Picking out a good food for your cat can be very confusing. With the latest recall involving Diamond Foods, Happy Cats has had to make some new choices too.

Diamond makes the cat kibble we were using, Costco’s Kirkland brand. It was a very good, basic food, nutritious and with no added toxins. We have before and after pictures of some of our cats that show a visible improvement in their coats after just a few weeks on this food.

However, the recall that started in April spread to the Diamond plant where our Costco gets its food. So far, it has only been shown to involve dog food, but potential salmonella poisoning must be taken seriously and we must err on the side of caution.

Right now, Happy Cats Haven is using one of Petsmart’s Authority brand dry cat foods: the Sensitive Solutions formula. It’s a turkey based food, with rice, oats and beet pulp for the fiber. Rice and beet pulp are the two best fermentable fibers for cats, according to research, and oats appear to be neutral. The only problem is that it also has Fructooligosaccharides, or FOS, a concentrated fiber source that sometimes causes intestinal upsets. In fact, we are using the Authority Kitten formula, but have had to cut it with another food because the kittens got bad gas.

We provide our adopters with the food our cats and kittens are eating so they can transition to whatever food the new guardian chooses. If you would like to see the reasoning behind our food choices, please see our article, Cat Food: What to Feed & What to Avoid.

It’s long but comprehensive and in it, you’ll find the science behind making sure your cat or kitten has appropriate protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber and other nutrients in their food. We also provide tips on what to avoid in your cat’s food.

Just like us, our cats are what they eat, and giving them feline-appropriate food will help them to be the healthiest cats they can be.