Food for my Maine Coon

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Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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Hi everyone, I'm picking up my Maine Coon next month. I made a post a while back to ask which brand to choose and I'd settled on Purizon for dry food, but I've seen there's been a massive scandal on Facebook with loads and loads of sick cats linked to Purizon. It's been mentioned by breeders too, including the one I'm getting my MC from.

Royal Canin Kitten

Pro Plan Original Kitten

Concept for Life Kitten

Maine Coon Kitten specific food

Which brand do you think I should go for? Or if you have any recommendations for dry food with better reviews, please let me know. Thanks!

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    Evabkb Icon representing the flag French
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    Evening! Yeah, Pro Plan isn’t great either; to be honest, the Purina brand as a whole isn't all that brilliant. And as for wet food, my cat absolutely loves it—even more than dry food. I’d suggest trying to mix it at first, then see if she’ll eat the Orijen on its own, otherwise it doesn’t really make much sense. Personally, my cat was used to Royal Canin (which is kibble packed with grains), and when I switched to grain-free, it was a bit of a struggle for her at the start, but she’s fine now. I think you have to get them used to grain-free by picking their favourite flavours (like beef, chicken, etc.)—that can help, but obviously, it all depends on your cat. Could you give us an update on the food? 😂
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    Lewina
    Lewina Icon representing the flag French
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    If the kitty is already used to it, then why not? But it depends on whether she’s ever had grain-free food before. If she hasn't, you'd really need to introduce it gradually, and I’m not sure if it would really benefit her much. Since the whole point of grain-free is to avoid grains entirely, I don’t really see the point of mixing it with food that contains them?

    Mind you, you should check with the breeder to see how they’re mixing the portions, as the two brands don't seem to recommend the same daily amounts, so I’m not sure if they're doing a 50/50 split?

    Anyway, free-feeding is better! Along with some wet food morning and evening.

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Okay, thank you so much! Would it be alright to mix them in the bowl, for instance Orijen + Pro Plan, or maybe Orijen + Concept for Life on other days? The breeder used to give her four different types of dry food, including Concept for Life and Purina Pro Plan, so my cat is already well-used to a mix of dry food.
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    Lewina
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    Hi there! I can’t guarantee this is the absolute best advice, but with the whole grain vs grain-free debate, I think there’s truth on both sides. Because of that, I tend to lean towards "low grain" options. Brands like Farmina (their Ancestral Grain range) are good quality, and there are some great direct-to-consumer brands that offer high-quality dry food—you just have to accept that you won't find them in the shops, but the trade-off is a very attractive price. I reckon these brands are really decent in terms of their protein sources. From what I remember, they don't contain any wheat or maize; it’s usually rice (except for Farmina, which uses spelt and oats). Otherwise, Purina Pro Plan and Concept for Life don’t seem too bad; the Purina range has a bit more protein. Both have less than 30% carbs and more than 35% protein, so honestly, they’re not half bad! The protein sources aren't top-tier, but it’s still better than what’s listed for Royal Canin.
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    I also wanted to ask if Purina Pro Plan and Concept for Life are any good? For wet food, I’m currently using grain-free Animonda Carny and Feringa kitten, and I’ve got some Orijen Cat & Kitten dry food arriving soon as well.

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Hi, thanks for your reply @Evabkb. I’m currently feeding her Purina Pro Plan Original Kitten and Concept for Life Maine Coon Kitten, but she’s not eating much of it. On the other hand, she devours the Animonda and Feringa wet food; I give her 100g a day, sometimes 150g when she’s begging for it. I’m going to try Orijen since she doesn’t seem to like dry food much. I don’t really get it, as she was eating that at the breeder’s. However, my 15-year-old male cat is on Royal Canin because he’s had bladder problems. I buy it from my vet, and she eats his food when I’m not looking. It seems she really likes Royal Canin, but you mentioned it wasn’t that great, so I’m not sure what to do. I just hope she’ll take to the Orijen.
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    Evabkb Icon representing the flag French
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    Hi everyone, I totally agree that Royal Canin is a brand to stay away from. Let me explain why. For instance, if you look at the ingredients list for the "Sterilised" bag (the purple one):

    It lists "dried poultry protein". Firstly, we don’t even know what kind of meat it is (chicken? turkey?). It’s the same story with the "animal fat". This terminology actually means animal by-products, basically feet, beaks, feathers, and ground-up bones. If it said "dried chicken", that would actually be dried meat. But the term "dried protein" is just code for by-products. As for the rest of the ingredients, you see a load of grains that are useless for cats… and can cause long-term digestive issues, like rice (which can also cause diarrhoea)… maize, gluten, wheat… everything an obligate carnivore doesn't need. I agree with some people regarding grains; sure, if they're in tiny amounts it might be okay, but in the case of Royal Canin, it makes up almost the entire bag, and that's not even counting the animal by-products...

    I personally stopped giving Royal Canin to my cat after five years because their reputation made me think it was premium dry food.

    I’d encourage you to compare the ingredients with standard supermarket brands to see the reality for yourself.

    In the meantime, I recommend these brands which are grain-free and contain no animal by-products:

    1. Orijen

    2. Acana

    3. Edgard & Cooper

    4. Natural Greatness

    5. Optimus (very good value for money)

    6. Ownat GRAIN FREE (only the grain-free bags) (best possible value for money)

    7. Carnilove

    8. Essential Foods (good value for money)

    Orijen is the best kibble brand on the market, but the downside is that it's expensive. As an alternative, there's Acana, which is from the same makers as Orijen but slightly cheaper. On specialist pet websites, the dry food is much more affordable; you can find it for between £30 and £36 for a 10 lbs bag, which is around the same price as Royal Canin. For the 65% and 70% Acana ranges, you only find "whole oats" in each bag, which isn’t much and can help if your cat really can't do without grains. I still recommend the 75% bags though, as they are completely grain-free.

    Edgard & Cooper is another very good brand I’d highly recommend; their products are certified, free from animal by-products and grains, and the brand supports animal welfare—they actually donate 1% of their turnover to help animal shelters and rescues.

    Have a look at their website, it’s really nice:

    https://www.edgardcooper.com/en-gb/

    Hope this helps! 😃

    Have a great day

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    Blue_Cat
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    Hi there, Personally, to stick with 'grain-free' for my three cats, I ditched Purizon because of some bad articles I read. I've switched to Nutrivet grain-free instead. There isn’t really any reason to buy 'Maine Coon-specific' dry food; they're just like any other cat, except they eat a lot. It’s the ingredients in the dry food that actually matter. But then again, there’s no such thing as a perfect brand of dry food—we’d have figured that out by now with all the time we spend worrying about it! Plus, some cats really struggle to digest grain-free food. If that’s the case, don't push it. Mine handle it just fine, but they often have standard wet food (like Sheba or Gourmet) because they love the taste, and wet food is mainly useful for the water content (80%). In any case, make sure you give your kitten exactly what they were eating at the breeder's for at least the first three weeks. After that, if you feel you need to, you can do a slow transition to a different brand.
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Honestly, I think grain-free is just a bit of a fad and we’re starting to see the consequences now. I’ve kept Persians for over 30 years and have always fed them Royal Canin. They’ve all lived long lives, except for one who passed away at 13. I tried grain-free dry food and it just caused diarrhoea. I do give them grain-free wet food, though. Right, thanks ever so much. I think I’ll go with Royal Canin then, or maybe Pro Plan.
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    So I'm really not sure anymore if grains are bad or not, and I've no idea what to go for.
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