No dice on high quality foods

[hopps]

I got my cat as a 7 week old (too early). From 7 weeks old and up to now (almost 9 years old now), she has been on very high-quality foods. She grew up on a raw diet.
We have tried:
Raw diet: Frankenprey, alnutrin mix, Primal, Kiwi, RadCat
Wet foods (canned/freeze dried): Primal, Stella and Chewy (pate and freeze dried), Sojos, Honest Kitchen, Nulo, Kiwi, Lotus, Tiki Cat, Merrick, Wellness, Wellness Core, Weruva (3 different formulas), BFF, Rawz, Open Farm, Insinct, Purina Pro Plan, Blue Buffalo, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Whole Hearted, Fancy Feast, Soulistic, Applaws, Solid Gold, Canidae, Sheba,
Dry foods: Wellness Core, Instinct, Halo, Purina Pro Plan, Blue Buffalo, Acana, Tiki Cat, Nutro
Whole prey: Mice: Tried to feed anywhere from 1 day pinkies, fuzzies and hoppers. I cut them up, fed it warm/cold, thawed, frozen etc.

Despite all this, the cat was always skinny. We let her eat as much as she wants, as many times she wants per day. Her ribs were too easily felt and you can clearly see her rib cage from the side and top. Her waist was too pronounced. She was 7.5lbs and had a hard time keeping weight. As a kitten she ate everything but as she got to around 3 years old, the pickiness began. She was eating about 3-6 oz of food per day as an adult. She had a very soft coat, shiny, shed a lot and had a lot of dandruff.

Now she is on Purina Friskies and she gobbles it up like no other. She weighs 9.5lbs now and she looks amazing (body condition). Since her weight gain, her behavior is more settled. But I'm noticing a lot of eye boogers and some tear stains. Her fur is not as velvety and sleek. Lots of hair balls but less vomiting. Do I keep trying to put her on a high quality diet? Or is it time to let it go?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Can you do a rotational menu? Keep the Friskies as the main percentage of what she eats as you go through the week, but add back in some of the other foods.

 

[hopps]

Hi!
Can you do a rotational menu? Keep the Friskies as the main percentage of what she eats as you go through the week, but add back in some of the other foods.

Hello! I have tried mixing foods into the Friskies and as of now she refuses to eat it. I have tried mixing 1/4 teaspoon of the Honest Kitchen mixture, along with some other canned foods. When she smells a different food, she will turn her nose up at it.

Another thing that started up recently is that she will only try to eat the Friskies if it's freshly opened. If we put the other half of the can in the fridge for a few hours, she will not eat it. We keep offering the leftover portion and she is begrudgingly consuming it.

I'm a bit frustrated by her eating habits. She is now gravitating towards fish based foods and we are trying to put our foot down on that. She did the best on raw, maybe I can try offering small portions of raw meat? By rotational do you mean 5 days out of the week feed Friskies and 2 days out of the week feed x, y or z? I'm willing to try anything!

 

[Furballsmom]

By rotational do you mean 5 days out of the week feed Friskies and 2 days out of the week feed x, y or z?

Yes, something like that, or mix it up even more frequently

 

[LTS3]

I assume the vet has examined the cat over the years and ruled out possible health issues?

 

[lisahe]

Yes, something like that, or mix it up even more frequently

We mix things up several times a day. It really helps with our cats.

I assume the vet has examined the cat over the years and ruled out possible health issues?

Having just been through a major health problem with one of our cats -- the one who used to eat anything and everything but then gradually got pickier and started vomiting more -- I second this question! I'd be particularly concerned about the hair balls, which can be a sign of other things, like motility issues. We didn't think there was anything serious wrong with Edwina (she's the same age as your cat, hopps , and always had food sensitivities that we were able to sort out) but, after multiple vet visits, she turned out to have so much inflammation in her stomach that she needed to have part of it surgically removed. An ultrasound first showed the inflammation; we're fortunate that our vet regularly brings in an ultrasound vet and offers the service at very (relatively) low cost. Nobody will ever know for sure what went wrong in Edwina's stomach but our regular vet strongly suspects parasites. Edwina loves eating insects, including camel crickets, which can carry some odd nematode... so we're going to deworm her regularly (with Panacur, which apparently kills more types of parasites than most dewormers) which from now on.

