Author: Allie Zottola

Our Favorite Cat Food and Feeding Resources

Continuing on with our favorite dog and cat supplies, I’m going to be discussing cat food and feeding resources today! Let’s just start this by saying that cats can be picky eaters. Like to the max. We haven’t experienced that too much with our cat, Malcolm, but he has snubbed a few things here and there.

As I said in my last post, I personally think the best thing you can do for your pet in terms of feeding is to figure out what works best for you and them in terms of quality, price, and enjoyment! With that said, here’s what we have found to be the best foods for our cat Malcolm!

The best cat food

1. Rachel Ray Nutrish
This is the dry cat food that we currently feed Malcolm and he chows down on this. He enjoys this so much that he never leaves a crumb in his bowl. The formula that we use is for indoor cats and the first ingredient is chicken. A 14 pound bag costs around $20.

2. Sheba Perfect Portions
This is the wet food that we currently feed Malcolm, and just like his dry food he completely cleans his plate when we feed him this. I love that the food comes in individual portion packs because it’s so convenient. The perfect portions are formulated without grain or corn, and a case of 24 twin packs costs around $17.

3. Cat Sip
A friend from church got Jimmy and I into buying these for Malcolm, and they’re such a neat concept. It’s a little carton of real milk specially formulated for cats and kittens that is easy on their stomachs. I really like knowing that Malcolm is staying hydrated when he drinks Cat Sip. A six pack costs around $9.

4. Whole Earth Farms Grain Free Kitten Food
This was the dry food that we fed Malcolm when he was a kitten and we had a great experience with it. He never had any digestive issues and ate really well when we brought him home. A 10 pound bag is about $24, but I think the price point is worth it because the quality is high, which is especially important for a growing kitten!

5. Whole Earth Farms Grain Free Cat Food
Another great food from Whole Earth Farms! We have bought the salmon flavor of this food and Malcolm enjoyed it. This food is formulated for indoor or outdoor cats, which is nice if you have one or the other (or both!). I really like the fact that Whole Earth Farms makes their food in the USA. Again, this one is a little on the pricey end, at about $24 for a 10 pound bag.

6. Fancy Feast Poultry and Beef Pate
The Fancy Feast Pates are another wet food we’ve had a great experience with. Malcolm has really enjoyed these, and I like the fact that a case of these provides variety of flavors like beef, chicken, and turkey. And of course, each can is formulated to provide balanced nutrition and essential vitamins and minerals. A 24 pack costs around $13.

7. Fancy Feast Broths
Fancy Feast Broths are actually considered a compliment to a cat’s meal, so we use these as an extra treat for Malcolm from time to time. The broths are little pouches of wet cat food with ingredients like mackerel, tuna, sardines, and more in a broth. When we first gave Malcolm one of these, we were impressed with the contents inside the pouch. We saw whole shrimp, sardines, and tuna flakes. Malcolm really enjoys these and finishes a pouch in minutes, if not seconds! A 12 pack costs about $14.

Cat food and feeding resources, books, and websites

1. Dinner PAWsible
Dinner PAWsible is a cookbook filled with homemade meals for cats and dogs written by a veterinarian certified in food therapy. It has over fifty recipes and a lot of useful information on which nutrients are important to cats and dogs. I’ve owned this cookbook for a few months now and love referencing it when I’m making homemade food for our pets.

2. CatFoodDB
Cat Food DB is a website that is basically a database of unbiased cat food reviews. It has lists of over 2,500 products and more than 150 brands. If you’re wanting to learn about feline nutrition, allergies, ingredient quality, and more, this website is a great research tool that does all the work for you.

3. Catster
Catster is a magazine and website that is all about cats. I like that their website has a category dedicated solely to cat food. The articles in their cat food section are mostly about feeding habits, weight loss, and other health issues that deal with feeding. This website is helpful if you have specific feeding questions.

4. Chewy
Chewy is a website that sells cat and dog food, treats, and supplies. The prices are always amazing, and if you spend over $49, you get free 1-2 day shipping. Another great (and convenient!) way to save on Chewy is to set up an autoship of your dog’s food that is automatically shipped to you every 1-16 weeks (you can choose when and even delay or speed up the autoship). When you set up an autoship, you save 5%! I’m literally on Chewy at least a few times a week and highly recommend checking it out!

