Should You Rotate Brands You Feed Your Cat?

Liapluridon

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Do you have more pictures of her, the stripy one, on the right of your avatar picture, Liapluridon? Siamese mixes do start off very light and then darken with age, in certain "point" spots. Here's a very basic page with some pictures of a few lynx mixes. As that notes, they're not really a breed, they're (various) crosses of tabbies and Siamese. Ireland has slightly crossed eyes, a kink in her tail, and the typical point coloring. Most important, she's a very affectionate, great cat.

The only downside to Siamese (and mixes) is that, per our vet, they tend to have certain health issues to watch for. We didn't know that when we adopted them at the shelter, but they quickly proved us right with dental, respiratory, and digestive quirks! Ireland had some asthma-like coughing fits that were resolved with new kitty litter, they both need regular tooth brushing to prevent gingivitis, and they have sensitive stomachs that do best with an all-wet, high-protein diet. I'm glad the vet told us that right off so we were ready. They're really wonderful cats even if they do require a lot of variety in their diet! :p
I had never heard of lynx mixes before - thank you, that's very helpful! Wiggles does look like a cross between a tabby and a Siamese cat, and she's also very affectionate. :) Here's another picture of her on her favorite blanket:


Thankfully she's been healthy (she's now 9 years old, was about 5 weeks when I adopted her). Our cats do eat all-wet, and Wiggles is pretty picky about what she eats but keeps her weight up so we haven't worried too much. Her teeth do have more problems than our other cat, for sure!
 

ailish

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I am a firm believer in rotating. I certainly don't have any science to support it, but intuitively it makes sense to me. First, Ailish prefers a variety of foods. Second, if any food is lacking, she doesn't get it often enough for it to become a problem. Third, she wouldn't get used to one thing so that if they change the formula she will know the difference and decide not to like it, and of course the situation where her one food is no longer available. Also, if something happens to me and I can't feed her for a period of time, I want other people to have as easy a time as possible caring for her. I cared at one time for a cat that would only eat one, that's 1, flavor of Fancy Feast - the food with a gazillion flavors. So if I went to the store to get cat food and they didn't have the one flavor I had to go somewhere else.

Add this to the fact that I just like trying different foods and seeing how she likes them. She usually does, she isn't picky.
 

5starcathotel

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Rotate brands? I barely dare rotate *flavors*!! :flail:

My cats get one flavor of canned for breakfast (Turkey and Duck), and a different flavor for dinner (Seafood Medley)......and if I ever, ever have to substitute because the store is out of one of them....I am mostly just wasting money because it doesn't get eaten!
 

Purr-fect

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Rotate brands? I barely dare rotate *flavors*!! :flail:

My cats get one flavor of canned for breakfast (Turkey and Duck), and a different flavor for dinner (Seafood Medley)......and if I ever, ever have to substitute because the store is out of one of them....I am mostly just wasting money because it doesn't get eaten!
Im with you, but a good argument was made here. If the food you are serving is recalled and the cats will only eat that food, what will you do?
 

Hlee

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We also rotate brands and flavors. With 3 cats if one does
not like it someone else probably will.
Also a good way to find favorites which can come in handy when they need to be enticed to eat or you need something delicious to mix meds in.
They can get so picky.:angrycat:
 

GalaxyGirl

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We also rotate brands and flavors. With 3 cats if one does
not like it someone else probably will.
Also a good way to find favorites which can come in handy when they need to be enticed to eat or you need something delicious to mix meds in.
They can get so picky.:angrycat:
I also have three. It’s great. I bought food that 3 hated and one loved it. So I feed it to her until the cans were gone. Glad I didn’t have to waste food and money.
 

5starcathotel

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Im with you, but a good argument was made here. If the food you are serving is recalled and the cats will only eat that food, what will you do?
Dang it, I had to tempt fate this way!

This week my local store stopped stocking my cats' preferred flavors, and I was forced to buy other flavors. For 3 days I've been massively overfeeding - different flavors of canned food, dehydrated food with different amounts of liquid, Freshpet, even sprinkling cat treats over their meals. I've tried warming it all in the microwave, or serving at room temperature.

My cats have barely eaten anything this week, except for the Halo kibble. (((
 
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