Tiki Cat food

[heyitsfae]

My quest to find my fat fur kid the best possible food continues! Several of you pointed me to this chart for nutrition information on many canned food brands. According the the list ideally, food should contain:

• > 50% calories from protein
• between 20% and 45% calories from fat
• 0% to 2% calories from carbs

So I spent some quality time with the list last night and it seems like Tiki Cat wet food is pretty viable option. It seems to be a little higher in phosphorus compared to the other brands on the list so I'm not sure how concerned I should be about this.

It is a little bit expensive so before I drop $20 on a case I was hoping that someone might be able to weigh in on this food. I ran a quick forum search and it looks as though some folks have tried it in the past. Is anyone currently feeding Tiki Cat and if so, what are the pros/cons? Also if anyone wants to look at the nutrition breakdown and give me their thoughts, it would be very much appreciated. The nutrition information can be found on page 21.

Thank you all for indulging my OCD when it comes to my big guy's diet.

 

[smitten4kittens]

I feed Tiki Cat and I love it! It looks like you cooked chicken breast and shredded it. Thats it, no fillers just added supplements. I only feed the chicken flavors. It's very low in fat but I rotate it with lots of other brands so they get some fat in their diet. I definately recommend it as a healthy choice.

 

[vball91]

I also like Tiki Cat. I feed the chicken varieties fairly regularly, occasionally the chicken/salmon. I keep some of the tuna on hand for when she's sick/off her food. It is a high quality food. I rotate it with Hound & Gatos, Stella & Chewy's and homemade raw and cooked.

 

[franksmom]

I love Tiki Cat and feed mostly the two chicken flavours and the wild salmon and chicken once or twice a week. They also love the ahi tuna and chicken but I do not feed it often.  My favourite thing about this food it has very simple ingredients and uses human grade meat. It is pretty low calorie and I actually wish it had a higher calorie count as I am feeding a kitten and a picky eater, but this is their favourite food out of all the natural brands I have tried. Floppy cats did some reviews on tiki cat and here is one of the chicken flavours and what it looks like ()

 

[pinkman]

I used to feed my cat Tiki's Puka Puka before I switched her to raw. I still has some in her stash of food just in case. It's a great food, I've never had a problem with it. I always have the Tuna/Chicken variety in case she gets sick.

The only cons I have with the food is that it's definitely pricey, and it's a bit higher on phosphorus than say Wellness. But the limited-ingredient profile outweighs it for me.

 

[heyitsfae]

Thank you all for your feedback. I'm going to start feeding the chicken flavors a couple of times a week and see if my boy likes it. The low calorie count was a huge bonus for me. My little guy is 25 pounds so I've been looking for a low calorie food to help balance out his diet a bit.

 

[smitten4kittens]

Thank you all for your feedback. I'm going to start feeding the chicken flavors a couple of times a week and see if my boy likes it. The low calorie count was a huge bonus for me. My little guy is 25 pounds so I've been looking for a low calorie food to help balance out his diet a bit.

Weruva Paw Lickin' Chickin' is healthy and lower in calories too.

 

[vball91]

Thank you all for your feedback. I'm going to start feeding the chicken flavors a couple of times a week and see if my boy likes it. The low calorie count was a huge bonus for me. My little guy is 25 pounds so I've been looking for a low calorie food to help balance out his diet a bit.

You don't necessarily need lower calorie foods. You can just feed less of any high quality food. Cats need a good amount of animal protein and some fat to feel satiated, so he may actually feel more satisifed with less of a higher fat food but still be getting the same amount of calories as more of a lower fat food. Safe weight loss is about 2% a week. You want to take it slow with an overweight kitty.

 

[heyitsfae]

You don't necessarily need lower calorie foods. You can just feed less of any high quality food. Cats need a good amount of animal protein and some fat to feel satiated, so he may actually feel more satisifed with less of a higher fat food but still be getting the same amount of calories as more of a lower fat food. Safe weight loss is about 2% a week. You want to take it slow with an overweight kitty.

I'm definitely taking it very slow with Monstro's weight loss and working closely with his veterinarian throughout the process to make sure that I'm doing this in the healthiest way possible. My vet had recommended that due to his size he should be eating around 6 - 7 oz of a high quality, lower calorie food per day. He had recommended Blue Buffalo, Wellness or something similar (my vet stocks both products so I took the specific brand recommendation with a grain of salt). I spoke with him on Monday about specific calorie amounts and he said that between 190 and 200 calories per day would be good for a cat his size. After he loses a few pounds I should drop him down to about 175-180.

That being said, Tiki won't the only food that he will be eating since it is a very low calorie count and I don't want to cut his calorie intake in in half all of a sudden. It is one of the foods that I would like to incorporate into his diet though. I'm not just looking at the calories when selecting his foods but also where those calories are coming from (protein, carbs, fat, etc). Ideally, I would like to have him on Tiki and one other food that has high calories but a similar balance of protein, fat and carbs (SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER FOOD WELCOME!).

Are you suggesting that it may be more beneficial to go with a food that may be a little higher in fat and just feed less of it as opposed to larger portions of a moderate fat/lower calorie food?

Weruva Paw Lickin' Chickin' is healthy and lower in calories too.

 So funny that you should mention Weruva! I was literally just researching that brand to see if that may also be worth looking in to.

 

[vball91]

Given that he is 25lbs right now, 200 calories does not seem like enough. That seems very drastic. The general rule of thumb is 20 calories per pound of ideal body weight, but remember you want to do it gradually. I think you read mschauer's Mickey weight loss thread. I would review the beginning of that thread and look at the number of calories she was feeding.

You will have to experiment with different foods to see what works, but if he still seem very hungry on the reduced calorie low fat food, you may want try/alternate with a higher fat one (still same calories). One I would recommend is Hound & Gatos. It is higher fat than Tiki, but quality named meat only (usually single source) pates, no carrageenan, BPA free cans.

 

[heyitsfae]

I'll consult with my vet again. I'm going on what he recommended for calorie intake.

I did also compare with Mickelson progress and according to his progress chart he was around 180 calories at 23 pounds. Reviewing the beginning of his thread he also started at 27 pounds and 230 calories, which for me had validated the vet's recommendation (especially given my kitty's lack of mobility) but I will definitely revisit his recommendation. Monstro has a check up on Friday anyhow for an ulcer in his eye so I'll revisit his calorie intake at that point as well.

 

[loganregina]

Hello. I feed my cat moochi tiki cat chicken . It helped him to lose weight. However his bun/creatinine levels were above normal on his recent vet visit so I am concerned about phosphorus. Does anyone know if tiki cat chicken in chicken consomme is too high in phosphorus for cats with kidney issues? Thank You

 

[bonepicker]

Against the grain chicken & pumpkin samba is a good alternative at 1.07 a can vs 1.42 a can, no fish oil!

 

[momto3cats]

Hello. I feed my cat moochi tiki cat chicken . It helped him to lose weight. However his bun/creatinine levels were above normal on his recent vet visit so I am concerned about phosphorus. Does anyone know if tiki cat chicken in chicken consomme is too high in phosphorus for cats with kidney issues? Thank You

The one that is just chicken, Puka Puka Luau, is quite low in phosphorus. It only has 169 mg phosphorus per 100 calories according to this chart on their site: http://www.petropics.com/petropics-nutrition-facts/  

Scroll down to the renal disease reference chart. 

I include it in my kidney cat's rotation. I try to stick to foods that have less than 200 mg phosphorus per 100 calories, and it's well within that range.

 

[loganregina]

Thank You very much!!