New And Wondering What To Feed My Kitty

[KittyFriday]

Hi everyone! I'm new here; I usually tend to lurk on dog forums as I have two but I recently obtained my first cat so I'm trying to learn all I can.

My cat, Friday, is a former barn cat (he belonged to my parents, who live on a farm). He's around 10 years old I think, neutered, vaccinated, and healthy though he could stand to lose a pound or two according to his vet. He's also incredibly lazy, even for a cat - and always has been, hence his weight problems. A hunter he is not.

He's adjusting really well and I've been feeding him his "usual" food that my parents gave him - which is basically just your standard Purina. I also have some canned food that I give him at night - I believe the brand is Dave's?

I'm needing to create a ledge to put his food on so the dogs can't reach it, and then I'd like to have dry food available to him (even if it's just a set amount each morning) and wet at night. But I'm totally stumped on what dry to get him! He doesn't seem terribly picky, I'm just not entirely sure what to look for.

 

[KarenKat]

Hi and welcome to you and Friday!

Feline nutrition is definitely different from canine. Cats are known as obligate carnivores, so they need specifically meat-based protein. They do best on a high protein, med fat and low carb diet. Generally wet food is healthier than dry food. Dry food tends to have more fillers and carbs which cause weight gain. It also is low in moisture, and cats are desert animals with low thirst drive - they get most of their moisture through food. Dr Elsey’s CleanProtein kibble is one dry food that is low in carbs.

catinfo.org and catfooddb.com can help look at the nutrition content of food. Corn, wheat, soy, peas and potatoes will raise the protein content but since it’s plant based it is not easily used by the cats digestive system and many people avoid it.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask as many questions as you like and post photos of Friday!

 

[KittyFriday]

Thank you! I am going by my local pet store this afternoon so will see what they've got there - they tend to stock high quality brands.

 

[KarenKat]

I feed Dave’s shredded chicken dinner to my kitty as one of her foods - it’s pretty affordable and pretty healthy. My guess is the Dave’s you have is a good wet food.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Some good "grocery store" brands are:

Fancy Feast Classic pates, or their new Gourmet Naturals line
Sheba
Crave
I've seen Nutro in a few stores

Other brands that I feed:
Tiny Tiger and American Journey (from Chewy dot com)
Redbarn lamb
Only Natural Pet Rabbit and Pork

I would feed Dave's too, if my troop would eat it...I like his food!

Be careful with so-called "high quality" brands. "Most expensive" does not mean "the best food for your cat." Read the ingredient labels- I personally prefer the first 4 or 5 ingredients to be animals based (broth, named meat, by-products, etc.). By-products are not a bad thing! They hold a lot of essential, naturally occurring vitamins and minerals and are great for Friday. Shy away from things like peas, chickpeas, potato, and other starchy fillers, if you can.

For dry food: Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein. Arguably the best dry food on the market with 50+% animal protein and fewer than 5% carbs. Yes, it is expensive- you will balk at the price. But, read the calories per cup- upwards of 600! So if you were to only feed him dry half the time, that's less than 1/4 cup of kibble per day. A 2lb bag would easily last you a month-probably longer-for what you would need to spend to get the same "bang for your buck" on a lower-calorie product.

Dr. Elsey's will send you totally free samples of their dry food and their canned line (great food but pricey) if you email them directly from their website.

Cat food and cat nutrition is definitely a rabbit hole. Ask as many questions as you would like. There is a ton of great information and references on this site. Glad you and Friday can join us!

 

[KittyFriday]

Thank you! I know there's a lot of drama surrounding dogs and lentils, peas, potatoes, etc. so I just kind of naturally filter those out when I look for foods.

I haven't made any decisions yet but I'm still looking.