Or, what has worked well in your experience?

Humane society sent us home with hills science diet, for kittens of course.

Jelly has done well with Purina pro plan. Looking for something similarly suitable for the kittens now and as they get older.

I’m dead set against wet food for dogs. Is it as bad on the breath of cats as well?

Or can I just split a can of tuna or two between the 3 of them periodically?

I like Orijen for both cats and dogs.

My cats got dry Purina Cat Chow, and loved it. My last cat lived just beyond age 21 years.

For special occasions I’d offer her human grade tuna. She turned up her little nose at it.

When I tried mixing the tuna into her Purina she’d eat the cat chow, avoiding the tuna.

4Health from Tractor Supply.
Same brand for our dog , too.

A bit tougher to find a bad not marked 'for adult cats' but they have a few

We feed Feeny, the kittens and their mother, Fancy Feast and Friskies canned wet foods, and Purina Kitten Chow. When we first started feeding the kittens solid food, they got the Fancy Feast 'Kitten' varieties of canned wet food, and only just now started giving them the adult varieties.

Our older cat, Ava, gets Purina Pro Plan canned wet food and Pro Plan dry food. My wife is very particular about what Ava eats, since she's older.

quote:

My cats got dry Purina Cat Chow

Our cats when I was growing up loved that stuff to bits.

My last cat made it to age 20, but last 2 years had chronic kidney disease, and last 4 months was daily sub-Q IVs. Early years she was Iams dry cat food from the grocery store. During the kidney disease years I learned a lot about cat nutrition, hydration, sodium management, and phosphorus management for her so I'm definitely doing things different in the future. One of the early successes for her was the water drinking fountain greatly increased her water intake.

I had Gemini AI do a meta analysis of university research on best cat food, and the most science backed "accreditation" is WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) guidelines. Here is a link to their The Savvy Cat Owner’s Guide: Nutrition on the Internet .

My next cat will get:

kitten - canned cat food supplement with kibble both from one of the WSAVA companies. Will start with a water drinking fountain from day 1.

Adult - canned cat food from one of the WSAVA companies and continue with water drinking fountain

Senior - senior canned cat food from one of the WSAVA companies and continue with water drinking fountain. Senior cat food starts stepping down the both the sodium and phosphorus levels.

I fed the cat that adopted me Purina kitten/cat chow also. They really do develop a taste for it. I once had to buy an alternative kibble because of availability issues, and the cat was clearly not a fan.

Seeing a lot of Purina. And pro plan is what I feed the dog so sounds like that’s what I’ll go with. I’ll buy some kitten formula and slowly mix it with what they’ve been eating until I ween them off of their current food. Stool is pretty wet right now but they also had surgery 3 days ago.

As an aside, I consider canned tuna second only to celery as the most disgusting foods Pipe smoker so I can’t say your cat’s reaction isn’t warranted.

Wet food. Period. Feathers and fins are what I got out of the last cat seminar I attended for CE.
I use canned royal canin (mine is on a special diet due to kidney failure- but the failure was in part due to my lack of cat knowledge and the desire to feed a dry kibble to a purebred known for kidney issues- I did not know at the time).

Cats are true carnivores, and they get most of their moisture from the meat they eat, hence the wet. They don’t have a high thirst quota, and from experience I can tell you they just don’t drink enough.

Anything I can get my finicky orange jerks to eat They are great at dry food, Mostly blue buffalo wilderness, but we supplement with wet for water content. We have apparently spoiled them well. Applaws flaked meats are the favorites, but they'll balk at those too if they get bored.

We have a constant flow fountain to drink from, and they do use that.

Orijen or Whole Hearted [Petco's Store Brand].

Did a ton of research when I got Chloe. Some things I learned...

* Cats are obligate carnivores and get most of their moisture intake from their diet which should mainly consist of wet food. (Wild cats don't eat cereal)

* Food must contain Taurine.

* Food must not contain Carrageenan (carcinogenic)

* Limit added phosphates and other ingredients or the closest thing to a rat in a can you can find (and can afford). Really good cat food gets pricey.

I feed Nulo.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pace40,

My 3 furballs get canned (Wellness variety) at 5am/pm; Dry is a variety of Earthborn and other better foods at noon and 10pm(autofeeder). Keeps them happy!

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
My cats got dry Purina Cat Chow, and loved it. My last cat lived just beyond age 21 years.

For special occasions I’d offer her human grade tuna. She turned up her little nose at it.

When I tried mixing the tuna into her Purina she’d eat the cat chow, avoiding the tuna.

My cat just nibbled on canned tuna when I tried, I learned it has salt added which isn't good for cats. It loved cooked fresh fish though.