Switching Wet Food

[AmyTheKittyMommy]

The kittens are growing and have gotten so big! I’ve just been so busy lately that I haven’t been on the forum at all. They’re about 9 months old now.
I’m considering switching their wet food from Wellness Pate, as it seems to give them loose and smelly stools. I’m also thinking I’ll stop free feeding them kibble as well, as they’re old enough to be switched to just two meals of wet food each day.
I was wondering what grain free wet food brands you would recommend? I’m willing to try a few things to figure out what they’ll like, but I’m looking for something healthy and grain free for my boys.
Thanks!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - you want to keep feeding them as much as they'll eat until they are at least a year old.
Here's a website you might be able to use
CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

 

[AmyTheKittyMommy]

Furballsmom Thank you for the link! The reason I was considering stopping free feeding is because Percy is getting a little chubby, and I’m worried about him becoming overweight.

 

[Furballsmom]

Ah, I see - can you get him exercising and playing more?

 

[AmyTheKittyMommy]

Furballsmom I’ve been trying, but no matter how much we have him running around, he’s getting pudgy while Jasper stays lean.
Percy does eat more frequently than his brother, and he always eats as if he’s afraid the food will disappear if he doesn’t eat it fast enough, so I’m thinking that might be causing it.

 

[lisahe]

What sweet kittens! They remind me a lot of ours, particularly since you say that one tends to gain weight while the other one stays lean. Are your cats rescues by any chance? The habit of eating quickly seems to arise quite a bit out of food anxiety -- our cats, particularly Edwina, our chunkier one, had that when we adopted them at ten months. Even 4.5 years later, Edwina is still a little insecure about her food and will scarf and barf if she eats too fast.

In any case, it sounds like this might be the perfect time to wean Percy and Jasper off the dry food! That said, as Furballsmom said, kittens need to be fed a lot until they're at least a year old. We switched our cats over from a combination of dry and wet food in their first couple of months with us and it's worked out very well. We feed them lots of high-protein, low-carb wet food; that keeps both cats happy. And it's especially good for Siamese cats, who our vet warned us have a tendency toward digestive issues so particularly need a diet their bodies can handle. That means meat.

I'd suggest putting the cats on a meal schedule, feeding them separately so you're sure Percy isn't torturing Jasper by waiting for his leftovers. (This was a huge issue for us. Separating the cats slowed Edwina down and sped Ireland up, a nice bonus!) It's also good, particularly with kittens, to feed quite a few meals each day. We still feed five, largely because of Edwina's tendency to regurgitate if she eats too much or too fast; small meals minimize that problem. I work at home so that's easy but I know it's not for everybody! Even if there's nobody at home during the day, many people still find it possible to feed first thing in the morning, just before leaving for work, when returning from work, and then at bedtime. Or some variation on that theme, making sure they get plenty of food while they're still young. (Our cats had huge appetites and burned tons of calories well into their second year... and they're indoor-only cats.)

Which Wellness pates (I'm figuring they're Core, right?) are you feeding? Core ingredients vary a bit so if you're feeding anything with potato, you might want to first just cut those and see what happens. (Potato's a problem for Edwina: it makes her barfy and gassy! Other Cat Site members have reported similar issues with potato.) Some of the other canned foods we feed are Nutro Natural Choice, Fromm (green label, turkey/duck, I think?), Weruva (just watch out for potato!), Feline Natural, Koha duck stew (lots of their other foods have potato or chickpeas, both are good to avoid), Fancy Feast Classics, and Wellness Core. The rest of their diet (most of their diet, really) is raw and homecooked food.

I know I'm a bit of a zealot on wet food only and high-protein/low-carb and know that lots of people have success feeding a broader diet, but I can't overstate how important the strict diet has been for our two cats, even from a young age. It keeps Edwina's weight in check and seems to minimize Ireland's slight tendency toward nausea. Plus all the protein -- and the water, because the food's wet -- keeps them satiated. I avoid all peas, potato, chickpeas, lentils, carrots, and grains, and keep tapioca at a minimum, too, other than an occasional pouch of Soulistic or Weruva chicken/pumpkin food. I also avoid carrageenan (because of its potential inflammatory effects, not a good thing, given the cats' sensitive stomachs) but if you're willing to feed that, there are other brands you could try, like Merrick's pates (just watch out for the peas in their LID foods, groan!).

I hadn't intended to write nearly that much, sorry! I hope something here might prove helpful for your sweet cats!

 

[duckpond]

They are both so very cute!

I feed quite a few different wet foods in my rotation. I like Tiki Cat, some of the weruva, Almo nature, the chicken and green beans, and the chicken and carrots, and the salmon with apple, as well as the chicken with apple, their complete recipes, not the supplemental ones. Against the grain foods, Merrick back country, Nulo minced flavors. and the american journey foods on chewy. I also feed some of the Fussie cat super premium foods. I rotate in a little fancy feast now and then. For Dry i feed some Dr. Elseys the chicken.

which ever foods i feed i try to make sure its high protein, moderate fat, and low carb. I think too many carbs, and too much fat in a food causes some cats to put on weight. My big boy packs it on if he gets high carb, or high fat foods. So i feed him mainly Tiki and Almo nautre, with a bit of Dr. Elseys dry. Many of the low carb wet foods are very high fat. I try to stick with the more moderate fat, I want the protein in the food to be higher than the fat. And very low carb. This is a little hard to find. Tiki, and Almo nature are my go to foods right now.

another good resource to look up different foods.

