- Joined
- Oct 17, 2014
- Messages
- 8
- Purraise
- 2
Hi everyone,
I have a cat who's 1 year and 3 months old. She's decent in size, but petite, fairly active and very vocal. She's a very picky eater. Here's our story:
I went on an internship over the summer, leaving my cat with some friends with instructions of how much to feed her daily. Needless to say, they overfed her and I returned to an overweight, slightly lazier kitty with bad eating habits (would not eat if the bowl wasn't entirely full, then would devour the entire thing in one sitting and ask for more because it was empty).
When I left, she was 10 months old, and knowing I would be gone and wanted to have say in the food change, I switched her over from Iams kitten food to Hills Ideal Balance Chicken and Rice formula a little earlier than recommended. When she ran out in august, one of the family members chose what she thought to be a better food to put her on, Pura Vita by Nutrisource. Unfortunately, I am unable to get that food up at school, so had to change her back to a different food. I tried the new PURE ocean, which she wouldn't touch. She would leave every kibble in the bowl and eat the Pura Vita instead. I went and bought the Ideal Balance Slim & Healthy and she ate it no problem and loved it. She also had no issues transitioning to it, unlike her change in kitten food as a 4 month old, where she had loose stools and didn't feel good even though I transitioned super slowly.
I had her on Slim & Healthy for two months and saw a great improvement in her weight and attitude. she became more active and happy and in general back to her normal self before the summer. Her coat also got very glossy and soft. I cut down the amount of food she was getting on a daily basis from a full bowl all the time to a "scoop" morning and night, to now one scoop a day, which is the recommended feeding amount per instructions on the bag for a cat her size.
Unfortunately, I went to go pick up more when she was running low to find they were out of stock and only had the original Chicken and Rice, so I had no other choice but to put her back on that since there are no other food stores in the area that carry it and the biggest thing was I knew she would eat it, unlike my second choices of food at the store. I transitioned to this with no problems either.
I know there will be a lot of people who will tell me to put her on a wet food, but she is very well hydrated and drinks often. In fact, she has two water sources available for her because she plays hard and sometimes drinks more than one bowl a day. I also know I have changed her food too often, but am finally happy with the results I am getting.
Anyways, I would like to know what people think of the Ideal Balance food, specifically the Slim & healthy and the Chicken & rice. Which one of the two is better? is there another that would be better?
I am open to suggestions on other food, but please be considerate of a college student's budget who is trying her best to give her cat the best food she can afford. I did a lot of research to finally put her on this food, as I feel like although it is not the most high end of the bunch, it was the best food for the price range.
Thanks!
I have a cat who's 1 year and 3 months old. She's decent in size, but petite, fairly active and very vocal. She's a very picky eater. Here's our story:
I went on an internship over the summer, leaving my cat with some friends with instructions of how much to feed her daily. Needless to say, they overfed her and I returned to an overweight, slightly lazier kitty with bad eating habits (would not eat if the bowl wasn't entirely full, then would devour the entire thing in one sitting and ask for more because it was empty).
When I left, she was 10 months old, and knowing I would be gone and wanted to have say in the food change, I switched her over from Iams kitten food to Hills Ideal Balance Chicken and Rice formula a little earlier than recommended. When she ran out in august, one of the family members chose what she thought to be a better food to put her on, Pura Vita by Nutrisource. Unfortunately, I am unable to get that food up at school, so had to change her back to a different food. I tried the new PURE ocean, which she wouldn't touch. She would leave every kibble in the bowl and eat the Pura Vita instead. I went and bought the Ideal Balance Slim & Healthy and she ate it no problem and loved it. She also had no issues transitioning to it, unlike her change in kitten food as a 4 month old, where she had loose stools and didn't feel good even though I transitioned super slowly.
I had her on Slim & Healthy for two months and saw a great improvement in her weight and attitude. she became more active and happy and in general back to her normal self before the summer. Her coat also got very glossy and soft. I cut down the amount of food she was getting on a daily basis from a full bowl all the time to a "scoop" morning and night, to now one scoop a day, which is the recommended feeding amount per instructions on the bag for a cat her size.
Unfortunately, I went to go pick up more when she was running low to find they were out of stock and only had the original Chicken and Rice, so I had no other choice but to put her back on that since there are no other food stores in the area that carry it and the biggest thing was I knew she would eat it, unlike my second choices of food at the store. I transitioned to this with no problems either.
I know there will be a lot of people who will tell me to put her on a wet food, but she is very well hydrated and drinks often. In fact, she has two water sources available for her because she plays hard and sometimes drinks more than one bowl a day. I also know I have changed her food too often, but am finally happy with the results I am getting.
Anyways, I would like to know what people think of the Ideal Balance food, specifically the Slim & healthy and the Chicken & rice. Which one of the two is better? is there another that would be better?
I am open to suggestions on other food, but please be considerate of a college student's budget who is trying her best to give her cat the best food she can afford. I did a lot of research to finally put her on this food, as I feel like although it is not the most high end of the bunch, it was the best food for the price range.
Thanks!