Royal Canin- huh?!

[AmyAndSimba]

I have heard of several breeders recommending Royal Canin dry food with a combination of EVO wet food. Royal Canin seems to be marketed as a very high quality food, but what I don't get is that rice and corn are listen in the first 5 ingredients:

Chicken meal, brown rice, corn gluten meal, corn, chicken fat, chicken, dried egg product,

With almost everyone saying it's best to get grain-free, high protein (which makes the most sense to me!) Why is Royal Canin such a highly recommended food?

 

[admin]

I have heard of several breeders recommending Royal Canin dry food with a combination of EVO wet food. Royal Canin seems to be marketed as a very high quality food, but what I don't get is that rice and corn are listen in the first 5 ingredients:

Chicken meal, brown rice, corn gluten meal, corn, chicken fat, chicken, dried egg product,

With almost everyone saying it's best to get grain-free, high protein (which makes the most sense to me!) Why is Royal Canin such a highly recommended food?

I think grain-free is best, but you also have to feed what your cat will eat...Taj eats RC Young Adult dry at times and raw as well as ProPlan...my cats will not eat the grain-free food - period. But they will eat raw, so go figure...IDK - I try to feed a high quality food, but it won't do any good if hey refuse to eat it. JMO.

 

[Kronos]

Royal canin is an OK food in that it doesn't contain artificial preservatives and it at least has a meat meal as the first ingredient. Corn and rice are not bad per say, in that they will harm our pets... but those ingredients are fillers and virtually do them no good.

RC is a big brand name and I think a lot of people feel comfortable with it and that is why it is so recommended. Also the fact they make breed specific foods... that probably leads people to believe the food is better haha! But if you look at the ingredients on all the breed specific foods the differences are very minimal.

 

[Breheart]

I have had Keljin on RC for quite a while now, the Special 32 formula with beet pulp is great for his sensitive tummy, and has produced the best stools for Keljin thus far from what I've tried. My breeder had him on Blue Buffalo when I got him and I continued with it, and gosh.. he just could not handle it (soooo runny)! I really think each case is very specific depending on the cat, what is bad for one may be great for another and vice versa. My vet suspects he should outgrow his sensitive tummy and be able to move onto something with more protein and less grain in the future or as an adult, but for now I shall stick with RC since that is working.

 

[Laura W]

Echo can only eat EVO Kibble and won't touch raw. Everything else we have tried upsets his tummy and causes loose stools. Dolos, the Bengal kitten, seems to have a less sensitive tummy, but I will transition him over when he's a bit older.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think that diet is a compromise between what you want them to eat (the best ingredients), what they want to eat AND what their bodies tolerate well. I've tried some grain-free formulas before (including EVO) and had diarrhea so it just isn't an option.Royal Canin Special 33 is a formula that a LOT of cats like to eat and their bodies do well on it. So yes, the ingredients aren't exactly what one might want...but they are a high quality kibble still who do good research and support the cat fancy too. I like their Babycat formula especially as it is the only kitten formula I've found my kittens will go for. I feed Taste of the Wild kibble but have fed the Special 33 in the past and had my cats do great on it.

 

[Lori Greer]

I used to feed RC all the time too but have been using ProPlan for the past year or so and I like it. It has a higher protein content and costs a lot less. I DO still us RC Baby Cat for weaning or if we have an adult that is "off". Something in that stuff that none of them can resist!

 

[Trish Allearz]

I've used RC Baby Cat for weaning. It is coated with fat and the kittens usually love it. It sounds gross, but weaning is a tricky subject at times, so you do what works. HOWEVER_ the raw has worked even better. I really like how easily the kittens transitioned to raw!

 

[admin]

I used to feed RC all the time too but have been using ProPlan for the past year or so and I like it. It has a higher protein content and costs a lot less. I DO still us RC Baby Cat for weaning or if we have an adult that is "off". Something in that stuff that none of them can resist!

Taj is eating Proplan as well Lori.

 

[Lori Greer]

Taj is eating Proplan as well Lori.

It's a nice quality food at a fair price IMO. I've seen worse ingredient lists on much fancier foods. If folks read the labels on some brands that are perceived to be the "better foods" I think most people would be SHOCKED to see that they are no better than Friskies or Cat Chow! I think they make paper from the same ingredients found in the cheap walmart stuff. LOL