Premium class feeds - pros and cons, list of feeds, brief overview -

Each of us who has a cat at home has probably come across industrially produced food more than once for our furry friend and even bought it. Some people prefer to buy inexpensive food, while others do not want to save on their pet’s health and buy only good premium cat food. But is the beautiful packaging really hiding high quality food? Maybe you shouldn’t worry and it’s better to give preference to cheaper food? Let's figure it out.

Pros and cons of premium food

Premium cat food is not nearly as high quality as super-premium food or food from the holistic line, but they are not as expensive. The quality and composition of the components in them is much better than in economy class feed. Premium food already contains real meat (albeit in small quantities), but also still contains a variety of substitutes, preservatives and the like. In simple terms, we can say that such food is not dangerous to the cat’s health, but it is also not desirable.

Many cat owners choose premium food , as they are a compromise between price and quality. The advantages of such food include greater nutritional value than in economy class, due to which the animal eats much smaller portions and, accordingly, the load on the kidneys will be less, there will be less excrement, and so on. Among the disadvantages of premium food are the already mentioned preservatives, chemical flavoring additives and aromas. However, animals in good health can live their entire lives on this food without any problems.

Protein is an essential element of cat nutrition.

Protein is an essential nutrient, a chronic deficiency of which can lead to irreversible health problems for your pet. This is the main building material for the body, a source of energy. Proteins are composed of amino acids, most of them are essential (taurine, histidine, methionine, arginine, valine, leucine, lysine, tryptophan, isoleucine, phenylalanine, threonine). They are not synthesized from other substances, so they must come from food.

The main food for predators is provided by animal protein, which contains the entire set of amino acids that cannot be reproduced by the body. It is impossible to completely replace meat with protein-containing plant products (for example, legumes). Cats will not get all the nutrients they need from them.

It is especially important for kittens, pregnant and lactating cats to comply with the physiological norm of animal protein consumption. A significant reduction in the protein diet provokes growth cessation, loss of body weight up to critical, fragility, and brittle bones.

List of premium cat foods

Premium cat food brands include the following: Purina Pro Plan, Royal Canin, Iams, Hills, Feline Perfection, Fitmin. It is worth noting that very often Royal Canin food and Hills food are often classified as super-premium. This is due to the fact that their medicinal food lines are of very high quality. However, regular food of these brands is not as good as super-premium food, and therefore it is a mistake to attribute them to it.

What should protein be like?

The quality and type of meat are important, as is the quantity. To obtain a full set of vital amino acids, a predator needs a varied diet: beef, pork, poultry, rabbit, eggs, fish, offal. For example, in the composition of the holistic Fitmin Cat For Life Hairball we see: chicken meat, eggs, pork liver, fish.

In cheap feeds, high-quality animal products are replaced with bone meal and grain, so caring owners are increasingly choosing premium lines and holistic feeds (the highest class of feeds). It is more expensive, but when you factor in the costs of veterinarians and medications that are inevitable with poor nutrition, the difference is not too great.

Review of ProPlan cat food

ProPlan is a premium cat food that has a completely balanced composition. It is worth noting that the ProPlan veterinary line is often classified as super premium food, as it is of higher quality. Another important fact is that two more cat foods are released under the Purina brand - Purina Cat Chow and Purina ONE. The first food is economy class, and the second is a more decent food. Therefore, you should not confuse them.

ProPlan cat food contains 40% protein, which is completely suitable for healthy animals. However, it is worth understanding in more detail. In Pro Plan, a large amount of this indicator is vegetable proteins (soy flour, corn gluten), which are not at all desirable for a cat’s menu. Moreover, corn is used because it is cheap, but it is the one that is most harmful to cats (in many animals it can lead to hair loss and various allergic reactions).

Purina ProPlan cat food contains real chicken (even in duck or salmon flavored varieties), which is of course a plus. “By-product meal” (ground waste, such as paws, heads) is also a useful ingredient for your pet. But there are also quite dubious components - animal fat and liver. It’s as if there’s nothing wrong with it, but too much liver is harmful for a cat, and the manufacturer does not specify what exactly the origin of “animal fat” is.

Among the cereal crops, ProPlan contains both ingredients suitable for cats, for example, rice, and strong allergens (for example, wheat flour). Additionally, some versions of Purina ProPlan contain cellulose powder, which can also cause allergic reactions in your cat. In conclusion, it is worth noting the presence in these foods of pribiotics and enzymes that are useful for cat digestion, which are usually a feature of the super premium class.

