Fish-based canned vs meat-based kibble

[prairiepanda]

Once again I'm thinking of changing PJ's diet. I never switched her over to canned food before because she's so picky about it, but I'm getting tired of always buying different flavors of kibble every time she gets bored of the taste. PJ normally eats kibble in the morning and home-made food in the evening(cooked ground turkey, egg yolks, TC Feline, krill oil, glucosamine, & chondroitin, and meat baby food for flavor), and I alternate between 3 flavors of kibble and 2 flavors of home-made food each day to keep her interested as long as possible, but she always eventually gets tired of every flavor.

So I thought that if I can find a few brands of canned food that she will actually eat consistently, I would have many more different flavor choices and save money since I keep accumulating half-eaten bags of kibble. I tried literally every brand I could get my hands on in town, and every "series" within each brand, including some not very good brands, but only found 2 that PJ would eat: BFF and the fish flavors of fancy feast. She'll happily eat a 50/50 mix of either of these with my home-made food(I want to keep the home-made stuff in there to help with her arthritis, since she won't touch the supplements the vet sells, but she won't eat it by itself anymore and I've run out of baby food flavors)

So the problem is that the 2 kinds of canned food PJ likes are both fish-based! I've heard so much about why fish-based food isn't good for cats, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea to make the switch. Would it be better to stick with high quality kibble, or would the canned be better despite being mostly fish?

 

[vball91]

Neither is a good option in my book for feeding 50% of the total diet. The kibble is going to be too high in carbs and does not provide the moisture that cats need. And feeding that much fish on a daily basis could lead to various issues. Can you feed the home-made food at both meals and use the canned fish occasionally as a topper to change up the flavor?

 

[jane11]

Our old vet, who we really thought highly of, told us that cats really don't live long enough for fish in the diet to be of great concern. You can take that for what it's worth.

If you have a Tractor Supply store near you their "4 Health" canned cat food is pretty good  and most of our cats will eat it without problems.

 

[prairiepanda]

Neither is a good option in my book for feeding 50% of the total diet. The kibble is going to be too high in carbs and does not provide the moisture that cats need. And feeding that much fish on a daily basis could lead to various issues. Can you feed the home-made food at both meals and use the canned fish occasionally as a topper to change up the flavor?

I've experimented with different ways to get her more interested in the home-made stuff again, with little success. It really only works with a gravy type food, and not for very long. The 50/50 mix is the only one that works consistently. I haven't been able to find any places online with reasonable shipping rates that will sell individual cans for me to try brands that I can't get locally. I wish there was something else she would eat...

 
Our old vet, who we really thought highly of, told us that cats really don't live long enough for fish in the diet to be of great concern. You can take that for what it's worth.

If you have a Tractor Supply store near you their "4 Health" canned cat food is pretty good  and most of our cats will eat it without problems.

Tractor Supply seems to only be in the US, unfortunately. 

I'm kind of stuck here. I know neither kibble nor fish-based canned food is "best" for PJ, but she needs to eat something. If I give her the best of the best and she only eats a few bites a day it won't do her any good at all. She won't even look at raw or freeze dried food, and I've tried a couple different kinds. She's been so picky ever since I took over her care. My parents used to feed her Cat Chow and she ate loads and never complained about having the same thing every day. I started buying her food 4 years ago, and she was good with Orijen for a couple years before she started doing her flavor boredom cycle. I wonder if she's losing her sense of taste/smell due to age(16)?

 

[vball91]

I absolutely agree that it is better to have her eat consistently, even if the foods aren't ideal. Especially at her age! So I will revise my answer and say I would feed the fish based canned over the kibble. I think the moisture is more important, especially for kidney function.

 

[prairiepanda]

I absolutely agree that it is better to have her eat consistently, even if the foods aren't ideal. Especially at her age! So I will revise my answer and say I would feed the fish based canned over the kibble. I think the moisture is more important, especially for kidney function.

Thank you! I will do the 50/50 with the canned and home made food then. I just wanted to make sure it was a move in the right direction at least. I'll keep my eye out for new foods to try and if I come across anything better that she will eat I'll definitely make the switch.