Holistic Select Natural Grain Free Dry Cat Food, Adult & Kitten Recipe, 5-Pound Bag

My 8 year old cat is one of the fussiest eaters on the planet. She will not even touch a food if she sniffs it and decides she doesn't like the smell of it. I have tried the tactic of just leaving it out and not giving her any other options for food and she just ends up starving. She has been eating a cheap brand of dry cat food with ingredients that I now know are just horrific for cats her whole life. The first five ingredients were brewer's rice, chicken by-product meal, corn meal, chicken fat and soybean meal. As you can probably see, this is a food I was desperate to get her off of. She has also been a very skittish cat and would often have anxiety attacks about seemingly nothing. Like, at the very slightest noise she would literally jump 4 feet in the air from fear and if you were near her or touching her when it happened she would unintentionally scratch you to ribbons in her mad dash to get away. I was sad when this happened because normally she is such a gentle cat and has never bit me in her life, there is no way she would scratch unless she was terrified and completely out of her mind. I had an inkling that the junk food might be exacerbating this problem, much like how gluten and dairy could exacerbate the problems of autistic children.All of my attempts up until now have ended up in failed attempts and money wasted on food she wouldn't eat. This happened again and again and I almost thought it was a lost cause until Holistic Select chicken meal formula. We recently rescued a kitten off the streets and I knew I didn't want to start feeding her the same junk that my older cat had been eating for years. I was looking up some grain-free formulas and decided to go with one of those brands since cats shouldn't really be eating grains. To make a long story short, both the kitten and cat didn't like it. The kitten will nibble on it if there are no other options (she's easier to please, thank goodness), so I've kept it around and leave it out so there's something out when their other food is gone, but all in all, not a success by any means. I had a sample packet of Holistic Select chicken meal lying around that I received probably about a year ago and never got around to giving to my cat and the kitten got at it and bit away at the packaging to get the food inside. I looked at the ingredient list and hey, not too bad! I hoped beyond hope and offered some to my older cat and she eagerly ate it! Hallelujah!So I quickly bought a bag from Amazon and prayed that she would continue eating it. Well, I am now down to a quarter of the bag and I recently had to reorder. Both of the cats eat it with no problems and my older cat actually has far less anxiety attacks. She seems much more calm and is now willing to let my husband come up to her without running away in fear. He can even pet her a little. This is a miraculous change than just a few months ago when the mere sight of him had her diving under the bed. I have recently been eating healthier and I know what a difference it makes for me and there is no difference with our pets. What we feed them has a drastic affect on their well-being and behavior. This is not the absolute best food out there, but it's pretty darn good. I have recently ordered some wet food cans from Holistic Select since I know little kitten will go crazy over that and it's good to supplement the diet with some wet.

I tried a few dry food brands after the pet food recall of 2007. I tried some grain free, and noticed some problems from the cats. I tried going all wet - but apparently - my 17 yo needs some of the grains in dry food, Their main food of choice (I'm not much of one for switching - had trouble with Turkey and Salmon flavors) is  Wellness Canned Cat Food for Adult Cats, Chicken Formula (Pack of 12 12.5 Ounce Cans) .I started with this Dry when it was Eagle Pack Holistic Select. The formula was EU certified (which has a higher degree of ingredient integrity than US pet foods). Since then, this company merged with the new owners of Wellness - so the 2 brands can compliment each other.The cats ages range currently from 7 to 17. The below feeding schedule is modified slightly (sometimes only two feedings a day, maybe half the amount of dry, etc.) If your cat has a sensitive tummy, it is best to feed more frequent, smaller meals each day.EDIT: 3/24/2011I've switched some things up since the Wellness problems (and still waiting for Wellness Chicken Recipe to Return).I have started rotation feeding wet food, and have found that I use less dry food than before - here is my general shopping list: Weruva Green Eggs & Chicken Cat Food, 5.5-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24) . Will be giving the  Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken Cat Food, 5.5-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24)  a try. Wellness Adult Turkey Canned Cat Food  (I prefer the Chicken, but until it reappears, this will do just as well). Felidae Canned Cat Food for Adult Cats and Kittens, Chicken and Rice Formula in Chicken Broth (Pack of 12 13 Ounce Cans)  (Its not grain free, but I personally don't like the mix for the regular, and neither do my cats) Innova Cat and Kitten Formula Canned Cat Food  (Also not grain free, and Multi protein source. It does contain Herring. However, cats have reacted positively to this food). Holistic Select Feline Radiant Adult and Kitten Health Chicken Meal Recipe Dry Cat Food, 3-Pound Bag I feed a little dry first thing in morning every day. Then 1/2 can of one flavor, remainder placed in refrig plastic lid. Then 1/2 can of another flavor, same storage. The next day, those cans are used up by adding a little hot water and nuking from 5 to 8 secs (this depends on your microwave and amount of food). The next day, we have 5.5 oz can of Weruva split between 3 cats, and 1/2 can of the last flavor. The next day we have another 5.5 oz can, and the remainder of the previous can. That is four days, fifth day we are back to the beginning.This is why I prefer the smaller bag. Except for the removal of additional Vitamin K (google on that one), the ingredients haven't changed much since I started in 2008 (when it was EU certified). For saving Vet Bills - it pays to have kitties on a high quality diet.PS - the bag comes with its own zip lock closure, I've never had a problem with spoilage nor a-toxins.PPS - some have found this a good rotation ONLY, it eases the budget:  Friskies Cat Food Classic Pate, Turkey & Giblets Dinner, 5.5-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24) .

