:


http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/cathealth.htm

Try that on for size.
 

PitRottMommy

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All I am saying is that if it is not broken then there is nothing to fix and for us that is the case.

What do you make of Science Diet and the food recalls in 2006 and 2007? Is this not a "broken"?

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/

I'm not trying to start a fight...but I would, personally, stand behind Science Diet if I felt it was a decent food. I wouldn't be recommending people to switch away from it if I hadn't personally delt with cases that commonly have problems and that, in the case above, had died.

I don't suppose you guys had cats or dogs on Science Diet in 2006-2007, did you?



ETA: You'll also note in looking at Whiskas dry kibble that they're a higher quality food than Science diet. Science's diet's first ingredient is "chicken by-product meal" in most of their cat foods, Whiskas uses real chicken. Science Diet's second ingredient is corn, Whiskas doesn't introduce corn until their 5th-8th ingredient. I'm not surprised this particular cat has done well for 19 years on Whiskas...we're comparing apples to oranges here with foods. Whiskas certainly isn't the best, but it isn't the worst either. Whiskas is trying to make improvements, Science Diet sees no problems with their foods...and, therefore, feels there's no reason to make any improvements.
 
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ilovemysphynx

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What I was saying is that it is not broken for us!
There has been recalls on alot of things that we all have in our homes from pet food, to our medicine cabinets, to our kitchens. Does that mean that we just never use these products again? How many people drive A car in the recent recall? We feed what works for us to our pets as well as to our children.


I manage A pediatrician office and have seen kids extremely sick from some of the food recalls but that does not mean people have stopped eating these foods. (Hamburger and Penutbutter) being the top 2.

As for the wiskas what I was saying is that all the cat ever eats is just dry kibble and has never had A problem. In my opinion A dry kibble diet is not good enough for A pet and I tell her all the time but she has not had A problem. (Oh when she is on vacation I watch her pets and always sneak him something special:Surprise:)
 
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