Canned Food Recommendations

[parisinthe30sx]

Hi. My cats are very very picky, I think I've tried every canned food known to man with zero luck. So I'm wondering, Which canned food do you feed your kitties? I'm trying to find something that isn't fish or chicken as some of them have allergies. Right now I'm feeding friskies turkey pate, orijin dry food (only a couple of them eat dry) and earthborn chicken catitorri (for the non allergic ones). I'd like to feed them all one brand of food, though I know that's probably wishful thinking. I'm just at a loss. I want to try the honest kitchen, but it says 34%fat and that seems like an awfully high amount. Do cats get pancreatitis easily like dogs? If my dog eats anything above 7%fat her pancreatitis kicks in. Which brands have you had luck with?

 

[lalagimp]

I've had cats for about ten years with no instances of pancreatitis, and I never grew up with a dog getting it, either.
I try my girls on something new every month, either through Chewy's Influencer panel or samples in the mail. They regularly eat Nature's Variety Instinct canned. They didn't like Blue Wilderness. They enjoyed Weruva Cats in the Kitchen, Tiki After Dark, Meow Mix Simple Servings turkey and chicken, Nature's Variety Minced Recipe. This month we have I and Love and You to try. The girls did not appreciate Honest Kitchen when I bought it through a new customer Facebook offer. I'm going to end up giving it to a friend for him to feed to his fox.

 

[molly92]

I have not come across many cat owners whose cats like Honest Kitchen. Natural Balance LID is always nice and reliable for allergies. They have some venison and duck flavors. The Canidae pure line also has several options. I've been feeding the turkey to my cat and she really likes it. Whole earth Farms turkey also does not have chicken. Those are just some that my cat likes.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - a quick note, the Honest Kitchen sells inexpensive samples - at least they still did a couple months ago from their website.

 

[Furballsmom]

Also, Merrick Backcountry has pouches, which is very cool, and has turkey as well as rabbit. Good luck!

 

[Georgia on my Mind]

Your cats are adorable! I admit my cats aren’t very picky but have you tried ZiwiPeak or Feline Natural? They have Venison and Lamb and I just love their ingredients. Nothing questionable.

Also, 34% fat is perfect. I can’t remember the exact percentages Dr. Pierson recommends except for a minimum of 50% protein but 34% fat is definitely within her guidelines.

I hope they like the food.

 

[LTS3]

For food allergies, look for limited ingredient diets such as these:

Blue Buffalo Basics
Merrick Limited Ingredients
Koha Limited Ingredient
Nature's Variety Instinct
Natural Balance LID

Novel proteins may be helpful as well, if the cause of the food allergy is to protein. Chicken is a common allergen. Novel proteins are rabbit, pork, venison, etc. Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

The Honest Kitchen is dehydrated raw food. The carb content is pretty high. Some cats just don't like the food. You can try a sample to see if your cats like it. 1 oz Sample Bundles It looks like samples are out of stock but contact the company anyways and ask.

 

[duckpond]

They are cute! Normally cats do not have a problem with fats. I try to get high protein, moderate fat, and low carbs. I did try honest kitchen once, my fussy cats were not fans. your may be

For dry food you might look up Farmina, go to their website, my cats love the pumpkin flavors, especially the venison and apple. it has chicken fat, but i dont think the fat usually causes problems?

for wet foods that are limited ingredient you may want to look up rawz, mine also like weruva, earthborn, fussie cat, and nutro, but i think most of those have fish or chicken.

One thing you can also do is shop on line, only natural, and the big bad woof sell individual cans of a lot of different foods, so you can pick several and try before you buy bulk, or just continue to order individual cans like i do. lol sometimes i order 50 or 60 cans at once, and the are almost all different

Farmina Pet Foods - Cat food - N&D Pumpkin feline - Venison & Apple Adult
Natural Cat Food | Organic Healthy Cat Food | Only Natural Pet
The Big Bad Woof | Pet Store & Delivery

another dry food i have seen lately is taste of the wild prey. very limited ingredients, and no chicken or chicken fat. a littler high in carbs for my indoor guys, but i got some for the outdoor cats and they seem to like it. I give a spoon full or two at a time to my indoor cats and they all do too.
» Formula Results

 

[cluckingduck]

Your cats are adorable! I admit my cats aren’t very picky but have you tried ZiwiPeak or Feline Natural? They have Venison and Lamb and I just love their ingredients. Nothing questionable.

Also, 34% fat is perfect. I can’t remember the exact percentages Dr. Pierson recommends except for a minimum of 50% protein but 34% fat is definitely within her guidelines.

I hope they like the food.

Hi. I've been feeding Artie ziwipeak rabbit/lamb for a couple of years, and he is getting too fat, although a lot of folks say 20kcals per lb, Artie has been at 15 lbs, so that would take him to 300 kcals X day. Too much. He's getting porky at 257 kcals X day. AND I'm going broke. What do you recommend for a less expensive food without compromising that is equal to ziwipeak? I'm looking at Lotus, but seems like a lot of stuff in there I have never heard of.

