In this thread, I will be reviewing specific pet foods that I am feeding to my cats, given that I feed them a wide variety of wet foods, as well as others that I have used in the past, and some that I wouldn't use. Others may, of course, since this is not a personal blog, do the same. I will review them as I come across them, rather than in any particular order, and I'll focus on cat foods since I've never had a dog of my own, although dog food brands generally correspond with related cat food brands.
Iams Perfect Portions
Nearly two decades ago, while I was employed by Blue Buffalo, I considered Iams to be a lower mid-tier pet food, just a notch above the Purina brands (Friskies, Purina Cat Chow), Meow Mix, and some of the generic grocery brands. I don't remember the ingredients, but I think that was an accurate assessment of Iams cat food at that time.
However, I came across Iams on Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and what initially caught my attention was that it was awfully expensive. Why would such a mediocre brand cost more than some of the premium brands? So, I looked further and found that Iams had improved its ingredient list considerably. Thus far, I have looked only at their Iams Perfect Portions Healthy Adult Chicken Recipe.
Ingredients
Chicken, Water, Poultry Liver, Chicken Broth, Dried Egg Product, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Fish Oil, Magnesium Sulfate, Taurine, Tapioca Starch, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Oxide Color, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex.
These ingredients represent what is still an economy-to-midrange wet cat food formula, with the first ingredients providing the bulk of the nutrition and the later ingredients serving as supplements, thickeners, and preservatives.
Roughly 80% or more of what is in a pet food is found in the first four or five ingredients, so while the rest of the list may be long, they are usually supplements, minerals, or preservatives. Some of the best foods, however, don't have long lists, but rather let the proteins supply the necessary vitamins and minerals.
Pros:
Cons:
Some people feel cheated when a cat food ingredient includes "water," and while I'd rather just have more "chicken broth," the difference is negligible, and cats need the liquid. In nature, cats would get most of their hydration from the food they eat rather than drinking pure water, and my experience has been that cats prefer the wetter mixes. Simply adding water to a recipe dilutes its taste and makes it less appealing.
It is important that the cat likes it too, since there's no point in spending money on foods that the cat won't eat.
My taste testers are Ella and four outdoor cats. While you might think that outdoor cats will eat anything, that's only true if they are near starvation. The feral cats that I feed have rejected some of the most expensive premium cat foods on the market.
This, of course, is a variable that can't be objectively tested in a review because your cat might feel differently.
Ella and all four of the outside cats that I feed seem to like this Iams recipe well enough.
I will probably buy it again, but it won't be a staple in my cats' diet because it's more expensive than some foods that have better ingredients and which the cats prefer, and because I hate the "perfect portions" part of it.
Rather than coming in a can, it comes in a double-tray plastic container, each section containing 3 oz. If Ella were the only cat I fed, this might work because she usually eats only about 3 oz or less at a time, but that's not nearly enough for any of the outside cats, so opening up both sides is just extra work for me. I'd rather have 3-oz or 6-oz cans.
However, my cats like variety in their wet food. If I fed them their favorite food every day, it would remain their favorite food for only a few days.
Iams Perfect Portions
Nearly two decades ago, while I was employed by Blue Buffalo, I considered Iams to be a lower mid-tier pet food, just a notch above the Purina brands (Friskies, Purina Cat Chow), Meow Mix, and some of the generic grocery brands. I don't remember the ingredients, but I think that was an accurate assessment of Iams cat food at that time.
However, I came across Iams on Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and what initially caught my attention was that it was awfully expensive. Why would such a mediocre brand cost more than some of the premium brands? So, I looked further and found that Iams had improved its ingredient list considerably. Thus far, I have looked only at their Iams Perfect Portions Healthy Adult Chicken Recipe.
Ingredients
Chicken, Water, Poultry Liver, Chicken Broth, Dried Egg Product, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Fish Oil, Magnesium Sulfate, Taurine, Tapioca Starch, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Oxide Color, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex.
These ingredients represent what is still an economy-to-midrange wet cat food formula, with the first ingredients providing the bulk of the nutrition and the later ingredients serving as supplements, thickeners, and preservatives.
Roughly 80% or more of what is in a pet food is found in the first four or five ingredients, so while the rest of the list may be long, they are usually supplements, minerals, or preservatives. Some of the best foods, however, don't have long lists, but rather let the proteins supply the necessary vitamins and minerals.
Pros:
- Meat is the primary ingredient.
- It contains named animal proteins.
- It includes poultry liver, which is highly nutritious.
- It contains fish oil for omega-3 fatty acids.
- It includes taurine, which is essential for cats (although a very high meat content would include sufficient natural taurine).
- It uses wet-food moisture content, beneficial for hydration.
Cons:
- It relies partly on "poultry liver" rather than a specific source, such as "chicken liver" or "turkey liver."
- It uses "dried egg product," which can vary in quality.
- It contains guar gum and tapioca starch as processing aids rather than nutrition.
- It uses sodium tripolyphosphate, which is controversial because it is a highly processed additive, though little evidence shows it causes health problems when used appropriately.
- It uses iron oxide color, which is unnecessary and intended to appeal to humans rather than cats.
Some people feel cheated when a cat food ingredient includes "water," and while I'd rather just have more "chicken broth," the difference is negligible, and cats need the liquid. In nature, cats would get most of their hydration from the food they eat rather than drinking pure water, and my experience has been that cats prefer the wetter mixes. Simply adding water to a recipe dilutes its taste and makes it less appealing.
It is important that the cat likes it too, since there's no point in spending money on foods that the cat won't eat.
My taste testers are Ella and four outdoor cats. While you might think that outdoor cats will eat anything, that's only true if they are near starvation. The feral cats that I feed have rejected some of the most expensive premium cat foods on the market.
This, of course, is a variable that can't be objectively tested in a review because your cat might feel differently.
Ella and all four of the outside cats that I feed seem to like this Iams recipe well enough.
I will probably buy it again, but it won't be a staple in my cats' diet because it's more expensive than some foods that have better ingredients and which the cats prefer, and because I hate the "perfect portions" part of it.
Rather than coming in a can, it comes in a double-tray plastic container, each section containing 3 oz. If Ella were the only cat I fed, this might work because she usually eats only about 3 oz or less at a time, but that's not nearly enough for any of the outside cats, so opening up both sides is just extra work for me. I'd rather have 3-oz or 6-oz cans.
However, my cats like variety in their wet food. If I fed them their favorite food every day, it would remain their favorite food for only a few days.
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