advice on cat food

[clang54]

My cat Coco when I first adopted her I had her on science diet and then I switched to purina cat chow cause u get a bigger bag. Now she really doesn't eat it. And like with her other food she run to her dish. It looks like she has lost some weight. I think I might just switch back?? Please help

 

[loribeth]

Hi - I'm pretty new to the forum here ...and only have my first cat in about 15 years or so ...not sure I'm qualified to respond but ...I'm thinking if you changed her food abruptly, it might have put her off her food ...I think with most animals, changes should be made gradually regarding their diet ...mix the old food & new food a bit at a time until you have transitioned her & probably over the course of several weeks, not just a few days - I would probably get a bag of the original food she was fed & then start the transition if that is what you want to do.  My recently adopted cat is on the Sc. Diet too ...from the shelter - I'll just keep him on it since he eats it good.

 

[pinkdagger]

^ Agreed. If you change food too quickly, they won't recognize the taste or smell of it as "their food". If you're all out of Science Diet, go out and grab a small bag to mix the new food in gradually, and taper off the Science Diet. If you find she still eats around the Purina kibbles, it could just be she flat out doesn't like that food. We tried to switch our cat from Whiskas to Blue Buffalo and he ate it hesitantly and was glad when my boyfriend gave up and switched back... he's since been converted to Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul without issue.

I poked around and saw that both foods contain quite a bit of corn/corn meal high in the ingredients and not as much meat - corn is a filler, so it doesn't get used by the cat's body as an obligate carnivore. There are higher grades of food out there with more protein and fewer carbs within a very similar price range (try calculating cost per pound, rather than finding the lowest price on the shelves), and honestly, more meat and fewer carbs in foods means cats feel fuller longer, need to eat less, and you save money because they're not wolfing down as much food to satiate their hunger. Which also means more manageable, fewer poops.

 

[stephenq]

Please switch back to her original food right away.  Make sure she is eating on the old food, before you consider changing again.  A bigger bag isn't a great reason to change a cat's diet.  Most vets now and we at TCS believe that a quality wet food is an important part of a healthy cat's diet.

Before you switch again i invite you to check out our nutrition forum.  Good foods need not be expensive either.

http://www.thecatsite.com/f/64/cat-nutrition

 

[loribeth]

this is helpful info for me as well being a 'new' cat owner ...I hadn't really thought about adding a wet food to his diet ...I hadn't had a chance to really scrutinize the Science Diet dry food (that came w/him from the shelter) - I have only had him for 3 days ...if it's more filler than nutrition, perhaps I'll get doing some research while I still have enough left to switch him over ...Science Diet is not a cheap food ...you'd think you'd get better quality for that price

 

[pinkdagger]

It's pretty misleading! I've said this on the forums before, but my boyfriend was originally the cat caretaker so I was fighting a losing battle trying to get him to change things. One thing I did to educate both of us was lay out all the brands available at the pet store we frequented, cut all the foods containing corn out of the list, isolated the ones with meat as the first three ingredients. From that much smaller list, I calculated price per pound and went from there.

We currently feed two wet meals and are on our way to discuss the frequency (if any) of dry our vet would recommend for our older cat. In addition to educating yourself on the forums and other readings, it's really worth having your vet's input too!

 

[stephenq]

 
this is helpful info for me as well being a 'new' cat owner ...I hadn't really thought about adding a wet food to his diet ...I hadn't had a chance to really scrutinize the Science Diet dry food (that came w/him from the shelter) - I have only had him for 3 days ...if it's more filler than nutrition, perhaps I'll get doing some research while I still have enough left to switch him over ...Science Diet is not a cheap food ...you'd think you'd get better quality for that price

You can definitely do better than Science diet for the same price, maybe cheaper.  Regarding wet food, cats, unlike dogs and humans have a very narrow niche of what is healthy for them.  Basically mice.  High protein and fat, very little carbs.  Interestingly, cats lack the enzyme Amylase which is normally found in saliva and starts the digestion/breakdown of carbs, but they do eat the stomach contents of mice, which are mostly carbs but partially pre-digested for the cat.  It's a purrfect arrangement!

Wet food is much closer to the mouse than kibble.   It tends to have more protein than dry food, and a good wet food can also be grain free and low carb.  It also has a lot of water and water is good for cats' kidneys, and kidney failure is one of the leading causes of death in older cats.  And there are no kibble bushes in nature!

There are a lot of things we can't control in our cats in the long term but I like to say that there are 3 things that we can control:

- Physical safety

- Proper Vet care

- Proper Nutrition

To up any one is to give up on 1/3 of the cat's long term health.

Enjoy your research, and when you decide to add a quality wet food, you may have to try several flavors and brands at first to find one she likes, so don't buy in bulk, and add wet food slowly over the course of a week or so because too much wet food too quickly can upset the tummy can cause loose stool.

 

[pinkman]

 
You can definitely do better than Science diet for the same price, maybe cheaper.  Regarding wet food, cats, unlike dogs and humans have a very narrow niche of what is healthy for them.  Basically mice.  High protein and fat, very little carbs.  Interestingly, cats lack the enzyme Amylase which is normally found in saliva and starts the digestion/breakdown of carbs, but they do eat the stomach contents of mice, which are mostly carbs but partially pre-digested for the cat.  It's a purrfect arrangement!

Wet food is much closer to the mouse than kibble.   It tends to have more protein than dry food, and a good wet food can also be grain free and low carb.  It also has a lot of water and water is good for cats' kidneys, and kidney failure is one of the leading causes of death in older cats.  And there are no kibble bushes in nature!

There are a lot of things we can't control in our cats in the long term but I like to say that there are 3 things that we can control:

- Physical safety

- Proper Vet care

- Proper Nutrition

To up any one is to give up on 1/3 of the cat's long term health.

Enjoy your research, and when you decide to add a quality wet food, you may have to try several flavors and brands at first to find one she likes, so don't buy in bulk, and add wet food slowly over the course of a week or so because too much wet food too quickly can upset the tummy can cause loose stool.

Basically this. Science Diet is pretty pricey for what it is, IMO. I also wanted to mention that there are wet foods out there that are economically friendly also that fit in the "high protein, low carb" spectrum. Fancy Feast pates, Friskies (Poultry Platter, Mixed Grill, and Country dinner (?)) come into my mind. Evo cans are also somewhat of a bargain as you can purchase them in larger cans (thinking big like bean cans).

And I strongly stress that you introduce the wet food very slowly. Too many people out there try to switch food too fast - often, dry to wet and see digestive upset and give up. 

 

[clang54]

Hey thanks for the great advice and will be doing research on what's grain free and no corn or by products. Also introducing wet food how much should a cat eat with dry food?