Pet Food Recommendations

Feline Diet Recommendations

The most important criteria for choosing a diet are the listing of ingredients on the package. We want to see a good whole protein source listed as the first 2 ingredients. It can contain the term “chicken meal” but avoid terms like “byproduct” or non specific “meat”. We like to completely avoid corn, wheat or soybeans, as these ingredients are often chosen for their low cost and not their digestibility and nutritional value. The “good” grains that seem to work better are barley, oat and rice.
It is often difficult to find some of the better quality pet foods in the grocery store aisle, or even in the large box stores. We recommend looking at the smaller feed stores including:
Some of the brands we have fed and liked include Wellness, Innova, Honest Kitchen, California Natural, Nature’s Variety, Felidae, Blue Buffalo, Avoderm, and Solid Gold. There are many more that we didn’t list. Of the more widely available, larger production foods we would try Purina Pro Plan, Royal Canin or Nutro- preferably the Nutro Ultra Holistic.
As pure carnivores, cats require a high level of good quality protein. The increasing availability of high quality grain free diets, gives us many great options. There are several good choices among the grain free foods including; Wellness-Core, Innova-Evo, Origin, Taste of the Wild, Instinct, or Acana.
In addition, we like to offer our cats canned food on a daily or weekly basis. The main benefit is the increased water intake, but most canned foods are also typically higher in protein and lower in grains or other carbohydrates. This feeding strategy has the potential to reduce the risk for diabetes and obesity, and by increasing water intake, can be helpful for kidney or bladder disease.

Canine Diet Recommendations

The most important criteria for choosing a diet are the listing of ingredients on the package. We want to see a good whole protein source listed as the first 2 ingredients. It can contain the term “chicken meal” but avoid terms like “byproduct” or non specific “meat”. We like to completely avoid corn, wheat, or soybeans, as these ingredients are often chosen for their low cost and not their digestibility and nutritional value. The “good” grains that seem to work better are barley, oat, and rice.
It is often difficult to find some of the better quality pet foods in the grocery store aisle, or even in the large box stores. We recommend looking at the smaller feed stores including:
  • OK Feeds at 3701 E Ft Lowell
  • Tucson Feeds and Pet Foods at 7878 E Tanque Verde
  • Tanque Verde Hay and Feed 11050 E Tanque Verde
Some of the brands we have fed and liked include Wellness, Innova, Honest Kitchen, California Natural, Nature’s Variety, Canidae, Blue Buffalo, Avoderm, and Solid Gold. There are many more that we didn’t list. Of the more widely available, larger production foods we would try Purina Pro Plan, Royal Canin or Nutro.