Giving Different Brands Of Canned Food?

[ChaoticEva]

Hello everyone!

Sorry for being such a pain with all my questions lately. I was wondering, is it ok to feed my cat different brands of canned cat food? They're all grain free (Wellness CORE, GO! and Instinct) and once he's done with one can, I switch brands. I feel like I'm not explaining myself very well... Haha! For example : Monday all day and Tuesday morning he'll have the Wellness CORE and then Tuesday afternoon/evening he'd get Instinct.

Do you think that is ok for him? Or should he eat the same thing for a few days and then I can switch to another brand for another couple of days. Not sure how it works.

Any advice is very appreciated!

 

[laura mae]

Mix it up as you want with canned foods. I like doing that for variety and so the cats don't get too attached to a particular brand.

 

[cheeser]

Mix it up as you want with canned foods. I like doing that for variety and so the cats don't get too attached to a particular brand.

That can really come in handy in case there's ever a recall, a company discontinues a particular flavor or an entire product line, changes the formula, etc. Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way! Poor Oscar got so sick when the only flavor of cat food he liked was discontinued, and we didn't have any alternatives lined up.

 

[ChaoticEva]

Good to know! I've been doing this for over a year now, but never really asked if it was ok. I just assume it was. And at the same time, he can't get used to one protein. I find when he's only eating the same protein (for a while he was eating a lot of beef, fish and chicken), it made him lick himself more. So I discontinued beef, fish and chicken all together!
Do you have any food you could recommend? It can't have any fish, beef or chicken. Right now he's on the Wellness CORE Turkey and Duck, GO! Duck and the Instinct Rabbit. I'm thinking of getting the Instinct Lamb as well, but I find it a little too high in fat.

 

[LotsOfFur]

Food/brand rotation when feeding canned, unless there is a medical reason not to, is great for all of the above mentioned reasons. My crew doesn't like to eat the same thing 2 meals in a row so rotation is almost mandatory at my house .

 

[laura mae]

That can really come in handy in case there's ever a recall, a company discontinues a particular flavor or an entire product line, changes the formula, etc. Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way! Poor Oscar got so sick when the only flavor of cat food he liked was discontinued, and we didn't have any alternatives lined up.

That's exactly my reason too! With various recalls since the melamin disaster----I never want my cats to be focused on one brand.

 

[laura mae]

Good to know! I've been doing this for over a year now, but never really asked if it was ok. I just assume it was. And at the same time, he can't get used to one protein. I find when he's only eating the same protein (for a while he was eating a lot of beef, fish and chicken), it made him lick himself more. So I discontinued beef, fish and chicken all together!
Do you have any food you could recommend? It can't have any fish, beef or chicken. Right now he's on the Wellness CORE Turkey and Duck, GO! Duck and the Instinct Rabbit. I'm thinking of getting the Instinct Lamb as well, but I find it a little too high in fat.

Instinct Lamb is a popular one with my crew. You could split it up if you don't mind refrigerating a can (since you mentioned the fat content). Then when you feed it at the next meal, just heat it for 15-20 seconds in the microwave.

There are two New Zealand brands Ziwi Peak and Feline Natural that have novel proteins like brushtail (which they call possum but is different than N. American opossum). They have lamb and use green lipped mussel. Addiction is a 3rd kind I believe also from NZ...maybe that's the one with the brushtail. Honestly I can't get past the "squee" factor on that, but if I had a cat that couldn't have any of the usual proteins, I'd try it.

 

[cheeser]

[...] And at the same time, he can't get used to one protein. I find when he's only eating the same protein (for a while he was eating a lot of beef, fish and chicken), it made him lick himself more. So I discontinued beef, fish and chicken all together!
Do you have any food you could recommend? It can't have any fish, beef or chicken. Right now he's on the Wellness CORE Turkey and Duck, GO! Duck and the Instinct Rabbit. I'm thinking of getting the Instinct Lamb as well, but I find it a little too high in fat.

That's an excellent idea re: feeding your cat more than one protein. Variety is the spice of life, or something like that.