Reviews of ProPlan food from cat owners

Review of ProPlan food for kittens

Nina: When we got a kitten, I immediately started looking on the Internet for what to feed him. Everywhere they wrote that until the age of six months it is better to feed only natural food, and that’s what I did... Then the kitten turned half a year old, and they decided to accustom him to food. You can’t afford the most expensive holistic treatments, but you can’t poison a kitten with Kitikat or Whiskas.

After reading several articles and reviews, I decided to try Purina Pro Plan food for kittens. I read that sometimes the products present in it cause allergies, but, fortunately, this did not happen to our cat. We also feed him regular homemade food, and when no one is home, we leave him with dry food. I read that it is better not to mix homemade food with ready-made food, but to feed one thing at a time. But a veterinarian friend said that there was nothing wrong with it. Moreover, if the food is not of the highest quality, then it is better not to feed it unnecessarily. And ProPlan is of average quality, at least that’s what a friend said, and that’s how one can judge it as a premium food.

Review of Pro Plan food

, writes Elena. We fed our cat this food for almost half a year. At first everything was fine, but over time the cat began to eat less and showed less and less activity. It got to the point where I almost stopped eating altogether and lay there all day. They took him to the vet. The cat was given an injection and put on an IV. The veterinarian said that the reason was in the food - it was too fatty and the liver could not cope. He also said that food often becomes the reason for visits to him and that even the best food causes problems. That is, the reason here is not only in the food, but also in the individuality of our cat. And yet, now we feed him better and slightly more expensive food.

Review of ProPlan food

, writes Karina: I have been feeding my pet food for neutered cats for over a year now. ProPlan was recommended by the clinic. I feed not only dry, but also wet. Therefore, it is sold out little by little - up to four large (3 kg) packages per year. So far, there have been no problems with either digestion or going to the toilet.

How much should you limit protein and phosphorus?

There is still no clear conclusion on the optimal amount of animal protein consumed for kidney disease. The situation is complicated by the lack of large-scale studies that would give reliable results. Experts are discussing this issue, but general recommendations have been established: therapeutic diets have been developed for different stages of CKD.

The phosphorus content in therapeutic diets should not exceed 1.35 g per 1000 kcal. In this case, it is necessary to monitor blood plasma parameters. If, through dietary restriction, it is not possible to achieve normal concentrations, hyperphosphatemia persists (0.9-1.5 mmol/l in the second stage of CKD and 1.6-1.9 mmol/l in the third), it is necessary to add drugs that bind phosphorus in the intestines.

All medications must be prescribed by a doctor based on test results.

If the animal is undergoing treatment, then it is necessary to monitor the response to complex therapy. This will allow you to correctly assess his condition and, if necessary, optimize the nutrition process and the doses of medications taken. When improvements occur, the diet cannot be stopped.

Conclusions about ProPlan food

Based on the composition of ProPlan cat food, we can conclude that it contains both beneficial and quite harmful ingredients. Therefore, if possible, it is better to choose food from the super premium (Bosch SANABELLE, Bozita) or holistic (Go, Acana, NOW Natural holistic) class. However, if expensive food is beyond your means, then Purina ProPlan is a good option. If you have chosen this particular food, then the Pskov-zoo.ru website recommends that after several weeks of feeding it, you check the animal’s tests at the veterinarian. If everything is fine with them, the food is suitable and safe for your cat.

So what is the best cat food?

The best food is one that suits your cat and is truly complete. If the food is based on cereals, there are only a couple of percent of meat ingredients, and the vitamin and mineral supplement includes only 3-5 vitamins, then it cannot be called the best or even good.

It is also impossible to call any particular food the best, even if its composition is very good. The reason is simple - there are at least a dozen more foods from other manufacturers with the same good composition. And, by the way, no one knows what the composition should be that is 100% ideal for a cat.

Royal Canin cat food review

Royal Canin is a premium cat food, which makes it a good substitute for natural food. However, in addition to a good balance of substances necessary for cats, premium food also contains various chemicals (dyes, odor and taste enhancers, preservatives). a large amount of vegetable proteins, grains, soybeans, and meat by-products are not of the best quality.

If we talk only about Royal Canin cat food , then it is worth noting that the brand’s medicinal line is very high quality and well balanced, and perfectly helps in the treatment of specific diseases, which is why it is often classified as a super premium class. In addition, most veterinarians consider Royal Canin medicated food to be better than the ProPlan or Eucanuba medicinal lines.

