Consistency With Cat Foods

[duckpond]

I have read from several posters recently that they were trying new foods. Often cats seem to get diarrhea or constipation when introduced to new foods..... so i got to thinking sometimes a dangerous thing...lol

cat foods run a big range in the amount of protein, fat, carbs, fiber, and ingredients. When we feed a lot of different foods, which i do, could the problems come in if we feed a lot of foods that are vastly different in their makeup? If we stick to a variety of foods that have similar nutrient profiles is it easier on our cats?

I feed Dr. elseys dry, daily, so that's consistent. with the wet foods i feed when i just run over them in my head the majority of them have more protein than fat, lower carbs, and lower fiber. Seems these are the foods my cats like, so what we have ended up with in our rotation.

There are also a few ingredients i avoid like the plague, so those are always absent in the foods i feed.

Just curious if anyone else has thought about this, or noticed a trend in similarity in the foods you feed? Do you think fairly consistent nutritional profiles are easier on a cat, or do you feed a lot of foods with different profiles?

 

[sunflower7]

not sure....I do know all my switching has been chicken/turkey to chicken/turkey.
but is see they are all over the place with protein/fat/carb levels....

 

[maggiedemi]

I've never had a problem switching canned food around. But when I got a free sample of a new dry food in the mail and it was only enough for 2 days, my cats had really soft poop. So I think dry food probably needs to be switched over slowly. But I couldn't do that, because it was a really small sample, I didn't have enough.

 

[lalagimp]

I haven't had much gastro upset with the ladies between giving them pate, things in gravy, shreds in gravy, shreds in broth. The variety packs we usually end up trying are chicken, turkey, lamb, occasionally beef (Like tiki after dark). I take free samples of dry whenever I can get them. Then I take the dry packets and whatever they don't like from the variety packs we're sampling and take them to the pet food pantry at the Big Bad Woof in DC.
I ended up getting some packets of dehydrated food from Honest Kitchen> Those went, too. Girls did not like them.

Once I started using Dr Elseys I haven't taken them off.

When things were tight though I would go to a pet expo and get about a half a bag of samples of semi and premium dry and then mix them all together with the remainder of their current food until I could buy the next bag. Everyone was okay.

I have never been Ramen Broke. If you can't be creative, you can always sell plasma.

 

[Furballsmom]

I've been on another round of trying new wet foods, and this is very timely--you've hit on something I think is an answer! I'd been somewhat amazed that the most I'm seeing is he'll get a little bit of tummy upset where he'll eat some cat grass, but as mentioned I've been avoiding certain additives. Maybe I need to pay more attention to the carbs et al.

 

[FakeGourmet]

Yes, I've noticed that problem when my CRF cat snarfs the wrong bowl. It's funny because that was her regular food before I switched her to a CRF food. She had no diarrhea going from Iams to Renal, but did once she was on the CRF food and ate some of the Iams. There is a huge protein difference between the two foods.

 

[himawari]

No I haven't thought about this at all. But I think it's because my cat has a strong stomach, and has only ever had digestive issue once. So I've been quite fortunate. But I think it also has to do with the amount of what I feed him. When I first got him, I didn't realize I had to transition his food and never bothered to ask what the shelter was feeding him. I just fed him small portions of the new can and kibble in one day. To this day, I do that and I've never had an issue.

 

[ailish]

I would think it would depend on the cat. I switch Ailish's wet food constantly between both brands and proteins and it has never phased her. In fact, when she recently decided she would have none of any of the foods she's been eating for over a year I emergency fed her Primal freeze dried, which says to introduce slowly, and that wasn't a problem either.

When I felt that her nightly dry meal was making her vomit I tossed it thinking maybe it had gone bad or something (she was fine with it for months) and gave her something different. That resulted (maybe) in one upset and then she was fine with it. Now I switch dry over a couple days and that seems to work.

 

[FakeGourmet]

Well, it's no different from people really. If you suddenly change to eating a lot of vegetables with more oil, 20% will find that they get digestive upset.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

I find the digestive system of cats to be a very delicate dance of consistent foods. It is surprising given their instinct would be to eat mice and birds, yet when I try switching a brand of food, they will often throw up, initially. I used to swear by Blue Buffalo Sensitive Stomach dry, until one of my boys got crystals and now I have to have prescription dry. BB was the only dry food where they never spit up. They do okay on the rx and they are on Fancy Feast wet (except for my boy), and spit up is very minimal - unless I try to shake things up, lol!

 

[FakeGourmet]

I thought Blue Buffalo would be a winner. The cats all loved it. Nobody threw up. Then one cat started scratching, then another and then another. My (now CRF) cat starting licking the fur completely off her underarms. Bah. Seemed most of them inherited their mother's food allergies.

 

[maggie101]

Maggie is my only cat that will eat ANYTHING! High motabolism. The Tiki and Weruva is not enough for her so she will stay with Wellness Core. Fills her up better. My cat that was stray for 2 yrs is my pickiest eater. Only likes wellness and shredded chicken with no other meats in it so not after dark though she does like wellness turkey/duck.peaches likes to alternate

 

[sabrinah]

I've never thought about it, but my cat also doesn't get any digestive upset issues with new food. She doesn't like her foods mixed so I've never done gradual transitions and she's never had issues, whether the food be wet or dry. Raw is the only gradual thing I've ever had to do with her. Maybe it's because her food has always been switched up so much that her stomach is used to it.