I had lots of good intentions re: choosing those mystical and magical foods that would be best for our cats, with all of the qualities we considered 'good,' and none of the ones we considered 'bad.' So I made a spreadsheet to help me identify which products contained what. Oh, well. It sounded look in theory, anyway. But in the spirit of 'the perfect is the enemy of the good,' the spreadsheet did help me weigh the pros and cons of each brand and/or flavors, and make some acceptable trade-offs.

Best of luck to you in your quest for the Holy Grail of cat foods!

 

[ChaoticEva]

Instinct Lamb is a popular one with my crew. You could split it up if you don't mind refrigerating a can (since you mentioned the fat content). Then when you feed it at the next meal, just heat it for 15-20 seconds in the microwave.

There are two New Zealand brands Ziwi Peak and Feline Natural that have novel proteins like brushtail (which they call possum but is different than N. American opossum). They have lamb and use green lipped mussel. Addiction is a 3rd kind I believe also from NZ...maybe that's the one with the brushtail. Honestly I can't get past the "squee" factor on that, but if I had a cat that couldn't have any of the usual proteins, I'd try it.

I've never seen Ziwi Peak near where I live. I'll have to ask my boss if his other stores have any. I'm also interested in the Koha LID. Has anyone tried that before? Even the Nature's Logic looks pretty interesting!
I just want to give him lots of variety so that he doesn't get too used to the same protein. Like right now, two of the foods he has, has duck in it. I'm for sure going to add some Instinct Lamb and maybe even the Venison.

 

[Cerraigh]

I tried Wellness Core but it didn't pass the taste test here. Still think it's a good brand though. I'm currently feeding Nutro wet (rotating chicken, duck and salmon/tuna) and a bit of Nutro kibble (chicken) and everyone is doing well on it.

 

[mizzely]

Wild Calling makes some other unique proteins too, including alligator!

 

[ChaoticEva]

Wild Calling makes some other unique proteins too, including alligator!

Not a huge fan of Wild Calling. Fat to Protein ratio is too high. I do give it to my other cat because she isn't on a diet (in fact, she could benefit gaining a little), but for my fat 3 legged cat that is on a diet, I'd rather go with something that is high in protein, but a little lower in fat.

 

[kittyluv387]

Pride by Instinct Rabbit
I and Love and You Turkey
Natures Variety Limited Ingredient Rabbit

 

[ChaoticEva]

Pride by Instinct Rabbit
I and Love and You Turkey
Natures Variety Limited Ingredient Rabbit

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm already using the Instinct, which I love! Though, I've never seen Pride or I and Love and You where I live. I'd have to do some research.

 

[IndyJones]

I rotate Indy's canned all the time about the only thing she doesn't like is fancy feast or anything else that's a grocery store brand.

It's funny though since she was eating hills and no name when I adopted her. But I do remember the agency saying her foster had trouble getting her to eat dry food.

 

[kittyluv387]

I think you would get better luck online. I get all my canned foods from chewy and amazon.

 

[IndyJones]

I think you would get better luck online. I get all my canned foods from chewy and amazon.

Problem with the websites is they only ship to the states so us in Canada and those over seas are out of luck. Plus a lot of them don't allow mix and match of flavors. Kinda defeteats the purpose of rotation.

 

[joe kleon]

For wet food, I rotate Weruva, Lotus, Instinct, Purrfect Bistro and Merrick pouches. For dry food, I rotate Pure Vita and Purrfect Bistro Healthy Weight Recipe.

 

[ChaoticEva]

Problem with the websites is they only ship to the states so us in Canada and those over seas are out of luck. Plus a lot of them don't allow mix and match of flavors. Kinda defeteats the purpose of rotation.

Very true! If I did buy from a US store that does ship to Canada, the shipping cost would be insane. Not to mention that with the exchange rate, I'd probably end up paying a lot more for cans.

 

[ChaoticEva]

For wet food, I rotate Weruva, Lotus, Instinct, Purrfect Bistro and Merrick pouches. For dry food, I rotate Pure Vita and Purrfect Bistro Healthy Weight Recipe.

I used to feed Merrick, unfortunately, pretty much all of their recipes have either fish or chicken. And since they sold out to Purina, I find that the product went down hill. I have some cans that come in half full or the consistency is all wrong and my cats won't eat it.
As for dry food, I already have my supper awesome list!
I rotate between Acana, Orijen, Wholesome Blend, Fromm and ProSeries.