Fancy Feast... cat crack!?

syzygycat

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I've been researching healthy yet relatively cheap canned foods to supplement my cats' meals. I tried all the mid-rated <$1 brands (Buffalo Healthy Gourmet, Ultra, Dave's, Authority, Fancy Feast, etc. they liked some more than other, none as much as their usual brands, very typical response. EXCEPT for Fancy Feast. Not only have I've never seen my cats take to a food so readily, all 4 cats went at the Fancy Feast more ravenously than their favorite foods (including any Friskies flavors).

Two of my four cats hate pate, one will licks it dry. Since they took to FF so well, I took a shot and got the 6 non-fish Classic Pate favors, all 4 cats devoured the FF pate.

THEN I tried mixing Fancy Feast with equal parts Buffalo wilderness pate (they hate the stuff)... they devoured it.

If my cat don't get wet food for >24 hours they will begrudgingly eat a little bit of pate but they never ever eat any canned food that was opened then refrigerated. So obviously I refrigerated the BB Core pate for 8 hours, mixed it into a fresh can of Fancy Feast Pate... they at all of that too.

The ingredients list isn't great the classic pate's is relatively decent.

Anyone else have similar experience with this stuff?
 

Boris Diamond

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I have some fussy eaters but all of them like Fancy Feast. It may sit in their bowl for a while, but it does not go uneaten like so many other brands. I've never mixed it with anything because in the past, my cats have refused to eat two different foods mixed together. (Fussy, fussy.) :biggrin: They get Fancy Feast every morning and something else at night.
 

DreamerRose

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I feed Fancy Feast all the time. Mingo likes the pate the least, but he will eat it as long as I rotate with Gravy Lovers and the grilled. Lily will eat anything at any time. She was abandoned with five kittens and nearly starved to death.
 

Xraystyle

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Mine somehow takes after me in that we like meat flavors but not meat chunks (I'm NOT eating cat food BTW XD) So I originally got Puar Fancy Feast gravy lovers to mix his supplements into. He sure did love the gravy, just not the meat chunks! What a waste D:

I switched to the Fancy Feast pate and was able to get the chicken and salmon kinds for a deal. I *do* mix them with one of those snack tube things (a korean brand) because he came with those originally and it is helpful to make sure the supplement powders are mixed well enough. He seems to like the stuff that's been refrigerated even more than new cans...weird! I also add in a bit of water so he's basically getting a cat food stew. He gets 1/3can + snack tube in the morning and in the evening, and then has kibble available all day. He doesn't gobble it all up right away, and I still end up throwing some leftovers away before refilling the bowl, but I think he likes it? He will only refuse to eat it if I put in way too much water.

All of my previous cats were also fancy feasters, but they weren't as selective with the type. We used to just buy the big variety packs so our cats got a bit of a surprise each meal.
 

mizzely

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I wish! Fancy Feast Pate is actually pretty decent - no added weird fluff ingredients like blueberries :p My cat pretty much turns her nose up at all but one or two flavors, and those she eats very grudgingly.
 

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We use fancy feast pates and a little friskies pate. I can get them to eat a bit of blue buffalo at times but those would be their favourites. I bought some of the more expensive brands but they don't really care for them. My three are not bit on the fish flavours. They will eat the salmon but don't like the ocean fish or shrimp trio one.
 

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I actually bought a few cans of fancy feast a few weeks ago (my elder cat needs wet food. She has no teeth.) and thought I'd try to see if my tuxedo would eat a can. He out right would not eat it! He just did not want it and this cat will eat anything. Thought it was strange, since Isabel (my female) and Jasper (my kitten) seem to absolutely love it and gobble it up
 

sivyaleah

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My motto has become feed what your cat will eat.

Ideally we'd all like our cats to prefer wet food that is high quality human grade protein, grain free, without added ingredients as fillers such as potatoes, peas, lentils, fruit, etc. BPA free cans too!

But, cats are individuals like we are and you can not force them to eat what they do not want to eat.

Providing options is always a good idea, trying new flavors, textures and brands to see if your cat will latch onto something else but if they want Fancy Feast and nothing else, well it's really isn't a terrible choice - there are far worse out there.

My experience as been that all my cats love it. We feed the Classic line only, however, which is the pate. Cat #1 came to us from a friend and had a varied diet since a wee kitten and ate everything pretty much and we were lucky with him but as he declined in health and got older too he became more picky and the FF was one of the foods we knew he would continue to eat.

Cat #2 was a rescue and she just never really wanted anything else. Oh we tried! We'd feed her the same things as #1 but she'd rather walk away from it and not eat so FF for her.

Cat #3 came to us as a kitten on a diet recommended by her breeder of better quality than the FF. Absolutely wolfed her food down and ignored Cat #2's FF completely. We began to expand her food to high quality brands that we preferred and she was doing good with all of them until she got spayed when her tastes changed for some reason. Suddenly all she wanted was...the FF! And, she became incredibly picky too. With her though, I've found a few other brands that she will eat sometimes so we do rotate but it's hit or miss depending on her mood from one day to the next. I toss a lot out :sigh:
 

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Feeby ate dry only urinary care food for a long time. About 3 years ago I added the canned versions. All went well until she hit a wall with health issues related to a flea infestation. She pretty much stopped all dry food, and the only way she would eat her urinary care canned food was to mix it with FF pates. That has kept her going now for nearly a year. Every once in a while she hits another tiny roadblock and I have to add some baby food meats to the mix just to jump start her. However, for the most part since I don't want to give up on her urinary care food, FF pates have been the answer. She also prefers all the 'meat' ones over the fish ones, which is OK by me. It seems overall FF isn't all that bad in the big scheme of things.

