Canned Variety Good Or Bad

[mrw5641]

Hi there. I am giving my cat Purina pro plan wet food simply because there are 20 different flavors for him to eat....My question is... Is it best to pick 5 flavors and give him 5 flavors or I can give him 20 different flavors?

 

[mrw5641]

Edit... Will giving him 20 different flavors upset his tummy?

 

[duckpond]

Edit... Will giving him 20 different flavors upset his tummy?

I buy lots of different brands, flavors, and proteins. I normally feed a different food each meal. My 4 tend to get tired of the same food very often, so i mix it up. I don't have any problem with my guys feeding 20, 30, 40 different flavors, no upset tummy. lol my husband says my cat food cabinet looks like i could open a pet store.

 

[LTS3]

It's fine to rotate as many varieties / flavors as you want You can even rotate a few different brands. Some cats like variety in the diet.

 

[Neo_23]

It’s probably not bad to feed that much variety if your cats can handle it, but where it might be a bad idea is if your cat ever develops an intolerance or allergy. You will have a hell of a time trying to figure out what caused it.

I’m a bit jealous though, I can’t even find 2 brands that my cat can tolerate without getting diarrhea.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - if you don't mind my two cents, as duckpond and LTS3 said, to take the variety thought up a notch to even include different brands as well is not a bad thing. The way I look at it is that a "menu" of rotating foods hopefully gives their systems a chance to better handle any bad additives and from becoming overwhelmed from any one gluten, starch or protein recipe. Thanks for coming here and being so caring about your fur-buddy!

 

[duckpond]

Hi - if you don't mind my two cents, as duckpond and LTS3 said, to take the variety thought up a notch to even include different brands as well is not a bad thing. The way I look at it is that a "menu" of rotating foods hopefully gives their systems a chance to better handle any bad additives and from becoming overwhelmed from any one gluten, starch or protein recipe. Thanks for coming here and being so caring about your fur-buddy!

another reason i rotate so much is in case of a food being discontinued. I have a female cat that will fixate on one food and only want that if i let her. She didn't want to eat anything but Evo dry for years, its gone now and i was so worried. Luckily she took to Dr. Elseys without problem, and she will now eat some of the Orijen chicken. My other female cat loves the nutro minced chicken and the turkey, i am afraid it is going away as well, its hard to get her to eat another wet food. luckily i feed wet and dry both at these times, because they will eat one or the other until they decide they like something else

 

[Furballsmom]

duckpond has a VERY good point!

 

[ailish]

I rotate flavors and brands all the time. Generally Ailish eats a can of one thing and then a can of something else. Big cans, little cans, whatever. It doesn't cause a problem, but then she isn't allergic or a particularly picky eater. She actually rebels if she gets something too many times in a row, like when we ate Ziwi Venison for three months when we were trying to figure out if a food allergy was causing her itchies. I didn't want her to be attached to one food and I wanted to make sure that if something turned up to be a problem in one food the variety would mitigate any damage. Plus, it's fun for her owner to check out and use different foods. I am lucky in that I live very near a neighborhood pet store that specializes in food. I can get a lot of things that aren't in the chain stores.

 

[lisahe]

We also feed a lot of different foods of various brands. As long as your cat's digestive system can handle it (most can, a few cannot), it can be a good idea to keep cats interested and have something to fall back on when/if recipes change and your cat decides not to like a food! (Recipes change surprisingly frequently so it's a good idea to check ingredients every now and then.)