Fancy Feast Addict

curliq

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My cat, Moses, is a fancy feast addict and I'm to blame. When I brought him home from the shelter 7 months ago, I had trouble getting him to eat dry food. So I 'treated' him to a can of fancy feast bc he hadn't eaten much at all those first 2 days. At the time I didn't realize that fancy feast is pretty much junk food for cats. That first treat was pretty much all it took....now he is a fancy feast addict, eating fancy feast twice a day, free-feeding a little off Fussy Cat kibble, and constantly begging for (and stealing) more food. We can't even eat dinner without him in our faces. He gets moody and acts out aggressively toward my other cat instead of playing with toys like he used to. He steals her food when it's time for their snack. And his coat has definitely lost its softness and shine. Has anyone experienced this scenario before? What is the best way to wean him off? Any suggestions on healthy brands to try?
 

IndyJones

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Is price an issue? It definitely sounds like he is being under fed tends to happen with the cheaper foods. Wellness is a good food as is perfomatrin if you have a pet value near you. Have you tried transiting the wet as you would a kibble?
 

tabbytom

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Hello curliq curliq , Moses is very much still a kitten at 7 months old. He still needs to eat quite a bit till he reaches adulthood and he'll slowly taper down on his intake of food.

It's good to see him take on canned food as they are high in moisture content. Please feed him more of the canned food each time till he is full. That is the amount he needs each time and also maybe try feeding him more often besides the kibble. Once he has enough of his fill, he won't be asking for more food as he is already contented.

Choose food that label meat as its first ingredients and no fillers and grain free.
It's difficult to tell you which brand is good as cats are individuals, we cannot force them to eat what we think it's good.

Check out this discussion and in post #4, @LTS3 has covered most of what you need to know :-

Tapioca?
 

cheeser

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Well, as I understand it, the Fancy Feast Classics are one of the healthier options from the lower cost end of the spectrum, as long as cats don't get addicted to the fish flavors (or the ones that contain fish products, like the Chicken Feast). I've also heard that Sheba has some good options.

If cost isn't an issue for you, there are lots of excellent choices. I'm afraid I'm mostly just familiar with brands that offer shredded textures, so I don't know how much help that would be to you.

But as tabbytom tabbytom said, it may just be that Moses is still very much a growing boy and simply needs more food for now.
 
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curliq

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Hello curliq curliq , Moses is very much still a kitten at 7 months old. He still needs to eat quite a bit till he reaches adulthood and he'll slowly taper down on his intake of food.

It's good to see him take on canned food as they are high in moisture content. Please feed him more of the canned food each time till he is full. That is the amount he needs each time and also maybe try feeding him more often besides the kibble. Once he has enough of his fill, he won't be asking for more food as he is already contented.

Choose food that label meat as its first ingredients and no fillers and grain free.
It's difficult to tell you which brand is good as cats are individuals, we cannot force them to eat what we think it's good.

Check out this discussion and in post #4, @LTS3 has covered most of what you need to know :-

Tapioca?
Moses is actually almost 7 years old. I adopted him as an adult.....which may explain some of his bad habits.
 

cheeser

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Moses is actually almost 7 years old. I adopted him as an adult.....which may explain some of his bad habits.
Ah, okay.

Is it possible that Moses suffers from food insecurity? Sometimes former strays want to eat all the time because food hasn't always been available to them when were hungry.
 
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curliq

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Yes purrrhaps
 

tabbytom

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Yea, agree with cheeser cheeser on that. Just feed Moses more and maybe if you can, give him a scheduled feed. Once he knows that he has enough to eat and not worried there's no more, he should be satisfied and not ask for food :wink:
 

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I wouldn't call Fancy Feast junk food for cats, at least the Classic line. My cat eats it regularly, his coat is super soft and shiny. Though, I keep him on the non fish flavors except for the occasional treat and only the Classics. There are better foods out there (my cat can't handle a lot of brands) but there is nothing wrong with feeding Fancy Feast. I feed mine 2 of the 3 oz cans a day normally.
 