Funny you should have called it 'crack' - you are not the first one to label it that way!!!
 

She's a witch

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my guess is the artificial flavour that they use is the source of this "crack"; my cats love it too but I avoid it since they eat other brands too without any problems, and I don't want them to end up addicted to FF. But if that's the only wet your cats eat, great, as FFClassic Pate is really decent food.
 
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syzygycat

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my guess is the artificial flavour that they use is the source of this "crack"; my cats love it too but I avoid it since they eat other brands too without any problems, and I don't want them to end up addicted to FF. But if that's the only wet your cats eat, great, as FFClassic Pate is really decent food.
To me FF Pate in the healthiest class of the unhealthy cat foods (meat-byproducts aren't necessarily bad for cats, but brands only the unhealthy brands use it). So, FF isn't great but if it means I can mix it with something healthy I'm willing to give it to them forever.

Friksies is the only brand my cats have eaten consistently all there lives, a lot when I was a new cat dad 10 years ago 20% of their diet now.
Purina Friskies, Proplan, Muse and Fancy Feast have that fatty artificially flavored clear-ish goo (maybe partly the wheat glutein, or "animal biproduct") its very visible on the outside friskies and FF pate's, but friskies doesn't get this reaction, they won't even touch Muse,

I pressure cook 3oz chicken breast for them twice a week*, its the only food other than FF they all are eager to eat and finish.

*I'm a vegetarian, no clue how to cook meat, how to not contaminate it, and the smell makes me gag, pressure cooker is the best solution.
 
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syzygycat

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We use fancy feast pates and a little friskies pate. I can get them to eat a bit of blue buffalo at times but those would be their favourites. I bought some of the more expensive brands but they don't really care for them. My three are not bit on the fish flavours. They will eat the salmon but don't like the ocean fish or shrimp trio one.
When money was tighter Id give my guys mainly friskies and occasionally Petsmart Authority the BB "in gravy" flavors.
I recently learned, with the exception of "wilderness" flavors, many many blue buffalo varieties have more carbs than friskies, the gravy ones are ~25% carbs.

Petsmart's Authority brand is a great option of cost/quality, cat's eat it sometimes, per ounce costs a little less than FF. but much healthier.
 
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syzygycat

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I have some fussy eaters but all of them like Fancy Feast. It may sit in their bowl for a while, but it does not go uneaten like so many other brands. I've never mixed it with anything because in the past, my cats have refused to eat two different foods mixed together. (Fussy, fussy.) :biggrin: They get Fancy Feast every morning and something else at night.
My cat's have never eaten mixed wet foods either, this is a first. We tried a 3oz can of Fancey Feast with a 5.5oz can of Merrick beef wellington, it wasn't enough FF, they all ate a little bit of it while giving me dirty looks.

I haven't been so daring to change meat types (ie only Beef FF with Beef other brand).
 

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Tuff loves his FF pate. He is 4 years old and I have never fed him any other brand. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it!
 

Kat0121

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Mine won't touch it any longer. Does that tell you the level of pickiness we've reached? They used to love the FF kitten turkey and I kept some on hand if they rejected other foods (which, of course, they did). It was one of the few foods they never rejected. Well, that's over. :rolleyes2:
 
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syzygycat

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Mine won't touch it any longer. Does that tell you the level of pickiness we've reached? They used to love the FF kitten turkey and I kept some on hand if they rejected other foods (which, of course, they did). It was one of the few foods they never rejected. Well, that's over. :rolleyes2:
So what do you give them now?
 
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syzygycat

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Instead of scooping shook the foods out of their cans today. Fancy feast can to the left, whole earth farms to the right (both turkey pate).
I think the cat crack is what is on the bottom of the FF can. It's pure rendered fat added separately from the pate, it wouldn't separate out of a pate like this naturally and this stuff doesn't dissolve in water so its not just a gelatin broth thing.


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mentat

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Yes! Most of my vet hospitals keep classic, flaked, and minced Fancy Feast to transition baby food and e-tube fed patients back to OTC commercial cat food. Esp seafood feast classic, by the case. They all call it kitty crack. And the Temptations n Greenies cat treats, also kitty crack. They're in every exam and chemo room we've ever sat in, even comfort/euthanasia rooms. I joke with techs treating my pets in room with me we should've bought stock in Greenies treats in early ots when new. The hairball chicken Greenies are longhaired cat lifesavers!
 

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Uncled

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Mine two were raised on Fancy Feast classic as kittens, when they were about a year old I mixed it up with Friskies pate that they both ate with no trouble. I have now added Tiny Tiger from Chewy.com and Paws and Claws from Tractor Supply that one has become a favorite,again pate variety. I am lucky that they are not fussy about brands.
 
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