To Sarah (and all others looking for alternatives in foods, now)
 
Three years ago, I worked in a small, well-run, caring pet store.  We sold
Iams, Eukanuba, Excel, and Nutro Max pet foods.
 
I was educated then that Excel was one of the BEST foods available.  I
was told that they put little or no effort into advertisements or cute
packaging, but rather focused their funds to researching nutritional needs
and quality ingredients.  At the time, Excel was slightly cheaper than any
of the other above named brands, but was a much better product.  They were
an excellent, maybe the best, choice.
 
Nutro Max was on par with Excel.  Nutro used no unnatural additives.  They
again put little money into ads.  They were a great choice in foods, too.
 
Iams and Eukanuba were nearly identical.  They are sister products.  (Like
Ford and Mercury, for you car buffs.) They were a high end, quality food,
although the company philosophy seemed not so stringent as the others.
Sarah, as for L'Avian, I have heard of them, but do not know any
particulars on them.
 
Again, this was what I was taught three years ago.  I would still recommend
Excel highly.  Since this info is a bit dated, please ask a pet store
employee or better yet, manager, what they know of the foods.  If they do
not know, or appear to be making it up as they go, try another store.  Some
places just don't seem to care and IMO they don't deserve your business.
If anyone has more recent info on these foods, please let the list know.
I'm quite curious as I have my cat on Iams and will be researching this all
as I go.
 
Thanks.
Jacki and the zo
[Posted in FML issue 2990]