Affordable Dry Food Brands

[mwallace056]

About the possibility of overeating, do you have a way to check/look at their body condition?

I think once your sister has a chance to change their kibble and add canned food, she should hopefully find that the constant yelling decreases.

https://www.iams.com/pet-health/cat...-to-visually-assess-your-cat-s-body-condition

Last time i was there, they look fine but she did say boots have gain some weight, i will send a chart to her and have her to tell me where she think they're at

I would say definitely over feeding. And such a high carb food is not good. It will only lead to health problems down the road. If they’re going through 28 lbs of cat food a month I would be concerned. If she stays with Iams the most they should be getting is a measured out 1 cup to 1.5 cups shared between them a day. That’s without wet food.
I would definitely change to a higher quality dry food. And another tip, sometimes cats are just whiny. And the more us humans give into thatwhiny behavior the more they’re going to do it. I know my cats aren’t starving when they whine. They’re in good shape and have no healthy problems. They’re just little brats who want us to serve them. So I just ignore their whiny behavior most of the time. Maybe she can play with them and their favorite toy when they start crying. That helps with mine most of the time.

Yeah, thats one of the first things i explained to her is to ignore it and it should eventually stop, and does playing with them rewards the behavior?

 

[cheesycats]

I feel like it depends on what they’re crying about. If I’m eating and my cats are begging I’ll play with them or brush them afterwards. But I like doing those things. But maybe it is better to just ignore lol depending on the situation.

 

[oonawingedwolf]

Playing with them redirects the behavior. Gives them exercise and attention. I'd say it's worth it.

 

[mwallace056]

When my two girls were eating strictly kibble, they were going through a 12 lb bag of Nature's Variety in about 5 weeks.
Now, I combo feed them. They get wet food and Dr Elsey's cleanprotein kibble and will go through a 6.6 lb bag of DrE in about 2 months.

Do you feed them mostly wet or dry? What’s the ratio?

She says they poop a lot, feeding them better food will make them poop less, right?

I will suggest playing with them instead when they want more food

 

[lalagimp]

The Dr Elseys cleanprotein is over 500 kcal per cup. They get maybe 1/4 cup or so per day, and the wet food is up to 6 oz per day. Some foods are lighter calories than others. They average about 400 calories per day together for being 9 and 10 pounds.

 

[cheesycats]

My cats poop once a day. Small, dark, easily passed poop once a day is normal for a cat. Anymore than that is indication their food is running through them quickly and little is being digested.

 

[mwallace056]

Is Taste of the wild Rocky Mountain good food?

 

[Willowy]

It's better than Iams. Not one of the top-quality foods though.

Even with a cheap food, the most anyone should be using is about 2 pounds of kibble per cat per week. Ask if she's doing anything unusual---dumping their food if they don't eat all of it, letting the dog eat it, etc. I find that most of the time when people complain about their cats eating too much it's because they're doing something unusual and don't realize it (or, yes, exaggerating ).

If you can, encourage her to feed some canned food too. Something like Friskies or Paws & Claws would be fine. Half a 5.5-oz can for each cat, ideally twice a day but once would be OK too, and an appropriate amount of dry food.

 

[mwallace056]

I doubt she would even drive 20 minutes to petsmart or petco just for cat food, so i'm trying to find food near her, there a tractor supply thats only less than a minute away. they don't carry Dr. Elsey's or tiki, the only food i saw such as wellness core, blue buffalo, taste of the wild, and 4health, what do you recommend?

the only info i got from her is that she keep feeding them until they stop crying. I'm pretty sure shes doesn't dump the food, so probably not that. yeah the dogs must be eating some, and/or little bit of exaggerating because 7 lbs less a week for just two cats is unreal

 

[maggiedemi]

4health is pretty good.

 

[Willowy]

4Health and Taste of the Wild are about even. 4Health costs less. They have a grain-free version that's pretty good.