Actual good dry cat food?

1. They are intensely needy about food and very food-insecure, probably from their past life as indoor-outdoor deli cats. It's exceedingly difficult to prepare any food—theirs or mine—without continually fending them off. I want to provide free-feeding opportunities to help them feel more secure in their food supply.

2. Their food insecurity extends to things like stealing an entire hamburger in its wrapper and running off with it, with just a moment's lapse of attention, grabbing an entire package of hamburger buns and running off with it, gobbling their food very very quickly, etc. I also had to put a drying rack over the sink to keep them from going into it and licking everything.

3. I work remotely now, but during periods of travel and coworking, it would be much more convenient to be able to let them free-feed on a set amount of dry food during the day, with wet raw food morning and night.

4. I am aware of the potential pitfalls of dry food—too little water from diet, eventual possibility of kidney disease, too many fillers that they wouldn't normally eat leading to obesity and other disease, etc. But the cats do have a fountain and would still receive wet raw food morning and night.

1. Blue Buffalo has had many recent complaints of alleged incredible declines in quality, multiple pets, both cats and dogs, vomiting blood, declining significantly and dying, etc. So that brand is absolutely off the table. I know someone who used to use it and has switched due to these issues.

2. Natural Balance was another recommendation, but reviews speculate a recent reformulation, since it was bought by Smuckers, and increased sugar with the new ownership. There are a lot of reports of the new formulation bringing back cats' allergies.

3. Taste of the Wild was a recommendation that has terrible recent reviews, with speculation of a recent reformulation, talk of cats vomiting with new bags, etc.

4. Similarly, Wellness CORE Grain Free seems to have had mixed reviews recently and a lot of reports of cats simply turning their noses up at recent bags of it. Apparently reports on Wellness Complete Health Grain Free have suggested that it has an incredibly high level of lead.

5. Instinct Original, same deal, recent reviews all mention a change in formulation and the addition of chemicals that are implicated in increased vomiting and diarrhea in cats.

6. Orijen/ACANA Regionals, same kind of deal, apparently the company moved to the U.S. from Canada and has reformulated. There are many reports of cats getting sick, getting diarrhea, having bloody stools, with high levels of heavy metals, potential lawsuits, etc.

7. Muse Natural Grain Free, similarly, apparently has a very high level of carbs.