SCADS of Consumerly-Helpful Advice on Friskies Senior Cat Food
Written: Feb 09 '02 (Updated Feb 09 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: made for senior cats, cheap, my cat likes it
Cons: limited flavor availability
The Bottom Line: Formulated to cats ages 7 and older, Friskies Senior Cat Food is cheap and my cat likes it. Buy it!
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| DGTurtle2's Full Review: Friskies Senior Cat Food |
As a long time epinionator (two years and twenty-three days on the site!), I have always prided myself on my ability to provide SCADS of consumerly-helpful information in my product reviews. I strive to achieve the Epinions goal: Epinions helps people make informed buying decisions. It is the source for unbiased advice, personalized recommendations, and comparative shopping. It is with this goal in mind that I agreed to participate in 29th_Candidate's 1st Annual "SCADS-Providers Tribute To Consumerly-Helpfulness" Write-Off. If you don't wish to partake in my SCADS of Consumerly-Helpful advice, just read the short version below. Otherwise, let the SCADS begin!
THE SHORT VERSION
This food is made for cats ages 7 and older. It's cheap. Buy it for your senior cat.
MY QUALIFICATIONS FOR WRITING THIS REVIEW
I have been a cat owner since I was a child. I love my furry friends and they love me. I always want to give my furbabies the best while still remaining practical. When my cats are kittens, they eat kitten food. When they mature, they move on to more adult food. And when they mature even more, it's time to move on to senior food.
In SCADdition to being a long time cat owner, I have also worked in the field of veterinary medicine. I wasn't a vet, but I learned SCADS during my time at the veterinarian's office. I assisted in surgeries and had SCADS of hands on experience with cats and dogs and SCADS of other animals too.
While I worked at the vet's office, I SCad the opportunity to study and to observe the effects of SCADS of different veterinary products, including specialized diet foods for both feline and canine patients. Some of these food companies like to think that their products are the best and they even label them as being "prescription" foods and such. There is a guilt factor involved there... if you don't feed your pet this prescription, specialized diet food, you aren't giving your animal the best.
Well, I would argue with that thought process. While sometimes these foods are better than standard foods that you can purchase at the grocery store, this is usually not the case. I have had the situation arise with my own pets where the prescription diet was necessary in order to maintain the animal's health. The one time that specifically comes to mind is when my Savannah developed feline hepatic lipidosis which caused her to go into liver failure and to develop the rare condition called feline skin fragility syndrome. She was literally being skinned alive as her skin became like wet tissue paper and would rip off of her body with the slightest touch. The vet's office sent Savannah home to die. I refused to just give up and I attempted to keep her alive. Savannah had to be tube fed during this time. We started her out on liquid Ensure (for humans really, but it was a high calorie product and she needed as much calories as she could get). When she ripped her nose tube out though, I opted to try a high calorie canned food, mixed with milk thistle (which is known to heal the liver and to promote healthy liver function) and water and which I fed her orally via syringe several times a day. Just any canned food would not have worked in this situation. She needed a higher calorie prescription canned food in this particular situation and I did provide her with that prescription food because it was necessary at that time.
In most cases though, these prescription foods are merely higher priced and lacking in taste. This could be evidenced by the time when I attempted to feed my overweight cat Misty some prescription diet food to help him lose some weight. He had gained up to about 18 pounds after a surgery to remove one of his front paws up to the shoulder (after he was caught in an illegal trap) and he was having a hard time getting around. (Misty should not be confused with Bud, who also had to have this surgery after a similar trapping incident. They were caught in different types of traps. Misty's front paw was smashed while Bud's leg was snapped in half.) Misty completely refused to eat the food which caused him to not only lose the weight that he needed to lose, but to also get sick in the process. And at 20some dollars for a bag of that food, it was not a good buy!
So I stand by my word that most of those prescription foods are unnecessarily expensive and not necessarily in the best interest of the animal. Both my veterinary and my personal experience tells me so.
BUT THEY AGE
Despite the SCADS of hazards that await felines during their lifetimes, we've been lucky with quite a few of our kitties. They've reached senior status. Senior is considered to be 7 years of age or older.
It's well documented that cats also go through changes as they age. Their bodies can't handle the same stuff they could handle when they were younger. Again, it's back to my belief that cats are people too.
It becomes necessary, then, to acknowledge the aging of your cat and to SCadjust the diet as necessary. This is where a specialty food like Friskies Senior Cat Food comes in handy.
FRISKIES SENIOR CAT FOOD
Friskies Senior Cat Food is a specialty food from the Friskies family. Friskies Senior is available in both dry and canned forms. We have not yet tried the dry (chow) form as my Savannah is very much into her canned food at the moment, so my review will focus on Friskies Senior Canned Cat Food.
