9 Lives VS Fancy Feast

New to purchasing cat food? Or maybe just want to improve your friend\’s diet?
We are here to help!

Buying cat food can be tricky, especially if you are not used to it. Giving your cat the right type of food will make sure that it\’s health to have a good for life. Essentially, you should look for food based on your cat age and healthy, this way it will get the nutrients and energy to thrive.

First thing you need to do is check for meat proteins. Why? Cats are obligate carnivores, which means that they need muscle-based food in their diets. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) says that a vegan diet is not appropriate for cats, they aren\’t adapted to it, some cats munch on grass or other plants, but most biologists agree that such roughage serves only as a digestive aid and provides limited if any nutritional value.

Feeding a cat a plant-based diet is a lot like feeding a cow a meat-based diet, their digestive system isn\’t built to digest it, they require essential nutrients that only meat can provide to them, including taurine and arachidonic acid. Cats meet their nutritional needs by consuming small prey such as rodents, birds and small reptiles and amphibians, this is why they have a higher protein requirement than many other mammals. Without a steady supply of these nutrients, cats can suffer from liver and heart problems, not to mention skin irritation and hearing loss.

There is also a very specific and common problem that can affect the cat health when we are talking about vegan diets, that is the deficiency of the essential amino acid called Taurine. We say that amino acid is essential when the body can\’t synthesize it, and it must be ingested through diet. Humans and dogs can produce it, but cats are unable to do it and require a direct source from animal products, where the taurine is found. Such as meat, milk, eggs, etc.

Cats that are not fed with food that contains meet in it can develop a taurine deficiency. It can affect the heart, developing a heart issue known as dilated cardiomyopathy or DCM. That happens when the heart muscle becomes very thin and weak, preventing them from pumping blood and supplying oxygen to the body normally.
This can be a fatal disease if not corrected on early stages.

You also need to choose between canned and wet food, here is some information to help you with this choice.

Dry food

• Is more economical
• Is convenient because you can leave it out and it doesn‰Ûªt spoil as easily
• Is energy dense, meaning a cat can consume lots of calories quickly
• Has about 10% moisture content
• Tends to have more carbohydrates and less protein than wet food
• Maybe only slightly better than canned food at preventing dental disease
• In the wild, carbohydrates are only about five percent of a cat\’s diet, and many low-quality dry foods contain a lot of fillers, used as a cost-savings since they are a cheaper ingredient than meat, therefore cats that eat only dry food are more prone to obesity and diabetes.
• This type of food has only 10% of its content made of water, this way cats may become chronically dehydrated, which contributes to health problems like Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) and urinary crystals.
  If you feed your cat dry food, it should drink approximately one cup of water for every ten pounds of body weight in a 24-hour period in order to prevent the dehydration.

Canned Food

• Is more expensive
• Can spoil more easily and requires refrigeration after opening
• Is less energy dense than dry food
• Has up to 78% moisture content
• Tends to have more fat and protein – especially animal protein – and fewer carbohydrates than dry food

All the food brands must provide guaranteed minimum percentages of crude protein and crude fat and maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture. The proteins break down into amino acids, which are burned for energy or used to make new proteins and keep the metabolism healthy. Fat helps with the digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, reduce inflammation associated with arthritis and aid in the development of the retina and visual cortex. That\’s why researching before buying is the smart thing to do.

We are going to give you some useful tips:

1.  Check if in the list of ingredients are listed the specific type of meat (tuna, chicken, beef) usually when \”meat-by-products or poultry\” is written, the food is not that good. So make sure the type of animal protein is specified on the label.
2. Look for high-quality grain in the food. Many cat foods will contain grains like corn, barley or wheat.
   Ideally, the top 5 ingredients of cat food should be made of meat, but especially in dry food the percentage of grains is very high, that\’s why you need to search for meat first, organs second (like liver), and then grains.
3. As we said before, taurine and arachidonic acid are essential for cats, since they are obligate carnivores. So the food you purchasing should contain it, avoid food brands that have plant sources of protein instead of animal ones.
4. It\’s very important to check if there are vitamins and minerals in the food, such as vitamin A, B, C Folic Acid and B12. Minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron, magnesium, sodium and zinc should be part of it too. This altogether will maintain your cat\’s health.

Crude Protein Comparison

9 Lives typically provide less protein than Fancy Feast. However, this difference is relatively small and doesn\’t represent a significant difference between the two brands. In addition, Fancy Feast wet cat foods also provide more protein than 9 Lives wet foods.

Crude Fat Comparison For Cat Food

Fancy Feast dry cat foods clearly provide more fat than 9 Lives. In fact, the difference between the fat content is roughly 9.12%, which is a significant amount. For wet cat foods, 9 Lives typically provides a little more fat (about 3.35% more).

Crude Fiber Comparison For Cat Food

Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

9 Lives Pet Food Ingredients vs. Fancy Feast Pet Food Ingredients

• 9 Lives and Fancy Feast both use the following controversial ingredients in many of their products:
• Liver
• Brewers Rice
• Animal Digest
• Soybean Flour
• Poultry Giblets
• Corn Gluten Meal
• Meat By-Products
• Poultry By-Products
• Chicken By-Product Meal
• Poultry By-Product Meal
• Soybean Protein Concentrate
• Animal Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols)

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by 9 Lives

• Giblets
• Iron Oxide
• Whole Wheat
• Caramel Color
• Soybean Hulls
• Meat And Bone Meal
• Ground Whole Grain Corn
• Vegetable Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols)

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Fancy Feast

• Poultry
• Wheat Gluten
• Vegetable Oil
• Soybean Protein
• Whole Grain Corn

We believe that certain pet food ingredients are linked to adverse health effects; these ingredients are classified as harmful.

9 Lives and Fancy Feast both use the following harmful ingredients in many of their products:

Bha
Red 3
Blue 1
Blue 2
Red 40
Yellow 5
Yellow 6
Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex

Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by 9 Lives

Vegetable Oil (Preserved With Bha/Bht)
Canthaxanthin (Preserved With Ethoxyquin)

Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by Fancy Feast
Bht
Corn Oil
Added Color
Other Color

Product Safety: Recall History of 9 Lives & Fancy Feast?

9 Lives have been recalled once.

Dec. 7, 2018: low levels of thiamine
Fancy Feast has never been recalled.

Summing up, Fancy Feast continues to be the best choice!
Buy food for your cat right here.

 

Purina Fancy Feast Dry Cat Food, With Savory Chicken & Turkey – 12 lb. Bag

• 12 Lb. Bag – Purina Fancy Feast With Savory Chicken & Turkey Dry Cat Food
• 100% Complete And Balanced Adult Cat Nutrition
• Real Poultry Flavors She Loves
• Provides Essential Vitamins And Minerals To Help Support Feline Health
• Enchantingly Shaped Morsels

 

Purina Fancy Feast Grilled Feast in Gravy Canned Wet Cat Food

• Twenty 4 (24) 3 Cans Purina Fancy Feast Gravy Wet Cat Food Variety Pack, Seafood Grilled Collection
• Tender cuts of fish and seafood for a taste cats love. Moisture content maximum is 80%
• 100 percent complete and balanced nutrition for adult cats
• Delicate gravies for added flavor
• Essential vitamins and minerals to support her overall health