This has got to be the best cat food I've ever used. I have a long hair and a short hair cat and of course the long fur tends to cause the unsightly hairball effect. I tried many different foods to help break these down and keep my lovely fur-children healthy without much success. I finally came across this on Amazon and figured it was worth a try.Having now been using it exclusively as their main sustenance for nearly 9 months, I can attest that it has been a huge success, and not just with the hairballs. We see a hairball only once every few months now (instead of several in a week) which is amazing. But on top of that, my little boy also seems to have lost his horrible stinky gas-problem. He could've peeled paint off the walls when he got startled or became anxious. If he's gassy now in those instances, you'd never know it. He now smells and feels like a healthy kitty.Both of them have seen improvements to their overall health as well. Their weight is perfect (we are a free-feeding household), their coats are soft and full. They both have a good amount of energy and have not been sick or lethargic at all since about a month after we switched. This is truly, truly an A+++++++ product and worth every penny in my book for my spoiled rotten fur-babies. :)

Never completed the order and hopefully returning

My cat refused to eat this initially when I put it out and eats it a lot less enthusiastically than her previous non holistic food so she is feeling a little too small for my liking. I am going to switch food now that I am done this bag as I don't think my cat likes it very much but it was exactly as advertised and if your cat likes it then a good price as well. The 3lb bag lasted about a month and a half for my small cat who eats free feed style to give you an idea of how long the amount lasted but again she wasn't eating is as heartily, she did stop throwing up though so I know it's definitely a must to switch to holistic for her food allergy.Edit - I went through a few more brands which made my cat throw up, I think she has some allergies, then came back to this one and she suddenly loved it and chose to eat it over other brands I had out. I did find bigger bags for a better price in my local pet store so for price I'd suggest going local and picking it up direct.

Word of adviice: if you have cats that are usually picky or even just a little bit picky (as mine are not very picky), do not purchase this product.I gave this two stars because it's common for cats to dislike this food, without ever taking a liking to it. I didn't give this just one star because the ingredients and the idea behind this food is exactly what I had been looking for, and because the package arrived on time and in excellent condition.My two adult cats rejected this food immediately. I was expecting resistance given that several other people experienced the same issue.I mixed it into their regular food first and that seemed to help a little so I thought they would be able to take a liking to it, or at the very least get used to it. They still don't like it at all, but will tolerate a small amount in their regular food.Unfortunately this means that I will have to continue buying their regualr food, so this product has not been useful for feeding or financial purposes.

I've tried my kittens (5 months old) on a variety of dry foods and this is the one we've stuck with after many different types tried. We're very happy with it!There are a few things that I looked for when deciding on dry food, and this formula and size fit all the checks:- kitties like it- great ingredients- reasonably priced- can buy in larger quantities- easy to buy (yay Prime)- minimizes kitties flatulence and feces smellThe ONLY negative is that because of the shape of the kibble, it doesn't easily move down the neck of our auto-refill food dispenser, but it's a minor detail that isn't even worth taking a star off for.

Cat loves it.Unfortunately the dog does also LOL. Much smaller bag than was expecting.