Is it okay to feed your cat generic cat food?

Answer 1

Feed your cat what it is used to. I quit feeding Miss Kitty Special Gourmet dry cat food because I fouind that it was too low in protein and was mostly filler by corn meal. She wouldn't eat the more expensive food. I tried slowly mixing it with the old food and still she wouldn't eat it. Fix your cat what it likes to eat and ignore everything else. To those that favor the premium cat food I understand that it is better for a cat. I just can't get my cat to eat it.

Answer 2

Yes if it wasn't OK to give to your cat the shop wouldn't sell it.

Another Answer

To expand on the first answer - yes, "generic" cat isn't necessarily harmful, as long as its labelled as a complete food and agrees with your cat.

However, there much better foods out there, a lot of which aren't that expensive. The biggest problem with generic foods you find at the store is that they use cheap ingredients in order to keep the cost down: Grain, Corn, Wheat Gluten, Cereals and Various Sugars have very little or no nutritional value for cats, but are much cheaper to use than meat. It is also a cheap way of bumping up the Protein percentage. Some brands even include colourants and other chemicals in their foods to make it look or taste more appetising.

Cats are obligate carnivores, and thus need meat-based protein, not plant-based protein. Cats will often overeat on lower quality foods because they are not getting all the nutrients they need, which can result in obesity and other health problems which can shorten a cat's lifespan and overall quality of life.

A high-quality Wet food is probably the best food cats can get as far as nutrition goes. Good quality canned food mimics prey foods, and is high in protein and fat - the two main things that cats use as their energy source. Moisture is also a very important factor as cats are designed to get their moisture from their food (a trait that has been passed down from their wild ancestors), and therefore wet foods often have a high water content which keeps the cat fully hydrated.

While the generic brands of food are complete, most cats will not thrive on it in the long term. Additionally, a cat can be fed less on a higher quality food compared to a lower quality food, which in the long term ends up being much cheaper.

Answer 3

It all depends on your cat.