My cat likes junk wet food

[teeveecat]

T teeveecat if I had to guess why one of my cats gets soft stool from Instinct and not H&G, it's probably a fruit or veggie they add to it.

When you fed your cat Nature's Variety, did you gradually wean the cat off of the other food or did you switch immediately to Nature's Variety? Isn't it possible that the fruits and veggies increase the fiber content of the Nature's Variety to 3%. If you're feeding your cat a food with a much lower fiber content like Hound and Gatos, then the difference could cause softer stools at first.

Before I found Nature's Variety, I tried Weruva's Paw Lickin' Chicken which is a very good brand. My cat loved it but she would lick her hind leg until it was bald (probably a chicken allergy). She also became very constipated while I fed her Weruva and she would have pass a stool once every 5 to 7 days! It took me a while but I discovered the reason. One, the food was low in fiber and two, a large can of Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken is only 84 calories. She had also lost a bit of weight while she was on it. Once I switched to Nature's Variety, she eventually had regular bowel movements again.

 

[denice]

I have found that the whole deal with fiber varies from cat to cat.  Some kitties do well with a little fiber others don't.  I have a kitty that is prone to constipation and he actually does better with as little fiber as possible.

 

[teeveecat]

I'm probably going to start a new thread for this, but can anyone recommend a brand that's natural and produces some of the more novel proteins like rabbit or venison? My cat didn't really care for Ziwipeak and the last time I looked, they were still using carrageenan as an additive. She also didn't seem to like much of the Addiction line. She would eat most of the first third of their rabbit formula when the can was first opened, but would turn away when fed from the refrigerated portion even after letting it sit for about 10 minutes. Many of the Ziwipeak and Addiction formulas contain potato's and she left all of them over. I would revisit those brands and look at Wild Calling if someone said they had success with those brands, even though I have my concerns about those that use Evangers as a canning facility. One thing that's important is that the nutrient levels need to approximate Nature's Variety so it won't be much of a change on the digestive system when changing canned foods every few days. Preferably, any other brand should have a fiber content that's close to the NV amount of 3%.

All my cat eats is Nature's Variety Instinct canned rabbit. This has gone on for several years. If I give her their lamb, she'll eat it, but not with the gusto she eats the NV rabbit. I also think she may be allergic to lamb as she often develops small scab like granulomas when she eats lamb. That's why I've stopped the lamb. Some cats love the venison, but she turns away from it. I also only purchase the 5.5 oz cans of NV rabbit. The food in the 3 oz. cans seems lighter in color, and she also doesn't find the food in the smaller can as palatable as the larger one.

 

[raintyger]

Nature's Logic is similar to Nature's Variety. Also, Wysong brands make a few alternative proteins. Hound and Gatos has a few alternative proteins. I remember last year they said they were going to produce kangaroo, but haven't heard about this since.

FYI, 3% fiber in a canned food is very high. Most canned foods are around 1%-1.5%. It is controversial whether or not we should be giving cats a lot of fiber, as their natural diet of hunted mouse doesn't have a whole lot of fiber. A lot of cats with megacolon and chronic constipation actually do better on low fiber diets.

 

[alistair]

T teeveecat Even when I offer my cat Sunny a small amount of Instinct it makes his stool soft. I switch back and forth from Instinct to H&G to freeze dried raw everyday with my cat Alistair and his stools are always consistently the same.

The same problem you had with Werva, I had with Tiki Cat chicken. Alistair would go a full 5 days without taking a dump and once a day is normal for him. Tiki also caused severe itching with him and he started having asthma attacks as well. It all stopped when I cut chicken out of his diet except for the Orijen dry food I give him, which is only an 1/8 a cup a day.

I had my cat Sunny (the one with soft stool problems and gingivitis) tested for Bartonella and the results came back Friday a strong positive [emoji]128513[/emoji] to make matters worse the "busy" vet had not even called his prescription of antibiotics in yet as of today (Sunday).

The Bartonella could be responsible for his sensitive stomach.

 

[luv2cats]

Junk food: my girls LOVED Dominick's (Safeway) brand Priority - did I say they LOVED it.  Now that Dominick's has closed it is nowhere to be found ... poor kitties.  Every once in awhile I would get the salmon and they would inhale it.  I considered that food their McDonalds Big Mac.  I buy a variety of canned foods Wellness, Trader Joe's (.69 a can), Wild Calling, and Nature Valley's Homestyle. What they like one week they won't eat the next week.  They will not eat any food stored in the fridge unless the weather is hot, then they like the cold food.  Both are indoor cats.  I split a 5.5 oz cat between the two twice a day.

 

[mrsfpmister]

Thank you everyone for the advice and the brand recommendation! I now have some brands to research and see what's best for my budget, and of course, what Mister will eat willingly [emoji]128514[/emoji]
I've already noticed that he quickly gets tired of similar flavors in a row (like 2 days of seafood) so I am careful to rotate flavors like seafood to chicken to turkey, etc. Though I've tried lamb and duck in the past and have gotten a firm NO on those flavors [emoji]128530[/emoji] and we all no that when the boss says no, then that's done hahaha!
As for dry food, he honestly eats maybe 10 pieces a day (between feedings while I'm at school), I mostly just offer about 1/8 a day at this point (so I don't dry it out and waste it) and a 1 can daily (2X feeding) of the big can (according to can it's about 220-230 depending on flavor), so I don't worry about over feeding/weight issues.

 

[raintyger]

You can freeze cat food if you need to switch it out faster than he can finish the can. You have to remember to thaw it, though. Sometimes it would take a little more than a day for cat food to completely thaw for me.

 

[teeveecat]

Thank you everyone for the advice and the brand recommendation! I now have some brands to research and see what's best for my budget, and of course, what Mister will eat willingly [emoji]128514[/emoji]I've already noticed that he quickly gets tired of similar flavors in a row (like 2 days of seafood)

Try the Nature's Variety Instinct canned rabbit. I prefer the large 5.5 oz. cans because the food in the 3 oz. cans looks lighter and my cat doesn't seem to like it as much as the large cans. Please reply here or send me a PM with the result. That's almost all my cat has eaten now for about 4 years or more. If you can, buy it from Petco because they frequently restock (especially rabbit)) and usually have the latest expiration dates on the shelves. As of this writing, I think the latest expiration date that's been shipped to the stores is May 13, 2016. Since they have stated they no longer import rabbit from China and now obtain their rabbit protein from France, you want to ensure that you get the most recent shipment. They told me that the change to rabbit protein from France occurred a few months ago..

On another note, Petsmart has announced they have added the Nature's Variety Instinct and Prairie lines to their stores:

http://www.noodls.com/view/DC382718FD8CFC72B3F96AAFEA369742ED25F61B?3577xxx1402669678

http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/136994/petsmart-adds-natures-variety-to-its-kitty


I find Petco to have the best prices when ordering in bulk online, as long as they issue a good coupon code with free shipping. Without a coupon code, Chewy.com has decent prices, but Petco always seems to have the most recently manufactured shipment with the latest expiration dates. Chewy is about a month or two behind. If you do order online, try to avoid having the cans shipped during a heatwave with high humidity, while the temperature is hovering around or over 90 degrees. During the summer months, I always check the extended forecasts on Accuweather.com. I find the consistency of pet food doesn't hold up when shipped in extremely hot weather, especially when the trucks have no air conditioning for their cargo. Petco takes about 4 or 5 days to ship while Chewy.com is usually overnight.