# Iams Cat Food - Your Opinions / Experiences



## claw (Feb 23, 2011)

Hi there guys...

I've read a lot of bad stuff online about Iams Pet Food and wanted to know the opinion of everybody on here about whether it a suitable replacement for meat in jelly / gravy...

I currently feed my cat Go Cat Biscuits & either Felix or Whiskers Canned Food...

Opinions greatly appreciated as always

Claw


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## Biawhiska (Mar 28, 2008)

oh boy, the cat snobs may jump down your throat if they see you feed those foods 

anyhow, mine have had iams kitten dry food, samples have picked up at cat shows, they like it but can't say much else as haven't used it, sorry.


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## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

Do you mean Iams wet or dry?

I used to feed my cat Iams dry (along with other wet food) as I was naive enough to fall for the adverts about how good it was, until I found out about their testing on animals. I don't know if this is still an issue but apart from that, I don't think their food is particularly good quality for the price, and I would rather feed higher quality foods. It contains maize and wheat I think, and I'd rather feed a grain free food.

On the other hand if you are talking about the wet, I have no experience of it myself, but the wet food A-Z says the meat content is unknown and it also contains sugars, so again, you could feed much better quality food for the same price, or even cheaper.


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## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

Biawhiska said:


> oh boy, the cat snobs may jump down your throat if they see you feed those foods


Bit harsh maybe, the OP asked for opinions so people will surely go ahead and share those opinions.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Biawhiska said:


> oh boy, the cat snobs may jump down your throat if they see you feed those foods
> 
> anyhow, mine have had iams kitten dry food, samples have picked up at cat shows, they like it but can't say much else as haven't used it, sorry.


Whether or not that happens it will at least be an opinion rather than a negative ,meaningless post.


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

Mine always really liked Iams dry food though I no longer buy it. Iams wet food I never tried as it seemed expensive for what it contained. Whether its Iams dry or wet food you're thinking about, I believe there are better quality alternatives at a similar, or lower, cost.

As an aside, I don't really get the "cat food snob" thing. Surely its fact and not a matter of general opinion that cat foods aren't made equally?


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## Ren (Sep 21, 2010)

Personally I haven't been able to see Iams in the same light since I read about their various animal testing experiments IamsCruelty.com. Whether it still goes on or not I will not condone a company that is capable of this.


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## MoggyBaby (Mar 8, 2011)

Ren said:


> Personally I haven't been able to see Iams in the same light since I read about their various animal testing experiments IamsCruelty.com. Whether it still goes on or not I will not condone a company that is capable of this.


I used to feed Iams to my two furry gannets and they had no problem with it. I did, however, stop when the above became common knowledge.

I am sure this is no longer the case but I won't risk giving them my hard earned wonga. I now give it to Royal Canin and the gannets are equally as happy with that!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

The Iams debate comes up from time to time.It may be helpful to read through this link to a thread posted not so long ago.http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/139367-best-place-buy-iams.html


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2011)

The Iams cruelty case isn't as it seems and was stirred up by Peta but as they say mud sticks but this explains better than I could Is it true that Iams has been charged with cruelty to animals?


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## Ren (Sep 21, 2010)

Whatever the case with Iams the point is that there are much better foods out there for your kitty than iams. You can find the full lists here:

http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats.html

http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/116753-z-dry-food-cats.html

I studied these lists a lot before I got my kitty and have settled on Smilla wet and Animonda wet, both of these are really really good foods and very affordable.


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## Gratch (Aug 22, 2010)

I boycot any product linked with animal cruelty, even if I don't know for certain that it is! Which is why I'm upset about Herbal Essences, it smells so nice


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## thelioncub (Feb 9, 2009)

Heya,

Regardless of whether the accusations against Iams are true or not, I would have to agree that there simply are better foods out there. 
The media, as always, have a habit of blowing things all out of proportion, and so I think it is best to accept that we will never really know the truth. We therefore have to make our decisions based on what we *do* know - which is the ingredients. Have a read of the two threads from hobbs about what is in each of the foods you are curious about.

If it was a choice of Iams, Whiskas, Go Cat or Felix, personally I would go for Iams. If the choice widened further, then I would (and do) order some of the better foods from Zooplus (or ask my dad to bring them over from Germany!) I work with the general rule of thumb that anything you can find in the supermarket tends not to be the best - it's not snobbery, it's just what I base my opinion on. A lot of mass-market stuff is poor quality (just look at McDonalds) and cat food is no exception. That's just life! 

I have a friend who only fed her cat Iams and her cat lived to a very healthy old age. Other cats might not do so well. It's not going to do them harm - just like burgers don't kill us instantly, but if you are concerned about long-term health then yes, there are better foods out there. Just like humans though, cats do love the junk food! - you might find your kitty turning their nose up at the 'better' foods so it might take a bit of trial and error to find that happy medium.


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## Milly Cat (Nov 20, 2010)

We feed our cat IAMS biscuits together with Hi-Life, Purely or Tesco Finest wet food. She was on the IAMS biscuits when we got her and apart from a brief swap to Purely biscuits (before they changed the recipe) we've stuck with it as she loves them.

I think the comparison of IAMS with junk-food such as burgers is a little unfair. As has been pointed out in various posts on here before, junk food (like burgers, McDonalds, etc) is generally not considered a balanced diet whereas most cat foods have all the nutrients required to keep a cat healthy if they are labelled as 'complete'.


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## thelioncub (Feb 9, 2009)

Milly Cat said:


> I think the comparison of IAMS with junk-food such as burgers is a little unfair


If you are talking about my post - I didn't compare Iams with burgers..


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## claw (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks for all this guys!

Haven't been back on the forum in a while so it was good to read all of this.. Very helpful information indeed...

To be be quite honest I didn't even know Iams did wet food - not that I would try it after reading that website - IamsCruelty.com

I cannot believe that when you search for Iams Pet Food it comes up on the first page of Google :blink: there's a serious disregard of reputation management on their behalf!!

With regards to the junk food comments... Bruce (my ginger little furball) can't seem to get enough of these:

DREAMIES CAT TREATS

He even knows what cupboard they're kept in and sits there meowing at it right after I put his wet / dry dinner down... They're too wise aint they?!


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## ILoveMyDog! (Apr 23, 2011)

Hiya,

I have two Cats, and one Cat kept being sick all the time after eating Iam's, and the other one (who is prone to bladder problems) started weeing blood (not good), so off to the Vets we went...

He said never use Iam's again, it is too strong apparently, and high in salts, and very bad for their kidneys (hence the blood and being sick). It is a very good Vets too, a Vet hospital infact.

Nuf said really, not bought it since. (It was the cat biscuits). Hope that helps!

Shell


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## firstprincess (Mar 1, 2011)

I'm a Vet Nurse and most of our blocked bladder cases or Urinary problm cats were fed iams..... may e coincidence but I would NEVER feed it to mine for that reason. I wonder if there is something in it that changes the PH to something not good for the bladder. :001_smile:


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2011)

I word, four letters! begins with C ends with P


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