Pate Vs. Flaked - Does It Matter?

[Ms. Snarls]

My kitten is about 5 months old. He is a good eater, not picky, and drinks a lot of water. I'm waiting on getting his fecal test done at a vet appointment that is coming up because he has had some loose funky stools, he definitely has giardia or cocchia (or t. foetus, fun fun!), but he is gaining weight, has tons of energy, and his coat is shiny and soft. The vet said not to worry for the time being, so I'm not. He gets a probiotic capsule mixed in his food every day.

Because of his poopy problems, I've been giving him 1/2 a cup or so of Blue Buffalo Sensitive Stomach dry food.

Lately I have been giving him half and half flaked and pate wet food. I was originally giving him Royal Canin Kitten Instinctive Thin Slice in Gravy, but it was getting expensive, so I started adding PurinaPro Plan Focus Kitten Chicken and Live Pate until it's about half and half. I was thinking about continuing to give him half something a little higher quality and half something a little cheaper just to make things manageable. Thoughts?

(Included kitten tax from yesterday, I'm obsessed with his coloring!)

 

[Ms. Snarls]

Oh yeah - I am probably switching from Royal Canin to Blue Wilderness Kitten Flaked Chicken & Trout in Gravy since it's grain-free and the same price.

 

[KarenKat]

Hi and welcome! Your kitten's color is definitely amazing! I think it's great to feed a variety of wet food, and different textures is also good to prevent your kitten from growing into a picky cat. I also feed some cheaper foods in a mix with some more expensive ones.

Regarding the type of food, rather than picking pate or flaked or whatever, I look at the protein/fat/carbs ratio and pick one that is high/med/low respectively. Pates as a general rule tend to be more calorie dense, foods with gravies or sauces tend to have more fat/carbs. Feeding a mix of different foods helps get the right balance. If he is eating both types fine, I don't think it really matters overall. My girl Olive will eat almost anything, so I try and get a large variety.

 

[LTS3]

Gravy / sauce based foods also tend to be mostly liquid and very little actual food You're basically paying for what is essentially water. Pouched foods tend to more watery than canned. Pate foods are best since it's a soft lump of ground food. You can add water to make "broth". I'd feed mostly pate and rotate in some textured food on occasion.

 

[lalagimp]

With everything I've seen, I'm nearly certain that pates are more calorie dense than flaked. It's a trade off, and it's picky. Pates may have more calories from a filler than strictly from a meat protein, like say Pea Protein. Flaked or shreds in broth is going to be lower calories but less likely to have added stuff, so you'll pay for more of it to meet the calorie needs of a growing cat.
If I had to grow these cats all over again, knowing what I know now vs what I knew 10 years ago, I'd make myself nuts and broke. I was just buying them Natural Balance kibble for all life stages.

 

[Ms. Snarls]

I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing based on the helpful responses. Thank you!

Lalagimp - you're totally right about making yourself nuts and broke. Not to brag, but my kitty has a pretty sweet set up. He has a ton of variety as far as different toy options go, he gets lots of attention and play time, I have a little enclosed patio that he loves to hang out in, I even built him a cardboard box house and a cat tree with a sweet view (I live in a large apartment complex (20 buildings!) that is pet-friendly, so people walk their dogs constantly and he loves to watch). He is gaining weight and has all the normal behaviors he should. And yet....I worry about him, a lot! Cats are resilient little creatures.

 

[hesster]

Some cats have a preference for different consistency. My 9 year old male Gizmo definitely prefers chunkier food over pate. He is a grazer and it takes him longer to finish off pate than chunky or shredded food. Chunky wet food also makes it easier for me to add extra water to make up for the water deficiency in the dry food he gets at breakfast without it turning into soup which he also doesn't like.

I've also heard of cats who are complete opposites and will only lick up their food so turning it into soup might work for them.

 

[RajaNMizu]

My girls prefer pate but will still eat some brands that are more shredded than pate (Soulistic, Tiki). I find that they are usually lower in carbs too. They also prefer the pates that are moister so I add water to the thicker ones. Only one of my girls will eat raw freeze dried, the other mainly ignores it. She tried it once and promptly "returned" it to the floor.

 

[maggiedemi]

I switched over to Pate this week and the difference is amazing. My cats have more energy and are zooming around the house and playing up a storm. I'm not sure why, but I'm happy with the results.