Major Dietary Changes - best strategy?

[corvidae]

Hi all!
I just brought home the third member of our cat family. Unlike our two boys who were both adopted from the SPCA, Mindy was adopted directly from her previous family; her prior owners are moving to a seniors home that does not allow cats. Her first family clearly love her an enormous amount, and so I don't want to imply that any of their food choices for her were made out of not caring, but her current diet is not ideal in at least three ways.
1. Mindy is currently free-fed, and I would like to transition her to eating twice a day like our other cats do.
2. Mindy is currently eating brands of food that I would not choose for her (her dry is Meow Mix and she has a variety of wet foods that aren't the brands I prefer for my cats after the research I've done).
3. Perhaps as a result of 1 and 2, Mindy could probably stand to lose some weight.
Now, our sweet girl has already experienced some enormous changes - today she came home with us to a whole new environment (although she's in a secluded spare room with lots of hiding spots and cozy places to rest, litter, food and water, and a Feliway diffuser, so we are doing our best to mitigate that stress), and in the coming months she will be (slowly) introduced to our resident cats. I don't want to stress Mindy out more than necessary, so I know all the aspects of food transitions should be done slowly. My question is, what should we focus on first when we start adjusting her diet?
Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! My mostly uneducated guess would be to start with slowly reducing her dry while increasing her wet foods - all the same food that she is used to getting. And, maybe add a little bit of one of the wet foods you want her to be on eventually to her existing wet food - or on the side in another dish - just to see if she might prefer them to what she is currently eating. If she would, she could actually 'transition' herself away from not just the wet food she is eating, but maybe also the dry. I've seen a lot of cats get tired of the dry when they are introduced to some 'yummy' wet food (my cat is one example).

I am sure other members will come along with more ideas!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would definitely wait until she is comfortable with her new environment before making any food changes for her, except maybe slightly decreasing the amount of dry she gets, as suggested above. Otherwise, I'd continue giving her what she received before, AS she received it before. The problem will be once she is integrated into the household, your resident cats would then be able to help themselves to her food if she is still free fed. Hmmm. that IS an issue, isn't it? So, once she has run of the household, she needs to be on scheduled meals, if nothing else. I think you really should leave it up to her and how she seems to be reacting before you start in on that, but here is an article on how to transition a free fed cat to scheduled meals: https://thecatsite.com/c/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals/.

All that being said, I'm no expert on this topic. I have the pickiest cats in the world

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Just a real quick question - has she been to a vet lately? After she becomes more comfortable with you can you get her involved in more exercise to help with her weight?

My question is, what should we focus on first when we start adjusting her diet?

I think, as mentioned above, after she's relaxed a bit (try cat music - it can have amazing results ) and seems more comfortable - did you bring an article of clothing or a favorite bed or blanket from her other home? ...I personally would work on adjusting brands of food.

Until things really settle for her, she and her digestive system may appreciate having something to nibble on during the day and overnight. In other words, I would suggest to go at this aspect of her diet very gradually .

 

[minish]

Mindy just came in. Her psychology is more important now than diet,because feeding is one of the most important parts of a house cats routine. Since everything else has changed, I suggest keeping her fed exactly the same way as before. If in a couple of weeks she is settled well, I think the best course is as FeebysOwner said. Give the new food as a side dish and change the dry wet ratio bit by bit.
I think transitioning to mealtimes should be the last. Minish grew up in my home and I can still remember her panic when the open buffet was gone when she turned 1 year old. She kept protesting and looking for her food for a while

 

[corvidae]

Thanks so much for your suggestions, everyone! We are going to keep her diet the same for a little while as she gets settled - she’s already feeling much more at home than yesterday which is lovely to see.
Furballsmom - she is due for her annual physical and vaccines in April, but we could definitely take her in a little earlier to see what the vet says about her weight! She’s about 14 pounds right now, and seems like a more solidly built cat that either of our boys (who are about 10 pounds each) so it’d be helpful to know what the vet thinks her ideal weight should be.
As for your relaxation suggestion, I’ve been playing Relax My Cat on Spotify for her periodically! I’m hoping that + the Feliway + a nice safe room of her own will help her feel secure. She does indeed have some towels and blankets that came with her and we have placed them throughout the room I’m so happy she is home with us and of course the first priority is to get her all settled in and feeling safe and like part of the family. After that, we can work on the dietary transitions!

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm so glad she has you! Did her other people want to stay in touch?

 

[corvidae]

I'm so glad she has you! Did her other people want to stay in touch?

Yes! So far I’ve been giving them daily text updates (often but not always initiated by them), though I suspect updates will get less frequent as time goes on. I don’t mind at all, and it’s nice to know seeing that she’s happy here comforts them
As for food, right now I’ve been feeding her the best quality out of the wet options she came home with (which actually I think I’ll feel okay about keeping her on longer term! It’s Nutro’s perfect portion cuts in gravy, which have 8/10 ratings on CatFoodDatabase). I offered her some of the dry we feed (Dr. Elsey’s clean protein) and she ate some so I’m taking that as a good sign! She’s getting much more comfortable too which is excellent.
She doesn't like pate, which I know is common in cats but I haven’t actually dealt with before - does anyone have suggestions for a low carb cuts in gravy food with decent ingredients?

 

[ladytimedramon]

I'm in the middle of changing over Delilah's food. I'm switching her to Weruva (though looking at lower calorie options since it goes from 50 to 100 calories per can/pouch). Most of their food seems pretty "saucy" with lower carbs. I compared their food to Nutro using www.pawdiet.com Weruva came out as higher protein lower fat than Nutro. Previously she was getting Nutro, Crave, and Sheba in rotation.

Oddly enough, Delilah hates pate, but she seems to love their pates when they are labeled "hydrating puree". Those seem to be more of a pudding consistency. She hates the ones that are shredded chicken or turkey, but likes their ground and minced. I started keeping a list of flavors she likes and dislikes.

 

[Furballsmom]

I don’t mind at all, and it’s nice to know seeing that she’s happy here comforts them

Bless your heart! I eventually ended up where I'm providing photos and little updates to Poppycat's first owner on all the special holidays