How Many Brands Per Week Do You Feed?

[sunflower7]

I am feeding 3-4 brands canned food weekly right now ( nulo, earthborn, fromm and health extension) and 2 brands mixed dry food.
and hope it's not too much? I do want my cats to have variety. I have read it's very good for them. and they seem ok with it. do you think that is too many?
I will add that they are mainly turkey and chicken. the Nulo has some tuna in it and one of the Eb cans has some liver. so 4 main "meats"..... again is that ok? too much? too little?

Thanks

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!
In my opinion you're doing great with the variety - as you mentioned, it's good for them on several counts due to limiting exposure to bad additives and possible protein allergens, plus when any of the manufacturers pull their 'slick thing' and change their formula/recipe, you have a good backup plan of other foods that the cats like.
Granted, I realize that it can make it more challenging if there is an allergy that occurs and an elimination diet has to be put in place, but on the other hand I think variety makes this easier to avoid in the first place.
At least, that's my fervent hope, since I'm doing just about what you're doing

 

[duckpond]

i have 7 to 10 brands i rotate through. dont always have them all in the pantry at the same time, but i do keep 4 or 5 going at once.

 

[sunflower7]

i have 7 to 10 brands i rotate through. dont always have them all in the pantry at the same time, but i do keep 4 or 5 going at once.

ok, cool and your cats are healthy and ok with this right?

After all my research I like brand rotation, not just one brand and rotate within that brand, say chicken to turkey.
My cats are getting older and I really want to keep them healthy and happy!

 

[duckpond]

ok, cool and your cats are healthy and ok with this right?

After all my research I like brand rotation, not just one brand and rotate within that brand, say chicken to turkey.
My cats are getting older and I really want to keep them healthy and happy!

They are in great health, just sometimes picky little stinkers...lol i do like offering different brands, in case one company has a problem.

 

[sunflower7]

Hi! Welcome!
In my opinion you're doing great with the variety - as you mentioned, it's good for them on several counts due to limiting exposure to bad additives and possible protein allergens, plus when any of the manufacturers pull their 'slick thing' and change their formula/recipe, you have a good backup plan of other foods that the cats like.
Granted, I realize that it can make it more challenging if there is an allergy that occurs and an elimination diet has to be put in place, but on the other hand I think variety makes this easier to avoid in the first place.
At least, that's my fervent hope, since I'm doing just about what you're doing

Thanks!
I also just read an article ( somewhere) that many people are calling sensitivities allergies when they are truly not allergies. I think one of my cats has a sensitivity to something ( used to throw up often) but he hasn't thrown up in about 6 months now, so no clue!

 

[maggie101]

i have 7 to 10 brands i rotate through. dont always have them all in the pantry at the same time, but i do keep 4 or 5 going at once.

What brands do you use besides Weruva and Tiki? I want to try soulistic

 

[Neo_23]

I think feeding different brands and proteins is great if your kitty can handle it. I had a cat with a very sensitive stomach that couldn't handle changes so I always introduce new foods slowly, but if your cat does well on it then I think it's good to keep them on different brands. I feed lots of different proteins and brands (mix of canned and raw food) -- Instinct, Radcat, Ziwipeak -- used to feed Northwest Naturals but switched to Weruva because my cat had high phosphorous levels unfortunately, but NN is a better brand than Weruva (the only reason I use Weruva is because it is high in protein and low in phosphorous).

I also feed about 5 different proteins (chicken, turkey, venison, rabbit, pork). Variety is good and rotating brands is especially good because no single food is perfectly nutritionally balanced for all cats.

 

[Neo_23]

Here's a helpful article on the topic.

 

[duckpond]

What brands do you use besides Weruva and Tiki? I want to try soulistic

Those two quite a bit, especially tiki after dark.

right now they are liking the american journey from chewy, all of the minced poultry flavors.

i feed a few of the super premium foods from Fussie cat, so far they like all of those.

I feed a few foods from Against the grain, they really like the chicken and cheese, the chicken pumpkin, and the tuna and mango tango.

Earthborn catalina catch and monterey medley, or the new ones in the pouch, they like those too, for fishes. the only other fish i will feed is the against the grain, or weruva, and Tiki. I try not to feed a lot of fish, but when i do its one of these.