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

[lisahe]

Great that you added the chart, duckpond ! That's so helpful for tracking the carbs. That and checking the ingredients, of course. And yes to protein > fat. I'm sure I break that rule with some foods, though with all the stuff we feed, some of which is pretty low in fat, I think it evens out pretty well.

 

[duckpond]

i think with cats, just like with people, the majority of the food should be the healthy stuff. But now and then a food they like, even if it does "break the rules" is fine i try to make sure most meals are healthy, but i dont worry about every individual meal too much

I do get frustrated sometimes that its so hard to find wet food that is not too high in carbs, but at the same time not way high in fat. AND that my guys will eat

 

[lisahe]

I do get frustrated sometimes that its so hard to find wet food that is not too high in carbs, but at the same time not way high in fat. AND that my guys will eat

I know, it can be a challenge!

 

[2BSH]

My kittens (now cats) did not do well on wellness at all as well. They had smelly soft poops and smelly gas. I switched them over to merrick, nutro chunky loaf,natures variety with a little fussy cat thrown in there as well. They are doing much better on that food combination. Also, I feed all wet. I aim for 3 meals a day.

 

[AmyTheKittyMommy]

Thank you all for your feedback!
I looked at the resources you gave me, and after some further research, I decided to try TikiCat After Dark. I ordered a case of it to see if the kittens will do well on it. I like that it’s grain free, meat based and high in water content, and I’m hoping the kittens will like it. If not, I can always try something else.
I have one more bag of their dry food, which I’m very unhappy with, so I’m thinking I’ll let them finish that off and then switch them to just wet food, if that’s a good idea? I am able to feed them twice a day with the wet food, but I don’t have the ability to come home and feed them during the day. Is twice a day wet food enough, or do I need to look into a feeder of some sort?
Thank you all again for your advice and insight!

 

[Furballsmom]

If you find this food doesn't work, you could take a look at the different brands that are available on Only Natural Pet - they allow small quantity ordering.

Here's hoping your furbabys LOVE the tikicat!!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Thank you all for your feedback!
... I am able to feed them twice a day with the wet food, but I don’t have the ability to come home and feed them during the day. Is twice a day wet food enough, or do I need to look into a feeder of some sort? ...

I think if you are only able to feed the 9-10 month old cuties twice a day with the wet food, the trick will be to find a good "goldilocks" wet food (with all your ingredient preferences) which will also have a higher amount of kcal per can than some other, also good, foods. At least until they are 12-18 months old, I think it's a good idea to get all the good kcal per day into the young cats as you are able!

You'll need to comparison shop the brands and flavors to find the ones that are, for example, below 170 kcal per can (e.g. a 5.5-6 oz can) versus above 170 kcal per can. (I fed my kitty around 200 kcal per day of wet food when she was circa 8-18 months, as I felt she was still going through growth spurts. Now she's 3 yrs old and gets about 170-190 kcal per day on average.)

 

[duckpond]

My cats really like Tiki After dark, and i think its very good for them. However do be aware it is fairly low calories about 68 calories per can..my cats vary in size and the small one needs about 180 calories per day, the larger males 250 to 300 or so. you will either need to feed quite a few cans, or supplement with dry. I feed two wet meals a day. But i do supplement with Dr. Elseys dry, chicken formula. It is one of the few dry foods that is very high protein, and very low carb that i have found. and the only one all of my cats actually like

 

[Furballsmom]

And, to add my thoughts again, it's a great idea to switch them off of kibble if you have the calories ok with canned food. I have my Big Guy on both, but that's this household. I've been wanting to try Instinct Raw Boost, that has kibble and freeze dried raw.

In any case, you could leave wet food out during the day - it isn't a problem to have it out for 6-8 hours. It's only when moisture is added to kibble that bacteria grows at an incredibly fast rate and so that can't be left.

 

[2BSH]

I’m sure others will chime in but isn’t tiki cat too low in fat to be fed exclusively for growing young kittens.? As duckpond said it’s really low in calories.. my kittens went through 350 to 400 calories a day at that age .... that’s a lot of cans of tiki at 68 calories a can. Just my

 

[duckpond]

I think most tiki cat foods have 13% to 15% fat, which is low, but from what i understand its fine, if over 10%??

It would as you say be a lot of cans of tiki to feed two kittens I think Tiki is an awesome food, one of the best for high protein, it also has plenty of liquid which cats need. As a wet food that is supplemented with dry, or another high calorie wet food, i think its hard to beat.

 

[2BSH]

It is a great food for sure. Too bad my cats don’t think so. If they liked it I still would not want to feed them just tiki though. Like you said it would be fantastic paired with another higher calorie food.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I think like many hapless hoomans here, I ended up with half a dozen or so different wet, grain-free, etc., brands and flavors that my cat will deign to eat. I put on my restaurant server's apron and serve them up several times a day, rotating foods around at certain mealtimes.

In times of trouble, I resort to freeze-dried raw toppers or else a few tempting pieces of a dry food sprinkled near her wet food dish to get her to eat.

So, you could have several brands at hand and if the Tiki is not to be the main showstopper, serve other brands more suited for their growth spurts for at least part of the day.