# Holistic Blend cat food?



## Riana (Apr 9, 2008)

I critter-sit for a lady who has 6 cats and two dogs, and this is the type of food she has fed her cats for a long time.http://www.holisticblend.com/product_info.php?cPath=18_22&products_id=70 She had problems at one point with urinary tract infection however, so she had to switch most of her cats onto the medical preventive brand. I don't know if it had to do with this food or not, so I wanted to ask for your people's opinions on it. What do you think? What are the good points/bad points of this food, with regards to the ingredients listed? Do you think it'd be a good food to try?

Oh, I should mention that the cats who had the urinary problems all developed them suddenly, within a two week period, yet they had been on the food for varying amounts of time since the cats are of different ages. She also fed them a small amount of canned food daily, but I'm not certain of the brand. Would that urinary problem be worrisome to you people? Do you think it's a red flag for this food?


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## melysion (Mar 12, 2007)

Theres quite a bit of grain in there .....


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## Riana (Apr 9, 2008)

:/ crud. 

I know that cats are strictly carnivores, so the presence of a lot of plant in their diet isn't the best, but what is it exactly that is bad about there being grain/wheat/corn in their diet? Is there a major reason besides the fact that it isn't something that they need? Like, does it hurt them or something?

This cat food thing is confusing! >_<


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## ~*Regina*~ (Apr 16, 2008)

I believe it's becuase there is no nutritional value and they just use it as a filler. I know someone else will prob explain it better then me :wink:


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## Riana (Apr 9, 2008)

That's what I figured, but I didn't know if there was some serious issue with it, or if it just wasn't desirable. Thanks for your reply. :3!


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

A cat is an obligate carnivore, which means they need animal protein. Their system is made to process meat. Grains are carbs, a cats digestive system doesn't know how to process them and turns them into fat. Corn, wheat and soy cause a lot of allergy issues in cats. A cat's system has to work harder to get less nutritional value out of grains than good protein sources. 

You'll have people tell you that their cat has survived on corn based foods and lived to a ripe old age. Yes, it's possible for that to happen. But there are many cats out there that didn't make it to a ripe old age due to their food and their owner's have no idea that the root of the problem was diet based. 

My opinion...why take the chance?


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## Riana (Apr 9, 2008)

Besides the carb issue, and obviously by-products, is there anything else that I should be conscious of when looking at a cat food? 

Thanks a lot for reply!


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## chris10 (Feb 20, 2006)

flax seed, amaranth, alfalfa, cranberries, apples, garlic powder, cinnamon powder

These ingredients pretty much goes in and comes out. Cats pull very little nutrients from plant materials. These ingredients are mainly for our peace of mind that we are feeding cats properly. So try to limit fruits and vegs as much as you can. Kind of hard since most dry food contains these. Not that it hurts the cats but its just a waste of time and energy.

As you said no byproducts. At least the first two or three ingredients for dry food must be animal specific meat. Try to find one without fish, search for threads on fish problems.

Urinary issues are associated with all dry food no matter what brand you buy. Cat ailments are always worrisome especially urinary issues since those can be prevented. A lot of us recommend an all wet diet.


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## Riana (Apr 9, 2008)

Thank you everyone for your replies! I'll keep looking!


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