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Ann Martin, and others like her, created an awakening among pet owners to the inherent dangers in commercial pet food products, and a grassroots movement of concerned guardians of cats began to search out safer, more nutritious ways to feed our cats. New companies came along with "premium" foods, which don't contain ingredients such as "meat by-products" or "meat meal." Chemical preservatives, including BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, and propyl gallate, which have been shown to cause cancer in lab animals, are now rarely used as preservatives.

The newer premium foods, as well as some of the traditional brands' newly developed "premium foods," are using "mixed tocopherals, including vitamins E and A" instead. Corn, which has been a cheap and popular filler for dry food, is falling out of favor. People are learning how to read cat food labels, and applying that knowledge to make better food choices for their cats.
The Priceless Payoff

In our own community of members in the About Cats Forum, we have seen significant results as various people have made new food choices for their cats. These anecdotal stories run the gamut, from "healthier skin and coat" to "no more vomiting and/or diarrhea." I asked the forum members to share their stories, and these are just a few:

• My cat is Exotic Long Hair, from the Persian family, with cotton like tummy hair that matted easily and required daily brushing. After I switched him to Innova/Wellness/Natural Balance/Nutro, his hair has become so soft and silky that I can go a week without brushing him and he will still be mat free.
  - Wendy and Mau

• With my first cat, Elmo, I fed him Friskies. He was okay, but his coat was rough, and he gradually lost a lot of his energy and "cat-itude". He was more content lying around than doing anything. Thinking it must be his food, I switched him to Iams, thinking it was a better food. While it was slightly more nutrious, I still had a long way to go.
  I adopted 3 kittens, all littermates, and I found this board looking for an answer to a question. After reading all of the messages here, I switched all four cats from Iams to Nutro Natural Choice. The kittens showed improvement almost immediately. Their fur became so much softer, and shinier.
  
  It [Nutro] was not recommended by my vet, but when he saw them for their fixing time (about 1 month after I started feeding Nutro and two months since their initial tests), he was enthralled by how beautiful they looked. Everyone at the vet's office raved over how healthy they were, and precious.
  
  While Elmo took a bit longer, his short rough coat started to soften, and his energy gradually was restored. He went from being a skinny kitty with a belly pouch to being a sleek shiny grey tabby, with no belly, and more muscle. The change in diet was phenomenal in all of them! I would never go back to store bought brands again!
  - Francine B
  
• Lucy, Max, and Chubs used to eat Meow Mix kibble and Friskies canned. They threw up often, and we just assumed it was natural for cats to vomit frequently. After reading books on pet nutrition, we switched them to a high-quality premium food that contains no byproducts or cheap fillers. The difference was amazing. Within weeks, they became much more active, their coats so much shinier, and they stopped vomiting.
  - Catherine
• We used to feed our cats the best grocery-store stuff we could find because there weren't any places around here that sold the good food. As soon as Petsmart started carrying the good stuff, we switched. They're now on a steady diet of Nutro Natural Choice dry, and for "treats" they eat Nutro Max canned. ALL of their coats are shinier and healthier, even Blazey's, and he has very dry, sensitive skin. Condor has always had one eye that is clogged and runny but it's not nearly as bad since we've put them on the natural choice.
  -sarah
• Back when the 3Tabbies were just 1Tabby, Dulcie got SD kitten food and Whiskas in a pouch. She threw up all the time--a couple of times a week at least. I figured it was normal (what was I thinking?). She also kept losing patches of fur and getting little red soresm which the vet attributed to allergies. Trying to find info on cats with allergies proved to be near impossible--until I found this forum. At the time, there was a very long thread about cat food, and reading through it made me realize that Dulcie's diet was part of the problem. I switched her to Wellness, a product several posters seemed happy with. Dulcie rarely throws up now (and it's usually due to stress, not her diet), and her skin is much healthier. Not to mention the less stinky litterbox. Major bonus!
  - Louann, Dulcie, Brox, and Zana

Next > More testimonials and the conclusion