When it comes to meeting your pet’s needs, you need to keep in mind that cats are carnivores by nature. This means they require foods that are made with the tissues of other animals to meet their physiological needs. When choosing a dry cat food for your furry friend, formulas that have meat products as the first or main ingredient will provide the most nutrition. Premium dry cat foods list turkey, chicken, beef and other meat products as the first ingredient. Formulas listing corn and similar ingredients first may not provide optimal amounts of protein for your pet’s needs. 9Lives Dry Cat Food is a budget-friendly indoor kibble that is sure to satisfy even the fussiest of felines.
In a nutshell, Blue Buffalo is not an ideal example of the cat food that you should be feeding your cat. There are other dry and wet food options available in the market which can be better for cats at the same price. The company began in Wilson, Connecticut in 2002, when Billy Bishop became interested in the benefits of a healthy diet for the family’s nine-year-old Airedale terrier, Blue. Since then, the brand has experienced massive growth, and held the title of ‘top-selling pet food line’ in the country for some time, with their BLUE Life formula.
Buy your favorite online with Instacart. Order Blue Buffalo Wet Cat Food, Dry Cat Food, Cat Treats, and more from local and national retailers near you and enjoy on-demand, contactless delivery or pickup within 2 hours. All featured products are chosen at the discretion of the author. However, Great Pet Care may make a small affiliate commission if you click through and make a purchase.
A source of fat should be listed within the first five ingredients. This should ideally be from an animal source but friskies shreds can also include vegetable oils. It is recommended that fats should make up around 9% of your cat’s dried food.
Take a look at our selection of the best healthy cat treats. Our tester reported that he “hadn’t specifically noticed weight loss” in his cat as a direct response to testing this food over the period of a few weeks, but also acknowledged that it may take more time. BLUE Wilderness is packed with more of the real meat cats crave to satisfy their wild side and is 100% grain-free.
Thedailycat.com is an independently owned professional review site. When products are purchased through our site, we may receive a commission. Always check manufacturer websites for the most up-to-date information. Blue Buffalo’s products have varying feeding recommendations, so always check the label on the product you’re buying. Blue Buffalo develops its recipes using the expertise of on-staff veterinarians and PhD-accredited animal nutritionists. In 2018, Blue Buffalo was sold to General Mills for approximately eight million dollars, the company behind some of the US’s most recognizable brands, such as Totino’s, Pillsbury, Häagen-Dazs, and Cheerios.
The easiest way to check if your cat’s food contains everything they need to thrive? With so many plant-based protein boosters, and a low protein content to begin with, we believe this is mostly a plant-based cat food, which is not biologically appropriate for your cat. This recipe includes a number of other ingredients, but once you get down this far, none of them will be in large enough quantities to make a real difference, except for the added vitamins and minerals. If you want to upgrade your food from the cheap junk that litters the shelves of most pet stores, both Wellness and Blue Buffalo represent a step up in quality . You can certainly find better foods than either of these brands, but they won’t be cheap or easy to track down. Both foods are on the pricier end, especially if you’re shopping at chain pet food stores.
If you feed your cat a raw food diet, then you need to be very careful about how long the food is out because of the growth of microbes that cause bacteria. Cats do not derive any energy from dietary fiber, however, fiber is still considered beneficial for the smooth transit of food through the digestive system. Sources of fiber in dry cat food include whole grains, rice hulls, bran, and beet pulp. IAMS Proactive Health Indoor Weight and Hairball Care is specifically formulated for the well-being of indoor cats. With chicken as the first ingredient, the formula is designed to help support your cat’s muscles and to provide them with the energy they need to play.
As Editor in Chief of ExcitedCats.com, Christian is thrilled to be a part of the pro-feline movement. The foods are similar in almost every regard, from philosophy to ingredient quality, and you can’t really go wrong with either one. We prefer Wellness by a whisker due to friskies shreds its superior safety history, but Blue Buffalo seems to have learned from the mistakes of its past. Blue Buffalo and Wellness both use natural ingredients as much as possible, they both list meat as their first ingredient, and neither uses any cheap fillers or additives.