Cat food recommendation for multiple cats

abbygail14

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I have 5 rescued cats(Aged 2-4) and hoping to find some recommendations for their food. Currently, I am giving them Fussie cat dry food (free feeding) and Fussie cat wet food in the evening (I split two cans among the 5 cats) but lately few cats have been vomiting the dry food and have slightly put on weight as well.

Few questions I need help with:
1. Given the number of cats, Is free feeding a good option or should I transition to scheduled feeding? One of my cats likes to eat in small portions throughout the day/night.
2. Should I transition them away from dry food to only wet food? or should I do both? Not sure if it is because of the free feeding, my cats don't seem to eat much of the wet food. I have been giving them only two cans a day and sometimes they don't finish those two cans as well.
3. Which brands of cat wet/dry good would you recommend?. I am really overwhelmed with the options that are in the market and the number of recalls that have been happening lately. Cost is not of major concern but nothing too fancy given the number of cats.

Thanks in advance.
 

mwallace056

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1. i free feed my cats but since some of your cats have gain some weight, it would be a good idea to transition to scheduled feeding to prevent any more weight gain.
2. just feed them what you can afford and what they like best, if they are willing to eat some wet food, then go for it. personally i would try to make their diet consists more or all wet food than dry food as wet food will make them feel fuller and might even make them lose some weight
 
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abbygail14

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Thank you for the prompt feedback. Any pet food brand suggestions I can try?
 
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abbygail14

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Thank you for the prompt feedback. Any pet food brand suggestions I can try?
If I were to switch the cats to completely wet food, how many cans per day do we have to typically feed each cat?
 

mwallace056

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If I were to switch the cats to completely wet food, how many cans per day do we have to typically feed each cat?
im not a expert on wet food as i don't really feed it but would depend how many calories in each can, an average cat needs 20-25 calories per pound, so if a cat is 10 pounds, he will need about 200 calories. it looks like the fussie wet food are about 48 calories each can, so if you take 200 divide by 48, you would get 4.1. so he would need about 4 cans to maintain his weight.

i should note, it looks like that every can that fussie offers on their site has tuna as the main ingredient and i would worry about feeding their wet food as the main part of their diet because mercury and there other reasons not to feed fish as the main diet. but chewy.com has their own brand called Tiny Tiger that would looks like it would be good and is affordable, it obviously not the best but still good same goes for Fancy feast classic, its grain-free and affordable.

here some links on why fish is not so great for cats
 
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abbygail14

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Thank you for making me aware of the mercury issue. It never crossed my mind. I think the big mistake I did was to just stick with one brand. After reading through the forum posts, I see now that cats need to be given some variety.
 

Tobermory

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Hi, A abbygail14 ! :welcomesign:

You’ll find lots of differing opinions here about what and how to feed. You might want to browse through the Cat Nutrition forum and read some of the posts—although it will be a bit overwhelming. :) Here’s my experience.

I’ve lived in a multicat household for more than 40 years, and until about 2012, I free fed a good quality dry food. I thought that’s what one did. But in 2012, one of my cats developed diabetes and another became fat. The third was actually thin and, like one of yours, a nibbler. I was living in Colorado at the time and started taking them to a vet who specialized in felines. She told me that I needed to stop free feeding dry and start meal feeding canned. So I did.

Max, the diabetic, lived five more years to age 20 (but also had to be on insulin). Lily, the chubby kitty, gradually lost weight until she was a healthy size. I struggled a bit to get Iris’s weight up, but everyone now is healthy.

So I’m a huge advocate of wet food, and my current vet (I live in Oregon now), is also a proponent of wet food and meal feeding.

When I feed canned now (I’ve become a raw feeder, but that’s a different topic for a different forum :)), I feed Rawz, Dr. Elsey’s or PureVita. The latter two have ingredients I’m not thrilled about, but they’re good foods with high quality protein.

Yes, the rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound, and it’s very dependent on the cat. 200 calories a day is too much for Lily, but okay for Iris and Mocha. I do weigh them every couple of weeks to make sure we’re holding steady where I want them to be.