I know that's a weird (and rather extreme!) story, which I mention not because I think your cat has worms but because the surgeon who operated on Edwina said something about how every now and then, very strange things happen to make animals get very sick.

 

[Alldara]

hopps If no other medical issues, I would find a compromise and do something like Iams perfect portions or Fancy Feast.

Friskas is VERY high in salt and myself and a few others had our cats get sick from it after eating for years, at the same time. 3 separate vets at 3 separate clinics attributed it to excessive sodium exasperating underlying conditions. It was one of my cats, one of my coworkers cats and my friends' two cats.

After many years of stressing myself out over food, I realized this: cats are the only domestic animal who we have extended the lives of and that's partially due to commercial foods.

Secondly in all my research, I never found a single longitudinal study supporting or against any kind of cat diet. During COVID Purina finished one on their new food, Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus.

Now that cats live longer we know certain ingredients are hard on certain cats long term. But many brands have just switched to other "unknowns" like peas and potatoes. Yet the protein on foods with less filler is hard on certain cats too!

Keep up with bloodwork and adjust food as you have to. You don't really know what will be 'hard' on your cat until you know.

Conclusion: there's no point in causing you and your cat stress surrounding eating which happens multiple times a day. Find something you can live with that your cat will eat.

 

[Alldara]

Oh as per the servings, just try to pick something in a smaller can size if she won't take it warmed up (microwave or add hot water).

Cal decided he will only have Perfect Portions after getting sick on Wellness. Magnus and Nobel are both on Purina (chicken and rice allergy and over the counter urinary). They get Wureva as a treat probably once or twice a week, more frequently and they won't eat it. I also keep a case of the Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus salmon on hand and they share that one or twice a week.

So for rotation just whatever works for your cat.

 

[ailish]

Ailish prefers a fresh can of food each time, but I explained to her that that will not be happening if she wants the good stuff. She responded that she was perfectly happy with cheap dry food, but I told her that was not an option. We settled on her eating good canned stuff that has been warmed, but she only has to eat the same thing three times in a row. She hates the same old food at every meal more than she hates food that has been refrigerated, so it works for us.

 

[hopps]

Hello everyone, sorry i've been away!

I've been trying various things and it isn't working. She has a clean bill of health and has been healthy. Excellent litterbox habits, soft and shiny fur with a spunky attitude like always.

The only thing we've had success with is switching her from fish flavored foods to chicken based.

I assume the vet has examined the cat over the years and ruled out possible health issues?

The vet said the cat is extremely healthy and doesn't see how I have any issues. She said she recommends Royal Canin but any of the big 3 is fine.

We mix things up several times a day. It really helps with our cats.

Having just been through a major health problem with one of our cats -- the one who used to eat anything and everything but then gradually got pickier and started vomiting more -- I second this question! I'd be particularly concerned about the hair balls, which can be a sign of other things, like motility issues. We didn't think there was anything serious wrong with Edwina (she's the same age as your cat, hopps , and always had food sensitivities that we were able to sort out) but, after multiple vet visits, she turned out to have so much inflammation in her stomach that she needed to have part of it surgically removed. An ultrasound first showed the inflammation; we're fortunate that our vet regularly brings in an ultrasound vet and offers the service at very (relatively) low cost. Nobody will ever know for sure what went wrong in Edwina's stomach but our regular vet strongly suspects parasites. Edwina loves eating insects, including camel crickets, which can carry some odd nematode... so we're going to deworm her regularly (with Panacur, which apparently kills more types of parasites than most dewormers) which from now on.

I know that's a weird (and rather extreme!) story, which I mention not because I think your cat has worms but because the surgeon who operated on Edwina said something about how every now and then, very strange things happen to make animals get very sick.

Wow that's quite the story! I'm glad Edwina is doing better
Chloe has started shedding more, which attributed to the hairballs. We started brushing more frequently (she doesn't like it but too bad!). Tada very little hairballs! I'm so hesitant and frustrated because she completely stopped vomitting vs when she was on other foods. With other foods, she would skip meals and vomit bile from being hungry.

hopps If no other medical issues, I would find a compromise and do something like Iams perfect portions or Fancy Feast.

Friskas is VERY high in salt and myself and a few others had our cats get sick from it after eating for years, at the same time. 3 separate vets at 3 separate clinics attributed it to excessive sodium exasperating underlying conditions. It was one of my cats, one of my coworkers cats and my friends' two cats.