I have tried the almo nature complete chicken and cheese, they liked that, right now we are using the pouch almo la cucina chicken and apple, they like it too.

Merrick backcountry in the pouches, they like the chicken and rabbit, but they are a bit high in carbs to feed often for me.

Nulo, the minced flavors only

Nutro, the minced chicken and sliced turkey.

Rawz they like the turkey flavor only.

Fancy feast, they do like the classics, one of the few pate they will eat.

I have used Soulistic, but they dont seem to like it that well, so its not a staple in my rotation, weruva is not much more, if any, and they like it better, and i can order from chewy. we don't have a petco near us.

Im always picking up new thing to try when i find them, but these are my staples right now, many others they dont seem to like, i have tried.

And Dr. Elseys chicken for dry. Occasional Farmina dry for a single meal, or snack.

 

[ailish]

About 5 in the average week. Right now I am rotating between about 9 brands. 10 if Wild Calling gets themselves together.

Instinct
Rawz
Frommers
Weruva
Purely Fancy Feast
Fussie Cat (wet + dry in the automatic feeder for a midnight snack)
Tiki Cat
ZiwiPeak
Nutro

 

[LTS3]

Variety is great Besides rotating brands, try rotating proteins too. Chicken and turkey are the most common proteins besides fish but sometimes cats develop an intolerance to them. Include other proteins like beef and duck and even novel proteins like rabbit and venison. Brands with novel proteins such as Koha and Hounds and Gatos are pricey and typically sold only at independent pet stores. A few cans every now and then is doable for many people.

 

[maggie101]

So what would happen if food is changed too suddenly? My cat was on one brand same food for 2 years. I changed to something(numerous kinds) totally different. She seems fine.

 

[Neo_23]

So what would happen if food is changed too suddenly? My cat was on one brand same food for 2 years. I changed to something(numerous kinds) totally different. She seems fine.

Depends on the cat. Some can handle sudden food changes, some can't even handle food changes when it's slow. I always go slow just to be safe.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

I have been alternating between Friskies and Fancy Feast (pate formulas), and prescription kibble. I originally was giving the Friskies to my feral, but it turns out my indoor babies like it!

 

[ailish]

When I change brands but the protein is the same, I just change. She's used to different foods, so how different can different brands of turkey be? When I give her a protein that she hasn't had for awhile or never, I mix a can of new with a can of old. If that doesn't cause a problem the next can is all new. Never had a problem with this, but Ailish is not picky or sensitive that I am aware of. I do a similar mixing whenever I change dry food in the automatic feeder. I wait 'til the old stuff gets very low in the hopper, pour in some new and mix it, then pour the rest of the new on top of the mix.
I will say that when I had a suspicion that a certain dry food was causing a problem (she was throwing up undigested recognizable pieces of it HOURS after she ate it) I tossed it and put a new kind in. She did barf her first snack of the new stuff a couple hours after she ate it but then went on to eat 2 lbs of it without incident. That was probably caused by the abrupt change. That whole episode was weird in that she ate the old for months with no problem but then started vomiting it, undigested, long after she had eaten it and sometimes after having had a wet meal on top of it. It was like she suddenly couldn't digest it or something. It was definitely the food, because the problem has gone away.

 

[maggie101]

Here's a helpful article on the topic.

Thanks! That was very helpful.

 

[jade14]

Our rotation usually includes Nature's Domain, Fancy Feast, Sheba, Science Diet, & sometimes just random cans I pick up at Petsmart/Petco, independent pet stores, or the odd can of 4Health from Tractor's Supply. He does get a very small amount of T/D dry food at night before bed.

 

[Neo_23]

Our rotation usually includes Nature's Domain, Fancy Feast, Sheba, Science Diet, & sometimes just random cans I pick up at Petsmart/Petco, independent pet stores, or the odd can of 4Health from Tractor's Supply. He does get a very small amount of T/D dry food at night before bed.

Your boy is so beautiful. I love meezers.

 

[maggie101]

My cats have just finished the after dark variety pack from tiki. Loved it! Different can every day. For some strange reason my cat Coco does not like it. Next weruva first 2 meals then share a can of fancy feast thier 3rd meal. First time I openned the chicken quail egg my cat Peaches went strait for the egg!