But Royal Canin daily dry food, like the mentioned ProPlan, is of worse quality than the line of veterinary (medicinal) food. Therefore, if possible, it is better to feed a cat with food of the highest classes (Fitmin, Akana, Go, Now, Bozita, Bosch Sanabel). However, if, when feeding Royal Canin food, your pet is active, playful, has a shiny coat, has no digestive problems, and the tests done at the veterinary clinic are in perfect order, then the food is perfect for him.

Pros and cons of Royal Canin food

Benefits of Royal Canin food:

• Low price;
• High quality compared to economy class;
• High-quality veterinary food line;
• A wide range of;
• Available at any pet store.

Disadvantages of Royal Canin food:

• Daily feeds are of lower quality than veterinary ones;
• Production in Russia (if possible, it is better to order/buy feed made in Europe);
• The manufacturer of Royal Canin food is Mars, which specializes in economy class food.

How much protein does a cat need?

The biological need of an adult cat is about 5 - 6 g of animal protein per 1 kg of weight (maximum - up to 10 g with high activity). For example, a pet weighing 3 kg should receive at least 15 g of protein per day.

It is necessary to distinguish between the content of meat products and protein in feed. These are not equivalent concepts.

To clearly show the difference, let’s look at the composition of dry food Fitmin Cat For Life Hairball. The composition states that 87% animal proteins. This does not mean that after eating 100 g, a cat will receive 87 g of protein. For a correct calculation, we need a guaranteed analysis (manufacturers print it on the packaging along with the composition).

For a cat weighing 3 kg, the recommended daily dose is 50 g, of which she will receive (33/100) * 50 = 16.5 g of protein (5.5 g per kg of weight). The daily norm has been met. This, of course, does not guarantee that the manufacturer used high quality products. Unfortunately, legislation regulates only the percentage content of nutrients, and not the consumer properties of raw materials.

The situation is gradually improving: now many private and state examinations are being carried out, during which the actual composition is checked and compared with the guaranteed one. Manufacturers value their reputation, especially in the premium segment, so serious discrepancies with the numbers on the label are becoming less and less common.

Reviews of Royal Canin food

Ekaterina: We have a kitten (female) of the Don Sphynx breed.

We started feeding him Royal Canin food for kittens from 4 months. In our stores this food is one of the most expensive, but our little one did not eat it very willingly. When the cat grew up, we switched to Royal Canin for Sphynxes, but the cat didn’t like to feast on it either. Moreover, after some time a rash appeared on the cat’s body - the diagnosis was allergy. We decided to switch to another food - everything went away and the cat was happy. Our cat not only didn’t like Royal Canin, but also did a little harm. Therefore, I do not recommend buying it; it is better to take something of better quality.

Elena: I fed my cat Royal Canin dry food from the age of six months. For two years there were no problems, but when a British cat moved in and appeared, problems arose. The cat was quickly gaining weight, although everything was fine with the cat. Perhaps the reason is that the cat is sterilized. I had to change the brand of food, I chose 1st Choice, it suited both)) There are no complaints about Royal Canin, I just didn’t want to buy different food for the cat and cat, so I chose one suitable for both.

Review of Royal Canin medicinal food

, writes Galina: After diagnosing urolithiasis in our cat, the veterinarian, in addition to medications, also prescribed Royal Canin Urinary dietary food for the prevention of urolithiasis. They treated and fed as prescribed by the veterinarian, and after a month the cat’s condition improved significantly. She began to eat better and lead a more active lifestyle. An examination at the clinic showed that the cat was already healthy. The veterinarian stopped taking the medication, but recommended feeding him food for another 3-4 months. If veterinarians recommend it and it helps, then Royal Canin is a good medicinal food!

Conclusions about Royal Canin food

Judging by most reviews, Royal Canin is a good food for cats, especially the veterinary line. However, analyzing the composition of Royal Canin food, we can say that although it is much better than economy class food, it still has significant drawbacks. Therefore, our recommendations are as follows: if you have the opportunity to buy top-class cat food, be sure to take advantage of it; if not and buy Royal Canin food, monitor your pet during the first days and weeks, so you will know whether the food is suitable for him.

Hill's cat food review

Hills Feline cat food belongs to the premium class. Although the Hill's medicinal line of food is often classified as a super premium class, since it is of better quality than daily food for healthy cats. Note that this is not a reason to buy a medicinal line instead of a regular one, because for healthy cats it may be less useful than a regular one.

You can feed medicated food only in case of a certain disease in the cat and the food has been prescribed by veterinarians. If you know what your cat is sick with, you can choose the food yourself, following the labels on the packaging (for example, “for neutered cats,” “for cats with sensitive stomachs,” etc.).

