Hi
There is no such thing as healthy chow for a cat

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard, dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. The problems with it are that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. Most of the moisture a cat needs is gotten
out of the food and 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Also, most use horrible ingredients and don’t use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn’t have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods.Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Please read about cat nutrition.

http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html

What my friend did when he cat was gaining weight was basically just put her on a diet. Not feeding her whenever she wants just the amount she decided on. Those catfoods seem fine and healthy to me its just proportions and how many times a day after that.

I have a 4mnth old Male kitty (Gizmo) and I have found that we both like Friskies wet food and Purina 1 Dry Food If you look in the book Kitten for Dummies it can tell you what to look for in the ingredients that is best for them I know Taurine is a big one that they need and it says they dont give there cats anything with less then .07 for wet food and .16 in Dry food Now the highest i found is .05 in the wet food and thats in the friskies I dont know if any of this makes sense until you read that section in the book but honestly I want the same as you the best food for my kitty and I never can really get a straight answer so I will be checking back on this and hopefully someone knows but if not the ones i am using now are according to that book really good….Good Luck

I feed my cat Natural Balance wet and dry which has nutritionally sound ingredients right down the whole list. Petco and online are the only places I have found it. The more expensive price is offset by the lower amount of food your cat needs to eat to get what they need. The other responder is right in that you should not feed your cat only dry food. Offer both or just wet food and rest assured your cat is properly hydrated (very important for feline health).
At the store, a great rule of thumb is to go down the list of ingredients and eliminate the foods that have meat by-products anywhere near the top of the list. You will be surprised how few options are left!

As an Animal Health Tech, I get asked this question all the time in the vet clinic.

With pet food, you really do get what you pay for. I’m not saying you need to buy your food from the veterinarian, but what you’re paying for at any level of pet food is research, quality ingredients, and reputation. Two large, well-known, trustworthy companies are Hill’s and Purina.

Look for the AAFCO symbol on a bag of food. This means that not only has it been tested to ensure that it would provide enough nutrients for a certain age/health issue/etc, it has also passed a feeding trial. This means that animals actually like the food – a huge issue with cats, especially.

Also look at the ingredients, not just the min’s and max’s on the label. A product could contain minimum 70% protein, but is that a usuable protein as far as the animal’s body is concerned??? Shoe leather is 100% protein but that nutrient is totally inaccessible, making it useless. The first ingredient on the list will be the one in the largest amount in the food.

As for dry food causing medical conditions – CODSWALLOP!!!!! The only thing it might do is trigger a food allergy and even a wet food will do that, if it contains the wrong ingredient for that pet. Dry food is good – it helps keep tartar off the teeth (to a certain extent). Wet food is also good – male cats especially need that extra moisture to avoid urinary tract issues, such as a blockage (~$2000 in vet bills).

If you are confused by all the information/opinions you are getting in these answers, ask your veterinarian. If they’re acting in your pets’ best interests, they’ll recommend a good food regardless of if they sell it themselves.

Research is key and you have taken that first important step in coming here to ask a very valid and important question.

As an edit, after the initial posting … I read one of the previous poster’s “reference”…please, please, please do not consider a raw diet unless you have tried other options and are willing to put in the serious effort it requires. You will need human grade meat, a mineral/vitamin supplement, and impeccable hygeine – DO NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE.

I say “reference” as this is a website built by a breeder. Breeders are good people – they are just recommending a diet based on what has worked for THEIR pets, coming from THEIR line, of only one particular breed. This person has limited, very specific experience that may not apply to your situation.

Good for you!

The good news is that you can feed them the same foods. You can read my blog on my 360 if you want to learn more about it, but in a nutshell kitten food is little more than marketing hype.

All kittens – and cats – require is good food. Kittens need more of it though.

If you select a food from the What to feed link, both can eat it and will thrive.

Energy Requirements for Kittens and Adult Cats
Age kcal/lb body wt
Kittens: 10 weeks 113
20 weeks 59
30 weeks 45
40 weeks 36
Adult Cats: Inactive 18
Active 20-30
Pregnant 45
Lactating* 56–145