# blue buffalo? royal canin?



## Mar (Jun 22, 2013)

ok, so i am feeding my kitten blue buffalo in three varieties: wilderness, longevity and freedom. so far she loves the freedom and the wilderness. i picked this brand because of their holistic nature and the fact that they have high-protein diet options.

while i don't want this to turn into a cat food debate, i picked blue buffalo because of its good reputation. i've done tons of research and gone over reviews again and again and bb has positive reviews, though i have my concerns: they won't tell consumers WHERE the meat is gathered and their customer service has much to be desired.

while i will stick with this brand for now, i am also looking at royal canin, because of the siamese food variety. cosette is of siamese origin and i wanted to feed her something that would support her needs. 

but i know nothing of RC! i feed her a wet/dry combo, because she just came off of bottle feeding. she likes the wet combined with the dry, as i want her to experience both textures.

i am really, really interested in raw feeding, but NOT home-made. i have done some research on frozen, refrigerated, and freeze-dried food varieties.

anyway, are there any reservations i should have about BB? should i not continue this brand once i run out of her food? does anyone recommend anything besides wellness? it can be expensive, as money is not a variable.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Royal Canin has a _Siamese_ food option?! Oh my, of all the ridiculous things. It's a marketing ploy, all cats have the same nutritional needs, which is high protein and low carbs ideally. I think most people here will say to avoid Royal Canin like the plauge; very expensive food and not a high quality.

Blue Wilderness is the only good Blue food, drop the other two if you're planning on feeding your cat this brand. There are better dry foods out there: Wellness Core (original), Origen, EVO (minus recall issues), Instinct (chicken)...

Are you also asking for wet food options?


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

It all depends on what you want for your pets. My favorite foods for my cats are, acana and nutrisource grain free chicken. I wouldn't choose a food based solely because it says siamese on the bag. 99% of the bag is marketing. Do your research, I would never feed royal canin (i did one time, 8 years ago, before I knew better)


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

With regards to Royal Canin, 
I would pick something that has a bit more meat in it 
...and that is almost anything else on the shelf!


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## Mar (Jun 22, 2013)

these are all good things to hear! i know nothing of royal canin, so i thought i would ask.

yes it did sound strangely suspicious that they had a "siamese" option. i wasn't sure if every cat needed the same diet. i work with horses, and it's very different--every horse ha a different dietary need. i thought maybe the siamese variety had more electrolytes or something?

good to know it's stupid marketing.

yes i have heard so much about wellness and have not tried it with my cat, but because EVERYONE recommends it, i really have no reason to be suspicious  <3 thanks guys. once we run out of bb wilderness i will switch her brand.

regarding wet/dry, i'd like either. she really, really likes wet food but she's a kitten and doesn't eat that much, which is why i'd also like a brand that offers a dry option so i don't waste food that is left out too long.


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## Mar (Jun 22, 2013)

so cosette's not wildly thrilled with bb... time to find another food xD.


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## swimmergurl1105 (May 30, 2013)

I currently feed my cats Blue Buffalo Longevity (both wet and dry food). While I'm not wild about all the ingredients, the wet food is literally the only food that one of my cats will eat (and I've tried everything with him, he is just ridiculously stubborn).

Anyway, I found this cat food comparison chart which seemed to indicate that Longevity was one of the better kinds? I'm attaching the link, I'd love to know how valid the comparisons are.
Cat Food Ingredient Analysis


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

That chart is bogus... I checked out "Evangers Grain Free Meat Lovers Medley Rabbit Dry Cat Food" curious why it had 7/10 and found it giving plus points to peas and sweet potatoes which most would at the very least be ambivalent to, since peas are plant protein and sweet potatoes contain a lot of unnecessary sugar and carbs. Meanwhile, they minus a point on things like pumpkin seeds for "publicity stunt" ingredients. They don't appear to consider carb load/misleading protein contents at all in their rating.


