Dry Cat Food

[tyleete]

Hello and good day all!
I'd like to give a rundown quick of why I'm posting the question, then the details.
I have 11 cats.  Not one wasn't rescued, so when I go into details, please do not answer with something like....Well if you don't have the money to take care of them all properly, then maybe you shouldn't have so many and get rid of some.  I say this, because in the past I'd posted to some City data forum thing, and those know-it-nots were usually quite rude with myself and others in that fashion.  Not that I'm thinking this place is, hoping sincerely that it is not, just asking...Please don't say such things even if you're thinking it.  Every one of my cats are with me because they were thrown out and no one wanted them and were in bad conditions/shape.
        That being said!  I have 3 cats that I know are over 10.  One has a very easily upset stomach, and 2 cats (one being older) and the other somewhere around 5 have regular wet stool.  And smelly.  Like you wouldn't believe!  I used to feed the cheapest kind of dry cat food, because I just had so many to take care of.  Then after a few of them getting sick often enough, I started feeding them better food.  I've even tried wet food.  People at that other forum said even the cheapest wet food, was better than the most expensive dry food.  At .50 a can for the cheap stuff, I couldn't possibly afford more than that, since they each went through a can a day.  I think it was Friskies if I'm not mistaken.  But most of my cats didn't do too good on that.  Stinky stool for all, and more vomiting.  So I went back to dry.  I did try dry in one feeding, wet at the other, but they started to revolt against the dry and wouldn't eat their dry at all.  So now I'm feeding them Nature's Recipe.  It's really the most I can afford with this many fuzzies.  I mean, they go through an 11lb bag of food a week and another 1-2 things of cat litter.  I spend about $55 per week on them. 
     The problem?  As stated in the beginning, I have at least one cat that gets sick several times a week still, and the other two's stool smells SO bad it should be near criminal.  And it's almost always wet.  I've tried several different types of cat food, and so far this is supposed to be the best of what I've attempted in the last 2yrs or so.  I read all the articles about dry food, but some is confusing.  Does anyone have any good success with either stinky little monsters or with easily upset stomachs-food?  I'm worried also about their future health, not just right away.  I don't want them eating something that's going to give them kidney failure or else.  Any thoughts and suggestions would be most helpful and appreciated.  The last two foods I tried before the Nature's Recipe were...Purina Naturals,  and then Iams Healthy Naturals Chicken Recipe
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[sivyaleah]

Hi and welcome.  Hopefully, our community will be kinder, however, please be aware that because many of us are devoted cat lovers - and many have expert experiences with them, that you may find some comments that you would prefer not to read.  It's our duty to answer back with as much accurate information that we can impart to others.  

It sounds like you're doing your best to provide a good life for the cats you have. However, could use help in figuring out exactly how to manage so many of them, with so many different feeding requirements.

First, have you been to a vet with the ones that continue to have bad stools?  This would be the first course of action. It's entirely possible that they are passing some kind of parasite back and forth to each other.  This would need to be taken care of medically.  

As for the food, indeed feeding wet over dry is preferable, however, unfortunately many of the lower priced foods do sometimes cause bowel distress in some cats if they have sensitivities to various ingredients.  Since cost is such an issue, in your case I actually might think about feeding them a better quality of wet food, but perhaps slightly less often, and bump up the quality of the kibble you feed.  Yes, many of us would recommend no kibble but in many circumstances, it is the only solution.  I know many who have tried doing wet food and the cats just won't accept it, so what can you do? You have to feed them so you feed them what they will eat.  

If you can afford Fancy Feast Classics (the only one which is grain free and does not have other questionable contents) I'd switch that out for the Friskies.  It is also low cost although might be more than what you're paying now.  I feed this nearly daily to my two, after years of trying other more expensive things that neither of them were crazy about.  I finally gave up and just do that along with a high quality kibble to tide them over when we aren't there.  We've never had any problems with stools smelling at all.

FYI Iams is not well thought of around this site.  Your mileage might vary as they say.  I'm hoping others who can offer more information than I am will join into this conversation.  

 

[tyleete]

All but the newest member has seen a vet. And I've even paid to have stool tested. Fun that was. Nothing going on there. The vet spoke of possible special vet food. But I have enough trouble at the current rate. Can't imagine the cost of their specialty food.
I'm not having any trouble or problems with dealing with my mini-circus. Just concerns about the best dry food I can get. I grew up with a cattery. Learned how to help momma persians & himalayans give birth by age 12 (& fore anyone thinks it's natural, what help? Some even needed to separate sacs and take film off their faces) and lots of fun kitty things. First job was a great little pet store, worked at animal shelter & volunteer at a feral cat rescue. Experience with cats isn't a problem. Just my lack of nutrition knowledge.
I've heard Blue is the best, but looking at their ingredients there seems just as much things as what I use now. I want what's best for my babies. Just without going into the poor house.

 

[mykittos]

Try Purina ONE sensitive systems formula
Protein 34%
Fat 13%
Fiber 4%
Moisture 12%
Linoleic Acid 2.3%
Calcium 1.0%
Phosphorus .9%
Zinc 150 mg
Selenium. 35 mg
Vitamin A 14000 IU
Vitamin E 450 IU
Taurine. 15%
Omega 6 Fatty Acid 2.5%
Purinaone.com or purina.com for more product details.
Package claims 0% fillers, vet recommended, 36 g protein per cup.

Personally I have "experienced" (hahahahah, or should that be, "suffereded") less feces odor since feeding this brand/formula and less vomiting from my "purger" It's more expensive (about $21 on sale for 16 lb bag at Petsmart) it may be more filling (without all the fillers) and your cats may eat less so, well worth it! Package says to feed 2/3 cup per day to 10-14 lb adult cat. What do you think? Will you give it a try? My cats love it and have consumed less. Of course, they get 1/4 can Fancy Feast Classic daily as well. I really have noticed less odor.

