Is Friskies OK?

For the past couple of months I have been feeding my cat dry food until recently I discovered a dry food diet is not the healthiest for cats. Now I am giving him a mix of dry food and canned food because he won't eat much of the canned food by itself. In fact, he eats mostly the juices. I was wondering if Friskies is as good as they make a big stink about. Now I am a college student, living alone so I can't afford to put him on organic or homemade catfood. Nor I can really afford to buy canned food that is like $1.00 per can. If Friskies isn't the best, what is pretty good that is very affordable?

[LittleTiny Me]

I buy my kitten (well kittens now) Whiskas wet food pouches in pack of 12. Its usually like less than $5 for me at walmart. I tend to buy 2-3 boxes so that I have enough at least for mb 2.5 weeks. I feed a combination of dry food and wet food. You might want to try that too. I know can food is at times very expensive....

Good luck

[irisdania]

The thing is that if dry food is given, you need to make sure your cat ingest enough water by other means. Cats are not attracted to drink, old water, they prefer if it moves, goes with their instinct. The problem with canned food for male neuter cats is that the content of salt is tooooooooo high and also makes them developed urinary problems, of course pet brand foods will tell you anything you want to hear. And no, friskies is the worst possible food you can give your cat.

[margypops]

I have also been giving my cat dry friskies and the wet friskies , you say its the worst possible may I ask, why and what is good to give them that is not too expensive

[Miniar]

Not all dried food is the same,
Most of what you can get from the grocery store is utter rubbish, and most of the cans from 'round there contain more of the same, with excessive levels of salt and other additives.

I have an overweight old cat ('round 12 years old) and I've gone through this and that brand trying to find what works best for her and this means a LOT of googling, a LOT! (Not that I minded, I was already googling 'bout dog-food for our puppy and I have the sort of mind that's pretty much geared for this.)

What I found out is that most of the whole dry food v.s. not-dry-food seems to revolve around comparing fresh meat and fish to the grocery store dry-food, the worst option for a cat that money can buy, however cheaply.
I also found, surprisingly enough, that many of the most celebrated cat foods, things like Eukaneba, was not really much better than a box of whiskas, nutritionally speaking, it seems they're just really good at marketing themselves.

Long story short, I ended up getting an utterly huge bag of Orijen for Mús (pronounced moose, means mouse, so kitty's a 3-in-1 pet). It's pricy, yes, but the bag's lasted... oh... 'bout 3 months now, cause Mús doesn't eat as much (which was a part of the problem with her), seems far more satisfied generally, is far more active than she was with Eukaneba or Leonardo or other "special fat-cat food" from brands I would only find at the vet's office, and she seems to feel better, all round.
I think the primary difference is that Orijen is very high protein. In fact it's pretty much "protein based" nutrition, and that makes perfect sense, cat's are carnivores after all and there's no reason to feed them anything corn based what so ever, and most dry cat foods, 'specially from the groceryshops, contain an awful lot of corn.

Now, of course, the best you "can" feed a cat is just meat and fish and give 'em access to a tray of cat-grass, but I know that's nowhere near an option for everyone, but instead of reading the "best food ever" statements given on the front of most cat-food containers, it's best to make sure to read and learn (or write down) the nutritional needs of cats and then compare that to the list at the back of the box and try as you can, within your own means, to come as close to fulfilling those needs as possible.

[opus88]

hi Miniar and welcome, thanks for the great post...you are so right about the need to research pet foods. I don't know if you have ever read the site by Dr Pierson DVM? I will include a link. Dr. Pierson's site has very good detailed information....she does state that even the worse can food on the market is better than any dry food...mainly due to the preservatives and high carb content.
I would recommend this site to all cat owners out there who are confused about what to feed..
www.catinfo.org
also www.catnutrition.org

good reading♥