Kitten Food Preference

[sawa]

My kitten is around 8 months old, he is kind of a picky eater. When we just got him we were just feeding him chicken, I honestly thought that's all I could feed him until I saw all the other options. I think I caused him to get a food allergy towards chicken, because he will never ever eat it. As well as turkey, I think he kind of associates it with the chicken or I'm not too sure but he does not like it. I tried including whitefish, he doesn't mind it but beef he absolutely ADORES it, it's all he will eat until it's done. There's never some he leaves behind. I don't want to do what I did with the chicken, so what else should I feed him?

Also, to any Canadians out there, I'm currently feeding him Performatrin but he's getting tired of it, and I need a change. Any other brand suggestions?

 

[abyeb]

I don’t live in Canada, so I’m not familiar with all the brands there, but there are some basic guidelines to follow that I always recommend. Cats are obligate carnivores, so meat should always be the first ingredient. A grain-free diet is also beneficial, as explained in this article: Grain-free Cat Food – What Does It Mean?

I also like to recommend feeding something that’s low in starchy vegetables. Potato-free is best because some cats don’t tolerate potatoes well. Carrageenan is another ingredient I recommend avoiding because it can have inflammatory effects.

Here’s some articles that give more information about choosing a food:

How To Choose The Right Food For Your Cat

Choosing The Right Food For Your Cat - Part 2

 

[LTS3]

These might be helpful:

Modestly Priced Canned Cat Food In Canada
Canadian cat food
Switching to all wet diet - how to budget in Canada?
What's The Best Wet Cat Food Brand For A Fussy Eater

I believe Neo_23 lives in Canada as well

 

[Neo_23]

I don’t think your kitten has an allergy, he’s probably just getting tired of foods easily, that’s normal for cats. I would pick a variety of different flavours and brands and rotate. You just have to experiment. Performatrin is okay but it has carrageenan so I personally don’t feed it. I feed Natures Variety but it’s a bit on the expensive side.

By the way you don’t have to stick to “kitten” labelled food, you can also feed all life stages. Just grab a bunch of different grain free brands next time you’re at the store that have lots of meat in the first 3 ingredients and experiment. If he likes it then add it to the rotation.

Make sure to not make too many food changes too fast though because it can cause tummy upset. Introduce foods slowly but once hes used to them you can throw them in your rotation without worrying about slow transitions.

Edit: I’m assuming you’re feeding wet food. I wouldn’t rotate too much with dry because it’s harder on the stomach. If you’re feeding both wet and dry then just keep one dry that he likes and rotate different flavours of wet.

 

[sawa]

I don’t think your kitten has an allergy, he’s probably just getting tired of foods easily, that’s normal for cats. I would pick a variety of different flavours and brands and rotate. You just have to experiment. Performatrin is okay but it has carrageenan so I personally don’t feed it. I feed Natures Variety but it’s a bit on the expensive side.

By the way you don’t have to stick to “kitten” labelled food, you can also feed all life stages. Just grab a bunch of different grain free brands next time you’re at the store that have lots of meat in the first 3 ingredients and experiment. If he likes it then add it to the rotation.

Make sure to not make too many food changes too fast though because it can cause tummy upset. Introduce foods slowly but once hes used to them you can throw them in your rotation without worrying about slow transitions.

Edit: I’m assuming you’re feeding wet food. I wouldn’t rotate too much with dry because it’s harder on the stomach. If you’re feeding both wet and dry then just keep one dry that he likes and rotate different flavours of wet.

I'm fine with spending more on quality food! Interesting, I did my research and even looked into the ingredients and didn't even notice that there was carrageenan in Performatrin... Thank you so much.

 

[Neo_23]

I don't know whereabouts in Canada you are but I find that the store Pet Food n More has the best prices on Nature's Variety. Petvalu stores tend to jack up prices on NV for some reason. Petsmart will also match prices if you show them a recent receipt and actually Petsmart had a really good deal on 5.5 oz NV cans this past week - buy 10 get 2 free. If your cat likes shreds, Weruva is another brand that he might like.

Firstmate is a BC brand that I think is pretty good quality. The only negative about it is it's packed with carbs unfortunately (I think they put too many peas in it, so don't feed if your cat is sensitive), but if your cat likes it it wouldn't be bad to add to the rotation.

 

[duckpond]

My cats get bored with the same food all the time. except my one girl, she picks one food, and thats all she will eat, no matter what, she only will eat the one food for years sometimes.

The others i do rotate the wet food between Tiki cat, Weruva, some against the grain, some fussie cat premiums, and the new american journey that is sold through Chewy. also the nutro minced chicken, and the Nulo minced flavors. this seems to be their favs right now i also feed Dr. Elseys dry, chicken. They do all like that.

 

[Neo_23]

The others i do rotate the wet food between Tiki cat, Weruva, some against the grain, some fussie cat premiums, and the new american journey that is sold through Chewy. also the nutro minced chicken, and the Nulo minced flavors. this seems to be their favs right now i also feed Dr. Elseys dry, chicken. They do all like that.

Most of these brands except for Weruva and Nutro aren’t easily available in most parts of Canada

 

[prairiepanda]

Most of these brands except for Weruva and Nutro aren’t easily available in most parts of Canada

I've seen Tiki Cat and Fussie Cat at Global Pet Foods and Homes Alive, and Nulo at PetSmart. Global Pet Foods in most places is a pretty small shop, but they can special order all sorts of things if you want to try out hard-to-find brands. I've seen them all over western Canada; not sure about out east. Homes Alive I think only has locations in Alberta, but they do ship all over Canada.

If you want a wide variety of flavors and textures, Pride by Instinct can be found at Petland and Pet Valu. The original Instinct lineup also offers a wide variety of proteins and can be found at most pet stores in Canada; if your cat loves beef then I'd suggest trying venison or lamb.

If you've been feeding Performatrin then you must be shopping at Pet Valu, right? Aside from Pride and Instinct, they also carry Merrick, which is mostly chicken/fish but offers a variety of textures, Wild Calling if you want to try some unusual proteins such as alligator, and Nutro which has already been mentioned. Fancy Feast pates are also pretty good, and very strongly flavored so they tend to be popular with finicky eaters, although you can get Fancy Feast much cheaper at Walmart rather than buying it at Pet Valu.

 

[Neo_23]

I've seen Tiki Cat and Fussie Cat at Global Pet Foods and Homes Alive, and Nulo at PetSmart. Global Pet Foods in most places is a pretty small shop, but they can special order all sorts of things if you want to try out hard-to-find brands. I've seen them all over western Canada; not sure about out east. Homes Alive I think only has locations in Alberta, but they do ship all over Canada.

If you want a wide variety of flavors and textures, Pride by Instinct can be found at Petland and Pet Valu. The original Instinct lineup also offers a wide variety of proteins and can be found at most pet stores in Canada; if your cat loves beef then I'd suggest trying venison or lamb.

If you've been feeding Performatrin then you must be shopping at Pet Valu, right? Aside from Pride and Instinct, they also carry Merrick, which is mostly chicken/fish but offers a variety of textures, Wild Calling if you want to try some unusual proteins such as alligator, and Nutro which has already been mentioned. Fancy Feast pates are also pretty good, and very strongly flavored so they tend to be popular with finicky eaters, although you can get Fancy Feast much cheaper at Walmart rather than buying it at Pet Valu.

I think it will depend on where you are. We don’t have the two first stores you mentioned on the west coast. I have seen tiki cat randomly here and there but it doesn’t seem to be in steady supply.