 

[mykittos]

ps I have tried Blue brand and my cats did not care for it and picked around leaving all those little blueberry balls or whatever they're called. My dog did as well with the Blue dogfood. Compare the "Purina One Sensitive Systems" to the higher priced Blue and Science Diet brands and you'll see.

 

[haleyds]

M mykittos is right, purina one cat food is a great and affordable option. I feed my cat this and she always has great poos with little to no smell, I also use their grain free wet but it's a little more expensive than you'd like to spend at 99¢ a can.
A brand I will consider if I ever have trouble out of Purina one is Pure Balance, it's a great price and is available at Walmart, it has really good ingredients too. Basically the rule about food is that real meat should be the first ingredient, and the less fillers the better.

 

[Willowy]

Is there a Tractor Supply Co store in your area? (Lol, I feel like I'm recommending them a lot lately :tongue2. If so, their store brand, 4Health, has a lot of good affordable options, dry and canned.

 

[crazy4strays]

I second the recommendation for Tractor Supply. I feed my fur babies their store brand 4Health grain free canned food. It's the best balance between good quality and good price that I've found.

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• crazy4strays
• Feb 9, 2016

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• crazy4strays
• Feb 22, 2016

It is substantially less expensive than Famcy Feast but is grain free, by product free, and free of vegetable fillers. (Except potato starch as a thickener in gravy varieties) Two varieties are also carrageenan free. It's just $0.69 per 5.5 oz can.

 

[missmimz]

If the cats over 10 are having the smelly stool you should have them checked by a vet to rule out a health issue, especially hyperthyroidism. I wouldn't feed dry food to your senior cats, try and get them on as much wet food as possible. 

 

[lisahe]

 
If the cats over 10 are having the smelly stool you should have them checked by a vet to rule out a health issue, especially hyperthyroidism. I wouldn't feed dry food to your senior cats, try and get them on as much wet food as possible. 

I second this about having senior cats checked if they have smelly stool: our previous cat's litter box got especially smelly in her later years and she had some serious digestive problems, most likely IBD, as well as borderline hyperthyroidism.

 

[tyleete]

The stinky ones are about (were strays, so doc & I guess-timate) 5. Both have seen the vet, both clean bill of health. One the doc said 'incredibly' healthy and free of anything. aside from old scars & all his fang teeth broken at the bottom.
As I said, I may not be able to afford the best, but I do believe I'm giving each a better life than what they had.
I'm going to check out the different brands listed, & thank everyone for their input. I'm definitely interested in the last canned wet food. Perhaps I could swing .70 a can. Is than size a total of how much wet food they get per day, right? Not each feeding? If it's per day I might be able to do it. But am going to look into the ingredients for all listed. Lots of Purina, so I'm guessing it's not so badly thought of? So many choices, thanks again! And if anyone else has success stories with their food, the more the merrier! Thank you!

 

[haleyds]

Purina itself isn't so great, but the Purina One line is new and "improved" so to speak (:

 

[1 bruce 1]

Hey, you've only got us beat by two cats!  We currently have 9.  We purposely obtained zero. 

Two are ex barn cats, one showed up at our house, one was a bottle raised baby (need I say more about that AMAZING bonding time?!

), four (yes, FOUR) were foster failures, and one we plucked off the side of the road when she was all of 5 weeks old, and half starved and demanding from the get go (she's a tortie...need I say more? LOL).  They're a full time job! 

When I was feeding kibble, I was using Natural Balance's LID.  I believe the cat formulas come in venison and duck.  It's not the cheapest, but certainly affordable.  At one time I was feeding this to 6 cats; one of them would get diarrhea at the drop of a hat but seemed to do very well on this food (I fed more of the duck than I did the venison.  He had never had duck as a protein source before, so I think this was a +1 for his situation.)

I would second hyperthyroidism testing, especially on the oldies, if you can swing it.  Depending on your vet, your history as a long term client vs. a new-ish client, some vets are willing to work with you (a bit) on the price if you bring in more than x animals for routine testing.  It never hurts to ask.  Some also give rescue discounts...again, never hurts to ask.

If health problems are ruled out, another good option would be a good probiotic if you can get it down them.  Even digestive enzymes for a month or two probably wouldn't be a bad choice. 

As far as the canned goes--as long as it's not their entire diet, I wouldn't be afraid to forgo the canned all together and buy cheap meat in bulk (or on sale if freezer space is an issue.)  Some butchers and farmers will happily sell "unusables" that they would otherwise throw out (scraps, trimmings, etc.)  Some places will even give it away for free.  Another option would be to try this, and mix it in with some canned.  It might still be cheaper than using canned only and would bulk it out and make it last a little more.  (Also, some butchers will grind anything you get to order, so if dental problems are an issue you can have the stuff ground.)  If the meat is boneless, it can be cooked, which most cats who aren't used to plain meat seem to do better with vs. serving it raw.

If you can get your hands on some stock type bones, or soup bones (thinking chicken backs or anything involving a marrow bone, like a leg, etc) you can boil it down, let it simmer for a day or two and get some delicious, nutritious bone broth (for you AND the cats with tummy troubles.)  This has done absolute wonders to help so many of my dogs and cats (then and now) with any kind of digestive upset.  Very good for humans, too, and is a staple for curing any GERD or leaky gut problem.  (For the cats and dogs, I skip seasonings and just make it straight, no salt, etc).   Another plus is the meat will flake off and would be a great snack for the cats, provided they tolerate it well.

(Again, definitely not a stand alone diet, but it might provide some extra filler in the form of species appropriate food and be cheap to obtain!)

Hope this helps.  Cheers!