After many years of stressing myself out over food, I realized this: cats are the only domestic animal who we have extended the lives of and that's partially due to commercial foods.

Secondly in all my research, I never found a single longitudinal study supporting or against any kind of cat diet. During COVID Purina finished one on their new food, Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus.

Now that cats live longer we know certain ingredients are hard on certain cats long term. But many brands have just switched to other "unknowns" like peas and potatoes. Yet the protein on foods with less filler is hard on certain cats too!

Keep up with bloodwork and adjust food as you have to. You don't really know what will be 'hard' on your cat until you know.

Conclusion: there's no point in causing you and your cat stress surrounding eating which happens multiple times a day. Find something you can live with that your cat will eat.

Thank you for the reminder to just chill and not harp on the whole food subject. It can be so frustrating when Friskies gave her excellent results while not being healthy for her. I've tried Fancy Feast and her poops were horrific and not well formed on it. At least I was able to get her on chicken flavored foods and I'm hoping to start adding pea sized amounts of different foods. I will try the IAMS and Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus. I do not feed any foods that have plant based proteins. Peas and potatoes are often extremely cheap and remnants of human processes. Cheap way to boost protein. I'm glad you brought that up as well, it was very disturbing to see stuf like lentils in cat food! I know with dogs there is a DCM problem with grain free foods (that also have high pea and lentil protein content) and it was messing with taurine absorption. I would much rather feed grains and byproducts over inappropriate ways of elevating proteins!

 

[Furballsmom]

Try the rotational menu with the foods you're finding that work, and keep in mind that its possible your cat is one of those slim body types, but a little butter now and then etc isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you scroll down a bit there's information that's more specific to you;

Should You be Able to Feel a Cat’s Spine? – TheCatSite Articles

 

[lisahe]

Wow that's quite the story! I'm glad Edwina is doing better
Chloe has started shedding more, which attributed to the hairballs. We started brushing more frequently (she doesn't like it but too bad!). Tada very little hairballs! I'm so hesitant and frustrated because she completely stopped vomitting vs when she was on other foods. With other foods, she would skip meals and vomit bile from being hungry.

Thank you for the reminder to just chill and not harp on the whole food subject. It can be so frustrating when Friskies gave her excellent results while not being healthy for her. I've tried Fancy Feast and her poops were horrific and not well formed on it. At least I was able to get her on chicken flavored foods and I'm hoping to start adding pea sized amounts of different foods. I will try the IAMS and Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus. I do not feed any foods that have plant based proteins. Peas and potatoes are often extremely cheap and remnants of human processes. Cheap way to boost protein. I'm glad you brought that up as well, it was very disturbing to see stuf like lentils in cat food! I know with dogs there is a DCM problem with grain free foods (that also have high pea and lentil protein content) and it was messing with taurine absorption. I would much rather feed grains and byproducts over inappropriate ways of elevating proteins!

I'm sorry but I'm a little confused! When was she last consistently not vomiting? Was that her Friskies diet? If so and that's what she's currently eating, might it be possible to slowly (even leisurely!) introduce some new foods? Maybe a small amount of something new every day or two? As Alldara says, sometimes it's best to stop stressing about our cats' diets. I had to do that after Edwina's surgery... I'd been feeding our cats a lot of commercial raw food, our vet suspected it of giving her parasites, and even though I think parasites were more likely to have come from E's bug-eating habit, I ditched the raw food, bought Mouser and Rawz, and started making new combos of homemade food. Edwina's happy, her sister is eating better than ever, and I no longer have to worry about forgetting to pick up raw food if it's sat out too long. Everybody's happy, including the vet. And cats really pick up on stress! I'm glad to have simplified.

I'm glad Chloe is doing better with brushing. If you're looking for more hairball help, I highly recommend Vet's Best hairball tablets. Hairball Relief Digestive Aid | Vet's Best (vetsbest.com)
Both our cats love these (they love them crumbled on their food) and they really help (gently) with constipation, which Ireland has had issues with.

Fingers crossed for more progress!

 

[hopps]

Try the rotational menu with the foods you're finding that work, and keep in mind that its possible your cat is one of those slim body types, but a little butter now and then etc isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you scroll down a bit there's information that's more specific to you;

Should You be Able to Feel a Cat’s Spine? – TheCatSite Articles

She will not eat anything I've tried. She is loving Purina Pro Plan dry food and Friskies pate. She was very thin, ribcage was very distinct even with a winter coat. We could feel every single vertebra with barely any contact. Now we can feel her spine but we cannot easily feel each vertebra.

