Help With Kitty's Food.

[SBHC]

Hi everyone, I'm back with Ivy, she's due to get spayed soon, at 4 months and 3.5 lbs.

The issues I've been having have been her, the senior and the dogs food.
She eats the senior's food that I've had to mix her food into to help give her some more calories, the senior eats out of her bowl that's all kitten food with frozen dried toppers and she loves to take a snack out of the dog bowl. I do my best to prevent the dog food eating since they lack taurine.

She is currently eating a mix of Nulo chicken and cod with Merrick backcountry.
The senior's is Whole Hearted Senior, I've given her the same formula for kittens but prefer's the senior's.

Tomorrow I plan to pick up a bag of Solid Gold kitten since it's 50% off but this game of buying and throwing away food is getting tiring. She does eat more wet food than dry, but still has an appetite for dry. We did have a bout with the wet food too, I went through many brands because she was on and off with wet when giving so many, but we stopped and stayed with the Merrick Purrfect Bistro and Healthy Kitten from BB.

Is it the same with dry food?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! She's darling!
A lot of cats like their kibble and don't have too many instances of reluctance to eat it. Having said that, every cat is different

 

[duckpond]

like Furballsmom i find most cats will eat kibble, they dont seem to be as fussy with it as with wet for some reason. You may just want to buy small bags of different brands, until you find one she really likes. But if you have the other cat a different food out, and dog food as well chances are she will always snack out of the others bowls. They seem to like a bit of this and that i would be a bit concerned if she eats more dog food than cat food.

She is a cute little girl!

 

[SBHC]

like Furballsmom i find most cats will eat kibble, they dont seem to be as fussy with it as with wet for some reason. You may just want to buy small bags of different brands, until you find one she really likes. But if you have the other cat a different food out, and dog food as well chances are she will always snack out of the others bowls. They seem to like a bit of this and that i would be a bit concerned if she eats more dog food than cat food.

She is a cute little girl!

I've been doing that for a while though, she seemed to love Nulo, then she hated it, then she loved Merrick's, and now she seems to hate it again.
I was told it could be a "social" thing where she prefers to eat out of everyone else's bowl as a way to socialize, which is why I let the senior eat out of her bowl, but it hasn't helped. To be honest my pet store has suggested I feed her mice if she's this fussy.

 

[Furballsmom]

I think that's the first time I've ever heard of someone suggesting to "go natural" and feed mice...
Are you going to? Can you source frozen mice? Oddly enough, I have a funny feeling my boy (he's 13) wouldn't go for it, but then again...

 

[SBHC]

I think that's the first time I've ever heard of someone suggesting to "go natural" and feed mice...
Are you going to? Can you source frozen mice? Oddly enough, I have a funny feeling my boy (he's 13) wouldn't go for it, but then again...

I have tried giving her live mice but she only sees them as a toy, not food.
I haven't tried frozen yet though.

 

[mikameek]

While it might be a long shot, what kind of textures are you feeding her? Have you tried to see if the wet food is a texture thing rather than a food thing? I know my girl wont touch anything shredded or morsels. She loves things she can lick up easy so thats very soft pates and mousse.

TikiCat has a mousse line that my girl likes a lot. Nutro has a soft pate food thats made for seniors but my girl really likes that too. On the real off shoot, Royal Canin also makes a mother and babycat wet food thats called a mousse. It's more like an extra soft pate (smoother than Nutro).

I can sympathize with not being able to figure out the wet food situation though. I was pulling my hair out trying to find brands my girl would eat consistently. She's not one for the same ol' same ol' every day. I ended up switching her to raw food because she enjoys that and eats more of it than any other types of food I've seen her on.

 

[SBHC]

While it might be a long shot, what kind of textures are you feeding her? Have you tried to see if the wet food is a texture thing rather than a food thing? I know my girl wont touch anything shredded or morsels. She loves things she can lick up easy so thats very soft pates and mousse.

TikiCat has a mousse line that my girl likes a lot. Nutro has a soft pate food thats made for seniors but my girl really likes that too. On the real off shoot, Royal Canin also makes a mother and babycat wet food thats called a mousse. It's more like an extra soft pate (smoother than Nutro).

I can sympathize with not being able to figure out the wet food situation though. I was pulling my hair out trying to find brands my girl would eat consistently. She's not one for the same ol' same ol' every day. I ended up switching her to raw food because she enjoys that and eats more of it than any other types of food I've seen her on.

She loves pate, better fresh out of the can, but she will eat it cold out of the fridge too, sometimes I will have to add water. Funny thing is she tried the Tikki Cat mousse, hated it, but loves the pate with water.
She will take raw chicken as a treat.