Ingredients of Hill's using Nature's Best Kitten Chicken as an example: Poultry meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat, brown rice, corn, hydrolyzed protein, minerals, barley, oats, fish oil, dried beet pulp, flaxseed, dehydrated carrots, dehydrated peas, tomato pomace, chopped spinach, citrus pulp, grape pomace, rice, oat fiber. Supplements per kg: E672 (vitamin A) 36,830ME, E671 (vitamin D3) 2,170ME, E1 (iron) 87 mg, E2 (iodine) 1.4 mg, E4 (copper) 8.5 mg, E5 (manganese) 9 mg, E6 ( zinc) 180 mg, E8 (selenium) 0.2 mg. With natural preservative and natural antioxidants. Iron oxide colored.

Pros and cons of Hills food

The benefits of Hill's cat food include:

• low price;;
• vitamins and minerals;
• quite a good range of treatments;
• availability in most stores;

The disadvantages of Hills Feline food include:

• high percentage of plant proteins;
• quite frequent cases of allergies in cats;
• Hill's wet food is of worse quality than dry food.

Natural food or dry food

There is a heated debate among cat lovers about what is better: natural food or ready-made crackers. Adherents of both camps find reasons for and against their views.

It is important to remember that your doctor should have the final say. Only he has sufficient education and data from all animal studies to prescribe a competent diet.

In practice, most veterinary specialists recommend ready-made food, since it is rare that an owner has enough time and patience to regularly prepare food for their pet from natural products. It’s easier to buy a ready-made dryer that already has everything you need.

If the pet refuses to eat, then with the permission of the veterinarian you need to change the food or the selected diet.

It happens that a cat does not like a low-protein diet. The most capricious individuals may even “go on a hunger strike” - as a matter of principle, they will not eat anything new. For some time this is not difficult for them, since their appetite is still reduced. In most cases, allowing a dog to starve is more harmful than allowing a stubborn furry to eat its usual food.

Normal protein intake for chronic renal failure is not as bad as an excess of phosphorus.

Eating high-fat foods is a good way to provide energy for your furry pet without increasing phosphorus levels. However, a diet rich in fat is not suitable for animals with pancreatic diseases. In such cases, you need to choose cat food that is low in protein and fat.

Hill's cat food - reviews

Review of Hills food for kittens , writes Galina Panko. Just two years ago, we got a five-month-old kitten. She called him Tonic (although the man calls him Tapk), started looking on the Internet about feeding kittens and most wrote that at this age it is already fashionable to start accustoming them to food. For testing, I chose small packages of Hills food for kittens and ProPlan for kittens. The baby did not eat very willingly at first, but then the whims disappeared :-)

I stopped at Hills feed and fed him until he was one year old. Then I switched to food for adult cats. I can say that during these two years there were no problems. The cat's coat is good and his health is not satisfactory. True, I not only feed him dry food - Tonic often asks for something tasty from the table, and it’s hard to refuse him)) I hope my review will be useful and Hill’s food will suit your cats too!

Review about Hill's cat food

sent by Valya: I fed my Tusya whiskey for almost four years. Everything seemed to be fine, the cat was eating and eating. . It turned out that Whiskas was an advertised time bomb for cats. I immediately switched to the best food, but the best brands are expensive, so I had to find a compromise between price and quality. Hills food became such a compromise - both the composition is much better and the price is reasonable. From time to time I also buy canned food of the same brand.

Now Tusya looks much better thanks to her shiny coat! Therefore, we can conclude that if Hills is not the best, it is certainly much better than any Whiskas. It’s good that I realized this in time and I hope my cat will please me for a very long time thanks to this! Let everything be fine with your pets!

Review of Hills food for sterilized cats

, Rosolinda:
We chose this food on the recommendation of the clinic after the cat was castrated. We have been feeding them for more than four years. The cat is happy, and so are we. People, don’t be sorry to spend a little more on food, because if you feed it whiskey or kitikat, it will end up being more expensive. Have pity on your cat! And don’t forget, when feeding dry food there should always be water near it!

Conclusions about Hills food

If you are looking for inexpensive cat food of relatively good quality, the premium segment is just for you. and Hills food of course. Reviews from owners indicate that it is suitable for many animals and years of feeding them do not show negative consequences. Veterinarians note that although they often recommend Hills medicinal food for certain diseases, if possible, it is better to feed healthy cats and female cats with super premium class food. Although they are more expensive, they are very high quality.