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Fancy Feast classic varieties aren't junk food at all, they're actually pretty good. FF is addictive, so I prefer to save it for older or sick cats, just because of the price ;). But if it doesn't bother you, he should be OK just eating FF.

Try to stick to the Classic line, and try to keep fish varieties to a minimum. A can of the "grilled" kind now and then won't hurt but it's just not as good as the Classics. If he eats 2 cans of FF and a little kibble every day, that should be enough. It might be a good idea to get him in for a checkup with bloodwork, see if he's showing early signs of hyperthyroid or something like that.

ETA: you could try Purina Pro Plan True Nature---it's a step up from Fancy Feast but is still affordable, and since it's still made by Purina it probably tastes fairly similar. My cats like it anyway :D.
 
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thegreystalker

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I second the recommendation regarding True Nature. The "classic" recipes are a couple of steps up from Fancy Feast, at a reasonable price. I also like Sheba, which is similar to Fancy Feast but seems to please my cat more than Fancy Feast.
 

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I totally agree with the above . Tuff has been doing fine on FFClassic. I just picked up a few cans of the True Nature and he ate with no problem. Will add that to his diet.
 

DeannaF

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Fancy Feast classic varieties aren't junk food at all, they're actually pretty good. FF is addictive, so I prefer to save it for older or sick cats, just because of the price ;). But if it doesn't bother you, he should be OK just eating FF.

Try to stick to the Classic line, and try to keep fish varieties to a minimum. A can of the "grilled" kind now and then won't hurt but it's just not as good as the Classics. If he eats 2 cans of FF and a little kibble every day, that should be enough. It might be a good idea to get him in for a checkup with bloodwork, see if he's showing early signs of hyperthyroid or something like that.

ETA: you could try Purina Pro Plan True Nature---it's a step up from Fancy Feast but is still affordable, and since it's still made by Purina it probably tastes fairly similar. My cats like it anyway :D.
Ditto! My (almost) 9 month really loves FF gravy. He really doesn't like to actually eat the chunk pieces though..he just likes the actual gravy (I mix about 2 tablespoons of water with it) but recently I've been splitting the can (because he would waste so much of the actual food) and crushihg up the chunks really fine and he tends to actually eat more of the actual food this way. He does eat dry as well (trying to get him to eat more wet)...
 

mewcatmew

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If you are that concerned, you can try mixing it with a healthier food and try to ween him mostly off of it.
 

MeganLLB

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My new cat really likes the gravy lovers, which I now mix together with TikiCat. I'm slowly trying to get her away from FF. She will eat the TikiCat if it has FF in it, so maybe that's a step up? I haven't tried it without FF though. I have also found other "gravy" brands than she will eat, so I guess I can just stick wo those.

But maybe try mixing it with something else, to introduce a new flavor or texture?
 

happilyretired

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That's definitely a plus if your cat will eat anything mixed with FF. My FF addicted cats would NOT eat anything but the pure FF. No matter how little of another food I added, they rejected it.

FF may not be junk food, but it's definitely 'kitty crack.' On the positive side, my first cat lived to almost 20, and never had any health issues until that final year--and all she would eat is FF.
 

danteshuman

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When I feed my guys fancy feast, I now feed them Fancy feast broths (in those little foil envelopes/pouches.) I would also eliminate any fancy feast flavors that include chicken meal ....... ground up beaks/feathers/feet/skin is not meat! *I do have to break up the chunks of meat with a fork from the pouches, so they don't just eat the gravy.
 

kashmir64

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Mine are also addicted to FF. I had finally reduced the number of cans (they got 4 cans a day) down to two, and wouldn't you know, Samai is in another growth spurt. She is boney now. So I have to bring back up the amount until she's done with this one.

If she gets any bigger, she will give the cougar a run for it's money. She's not even 4 months and is the size of a 5.5 - 6 month old.
 
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