cat diets?????

kittyluv387

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what are problems i might encounter? i feel like i hear a lot about picky cats
Sure you may get that. Some cats are dry food addicts. Scheduled feeding helps with that some though. I feel there will be pickier cats if they are free fed. If a cat only gets food a couple of times a day they'll be more enthusiastic about what's on their plate. But also it's good to keep a rotation of several different cans going because we get a lot if posts here about someone's cat not liking that 1 single food anymore.
 
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GamerCatMom

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how do treats work with diet? she doesnt get them often to begin with, but is she still able to have a little bit sometimes?
 

molly92

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Many cats are picky, but some are very good eaters and up for just about anything, so it could depend! You can start by offering a few different kinds of foods with different textures (some cats prefer pates, some cats prefer chunks and gravy, although pates tend to be lower in carbs so if your cat likes them, that's ideal) and see what your cat gravitates towards. If nothing is registering, you can mix with tasty toppers like baby food (stage 2 gerber or beechnut meat flavors), crumbled treats, Purebites treats, bonito flakes, parmesan cheese, Floriforta, etc. Either way, it's usually best to transition away from dry by feeding mostly dry and a little wet, then half and half, then more wet, then all wet over a couple of weeks.

Here is a list of more tricks for transitioning.

Treats you can definitely still give, but you also want to look up the calories and factor these calories into your daily calorie amounts.
 
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kittyluv387

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I don't really bother with manufactured cat treats anymore. But yes what's a life without treats??

Some incidental treats we might give:
-Raw egg yolk on the weekends
-A little bit of my plain steamed egg with salt
-Rotisserie chicken (way deep inside the chicken so the only seasoning is salt, we only give a little)
-Leftover pieces of cod and salmon that we buy and portion from costco.
-French fries, we don't bring home fast food often but once in a while we do and we give a small piece to the cats because 2 of them love it.
 

Furballsmom

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Some other treats you could look into would be freeze dried, Purebites is a brand, or Orijen. But, as you mentioned, just for now and then if your kitty is actually overweight and gets put on a diet :).
 
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GamerCatMom

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I talked with my partner and he's always found that wet food gives her really runny poop
is that because her body is adjusting or is it that her body just really doesn't like wet food?
 

lisahe

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I talked with my partner and he's always found that wet food gives her really runny poop
is that because her body is adjusting or is it that her body just really doesn't like wet food?
It sounds like she needs a slow transition to it, (just a little bit, in small meals) and then you might try a different brand as well.
Do you know what wet foods she was fed in the past? Sometimes, as Furballsmom Furballsmom mentions, cats' stomachs need to adjust to new foods.

In other cases, though, there's something in a food that a cat is sensitive to. One of our cats barfs if she eats foods with things like potato (very common in at food!), agar-agar, or green-lipped mussels. Pretty much anything can bother a cat's stomach so sometimes you have to sort through a lot of ingredient lists to figure out what's causing the problem.
 

molly92

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I talked with my partner and he's always found that wet food gives her really runny poop
is that because her body is adjusting or is it that her body just really doesn't like wet food?
It's probably an adjustment issue. I would do the slow transition, and also a probiotic (L. acidophilus) will usually help with that too.
 
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GamerCatMom

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Do you know what wet foods she was fed in the past? Sometimes, as Furballsmom Furballsmom mentions, cats' stomachs need to adjust to new foods.

In other cases, though, there's something in a food that a cat is sensitive to. One of our cats barfs if she eats foods with things like potato (very common in at food!), agar-agar, or green-lipped mussels. Pretty much anything can bother a cat's stomach so sometimes you have to sort through a lot of ingredient lists to figure out what's causing the problem.
I asked if he remembered what wet food and he said no, so im just gonna try a few that i know are good and go from there


It's probably an adjustment issue. I would do the slow transition, and also a probiotic (L. acidophilus) will usually help with that too.
Where would i find a probiotic like that?
 

molly92

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Most pet stores have probiotics in the health section that will all be fine. I use a human probiotic because it's the same thing but usually cheaper, you just have to get the kind that's a powder in a capsule. I use PB8 Nutrition Now in the blue bottle. It's sold in many grocery stores and vitamin shops in the US.
 
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GamerCatMom

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Most pet stores have probiotics in the health section that will all be fine. I use a human probiotic because it's the same thing but usually cheaper, you just have to get the kind that's a powder in a capsule. I use PB8 Nutrition Now in the blue bottle. It's sold in many grocery stores and vitamin shops in the US.
would you happen to know of anywhere in canada? lol
 

LTS3

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You can use any Human probiotic. Here's some info on using probiotics: Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

I don't know if rubysmama rubysmama would know of any Canadian brand of either Human or pet probiotic you could try.

Treats are fine in moderation. Stick with healthy treats such as freeze dried meat treats (PureBites is one popular brand and there are many others), freeze dried raw, raw or plain cooked meat, raw or plain cooked poultry organs, etc.
 

rubysmama

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