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## Mar (Jun 22, 2013)

just went to petco to see what i could see. i met my really good friend there! he works, but he was off getting food for his own cat. i told him what was up and explained what everyone on here had to say. he totally agreed. he's not a fan of bb or canyon creek ranch, the new promotional food. he told me the only food he feeds his cat is natural balance, and he showed me where it was. i told him i'd have cosette try it when we ran out of bb wilderness.

he also said royal canin was bs xD so that confirms it!

that chart looked super cool.


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## Lucas718 (Feb 19, 2012)

swimmergurl1105 said:


> I currently feed my cats Blue Buffalo Longevity (both wet and dry food). While I'm not wild about all the ingredients, the wet food is literally the only food that one of my cats will eat (and I've tried everything with him, he is just ridiculously stubborn).
> 
> Anyway, I found this cat food comparison chart which seemed to indicate that Longevity was one of the better kinds? I'm attaching the link, I'd love to know how valid the comparisons are.
> Cat Food Ingredient Analysis


I don't agree with her rating system since she gives EVO 95 Chicken & Turkey canned the same rating as several flavors of Meow Mix, 9Lives, and Fancy Feast. Many of the Wellness flavors are rated 3/10, the same as some Friskies, Hills, Iams, and Meow Mix?

That just doesn't make sense.


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## Mar (Jun 22, 2013)

Lucas718 said:


> I don't agree with her rating system since she gives EVO 95 Chicken & Turkey canned the same rating as several flavors of Meow Mix, 9Lives, and Fancy Feast. Many of the Wellness flavors are rated 3/10, the same as some Friskies, Hills, Iams, and Meow Mix?
> 
> That just doesn't make sense.


i haven't read into the chart but that's a good point...

jeez! finding quality store-bought catfood is so hard! if only i had the time to do raw...


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## Lucas718 (Feb 19, 2012)

She subtracts points for de-boned turkey but adds points for things like rice, oats, and barley. I can't take that chart seriously.


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## swimmergurl1105 (May 30, 2013)

I was definitely a little suspicious of it, thanks for the feedback. Is there a better chart like that out there?


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

swimmergurl1105 said:


> Anyway, I found this cat food comparison chart which seemed to indicate that Longevity was one of the better kinds? I'm attaching the link, I'd love to know how valid the comparisons are.
> Cat Food Ingredient Analysis


Please don't base any nutritional decisions on information found on that site. There are discrepancies all over the place and some downright stupid assessments. For example it says chicken is a great protein source but turkey isn't. Pea protein is a great way to get plant protein...yeah, but cats don't need plant protein. Liver is no good because too much may be bad for them...who says there's too much in the food they're assessing. I could probably spend days highlighting inconsistencies.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Mar said:


> he told me the only food he feeds his cat is natural balance, and he showed me where it was. i told him i'd have cosette try it when we ran out of bb wilderness.


Natural Balance can be good for a pet with allergies in the LID formula, but as far as protein content it isn't very good, many of the first several ingredients are related to peas. Also potatoes, so high in carbs. I would avoid it in general if you're looking for a higher meat protein food.


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## Mar (Jun 22, 2013)

ok. that's good to know, carmel. i'm on a holistic site right now. does anyone recommend freeze dried/frozen cat food?


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## Lucas718 (Feb 19, 2012)

Here is a site I found with a much better list of good foods to feed your cat.

Today’s best cat foods–reviews of canned and raw options | Natural Cat Care Blog


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

The only thing I find weird about the list above is that the cost rating for stuff like ZiwiPeak and Nature's Variety raw are rated as LOW, when they're far and away more expensive than the canned food listed as MED or HIGH. 

Like, for example, the Nature's Variety Raw is $35+ here for the 3lb bag, 16 days' worth of food, whereas the cost of a case of the canned, 12 days of food, is around $22.

Ziwipeak is $26 for 14 oz: www.amazon.ca/ZiwiPeak-Food-Grain-Dried-Recipe/dp/B009KDBD2C
According to their online feeding guide, Io should get 1.3oz a day, making the bag last just shy of 11 days, or close to $2.50 per day. A day's worth of Tiki Cat is less than that.

And that's not counting how much more expensive the shipping for raw/refrigerated items are.


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