what is the difference between indoor cat food and regular?
What is different about the indoor cat food formula and should cats that are indoors or mostly indoors be eating it? Thanks!
i saw a brand natural balance that had an indoor formula..i started feeding my cats innova but it’s so expensive so i wanted to mix innova + natural balance..
thanks RuneAm, lol those companies are good at lowering the cost to make it and making that look like its something good! i thought some special vitamins were added or something.
To give the best answer, I’d have to compare actual brands. But to summarize, very little is different. The indoor formulas may have slightly lower calories but that’s about it.
It’s in no way an official label – it’s really pretty much meaningless.
I have found that the better cat foods don’t use these labels at all, so to answer your question I’d say no – don’t feed anything that claims to target a specific breed or age of cat.
I’m going to compare Iams products (not a brand I would ever recommend).
Indoor formula contains:
Ingredients
Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Powdered Cellulose, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken, Dried Egg Product, Natural Chicken Flavor, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sodium Bisulfate, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Fish Oil (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Salt, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract
Original (chicken) contains:
Ingredients
Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Sodium Bisulfate, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid], Calcium Carbonate, Minerals [Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate], Salt, Rosemary Extract.
Original has more protein – lowering the protein is NOT a good thing. It claims 433 calories per cup.
Indoor claims 303 calories per cup. It’s lower in protein and fat (not a good thing). They’ve removed the meat! They’ve saved on calories by removing anything remotely healthy.
If a gun were held to my head and I was told to feed Iams, I’d choose the original formula. It’s still horrendously bad food, but at least there’s some healthy stuff in it.
So to sum up – don’t feed indoor formulas. If your cat needs to lose weight or you need to keep an eye on that, there are much better things you can do.
EDIT: NB is a decent brand of food. You’ll do fine with that, I think.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:18 am
I think that indoor cat food is possibly less fattening as cats aren’t as active as outdoor cats and helps to stop them gaining weight I think.
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 6:28 am
To give the best answer, I’d have to compare actual brands. But to summarize, very little is different. The indoor formulas may have slightly lower calories but that’s about it.
It’s in no way an official label – it’s really pretty much meaningless.
I have found that the better cat foods don’t use these labels at all, so to answer your question I’d say no – don’t feed anything that claims to target a specific breed or age of cat.
I’m going to compare Iams products (not a brand I would ever recommend).
Indoor formula contains:
Ingredients
Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Powdered Cellulose, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken, Dried Egg Product, Natural Chicken Flavor, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sodium Bisulfate, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Fish Oil (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Salt, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract
Original (chicken) contains:
Ingredients
Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Sodium Bisulfate, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Brewers Dried Yeast, Choline Chloride, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid], Calcium Carbonate, Minerals [Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate], Salt, Rosemary Extract.
Original has more protein – lowering the protein is NOT a good thing. It claims 433 calories per cup.
Indoor claims 303 calories per cup. It’s lower in protein and fat (not a good thing). They’ve removed the meat! They’ve saved on calories by removing anything remotely healthy.
If a gun were held to my head and I was told to feed Iams, I’d choose the original formula. It’s still horrendously bad food, but at least there’s some healthy stuff in it.
So to sum up – don’t feed indoor formulas. If your cat needs to lose weight or you need to keep an eye on that, there are much better things you can do.
EDIT: NB is a decent brand of food. You’ll do fine with that, I think.
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 7:16 am
it usually has slightly less fat and protein than the regular, so that a less active indoor cat doesn’t gain too much weight. but it doesnt mean your indoor cat necessarily needs it.
many times it is used as a replacement for actually exercising the cat and feeding it proper amounts.
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 7:42 am
most dry cat foods are the same, but, their are those that use the same ingredients as in milk or cream, and some that contain grass so that your cat can still get the ingredients it needs indoors as what it would eat if it were an outside animal.
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 8:13 am
One difference is that indoor cat food contains nutrients that outdoor cats get from grass, that indoor cats only get if they have indoor grass. Also, the indoor cat foods are designed for less active cats.
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 9:00 am
Usually indoor formulas contain less calories and more fiber. This allows the cat to attain a "full" feeling without overeating. Some indoor formulas have supplements to assist in passing hairballs.
Indoor cats are natually less active than outdoor cats. If your cat lives exclusively indoors, then the lower calorie foods are probably a better choice.
References :
Cat owner, cat lover!
March 1st, 2010 at 9:39 am
the indoor formula has more vitimins and more protiens and all. I dkn. why theres a differnece?
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 10:10 am
Indoor cat formulas have less protein. I read the ignrdients on everything. Most indoor cat formulas do not have as many meats as regular. My cats have access to indoors and out, but even if they were indoor cats, I would still offer them regular cat food because of the better protein content.
Also natural balance is a great brand. Especially the grain free canned varieties. My cats eat the reduced calorie dry food along with it. My cats arn’t over weight. But it has more protein less carbs than the regular. Innova is good but very pricey.
References :
March 1st, 2010 at 10:18 am
http://www.catinfo.org
read this article for all the healthy choices
in food for your cat.
http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html
Janet and Binky’s Cat food chart
Please read the first link. It will answer your food questions and give you help in picking the right food for your cats.
Thank you,
References :