PACKAGING
Friskies Senior Canned Cat Food is available in a 5.5 ounce (156 grams) can with a pop top lid. The can itself is made from recyclable aluminum. The lid is easy to open by simply pulling up on the pop top and then pulling the lid toward you. It's sort of like opening a can of Ruffles potato chips. Or like opening a can of soda, except you pull the entire lid back rather than just the pop top. The can is labeled Friskies Senior with a picture of a tan and white cat with bright blue eyes. The label includes information regarding feeding and content.
FLAVORS
I'm not sure if there are other available flavors. I can only give my personal experience and share that Friskies Senior Canned Cat Food is available at my local grocery store in only four flavors: pacific salmon in sauce, savory beef in gravy, turkey and giblets in gravy, and chicken and tuna in gravy. (Note: content and analysis information below can be found by reading the label on one of these flavors of Friskies Senior Cat Food. I just thought it would be nice for all of this information to be found in one place, my review.)
CHICKEN & TUNA IN GRAVY
Chicken and tuna in gravy is the only Friskies Senior flavor that comes in a tender cuts variety. This means that there are actually chunks of chicken and tuna cut into small strips and mixed in with a gravy sauce. These chunks are small, each measuring less than a centimeter square. These are nice bite sized morsels for a cat. The gravy is thick and the aroma is not bad for a cat food. This flavor doesn't smell fishy like a lot of cat foods often do.
Ingredients: poultry broth, chicken, liver, meat-by-products, wheat gluten, turkey, corn starch-modified, soy flour, tuna, natural and artificial flavors, brewers rice, taurine, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, Vitamin E, A, D3, B12 Supplements, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate (Vitamin B1), niacin, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), potassium iodide, sodium selenite, biotin.
Analysis: Crude protein (min) 9.0%, crude fat (min) 3.0%, crude fat (max) 6.0%, crude fiber (max) 1.5%, moisture (max) 82.0%, ash (max) 2.0%, taurine (min) 0.05%
TURKEY AND GIBLETS IN GRAVY
I was surprised when I opened the Turkey & Giblets can to find that this flavor was not of a tender cuts variety. Rather, the turkey and giblets are completely ground up to form the traditional canned food pate consistency that we are so used to. The texture is relatively smooth and easy to break up with a spoon. Again, not a real fishy smell to this one.
Ingredients: meat-by-products, poultry broth, turkey, poultry giblets, fish, poultry-by-products, brewers rice, guar gum, titanium dioxide color, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, taurine, salt, carrageenan, Vitamin A, D3, B12 supplements, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate (Vitamin B1), niacin, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B2), folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), potassium iodide, sodium selenite, biotin.
Analysis: crude protein (min) 9.0%, crude fat (min) 3.5%, crude fat (max) 7.5%, crude fiber (max) 1.5%, moisture (max) 82.0%, ash (max) 2.5%, taurine (min) 0.05%
SAVORY BEEF IN GRAVY
I was also surprised to find that savory beef flavor is also a pate-like feast for cats. The coloring of savory beef is much darker than some of the other flavors and the texture is a bit heavier and thicker as well. It's harder to break this flavor up into bite size chunks due to its thicker consistency. The color and consistency of savory beef is most unappealing to me. I get my strongest gag factor from this flavor of Friskies Senior Cat Food.
Ingredients: meat-by-products, water sufficient for processing, beef, fish, brewers rice, tricalcium phosphate, guar gum, caramel color, potassium chloride, taurine, salt, carrageenan, choline chloride, Vitamin E, A, B12, D3 supplements, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate (Vitamin B1), niacin, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B2), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, potassium iodide, sodium selenite.
Analysis: crude protein (min) 9.0%, crude fat (min) 3.0%, crude fat (max) 7.5%, crude fiber (max) 1.5%, moisture (max) 82.0%, ash (max) 2.5%, taurine (min) 0.05%
PACIFIC SALMON IN SAUCE
I swear these names are deceiving! We don't get salmon in a separate sauce with this flavor. We get salmon flavored pate. That being said, this is one of my cat's favorite flavors. The consistency and texture are wonderful for chopping this food up into my Savannah's bowl. The color is a light pink too so at least it looks right. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be a fish flavor, the aroma from this can is not bad at all. In fact, none of the varieties of Friskies Senior Cat Food has a strongly offensive odor.
Ingredients: meat-by-products, salmon broth, salmon, fish, turkey, brewers rice, guar gum, titanium dioxide color, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, salt, carrageenan, Vitamin E, A, D3, B12 supplements, taurine, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Red 3, sodium nitrite (to promote color retention), thiamin mononitrate (Vitamin B1), niacin, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B2), folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), potassium iodide, sodium selenite, biotin.