Other Thoughts

  • Talk to your vet if you have questions about feeding your cat!
  • Along with Malcolm’s dry and wet food, we sometimes feed him scrambled eggs, cooked meat, and cooked salmon. He devours it 🙂

Our Favorite Dog Food and Feeding Resources

I’m continuing my series on dog and cat products that we personally use and love, and today I’ll be discussing our favorite dog food and feeding resources.

If you talk to people about dog food, you’re likely to get some strong opinions. Mavis’ trainer feeds her dogs a raw meat only diet, our neighbor makes and sells homemade dog food, and of course there are options like dry kibble and wet food.

The best advice that I can give in terms of dog food (because we’ve tried them all, aside from raw meat) is to find what works for you and your dog. We do a combo of homemade food and dry kibble and it works great for us in terms of health for the girls, pricing, and the time it takes to prepare.

Below you’ll find our favorite dog food brands. Jimmy and I have worked hard at finding high quality food at an affordable price and these are our top picks!

The Best Dog and Puppy Food

1. Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice Formula
We started using Diamond Naturals in 2014 when we had two siberian husky puppies. Our breeder actually recommended this food and fed it to all of her dogs, regardless of their age. It is a great wallet-friendly and healthy option for dogs of all ages and life stages! A 40 pound bag of the chicken and rice formula costs around $37.

2. Nature’s Recipe Grain Free Dog Food
This is the kibble that we currently feed both Lola and Mavis, and they seem to really enjoy it. We feed them the salmon, sweet potato, and pumpkin recipe, and a 24 pound bag runs us about $32. I like the fact that it’s grain free and the first ingredient in the formula we use is salmon. Can’t beat that!

3. Taste of the Wild Wetlands Canine Formula
When we just had Lola, we fed her this food and she loved it. We usually gave her the wildfoul formula, but there are also other flavors such as bison and venison, lamb, salmon, and more. My brother also feeds his two golden retrievers this food and they are healthy as can be. Taste of the Wild is grain free, but is a little pricier than Diamond Naturals and Nature’s Recipe. A 30 pound bag costs around $48.

4. Nature’s Recipe Grain Free Puppy Food
When Mavis was younger, this was the kibble we fed her and we didn’t struggle with any tummy issues with this food. Just like its adult counterpart, it’s grain free, affordable, and the first ingredient in the chicken, sweet potato, and pumpkin recipe is chicken. A 12 pound bag costs around $20.

5. Nutro Max Canned Puppy Food
We fed Mavis this canned puppy food when she was teething and it really helped her with not having to chew dry, hard kibble while she was losing her puppy teeth. We bought a case of the lamb and rice flavor and would feed it to her in a KONG or just on its own and had a great experience with it. A 12 pack case costs around $17.

Dog Feeding Resources

Okay, onto feeding resources! I have some great books and websites to share.

1. Dog Food Advisor
If you’ve ever wanted to know the breakdown of your dog’s food in terms of protein, fat, and carbohydrate ratios and which ingredients are good or bad, this is the website to check out. It even gives each food a rating out of five stars. It also has a list of dog food recalls and a lot of informative articles.

2. American Kennel Club Resource Page
The AKC has a wonderful website with a resource page that has tons of articles on dog nutrition, training, health, and so much more. I’ve learned a lot on the AKC website over the years.

3. Dinner PAWsible
Dinner PAWsible is a cookbook filled with homemade meals for cats and dogs written by a veterinarian certified in food therapy. It has over fifty recipes and a lot of useful information on which nutrients are important to cats and dogs. I’ve owned this cookbook for a few months now and love referencing it when I’m making homemade food for our pets.

4. Chewy
Chewy is a website that sells dog and cat food, treats, and supplies. The prices are always amazing, and if you spend over $49, you get free 1-2 day shipping. Another great (and convenient!) way to save on Chewy is to set up an autoship of your dog’s food that is automatically shipped to you every 1-16 weeks (you can choose when and even delay or speed up the autoship). When you set up an autoship, you save 5%! I’m literally on Chewy at least a few times a week and highly recommend checking it out!

5. Feed Your Best Friend Better
Feed Your Best Friend Better is a dog cookbook written by Rick Woodford and contains recipes for meals and treats. I’ve owned this cookbook for almost a year now and I have used it so, so much. There are tons of delicious recipes that Jimmy and I have totally tried (yeah, you read that right!) and liked, along with information about determining portion sizes, healing common health problems, and so much more.

Along with all of the above resources, your veterinarian is one of your best resources for figuring out a balanced and healthy diet for your pet! It’s always a good idea to check with him or her about what you feed your dog 🙂