Best wet foods for cats?

[ravennr]

Rockefeller's diet needs a serious makeover. We are starting his switch tonight with a higher quality food that I can get my hands on. We've been looking into this for a while because of his gastro issues and extremely poor muscle mass, and he goes through a large bowl of water a day so I know he is dehydrated.

We will probably end up having to ship. Any recommendations on foods? I've seen Wellness and Weruva at the top of the lists a lot.

 

[Kat09Tails]

Prowl by THK

 

[MandyPug]

I like the Merricks stews, wellness cans, and Nature's Variety Instinct Cans.

Though it really depends whether your cat likes pate style or stew style or something in between.

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

I second the Nature's Variety Instinct cans. I also like Before Grain's cans. Taste of the Wild recently (This summer) came out with wet food for cats as well.

 

[LilahRoot]

If I were you I would try out a bunch of different kinds. My cats would not touch Prowl. They hated Evo. They love blue buffalo dry food, but I can only get them to eat fancy feast wet food. I'm considering trying out premade raw for them by Primal since it would be a far sight better for them than fancy feast.

 

[vanillasugar]

Wellness has a ton of flavours, and most are grain free.
Ditto to Merrick.
Ditto to Weruva (this one is really stew-like).
Natures Variety has a few nice ones.
Go! Natural is a favourite at my house (and has two grain free varieties).

Mine wouldn't touch Prowl either.

 

[stardogs]

Prowl! And it's dehydrated, so ships for less as well.

 

[*blackrose]

My Opossum thinks that TOTW canned food and Blue Buffalo Spa select food is pretty darn good. Apollo will eat anything so he doesn't count, but if it pleases an STO then you know it has to be tasty!

 

[ravennr]

WEEEEE this is gonna be an adventure for his tongue LOL

Thanks for all the good replies! Now to start our hunt

 

[Maxy24]

I also suggest rotating, cats can easily become tired of a single brand, it can also be very hard to switch some cats, dry food is covered in sugar and animal fat so it's very attractive. I feed all of these:
Wellness
Felidae
Weruva
Innova
EVO
California Natural
Merrick
Before Grain (they have complete formulas now)
Go! Grain free
Newman's Own
Blue
Nature's Variety

A warning about Weruva, it is low in calories so if it is fed as a sole diet you need to feed more than you would of most foods.

I also know the brand Ziwipeak is good but it's expensive around here, it's not made in the USA.

Try not to feed too much fish, it is often addictive and something about the bone to meat ratio can lead to urinary issues, not sure exactly how it works.

 

[AuntieCrazy]

Any of the canned grain-, veggie-, fruit-, and fish-free varieties are good.

I feed my fosters the Wellness and Natural Balance grain-frees flavors, but Go! Natural, Natura and Natures' Variety also make grain-free canned foods.

Good luck with the switch! (And good on you for recognizing the detrimental effects of feeding kibble!!)

AC

 

[PWCorgi]

Try not to feed too much fish, it is often addictive and something about the bone to meat ratio can lead to urinary issues, not sure exactly how it works.

Wow. Never heard that before. Does that count for dogs too?

 

[MyHorseMyRules]

Weruva is a pretty good food, and there is a lot of variety. I find it's easier for people with picky cats to find something that they like. Some of the Weruva is stew-like, but others are more like a gel. Mack & Jack, for instance, is not like a stew, but Meow Luau is. Just be careful because a lot of their fish flavors have tuna in them.

Prowl is really good, but I've had a lot of people say they couldn't get their cats to eat it. I've never tried it with my own, but the store cats eat it just fine.

Nature's Logic isn't bad. They have probably the lowest moisture content around, and my cats really like the food. The rabbit is their favorite. I also like that they don't use a vitamin pack. They get all the required vitamins and whatnot naturally from the food.

Raw is always a nice option, as well. That is what mine get for most of their meals, and they love it. They're both in fantastic shape with clean and healthy teeth. Even if you don't switch completely to raw, you could feed the occasional raw meaty bone to them so they can clean their teeth.

 

[ravennr]

Eventually, when we move to a place with a kitchen that more than half a person can fit into, I want him switched to raw. I've been looking into canning your own cat food as well.

I don't know if maybe he is just being the ridiculous kitten he is, or if the food switch so far has done it, but this morning I noticed I'd never seen him as energetic. Energy was a big thing for him, he seemed to tire out fairly quickly even when he got bored and did his regular apartment dashes. This morning I don't think his paws were on the floor for more than ten minutes total, LOL. His stool is better too, already.
The only issue I've had so far is that he is a horribly messy eater and needs a bib. His face just smells like cat food, and unfortunately he is a face cuddler so I got a nasty surprise this morning on the couch after he'd finished eating.

He is eating it like he's never eaten before though. Right now it is just purina wet food because I wanted to make sure he would touch something not coated in flavoured powder. Plus, I'm not within walking distance to any pet stores other than a dog boutique (though I'm going to go this week and ask the owner if he could possibly order some cat food in for me, since he carries only high quality brands and when we bought Rock's harness and leash, he gave us loads of free cat stuff after hearing that we rescued him).

Thanks again, everyone. I'm glad I'm making the switch away from kibble. I feel just horrible that he has been only fed kibble his entire life but at least we are changing his situation now.

 

[Maxy24]

I'm glad he's liking the wet food so far, some cats that have been on dry for a long time absolutely refuse any wet at all. So even if it is purina, it's a good sign that he shouldn't be too hard to get onto the better stuff eventually.

Energy is one of the first things I noticed when I got Neko onto wet food (poop might have been the VERY first thing) I think dry food can have a sugar high effect, they get hyper from the sugar and carbs and then crash and feel sluggish. Wet food just provides good, protein packed energy (even lower quality ones tend to have more animal protein than lots of dry foods). plus Neko had been overweight so dropping the extra poundage did wonders for his energy.


Don't feel bad about not feeding wet before, nobody tells us these things, not the vet, not the stores, not the place we get the cat. At least you took the time to get educated eventually and decided to do something about it, that's the best thing you can do.

Keep us updated on how he likes the wet.

Wow. Never heard that before. Does that count for dogs too?

I haven't the slightest idea. I've only heard it in reference to cats, they might just be more sensitive or maybe it doesn't affect dogs at all. Probably something to look into.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Here's a good list to get you started:

California Natural
Innova
EVO
Fromm
Go Natural
Wellness
Nature's Variety (Instinct and Prairie)
Nature's Logic
Tiki Cat
Weruva
Blue Buffalo
Chicken Soup
Eagle
Natural Balance
Evangers
Felidae
Halo
Honest Kitchen's Prowl
Merrick
NutriSource
Solid Gold
Taste of the Wild