Here’s a site that you can use to look up foods before you head to the store or shop online. I don’t necessarily agree with their reviews, but the site is invaluable for providing ingredient info and some indication of quality.
www.catfooddb.com
 
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Flybynight

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Good advice above, I only feed wet and raw. Usually one defrosted raw meal a day and the rest wet.
Wet can be left out for several hours, so do not worry if you have a grazer. Much better to graze on wet than dry food:cool2:
 

Tobermory

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And to be clear, when I say raw, I mean homemade raw with the supplements required to keep our little obligate carnivores healthy! :)
 

Flybynight

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Yes, as Tobermory says, complete raw food, either ground/mince with a completer added to give all nutrients or buy premade raw.
That is what I do, I buy premade complete raw & store in the freezer till use.
 
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abbygail14

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Great advice! Thank you all. I am going to slowly start transitioning my cats to wet food. I guess it's going to be a slightly expensive endeavor given that on an average I would need to feed anywhere between 3-5 cans per day for each cat that's roughly 15-25 cans a day for all 5 cats. Any tips on how to manage these expenses?
 

She's a witch

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Great advice! Thank you all. I am going to slowly start transitioning my cats to wet food. I guess it's going to be a slightly expensive endeavor given that on an average I would need to feed anywhere between 3-5 cans per day for each cat that's roughly 15-25 cans a day for all 5 cats. Any tips on how to manage these expenses?
Some canned food is sold in the bigger, 10oz or 12oz cans, that would probably make sense for your crew. I know Tiki Cat is (I only recommend fish less After Dark line) as well as American Journey (a bit too much carbs but at least high protein, currently on sale on Chewy). I see that Holistic select has some big cans on Amazon, although it has some weird ingredients, but still better than dry.

Preparing homemade food is also great money saving, but requires research to make sure the homemade is properly balanced.
 
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abbygail14

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Awesome! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I went ahead and ordered a sample variety of the After Dark line from Chewy. Unfortunately, Preparing homemade food is not an option for me as I am a vegan and have never dealt with meat in my entire life other than scooping out the wet food for my pets. Even serving my pets wet food took me some time to get used to :-)
 

She's a witch

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Awesome! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I went ahead and ordered a sample variety of the After Dark line from Chewy. Unfortunately, Preparing homemade food is not an option for me as I am a vegan and have never dealt with meat in my entire life other than scooping out the wet food for my pets. Even serving my pets wet food took me some time to get used to :-)
I understand, I’m vegetarian (almost vegan) and at first it was horrible for me to deal with any meat, canned included. Now I mostly feed commercial raw and it’s still painful, but I decided my cats need to get the most appropriate food for them. It’s getting easier to the point that I’ll start preparing homemade raw at some point. But the fact that it’s “getting easier” makes me sad. It’s complex topic and not an easy one for any vegan/vegetarian on many levels (emotionally, practically), so I totally understand your sentiment.
 
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abbygail14

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So, Tikicat was not well received by my picky furbabies. Ended up ordering Weruva and Tiny Tiger variety pack. Fingers crossed :-)
 

Tobermory

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So, Tikicat was not well received by my picky furbabies. Ended up ordering Weruva and Tiny Tiger variety pack. Fingers crossed :-)
Do you live near a Petco? Petco carries the Soulistic brand which is made by Weruva. Just another option to try—and it’s less expensive. :)
 
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abbygail14

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The cats seem to like two flavors from the Weruva brand, Funk in the Trunk and Lamb burger, the Tiny Tiger was liked by 3 and the remaining two did not like them. I noticed the Lamb burger has fish in it. So I guess my only option in Weruva in Funk in the Trunk.
 
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abbygail14

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Do you live near a Petco? Petco carries the Soulistic brand which is made by Weruva. Just another option to try—and it’s less expensive. :)
Yes, there is a Petco about 12 miles away. I'll go check it out.
 

Tobermory

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The cats seem to like two flavors from the Weruva brand, Funk in the Trunk and Lamb burger, the Tiny Tiger was liked by 3 and the remaining two did not like them. I noticed the Lamb burger has fish in it. So I guess my only option in Weruva in Funk in the Trunk.
Isn’t that the way?! I have three and they never all want to eat the same thing. :ohwell:

Good luck with the Soulistic!
 
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abbygail14

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Thanks!! I just realized that even the Funk in the Trunk has fish in it. I went to the Weruva site and found two other wet food varieties that do not have fish in them. My cats do not like shredded chicken. They seem to like Patte texture. The double dip seems to be closer to Funk in the Trunk texture, will give that flavor a shot.
 
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