Since she won't try any new canned foods, we will slowly introduce raw again. She really enjoyed raw foods as a kitten and would be ok with it periodically. We used to do ground turkey with alnutrin. We're going to take it extremely slow! I appreciate everyone's response here. I'm sure a lot of folks had similar issues.

I'm sorry but I'm a little confused! When was she last consistently not vomiting? Was that her Friskies diet? If so and that's what she's currently eating, might it be possible to slowly (even leisurely!) introduce some new foods? Maybe a small amount of something new every day or two? As Alldara says, sometimes it's best to stop stressing about our cats' diets. I had to do that after Edwina's surgery... I'd been feeding our cats a lot of commercial raw food, our vet suspected it of giving her parasites, and even though I think parasites were more likely to have come from E's bug-eating habit, I ditched the raw food, bought Mouser and Rawz, and started making new combos of homemade food. Edwina's happy, her sister is eating better than ever, and I no longer have to worry about forgetting to pick up raw food if it's sat out too long. Everybody's happy, including the vet. And cats really pick up on stress! I'm glad to have simplified.

I'm glad Chloe is doing better with brushing. If you're looking for more hairball help, I highly recommend Vet's Best hairball tablets. Hairball Relief Digestive Aid | Vet's Best (vetsbest.com)
Both our cats love these (they love them crumbled on their food) and they really help (gently) with constipation, which Ireland has had issues with.

Fingers crossed for more progress!

Up until recently, on and off. She would vomit bile from hunger if we kept trying to feed stuff she didn't like. We are thinking about trying her on a raw diet again (ground+alnutrin) or primal prontos. We're going to take everyone's advice and introduce pea sized amounts at a time since she did like raw foods on and off.

Do you have a recipe you would be willing to share concerning the homemade foods? I give my dog homemade so maybe that would be a good idea. I think Chloe is picking up on my stress, so other family members have taken the reigns in feeding. I will just prep the foods. I'll look into the vet's best hairball tablets while brushing Chloe more consistently.

I'm very excited to try everyone's ideas and i'll take my time with it. It's so embarassing going to a petstore and showing them a list of foods I've tried!

 

[Furballsmom]

It's so embarassing going to a petstore and showing them a list of foods I've tried!

No worries, a lot of us have gone through the same thing

Now we can feel her spine but we cannot easily feel each vertebra.

This is fantastic, good for you!!
Hang in there, and let us know how things go

 

[lisahe]

Up until recently, on and off. She would vomit bile from hunger if we kept trying to feed stuff she didn't like. We are thinking about trying her on a raw diet again (ground+alnutrin) or primal prontos. We're going to take everyone's advice and introduce pea sized amounts at a time since she did like raw foods on and off.

Do you have a recipe you would be willing to share concerning the homemade foods? I give my dog homemade so maybe that would be a good idea. I think Chloe is picking up on my stress, so other family members have taken the reigns in feeding. I will just prep the foods. I'll look into the vet's best hairball tablets while brushing Chloe more consistently.

The hunger vomiting is so familiar! We feed many small meals a day -- six, including one during the night -- because Edwina has always been insecure about her food and will barf stomach acid (sometimes with bile) if she gets too hungry. (This has always been a problem: the cats came from a household with too many cats and were very underfed when we adopted them.)

I use Alnutrin for our homemade food; I use cooked meat. The cats' favorite is probably plain chicken but I make blends like chicken/pork and chicken/pork/turkey, with varying proportions of each, sometimes mixing in gizzards or hearts, too. I vary the liver, generally using freeze-dried. (I'm not sure if there's much difference between the taste of, say, turkey liver and duck liver but I tend to just buy what I notice first on Chewy.)

I hope Vet's Best might help Chloe, too. If constipation is part of her appetite problem it could help: Ireland, the cat I mentioned who's had borderline/moderate constipation, has had a better appetite since I introduced Vet's Best. Her appetite got even better when I took raw food out of the cats' diet: the bone in much of the commercial raw food I was feeding was another big factor for changing the cats' diet even though I made a point of seeking out foods with no bone or relatively low amounts of bone. Though Ireland always liked the raw foods we fed, it's great to see her eating her foods so happily. She's also eating homemade foods much more eagerly than ever.

