Question:
There is a lot of confusion about what foods are human grade, & I would love to clear it up (w/ others' help!!)!!
As I understand it, the cat/dog foods that are human grade are:
Wysong,
Solid Gold,
Innova,
Canidae/Felidae,
Cali Nat,
Active Life,
Wellness.
There are some others that are questionable but I have *heard* are human grade.... I don't know:
Excel,
Precise,
Nutro Natural Choice,
Chicken Soup line,
GO! Naturals,
Fromm 5- Nutritionals.
And then of course there remains the grocery store/Wal-Mart food that is not even worth mentioning.
Can anyone clarify which of the above are/aren't human grade?
Hank is also going through a love affair w/ the reintroduced Royal Canin line, so I am wondering about that as well. (I do not think it is human grade....)
If no one knows, I will call the manufacturers myself & report back.


Answer:
Neuro, Royal Canin isn't human grade. In fact, the first tin I picked up to check out the ingredients at my vet had by-products quite high up in the list of ingredients


Answer:
That is the presription diet Royal Canin. I would never feed that!! I have fed Royal Canin Special kibble for a while when Hank wouldn't eat anything else, & it is by-product free.
I would like to get her on a human grade food, but I'm not even 100% sure what IS human grade any more!!
I'm still so disappointed she didn't like Wellness.
Right now she is on Royal Canin Special dry & Precise wet.


Answer:
I think the best place to check the quality of food is with Whole Dog Journal. Probably the only way to ensure your pet is getting human grade food is to feed them human food.
Even if the ingredients in pet foods are human grade, the way they are processed and presented makes me think of spam in a can or the dry rations that soldiers have to eat.


Answer:
Human Grade Foods
Canidae, Felidae
Flint River Ranch
Solid Gold (uses USDA Choice meats)
Wysong
Active Life
Go! Natural, Foundations, Summit (Petcurean company)
Innova, California Natural, Healthwise (Natura Pet company)
Wellness
Chicken Soup
Eagle Pack
Also note, that some of these foods use organic ingredients, while others don't.


Answer:
Thank you Candice!!! An interesting thing to observe is how some pets are still fussy when presented with such excellent products, & prefer to eat cheaper, lower quality food. (Or just lower quality food that may not be much cheaper).
Hank's like that. I'd never let her near anything like Wiskas, Cat Chow or Friskies, but she's refused to eat Wellness, Active Life, Eagle Pack,or Felidae on a consistent basis.
Right now she's living on her favourite: Royal canin Special kibble, w/ soft food from Precise (only 2 flavours!! She won't eat the others ) & Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care.
It's a compromise. I just hate to see her losing weight & not eating the human grade foods I have tried her on. It's disgusting to spend $20 on a bag of cat food & she won't touch it.
(Luckily Haley the hedgehog has a taste for Felidae, etc.)


Answer:
Low quality feed usually tastes sweeter because of more corn, beet pulp, sugar, etc. Do you get Go! Natural out there? Max usually goes off of his feed when he's bored with it but he has been eating since April with no signs of boredom.
Also, I forgot to mention, most good pet stores around here allow you to return the food if your cat doesn't like it.


Answer:
Some brands tend to also put in fat to make the food 'tastier' for dogs and cats, enticing them to eat it. Rancid, disgusting fat. *Gag*! Candice is right about returning the food -- when I bought my Wellness at Global, they told me to bring it back if the cats didn't like it. They loved it, but it was just too expensive to feed four cats so I switched to California Natural (which had been my first choice anyway).


Answer:
Hmmm, do you have more info on the fat, Bridget? Most of the foods that I have tried have chicken fat in them, usually preserved with vitamin E.


Answer:
What about Natural Balance?