New Kitty!!!

We adopted a cat!  And named her Samoa, just like the cookie, because she looks like one.  I had a cat growing up, he was very affectionate to mom, dad, me, and that was it.  To everyone else, he was not very friendly.  Samoa on the other hand, just wants to be loved, and she wants to share her love.  Even at 4am... So how does our new family member relate to food?  When we first adopted her she was eating Purina One adult formula, salmon flavor.  And she had terrible gas.  Here's part of the ingredient list the rest is just added vitamins and minerals:

Salmon, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, poultry by-product meal, soybean meal, whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, animal liver flavor, soy protein isolate, brewers dried yeast, tuna meal, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, caramel color, 

Hmmm... what are corn gluten and soybean meal, and caramel color doing in cat food?  I've never seen a cat walk through a soybean field, sit and chow down on a soybean.  As you might have guessed there was no way I was going to let her keep eating this stuff.  This was especially true when we brought her home and discovered she was super gassy!  She could clear the room it was that potent.  Just like a human, cats were never meant to eat corn or soy.  I tried switching her to Canidae dry grain free cat food, but she refused to eat both the chicken and the salmon flavors.  Seriously?  But look at the ingredients, it even contains probiotics!!!  

Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb, potatoes, potato protein, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural flavor, fish meal, choline chloride, methionine, taurine, sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, Dried Enterococcus faecieum fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, Dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, 

I wasn't too concerned about the natural flavor since I haven't heard of companies putting MSG in pet food.  Probiotics and real ingredients aside, Samoa went on a hunger strike.  We thought it may have been partly due to the upper respiratory infection she came home with from the humane society.  But even when she was feeling better she was still eating around the new food in her bowl.

So we switched her over to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon Flavor.

Deboned Salmon, 

Chicken Meal, 

Turkey Meal, 

Potato Starch, 

Pea Protein,

 

Peas, 

Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), 

Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids),

Natural Chicken Flavor, 

Potatoes, 

Sunflower Oil (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), 

Alfalfa Meal, 

Whole Carrots, 

Whole Sweet Potatoes, 

Cranberries, 

Blueberries, 

Barley Grass,

Dried Parsley, 

Dried Kelp, 

Taurine, 

Yucca Schidigera Extract, 

L-Carnitine, 

L-Lysine,

Turmeric, 

Oil of Rosemary, 

Beta Carotene, 

Vitamin A Supplement, 

Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), 

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), 

Niacin (Vitamin B3), 

d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), 

Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), 

Biotin (Vitamin B7), 

Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), 

Vitamin B12 Supplement, 

Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), 

Vitamin D3 Supplement, 

Vitamin E Supplement, 

Iron Amino Acid Chelate, 

Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, 

Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, 

Copper Amino Acid Chelate, 

Choline Chloride, 

Sodium Selenite, 

Calcium Iodate, 

Salt, 

Caramel,

 

Potassium Chloride, 

Dried Yeast (source of Saccharomyces cerevisiae), 

Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, 

Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, 

Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product

Just like the Canidae it contains probiotics, but I was surprised that it also contains Caramel.  I've thought about writing to the company to find out why, and if it is truly necessary.  Honestly, the cat doesn't care what color the food is.  But she gobbled it up, didn't pick through her old food, and within 2 days was completely off the Purina.  And...her gas went away!  Along with her dry food we also feed her wet food in the morning.  Wet food has a much higher protien content than dry food which is what cats need, especially indoor cats who do not spend their day outside hunting.  We switch back and forth between  Whole Paws by Whole Foods and Pet Guard brand.  Its hard to compare their macro contents to the dry food, but here goes.
Purina One= 37% protein, 13% fat, 2% fiber
Blue Buffalo= 40% protein, 18% fat, 3.5% fiber
Wet Foods= 10% protein, 4% fat, 1% fiber

From what I can figure out, the macros are determined by weight and since the wet food has a higher water content the macros appear to be much smaller than the dry food.  But obviously they still provide enough calories to grow and nourish a cat.
Protein = 8%
Fat = 4.5%
Fiber = 1.5%
Moisture = 82%


Pet Guard ingredients: Salmon,Mackerel, Water Sufficient for Processing, Ocean Fish, Rice Flour, Shrimp, Brewers Dried Yeast, Guar Gum,


Whole Paws ingredients: fish broth, whitefish, chicken, chicken liver, tuna, dried egg whites, potato starch, dried egg product, natural flavor, fish oil, sodium phosphate, salt guar gum...vitamins and minerals

Blue Buffalo wet Duck ingredients: Duck, turkey broth, chicken liver, natural flavor, potatoes, carrageenan, guar gum, flax seed, salt...vitamins and minerals


Ryan is really excited to have her try the duck flavor...I have no idea why.  Must be a guy thing.

I know some people out there make their own raw cat food, but most of the time I'm just happy to put real food on my own plate.  However Samoa does like raw eggs, and those are easy to feed to her.  She wasn't so keen on raw beef liver, didn't even want to lick the blood off the packaging.  Apparently she is not a vampire.  She also loves sardines!  Just like me.

More Sardines please!