New cat mom suffering cat food confusion

[ladytimedramon]

Hello. I am a new cat mom. I have had Delilah for exactly 12 days now. I adore her and want to do the right thing. But she is my first cat ever, and my first pet in 29 years.

When I adopted her, the shelter said they were giving them canned (either fancy feast or friskies) twice a day and free feeding on science diet. Delilah was a 7 pound 2 3/4 year old kitty in the room with 5 big bruisers (imagine Garfield vs Nermal). According to the shelter manager the big cats would push her away from the wet food. So, to keep her consistent I bought the same food. I'm trying to get her on a schedule so that when the world returns to normal she isn't having a big eating change when I get back to working normal hours. Morning I give her wet, around noon I give her a little dry (only 1/4 cup), evening I give her wet, and bedtime I put some dry in her bowl (because she is used to the free feed - she doesn't eat it all, but when I didn't leave it and I was up for a 3am bathroom run, she followed me in and wouldn't leave me alone till I put the food out).

I didn't know what to expect with a litter box (as a previous dog owner/sitter). She's been very good about that. But I've been noticing, comparing a 7 pound cat to a 40 pound beagle (my sister's dog), she seems to go a LOT. For her size I feel like I'm scooping out about 2 pounds of stuff (I scoop daily before bed). I also noticed that a few times she let loose some gas that would have put my late pug to shame. She's also had some incredibly bad smelling poo. First time I thought it was because I had tried giving her a different cat food (I wanted to try some other things to see what she would like).

I asked the vet about it when I took her for a wellness check. He told me 1, about gradually changing food; 2, give her a probiotic; and 3, use Science Diet or Royal Canin for wet food.

Well, 1, she's not that crazy about the probiotic chews I got her so I'm going to have to try something else and 2, while she doesn't mind the science diet kibble she eats maybe 2 or 3 bites of the canned and walks away.

For now we're back to Fancy Feast and Science Diet. But with the amount of poo and the gas bombs, I don't think that's the right diet for her. And thinking back, when our pug was alive (30 some odd years ago) my parents mainly fed him a low cost low quality dry that resembled ground beef. He died from an enlarged spleen and possibly other tumors, which we initially attributed to the chemical treatments on our lawn. But thinking back, it also could have been that food.

I want to give her a good quality food, but I'm getting more and more confused on what to feed her, or what the best food is for her. She doesn't seem to be much on pate, but she loves gravy.

I've also seen people here mention food rotation. How does that work?

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Food rotations are when you have several brands and types of food, primarily different proteins you alternate through daily, for example,

• A sunday
• B monday
• A tuesday
• B wednesday

This can be 2 to an infinite number, every other day, every week, etc. Aids in preventing food intolerances and allergies.

For this reason, it could be wise to switch off and on protiens every month or so, so for example ,
APRIL: turkey, chicken, beef, quail
MAY: venison, rabbit, duck, pheasant
on and on, mixing and alternating

Rule of thumb, introduce every new food and every new protein SLOWLY, over the course of days.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

BTW - Purina is a notoriously bad brand, your vet isn't a feline nutritionist so don't exactly model your opinion off of what they say alone - science diet and Royal canin both are lackluster and contain biologically inappropriate and unhealthy ingredients.

I would also suggest looking into pine litter and avoiding clay litters as well! Good luck

 

[ladytimedramon]

Thanks. I was wondering more when I heard about rotation that it was rotating brands rather than meats. Also I'm fine without giving seafood. I'm allergic to some so I don't keep it around at all. Home made may be difficult because I'm having trouble keeping home made for myself, so I don't think I'd be able to do that for her as well.

She's been doing well with the water. I notice that the bowl is usually at least half down when I go to feed her and change the water.

 

[kittenmittens84]

In general if you can find a few wet foods that are high in protein, low in carbs, not too expensive, not filled with weird random vegetables, and most importantly that your cat likes and will eat, you’ll be on a good track. There’s so much information and so many foods out there that it can be overwhelming, but in general if you read threads here those are the guidelines people will most often list for a good cat diet. If you’re lucky your cat won’t be picky, which makes it a lot easier!

Some foods that people often recommend are: tiki cat, weruva, merrick, dr. Elseys, soulistic, wellness, I’m sure there are more I can’t think of.

If you’re on a budget, fancy feast classic pates are pretty high protein/low carb, widely available, and are recommended often around here. If you’re avoiding fish check the labels though, some FF non-fish flavors have fish in them for some reason.

 

[ladytimedramon]

I noticed that... I was looking at the friskies beef and it has fish in it... which really makes me nervous because it's like when I have to keep looking at things for me that say "low in sugar" but doesn't say it has sucralose or ace-K (2 of my migraine triggers) until you read the fine print.