Again, good luck! It can be really hard to find the right balance for a cat!

 

[mysterylover]

Yep! I have been there, only I am evil and make my family members take back food or try buying a few cans of something new to try. My female started refusing the food that she was on for years. The reason my cats were on the same brand for years in different flavors, though, was because other brands had caused either severe diarrhea or morning pukes of gel/bile. When Junie refused the food, I started trying foods again. If she LOVED a food, she had violent diarrhea from 1/4 of a teaspoon (like I had given her a laxative), and this was especially true of foods that I thought would be good for her due to her being 13 - so foods like Weruva that are lower in phosphorus but with various gums gave her diarrhea. She finally has been doing well on several flavors of Ziwi Peak, but since she wants it smooth and I don't want her eating some of the larger bone bits, I am adding water and pressing her food through a sieve to catch any bone shards and make her pate smooth. I wish it had higher protein (and some of that protein was not chickpeas) and had lower phosphorus, but we are compromising, at least for now ---and of course, her brothers, get pale, mushy poop from even 1/4 teaspoon of the Ziwi that she does well on (which makes them want a bite of it even more! LOL). Hang in there!

Oh, would your kitty eat boiled chicken mixed? I was thinking that would add some quality protein. I think some people add a little fish oil (but it can cause diarrhea if too much) for omegas, which might soften her coat up. It's too bad Friskies only comes in larger cans. Does it make any difference to her if you refrigerate it in a different container or in the can it comes in? I wondered if the flavor of metal seeps into the second half in the fridge. You might try refrigerating in a BPA-free container. I wonder if freezing the other half in ice cubes or a freezer container would preserve that freshness? Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

 

[msserena]

I have a cat like that, she's always been the smallest & pretty much her whole life we could feel her bones. She's 9 too. I give her whatever she will eat because she is such a picky eater. When I started feeding raw food - frozen, dry mixed with water, meat chunks & air dried, that is the only time she's actually gained enough weight to not feel her bones. I put out a can of Weruva every night at bed time & she'll lick at it but won't totally consume it.

I used to feed baby quail but she didn't gain much weight from that. Have tried the pinkie mice but couldn't get any of my 3 cats to eat one. So bummed Rad Cat is out of business. I used to get all the flavors, my cats would eat them & now I have tried so many other frozen raw foods, I started a spreadsheet. There is nothing like Rad Cat!

 

[hopps]

Hello everyone! Chloe the cat has been eating dry food, which has been working well to get her off of the Friskies. My mom came up with a great plan to start reducing the cat's breakfast little by little to induce more hunger. At first Chloe the cat would sit in front of the bowl, tilt her head back and yell as loud as a cat can.

Anyways she is now on dry food in the morning and Sheba in the evening! She consumes it begrudgingly but she gets better day by day. She likes that each portion is super fresh out of the "can". We also noticed she's been feeling more insecure since we got the dog (it has been 11 months). We put up a baby gate and only allow Chloe into the kitchen. We keep everything "dog free" in certain zones of the house and did some more play sessions/outdoor time. She still likes to yell in general.

We will continue with the Sheba and start experimenting with other canned foods. Has anyone had any success with keeping larger cans fresh? I saw one suggestion here saying I should freeze the other portions in ice cube trays which is brilliant. I'm going to try that with the 12oz wellness canned foods. We're winning 1 day at a time! Thank you all for your suggestions.

 

[hopps]

I have a cat like that, she's always been the smallest & pretty much her whole life we could feel her bones. She's 9 too. I give her whatever she will eat because she is such a picky eater. When I started feeding raw food - frozen, dry mixed with water, meat chunks & air dried, that is the only time she's actually gained enough weight to not feel her bones. I put out a can of Weruva every night at bed time & she'll lick at it but won't totally consume it.

I used to feed baby quail but she didn't gain much weight from that. Have tried the pinkie mice but couldn't get any of my 3 cats to eat one. So bummed Rad Cat is out of business. I used to get all the flavors, my cats would eat them & now I have tried so many other frozen raw foods, I started a spreadsheet. There is nothing like Rad Cat!

Oh my god!!!! Rad Cat! My cat absolutely loved that brand of foods over all the other raw foods. I wonder why. RadCat looked really fresh and Chloe would gobble it up. The next thing she liked was the primal nuggets/prontos. Radcat was amazing though.