LisaMarie if you see this, Hi to you. Haven't been on this page for ever!

 

[Neo_23]

Hi. I've been feeding Artie ziwipeak rabbit/lamb for a couple of years, and he is getting too fat, although a lot of folks say 20kcals per lb, Artie has been at 15 lbs, so that would take him to 300 kcals X day. Too much. He's getting porky at 257 kcals X day. AND I'm going broke. What do you recommend for a less expensive food without compromising that is equal to ziwipeak? I'm looking at Lotus, but seems like a lot of stuff in there I have never heard of.

LisaMarie if you see this, Hi to you. Haven't been on this page for ever!

Do you feed Ziwipeak exclusively? How much exercise does your cat get in a day?

If your cat likes rabbit you might look into something like Nature's Variety. Their rabbit formulas are higher in protein and lower in fat than Ziwipeak and although still pricey, it's much more affordable than Ziwipeak.

By the way, the recommendation is 20kcal per lb of ideal weight. So although your cat is 15 pounds now, his ideal weight might actually be 14 or less. You'd have to figure that out for yourself, possibly on the advice of a vet.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - duckpond has some great comments as does Neo_23 . I like serving a variety of brands in a rotation across both the Big Guy's wet and dry food.
Merrick Backcountry has rabbit, Tiki Cat has a number of flavors with pumpkin.

 

[cluckingduck]

Artie used to hate 'stew' type foods like Tiki Cat, and Purina bought Merrick over a year ago, so I don't like the idea of them being near my cats food. Any pate/meat types come to mind? I'm trying to get info on lotus. Never heard of it until today, so I'm looking for advice from someone who has seen it.
Thanx

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi again, the Big Guy flat out won't touch Lotus with a 10 foot pole , --but he likes Merrick as well as Tiki Cat.
In any case my personal preferences would also be to avoid Purina however I have to bow to HIS tastes, which is why I'm feeding a variety of brands.
After years worth of research as well as arguing with him (nope, I've never won except maybe once thanks to a tempting topper LOL), wasting food and making my nearby shelter VERY happy, having a menu of brands not only hopefully helps his system to better deal with starches, gums, other seriously bad additives and possible allergen proteins, it also means that when manufacturers change up their formulas I'm not trapped in the truly awful scenario of "this is the only thing my cat will eat and they've changed the recipe!".
Good luck!

 

[laura mae]

I offer a lot of different brands. Different ones are popular with different cats. One cat likes Weruva and its soupy texture. Two cats like Wellness and the others hate it. Some like Merricks Beef Wellington and Cowboy Cook Out ( beef based but not sure if it has chicken or not). Nature's Variety Instinct Lamb is fairly popular. I've offered Ziwi Peak and it was a meh.

My cat that likes Weruva goes crazy over Lotus Just Juicy Pork, but they don't care for the turkey or the chicken.

 

[duckpond]

Artie used to hate 'stew' type foods like Tiki Cat, and Purina bought Merrick over a year ago, so I don't like the idea of them being near my cats food. Any pate/meat types come to mind? I'm trying to get info on lotus. Never heard of it until today, so I'm looking for advice from someone who has seen it.
Thanx

about the only pate type my cats will eat is the Rawz, turkey flavor only, thank you. mine were not very fond of Ziwi either.

 

[FakeGourmet]

Our cats just get canned Friskies - limited to Turkey & Giblets, Turkey & Cheese, Tuna & Egg and Mixed Grill. Anything else, somebody or other vomits it up. Currently working on figuring out a renal diet for one of the cats (she prefers tuna & egg over everything).

My sister had some picky eaters, so she was just getting Fancy Feast. Now that she has a semi-feral and her kitten (about 6 months old now), she's been able to switch to Friskies. Seems there's competition now which made the others willing to change their preferences.

 

[Furballsmom]

Seems there's competition now which made the others willing to change their preferences.

LOL, cats are weird

 

[Timmer]

Hi. My girl has actually had pancreatitis attacks in her life. It is very scary. I wouldn't give her 34% fat. That's too high, I think, for any cat.
My opinion.
I've had my cats on Fancy Feast with some other stuff thrown in for variety. Purina One, Nature's Instinct but they wouldn't eat the duck or rabbit. They did like Dave's ahi tuna. That's a grain free food, but it only comes in bigger cans not the small single servings.

 

[Neo_23]

Hi. My girl has actually had pancreatitis attacks in her life. It is very scary. I wouldn't give her 34% fat. That's too high, I think, for any cat.
My opinion.
I've had my cats on Fancy Feast with some other stuff thrown in for variety. Purina One, Nature's Instinct but they wouldn't eat the duck or rabbit. They did like Dave's ahi tuna. That's a grain free food, but it only comes in bigger cans not the small single servings.

Er, but all the foods you listed have much more than 34% fat.

 

[Timmer]

@ Neo, she eats the Fancy Feast classics and a few others (shredded). They come in at 22-27% fat.