 

[kittenmittens84]

I noticed that... I was looking at the friskies beef and it has fish in it... which really makes me nervous because it's like when I have to keep looking at things for me that say "low in sugar" but doesn't say it has sucralose or ace-K (2 of my migraine triggers) until you read the fine print.

Yeah the fancy feast beef pate has fish in it, but the beef + chicken pate does not. Who knows!

 

[amethyst]

One of the best places to look to compare commercial cat foods is CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat it gives an unbiased review purely based on ingredients and you can compare foods. It has lists for best wet foods and for best dry foods, and explains why so you can decide for yourself if certain ingredients questionable ingredients are a deal breaker for you or not.

As for the probiotic, I have used FortiFlora when one of my cats was sick. It's a powder you sprinkle it onto the food, I got it from my vet but you can also order it online.

 

[IndyJones]

You have some good suggestions above. If you love to cook than homemade is a great idea. I'm not that experienced with cooking pet food but I'm sure there are others here who can help you with that bit.

As for commercial food, those bargain brands like Purina are terrible. Many have unidentified protein (meat byproduct, animal digest) which could easily be causing a food sensitivity. Basically akin to "mystery meat" or spam.

 

[LTS3]

Seafood can be hidden in lots of foods that may say "beef" or "chicken" or something. Use this chart to find seafood-free foods if the thought of reading tiny print on labels or online is too :

Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients

Over the past couple of weeks, @cheeser and I have been working on a cat food ingredient chart that anyone can use to find suitable foods a food sensitive cat can eat or if a particular ingredient is to be avoided for preference reasons, such as no gums. Cheeser already had a personal...

thecatsite.com

If your cat doesn't eat much dry, there's no reason at all to feed it. Many people here only feed canned food.

Gassiness and stinky poop can be diet-related. I wouldn't change the diet of a newly adopted cat just yet. Too many changes can stress out a cat. Just feed what the cat is used to eating for now. Maybe in a month try changing the food to something better quality. Fancy feast isn't a bad brand of food but it may cause tummy issues for some cats. Rawz is one of the high quality brands out there but it can be expensive, $2.99 for a 5.5 oz can where I am. The smaller 3 oz cans are around $1.50. The brand is mostly sold at independent pet stores. RAWZ | Where to Buy No point in buying a high end brand if the cat won't eat it, though.

There's a separate forum here on TCS with more info on raw and home cooked diets. There are easy ways to make home diets, such as adding a pre-mix powder to ground or chunked meat of your choice. Some people make up a big batch and freeze the food into daily portions and take out a container to defrost as needed.

Probiotics can be helpful but you don't need a pet specific one in a chew form or anything. I use a Human probiotic for my cats, Renew Life Ultimate Flora. A capsule is opened and the contents sprinkled directly into food. Neither cat notice the probiotic mixed in their food. There's more info on probiotics here:

Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

How to restore gut health, not just manage symptoms, in feline IBD

www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org

Probiotics Search - Human Grade and CFUs

I've been trying to find a good probiotic. All my research has results in some questions: Human probiotics - Have heard different stories on whether or not to give to a cat. Have heard that you shouldn't give them to a cat because some human strains could irritate them. Have also heard that you...

thecatsite.com

Some TCS articles you may find helpful:

What Makes The Best Canned Cat Food? [Answered] - TheCatSite

Make no mistake, marketers target cat food advertising to appeal to us. The images of grilled chicken, carrots, spinach, and cranberries are there to make us imagine fresh, healthy food for our beloved kitty. Cats are not little people, especially when it comes to nutrition—they are not even...

thecatsite.com

Grain-free Cat Food – What Does It Mean? - TheCatSite

So, yes, we should seek grain-free foods for our cats, but a “grain-free” designation is just a starting point for good cat nutrition. Why grain-free food for our cats? Written by Laurie Goldstein - This article reflects Laurie's personal views on cat nutrition. Cats are Obligate Carnivores...

thecatsite.com

How To Choose The Right Food For Your Cat - TheCatSite

In this guide, we'll address your most important questions about choosing the right food for your cat. We'll help you understand your cat's unique dietary needs, explore the different types of cat food, and learn how to read and interpret cat food labels. By the end of this article, you'll have...

thecatsite.com

How To Choose The Right Food For Your Cat - TheCatSite

In this guide, we'll address your most important questions about choosing the right food for your cat. We'll help you understand your cat's unique dietary needs, explore the different types of cat food, and learn how to read and interpret cat food labels. By the end of this article, you'll have...

thecatsite.com

How To Choose The Right Food For Your Cat - TheCatSite

In this guide, we'll address your most important questions about choosing the right food for your cat. We'll help you understand your cat's unique dietary needs, explore the different types of cat food, and learn how to read and interpret cat food labels. By the end of this article, you'll have...

thecatsite.com