My old cat who died last year had diabetes because I didn't understand the basic principles of feline nutrition. After he was diagnosed, I switched him to a canned food diet with multiple small feedings per day, and that was actually enough to get him off insulin!
Although I would have done anything to prevent his diabetes, I didn't appreciate how unfussy it made him until he died and I got another cat. The old cat would eat anything. The new cat would starve himself to death before he'd eat something that doesn't meet his standards.
Unfortunately, he's particularly fussy about canned food. He doesn't like pate-style or ground foods if I even want there to be a prayer of him eating it, it has to have shredded meat. That's why I was so pleased to discover this brand.
First of all, I love the ingredient list. The foods are balanced and grain-free (so important!) and don't contain unnecessary chemicals or preservatives. The only ingredient I'm less than thrilled about is the tapioca starch (used for thickening), but it's listed after the protein sources I really don't worry about it. When I was first considering this brand, I checked out reviews for it on other websites, and there were a lot of people upset that some of the flavors contain menadione. I looked into this, and it's a form of vitamin K which is an essential additive in fish-based foods because they don't contain enough natural vitamin K and it's required for health. The controversy appears to be based in that it was banned for humans...after a bunch of babies died when they were given great big whopping doses. Fortunately, the amount of menadione added is so minuscule that I'm totally comfortable with its inclusion. (And since it's not present in the chicken-based formulas, and since I think poultry is a better staple food for cats than fish, he gets that much less of it.)
Actually, the chicken and pumpkin flavor seems to be his favorite. I was a little unsure of using pumpkin, since cats are carnivores and carbohydrates can have some bad effects, but it's apparently good for their digestion. Since I rotate the different flavors, the possible consequences are really reduced...and since cats seem to like to barf just to keep things interesting, I'm pleased about any possible stabilizing effect!
Soulistic's website also promises to use human-grade ingredients. No by-products here! It even smells like regular people food, which, let me tell you, is a welcome relief.
But the best part: the cat loves it. He doesn't refuse it, he's not even merely indifferent to it he devours it. I've tried every single flavor of the "in gravy" flavors (I haven't tried the "in gelee" flavors) and every single one of them sends him into raptures.
Seriously, it doesn't get any better than this. There's a canned grain-free cat food with a high moisture content and shreds or chunks of real meat and fish as the first ingredients, and the cat loves it. There are enough flavors to give him variety, both in taste and nutrition. I'm sold!
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