New cats from shelter; what to feed?

[njg55]

I'm adopting two new cats from a no-kill shelter. They've been there for about 15 months. I was told they were being fed Fancy Feast pate varieties. I forgot to ask what kind of dry food is placed out for the cats. They aren't in cages at this shelter, they roam more or less freely, so I assume there are bowls of some kind of dried food accessible. I already have two cats, and they've been eating a Purina brand canned food and Science Diet dry. I plan to feed the new girls the FF, at least for a while, so that a change in diet isn't one more stress factor along with coming into a new home with other pets. Should I keep up the two-foods regimen indefinitely? Switch the other cats to what I feed the new ones, or vice versa? It wouldn't really be a hassle to keep two brands of food around, although it would be easier if they all ate the same thing.

 

[Furballsmom]

Should I keep up the two-foods regimen indefinitely

You could do that, and introduce each food to the other cats so that eventually you have a rotating menu for all four. You knew Purina makes Fancy Feast, so in other words a transition for each pair of cats regarding their wet food wouldn't be that dramatic, I don't think.

 

[maggie101]

My cats are fed a variety of proteins-chicken,turkey,duck,quail,beef
They are adult so I feed them mostly weruva for low phosphorus,high protein,and moisture. Also fancy feast classics turkey&giblets. One of my cats has no trouble having a different protein every meal. Peaches has a very sensitive stomach. Farmina canned is a good food for her because shes a licker.To me,it would be a hassle to feed 3 oz cans to 4 cats. The new cats may not like dry.

Anyways,slowly add more and more if you want to switch old food with new since you don't know how they will react

 

[Alldara]

I agree with all the above. We rotate a bit as well. Purina pro plan, Iams and Wureva. (I've actually throw in some Fancy Feast chicken pate lately because of shortages).

We also do a variety of proteins, minus beef due to a food allergy. Our boys like lamb a lot.

 

[lisahe]

Some shelters send new adoptees home with a small supply of the same foods they're fed at the shelter. When we brought Edwina and Ireland home, we had a small stack of Friskies pates and a cup or so of Iams dry food. They didn't eat much for the first couple of days, which gave us extra time to buy more Friskies for the next week or two!

I'd strongly suggest getting enough of whatever the shelter has been feeding to last you for a couple weeks. And then try introducing them to the other foods. And try doing the same for your current cats. I completely agree with what others have said about feeding multiple brands to all your cats! We've had so many experiences with food shortages, recipe changes, and other calamities that I try to have as many foods to draw from as possible. We have a bunch of dietary limitations for our cats, making that particularly important. Beyond that, our cats get bored with their food easily so it's good to feed them variety.

I hope all goes smoothly when you bring the cats home!

 

[Caspers Human]

We did similar for Casper when we brought him home.

When we adopted him, Casper was eating Meow Mix. As most people know, Meow Mix is basically junk food for cats but, when trying to lure a cat in to be rescued, you have to use whatever food it will be attracted to so, that's okay. The problem is to get the cat OFF that food, once it's been brought in and re-homed.

Our vet told us that stray cats that have lived by their own devices for a long time will often be picky about the food they eat. That's because, when they finally find a reliable source of safe food, they tend to stick with it. And, so it was with Casper. He had decided that Meow Mix was his "safe" food and didn't want to change.

The rescue place gave us a small bag of Meow Mix to take home with Casper so that he would have a consistent food to eat while he acclimated to his new home. All well and good but we didn't know how hard it would be to switch Casper off Meow Mix and onto something better.

It took us several months to try different foods to find what Casper would eat. He's an adult, neutered male so, as our vet advised, he's prone to urinary crystals. We tried all the different urinary diet cat foods but he didn't like them. When we asked our vet, she said that most urinary diet cat foods aren't what they are cracked up to be and that a good quality "regular" cat food will work just as well, provided you make sure that the cat gets enough water to drink and that you feed NO LESS THAN 50% wet/canned cat food along with the dry.

After a lot of rigamarole, we finally got Casper settled on Purina Cat Chow Complete, dry food and Friskies canned food. He gets two spoons full of canned food, twice a day, and a cup of dry food, left out for him to graze on.

I know that people say it's not good to leave food our for cats to graze but, with Casper's food security issues, he needs to know that there is food available at all times. He doesn't always eat all of his dry food but he needs to know it's there or else he starts to do the "scarf and barf" thing. If he gets worried because his food bowl is getting empty, he'll eat it all up in one sitting then, ten minutes later, he'll barf it up. As long as there's food in his bowl every time he walks by on his daily patrols, he's okay. If he sees even a tiny peek of the bottom of his bowl, he gets antsy. Even if you just take his food bowl to the kitchen counter and stir it up with a spoon to cover up the bare spots without putting anything more in the bowl, Casper will think it's okay but, if you don't "fix up" his food bowl, it won't be long until he comes over to gobble it all up.

Casper's weight has been holding at around 13 to 14 lbs and his midsection is nice and slender, even if he has a rather large gorge pouch. (We sometimes call him "Casper Baggy Pants" because of it. )

We all want to feed our cats the best food possible but, sometimes, especially if you've got a rescue/shelter kitty, you just gotta' feed them what they will eat, even if it's not the best.

As long as Casper's weight holds steady, he stays slender (in spite of his baggy pants), he uses the litter box regularly and drinks enough water, he does just fine on Purina.

 

[ailish]

My cats are fed a variety of proteins-chicken,turkey,duck,quail,beef
They are adult so I feed them mostly weruva for low phosphorus,high protein,and moisture. Also fancy feast classics turkey&giblets. One of my cats has no trouble having a different protein every meal. Peaches has a very sensitive stomach. Farmina canned is a good food for her because shes a licker.To me,it would be a hassle to feed 3 oz cans to 4 cats. The new cats may not like dry.

Anyways,slowly add more and more if you want to switch old food with new since you don't know how they will react

Have you noticed a change in Farmina quality in the past, say...8 months? I used to feed Ailish Farmina regularly and she liked it a lot. Then I got one that smelled really bad. And I mean, REALLY bad. I know it's cat food, and Farmina stinks anyway, but I've been using it for several years and pretty much know how it smells. It didn't smell cat food bad, it smelled bad bad. And it was not past the date on the can. So I didn't feed it to her. Then a couple days later I opened the next Farmina can in the stack, a different protein, and it was all liquid. No solids at all. So I tossed that because I didn't know how much nutrition was in it, since there were NO chunks. I haven't bought Farmina since, but I really wish I could put it back in rotations.

 

[maggie101]

Have you noticed a change in Farmina quality in the past, say...8 months? I used to feed Ailish Farmina regularly and she liked it a lot. Then I got one that smelled really bad. And I mean, REALLY bad. I know it's cat food, and Farmina stinks anyway, but I've been using it for several years and pretty much know how it smells. It didn't smell cat food bad, it smelled bad bad. And it was not past the date on the can. So I didn't feed it to her. Then a couple days later I opened the next Farmina can in the stack, a different protein, and it was all liquid. No solids at all. So I tossed that because I didn't know how much nutrition was in it, since there were NO chunks. I haven't bought Farmina since, but I really wish I could put it back in rotations.

Sometimes thier food is too runny or has hard pieces so I give it to my other cats Coco or maggie. I have not noticed a difference besides that