Is royal canin catfood better than Iams?

Jasper79

HI,

I've been looking at dry food for my cats, currently feed smilla dry food with Bozita wet food.

I always thought Royal Canin would be a better dry food, but the meat is listed as the 6th ingredient on some varieties and on others % is not mentioned.

Iams rich in chicken however lists " Dried chicken and Turkey" at 40% of content.

Researching online comes back with Royal canin is a good food and Iams not so good, but I always thought the higher meat content in cat food the better.

Anybody shed some light on if/how the Royal Canin is better ?

Nody

I'd never serve RC short of dietary needs; it's overpriced for what's in it. As you noted yourself Iams has more meat and meat is what you should look at primary for cats.

Jasper79

Nody wrote: »

I'd never serve RC short of dietary needs; it's overpriced for what's in it. As you noted yourself Iams has more meat and meat is what you should look at primary for cats.

Thanks , I was confused at to why RC and Science Plan are well regarded (and always in Vets surgery's) and don't seem to contain much meat .

thegreatgonzo

Jasper79 wrote: »

Thanks , I was confused at to why RC and Science Plan are well regarded (and always in Vets surgery's) and don't seem to contain much meat .

It's the nutrient content as opposed to the ingredients. Provided the food contains the right balance of nutrients it doesn't matter what ingredient the nutrient comes from. However there are some nutrients such as taurine and arachidonic acid that are only found in meat.
Hills and royal canin have a high presence in vet clinics because their research and marketing is made very accessible to vets and nurses. Vets feel confident recommending it because they have all the information about the food there in front of them. There are a lot of other excellent diets available but you don't get a rep visiting your clinic from each and every one of them so a vet mightn't know that much about their merits etc.
I agree about Royal Canin being expensive, they spend a huge amount on marketing and research so it's probably the reason.

Jasper79

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

It's the nutrient content as opposed to the ingredients. Provided the food contains the right balance of nutrients it doesn't matter what ingredient the nutrient comes from. However there are some nutrients such as taurine and arachidonic acid that are only found in meat.
Hills and royal canin have a high presence in vet clinics because their research and marketing is made very accessible to vets and nurses. Vets feel confident recommending it because they have all the information about the food there in front of them. There are a lot of other excellent diets available but you don't get a rep visiting your clinic from each and every one of them so a vet mightn't know that much about their merits etc.
I agree about Royal Canin being expensive, they spend a huge amount on marketing and research so it's probably the reason.

Yes, they don't make it easy to tell from the Ingredients. Pricewise they're both coming in around the same €3.80 per kg from zooplus for 10kg bag so just trying to decide between the two.

thegreatgonzo

Are you going to keep them on dry food only from now on or continue with some wet food? They need to be drinking more water if on dry only to keep the urinary tract healthy but you probably know that already :-)

Jasper79

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

Are you going to keep them on dry food only from now on or continue with some wet food? They need to be drinking more water if on dry only to keep the urinary tract healthy but you probably know that already :-)

Conflicting advise again online about it. I've always fed them a diet of wet and dry. Was originally looking at replacing with a good quality dry food only diet. But now leaning back to a mixed diet.

The cats don't drink much water, but maybe because getting enough liquid from their wet food.

Nody

Jasper79 wrote: »

Yes, they don't make it easy to tell from the Ingredients. Pricewise they're both coming in around the same €3.80 per kg from zooplus for 10kg bag so just trying to decide between the two.

I'd go up one level with Porta 21 Finest Sensible grain free which come in at 4.40 EUR per kg so about the same price but fully grain free while doubling the meat content.

thegreatgonzo

Jasper79 wrote: »

Conflicting advise again online about it. I've always fed them a diet of wet and dry. Was originally looking at replacing with a good quality dry food only diet. But now leaning back to a mixed diet.

The cats don't drink much water, but maybe because getting enough liquid from their wet food.

Yeah the wet food is good for that.

Jasper79

Nody wrote: »

I'd go up one level with Porta 21 Finest Sensible grain free which come in at 4.40 EUR per kg so about the same price but fully grain free while doubling the meat content.

Thanks that food looks
much better. Would u feed with a wet food or this solely?

Nody

Jasper79 wrote: »

Thanks that food looks
much better. Would u feed with a wet food or this solely?

Combined is better imo (cats did not evolve eating dry pressure cooked cookies).