Analysis: crude protein (min) 9.0%, crude fat (min) 2.5%, crude fat (max) 7.0%, crude fiber (max) 1.5%, moisture (max) 82.0%, ash (max) 3.0%, taurine (min) 0.05%
SOME GENERAL INFORMATION
As you can see, Friskies Senior canned foods provide SCADS of vitamins and necessary minerals for healthy feline growth and survival. Friskies knows cats and they prove it with their senior formula.
WHY VITAMINS AND MINERALS ARE IMPORTANT FOR YOUR CAT
So why are vitamins and minerals so essential for your cat's health? Same reason certain vitamins and minerals are essential for human health! Cats are people too! Deficiencies of certain vitamins and minerals can cause problems in cats. Friskies Senior Cat Food provides SCADS of vitamins and minerals to avoid these possible problems of vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Vitamin A deficiency can cause such symptoms as lack of appetite, stunted growth, weight loss, night blindness and brain damage.
Vitamin B1 (thiamin) deficiency can cause neurological disorders.
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency can cause weight or hair loss, loss of appetite, reduced fertility or cataracts in the eyes.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) deficiency causes serious symptoms similar to those of FUS, feline urologic syndrome, as well as weight loss, convulsions, kidney disease and anemia.
Vitamin B12 is necessary for red blood cell production.
Vitamin D deficiency can cause ricketts, just as in humans.
Vitamin E deficiency can cause inflammation of the muscles or the heart.
Vitamin K is necessary for blood clotting.
Niacin deficiency can cause lack of appetite, diarrhea, lesions in the mouth and weight loss. Death can occur as a result of a niacin deficiency.
Calcium and phosphorus are necessary for bone and tooth formation.
Potassium deficiency causes lethargy and lack of appetite. A severe deficiency may result in heart failure.
Sodium and chloride are necessary to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance.
Copper and iron are necessary to prevent anemia.
Zinc is necessary for proper metabolism of nutrients.
Iodine deficiency can cause thyroid problems, lethargy and hair loss.
Taurine deficiency can cause heart problems and blindness.
MORE GENERAL INFORMATION
In SCADdition to the SCADS of vitamins and minerals, all of the flavors of Friskies Senior provide 25% less fat than Friskies regular canned foods. This is important for older, less active cats. Overweight cats can run into health problems so it is important to limit the caloric intake of your senior cat, while still providing a full supply of SCADS of vitamins and minerals.
Friskies recommends feeding cats one can per 5 pounds of body weight and dividing this ration into two or more equal portions. We find this to be a bit of overkill. Since Savannah weighs in at 14.5 pounds now, using the Friskies formula, she should be eating three cans of Friskies Senior a day in order to maintain her current weight. We're using more like 1.5 to 2 cans per day and Savannah seems SCADisified with this amount. She is maintaining at this level of conscadumption.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Friskies Senior Cat Food is distributed by Friskies Petcare Company, Inc, Glendale, CA 91203. Questions and comments regarding Friskies products can be addressed by calling 1-800-551-7392, Monday through Friday from 8am to 8pm Eastern Time. Information can also be obtained online by visiting www.Friskies.com.
SAVANNAH'S THOUGHTS
My cat Savannah loves her Friskies Senior canned cat food. She meows with anticipation when she sees me opening a can. She enjoys every flavor variety and eats with enthusiasm. Since beginning her diet of Friskies Senior Cat Food, Savannah has lost a bit of weight which is good because she was seriously overweight (weighing in at 18 pounds last year, down to 14.5 pounds this year... a much healthier weight for her).
Savannah says: Meow! Friskies Senior is SCADiddlyumptious! SCADnificent! SCADelicious! Can I have some more? SCAD?
MY THOUGHTS
I'm happy that Savannah enjoys her meal times now. I'm also quite SCADisfied that she has lost a significant amount of weight thanks to her new diet. While prescription diet foods available at the vet can cost over a dollar per can, I can score Friskies Senior Cat Food for a mere 33 cents per can at my local store... and sometimes hit the sale when they are 4 cans for a dollar!
Friskies Senior Cat Food fits well into my cat's lifestyle and into my budget. I do wish there was more of a flavor variety for Savannah, but she seems to enjoy the rotation of the four available flavors. If she's happy, I'm SCADisfied.
WRITE OFF INFORMATION
This review is part of the 29th_Candidate's 1st Annual "SCADS-Providers Tribute To Consumerly-Helpfulness" Write-Off. Details on this write off and links to each of the participants reviews can be found by visiting www.writersgetaway.net/write-off.htm. Please be sure to check out the SCADS of other writers providing SCADS of consumerly-helpful information on SCADS of different products out there!
Recommended:
Yes
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DGTurtle2
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Member: Dina
Location: Pennsylvania
Reviews written: 178
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Going through a lot of changes these days! Life is good!
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