The issue lies more with the dry food, she wants both, but she won't eat her own dry food. She will always take wet over dry, but she will constantly eat out of dry senior food bowl and the dog's bowl, never her own. Even the senior prefer's her food over his own.

 

[Furballsmom]

never her own. Even the senior prefer's her food over his own.

How is the Solid Gold going over with her?

 

[Elizabethriki]

Just throwing this out there; if you are shopping at Petco or have a Petco near you, you can return food if your cat doesn’t like it even if it’s opened. I was able to take my kittens dry food back twice before I found 1 he liked. Cute cat btw!

 

[cheesycats]

To eliminate eating dog food put your dog on a feeding schedule. It’s really easy with dogs. My dog gets fed two separate meals a day and if he doesn’t eat the food within 15 mins (he usually does he’s a lab lol) then it gets put up until next feeding. That completely gets rid of that issue. Dogs shouldn’t be free fed anyway.
Second, with the dry food can you put them all on the same food? Senior foods aren’t really necessary. Most are just higher carb, lower protein, and higher fiber to keep older lazy cats from getting fat. However a good all life stages food that the older cat can eat and the kitten can eat would be ideal. My cats love nature’s variety raw boost. When I was raising two kittens with two middle aged adults they all ate that with no issues. You can also rotate between different all life stage foods that both of your cats enjoy.

 

[SBHC]

To eliminate eating dog food put your dog on a feeding schedule. It’s really easy with dogs. My dog gets fed two separate meals a day and if he doesn’t eat the food within 15 mins (he usually does he’s a lab lol) then it gets put up until next feeding. That completely gets rid of that issue. Dogs shouldn’t be free fed anyway.
Second, with the dry food can you put them all on the same food? Senior foods aren’t really necessary. Most are just higher carb, lower protein, and higher fiber to keep older lazy cats from getting fat. However a good all life stages food that the older cat can eat and the kitten can eat would be ideal. My cats love nature’s variety raw boost. When I was raising two kittens with two middle aged adults they all ate that with no issues. You can also rotate between different all life stage foods that both of your cats enjoy.

That would be the easy option, but the dogs are not mine, they are my room mate's and she does not want to schedule them, she'd rather let them free feed.
I have been mixing it in, but I was concerned that the high calorie and protein would be bad for the senior. Isn't too much protein bad for a cat's kidneys and liver?
He was on the Hairball control from Royal Canin, but I suggested a grain free option would be better for him.

 

[SBHC]

Just throwing this out there; if you are shopping at Petco or have a Petco near you, you can return food if your cat doesn’t like it even if it’s opened. I was able to take my kittens dry food back twice before I found 1 he liked. Cute cat btw!

I actually work there, I've returned about 4 bags now to them and even my coworkers feel my pain, I donate the food to the rescue groups we work with. And thank you, she's cute but a devil.

 

[SBHC]

How is the Solid Gold going over with her?

I've given her some from last night but she won't even try it. The senior loves it, I'm thinking of giving her a week to see if she'll grow to it, if not I may have to put her on the Royal Canin kitten, she loved the Mom and baby cat formula but I was concerned with their ingredients. My coworkers suggested either Pro Plan Kitten, Max Cat kitten or Royal Canin, usually that is what their picky kittens eat when rescued, but out of these which do you guys recommend?

 

[Furballsmom]

I don't have recommendations on those foods but what about trying fortiflora sprinkled over the food, or a favorite treat crumbled on the food?

 

[cheesycats]

It’s a myth high protein affects the kidneys. Unless your senior is already having kidney problems then that’s different, but a healthy cat needs as much protein as possible from meat. Especially seniors as they tend to start withering away in old age.

 

[SBHC]

I don't have recommendations on those foods but what about trying fortiflora sprinkled over the food, or a favorite treat crumbled on the food?

I noticed with the Merrick's she loved the Frozen dried pieces but still ate the kibble, so I got some of Intinct's and it helped a bit but not much, I will try the fortiflora though, thanks!

 

[SBHC]

It’s a myth high protein affects the kidneys. Unless your senior is already having kidney problems then that’s different, but a healthy cat needs as much protein as possible from meat. Especially seniors as they tend to start withering away in old age.

Thank you for clearing it out for me, I'm glad to not have to worry about that. If that's the case I may have them both on an All Life Stages food, such as Taste of the wild, Applaws, or Instinct Raw Boost. I tried the actually frozen food and neither of them like it. Even though she's about 4 months would it be fine for her to eat ALS?

 

[cheesycats]

Yes, but just be sure she has as much food as she wants until about 9months - 1 year then start controlling her portions like you do with your senior. If you can.