Feeding shredded as a whole meal

AnnieLu

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Hi,

I have a ragdoll cat about one year old. He really doesn't like moving and always sleeping. Stay at the same place all day. I feel like he's getting weight and hope to control his weight.
I usually thought shredded canned food can only be toppings but It has higher protein, lower fat and lower calories. Can I feed shredded canned food as his meal?
 

tabbytom

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Can I feed shredded canned food as his meal?
Yes you can. Feeding canned food is a good way for weight management. Canned food (wet food) are full of proteins and nutrients and cats needs a certain amount of calories each day. If your kitty is a strictly indoor cat, he needs roughly 200-250 calories a day and canned food keeps them hydrated. Dry food is full of carbs.

Canned food meat texture comes in different forms. Some are chunky, some pate and some are shredded. As with cats, some like chunky pieces and some in pate form and some in shredded form.
 

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If the food is labeled as a complete food you can. Some of them are labeled as toppers or supplemental feeding or meal supplement, which usually means they are missing some nutritional item like a vitamin to be considered complete. There are quiet a few out there that look very similar but based on nutrition either are or are not complete and of course it is usually in tiny print.
 

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Hi,

I have a ragdoll cat about one year old. He really doesn't like moving and always sleeping. Stay at the same place all day. I feel like he's getting weight and hope to control his weight.
Has the cat been to the vet lately? Cats do like to sleep but they also do move and play and such. A cat who doesn't move from one spot all day is cause for concern.


I usually thought shredded canned food can only be toppings but It has higher protein, lower fat and lower calories. Can I feed shredded canned food as his meal?
Depends. Some brands of canned food are complete diets while others are only treats / supplements. Read the teeny tiny AAFCO statement on the label.

Some good complete diet brands of textured foods to feed are Weruva, Soulistic, Tiki Cat, and Wellness Complete Health.
 
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AnnieLu

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Has the cat been to the vet lately? Cats do like to sleep but they also do move and play and such. A cat who doesn't move from one spot all day is cause for concern.




Depends. Some brands of canned food are complete diets while others are only treats / supplements. Read the teeny tiny AAFCO statement on the label.

Some good complete diet brands of textured foods to feed are Weruva, Soulistic, Tiki Cat, and Wellness Complete Health.
Does it mean a different texture food like shredded or gravy can be entry if the company mark as a complete meal? In that case, are those textured food better than pate as they include much lower fat amount and much higher protein?
 

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Pate is generally preferred since it's basically all meat with all the necessary stuff in it. Textured food (shreds, slices, etc) are in gravy / sauce / broth and there's usually more liquid than actual food.

If the food is labeled as a complete diet, then it's fine to feed to a cat daily.

If it's labeled as a supplement / complement / treat, then use it as a topper or treat. If you accidentally feed a treat type food as meal (it happens. Your mind is elsewhere and you just grab the wrong can), no big deal. Your cat will not be harmed by one treat meal.
 
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AnnieLu

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Pate is generally preferred since it's basically all meat with all the necessary stuff in it. Textured food (shreds, slices, etc) are in gravy / sauce / broth and there's usually more liquid than actual food.

If the food is labeled as a complete diet, then it's fine to feed to a cat daily.

If it's labeled as a supplement / complement / treat, then use it as a topper or treat. If you accidentally feed a treat type food as meal (it happens. Your mind is elsewhere and you just grab the wrong can), no big deal. Your cat will not be harmed by one treat meal.
All the canned food I have are late. Do textured food do better in controlling weight? If not, I don’t think it’s necessary to buy textured food.
 

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Pate is fine a preferred. It has lesser fat and carbs, as the gravy foods are more fattening and usually contain higher carb level. I am unsure what exactly you mean by "textured", foods other than pate? If your cat likes pate stick with that, this is a good thing!

Also has he been to the vet? A 1 year old just laying around sleeping all day is literally alarming. They should be active and kitten-like.
 

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Textured food is fine as an occasional meal. They tend to be higher in carbs because of the thickeners needed for the gravy or sauce. Which is not a problem unless your cat is diabetic and needs a low carb diet.

For weight control, just feed your cat the appropriate number of calories daily. It's generally recommended to feed roughly 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily.
 

lisahe

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Also has he been to the vet? A 1 year old just laying around sleeping all day is literally alarming. They should be active and kitten-like.
This is what I immediately thought, too. It sounds alarming to me as well.

Also, on shredded foods. Though what's been mentioned about pates over gravy foods is generally true -- that gravy foods are higher in carbs than pates -- it's really important to read ingredients. Some shreds (like, say, Tiki Cat or certain Weruva foods) are very low in carbs but others (including some Weruva shreds!) are relatively high in carbs.

The key is to avoid feeding lots of carby (and fattening) things like grains, potatoes, peas, and lots of goopy tapioca gravies. Pates like Fancy Feast Classics are actually pretty good because they're made of animal-based ingredients rather than vegetable matter.
 
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AnnieLu

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Pate is fine a preferred. It has lesser fat and carbs, as the gravy foods are more fattening and usually contain higher carb level. I am unsure what exactly you mean by "textured", foods other than pate? If your cat likes pate stick with that, this is a good thing!

Also has he been to the vet? A 1 year old just laying around sleeping all day is literally alarming. They should be active and kitten-like.
I’m cosidering shredded canned food.
I’m going to take him to vet recently. I did’t think of taking him to vet before reading posts as he always doesn’t like moving(also before one year old)
 
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