Two Cat Food Questions:

[myrnafaye]

1. does anyone here feed Dr. Elsey's clean protein, and if so, which formula(s)? 2. is it OK to give cats, esp. male cats, fish? I heard from years back that fish has been associated with a higher incidence of urinary tract issues...IDK if this is the case.

 

[KarenKat]

I’ve fed Dr Elsey’s CleanProtein Chicken kibble in the past, I only stopped because we switched to all wet food. I think it’s a fantastic dry food choice. We have also fed the canned food before, until olive decided she hated turkey. I’m planning on trying the Chicken one next.

As for fish, I have heard that there is an increased chance of hyperthyroidism with mainly fish diets, and also that the fish that is put in cat food tends to have high contaminate levels. So it’s not ideal to feed it for the main diet, although many here feed it once in a while as a treat. Also there are some here that has a cat who refuses anything but all fish flavors, so it’s not the end of the world if your cat does the same. For me, I only feed fish flavors occasionally.

 

[myrnafaye]

Hi, KarenKat, I feed them both the canned and the dry Dr. Elsey's. They do indeed love the dry - maybe even prefer it, which is a first for me, cats who prefer dry food...I know an all fish diet is not good for them and I would not do that but since it is such a "treat", I am worried that if I order a case of the salmon or whitefish, they will love it so much they wont want to eat anything else. I guess I answered my own question...maybe best to stick to chicken and turkey, etc.

 

[Kat0121]

I feed the dry Dr Elseys. The chicken. The girls love it. I have very picky eaters. They eat wet food as the bulk of their diet but because they are so picky, I give them some dry in case they decide they aren't going to eat something. Sophie's better than Lilith who is a terrible eater. If she rejects a wet food (often). she will eat the dry. She's very small naturally and cannot afford to lose any weight.

We've tried other dry foods (Orijen, Nature's variety LID turkey and Petcurean GO! fit & free). Dr. Elsey's is by far the favorite and IMO is the best dry food on the market.

I try to avoid fish whenever possible because I don't want them getting addicted to it. Some cats do. They do get some every now and then but it's rare. We stick to poultry varieties.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Shaman prefers wet food. Treasure prefers dry. But something I have noticed, is as much as they love fish, they turn their noses up at it if served more than 2 or 3 times a month. Sometimes they tire of the one kind of food so I set out both dry and wet and they either eat out of different bowls or the same one depending upon their preference at the moment.

I had a cat who did not like any kind of fish. I had her 23 yars.

 

[maggie101]

My cats love dr elseys clean protein chicken, turkey,and Turkey duck. I never feed them fish. Only wet food, no dry.

 

[myrnafaye]

I feed the dry Dr Elseys. The chicken. The girls love it. I have very picky eaters. They eat wet food as the bulk of their diet but because they are so picky, I give them some dry in case they decide they aren't going to eat something. Sophie's better than Lilith who is a terrible eater. If she rejects a wet food (often). she will eat the dry. She's very small naturally and cannot afford to lose any weight.

We've tried other dry foods (Orijen, Nature's variety LID turkey and Petcurean GO! fit & free). Dr. Elsey's is by far the favorite and IMO is the best dry food on the market.

I try to avoid fish whenever possible because I don't want them getting addicted to it. Some cats do. They do get some every now and then but it's rare. We stick to poultry varieties.

 

[myrnafaye]

Kat0121, did you ever try the dry salmon formula? And which of the canned formulas you mentioned, do your cats prefer? What I don't like is that I cannot get a case that mixes different formulas of what I think my cats would like. So I know I can get a mixed case but it will have beef in there and pork and other things that I don't really want to give my cats. I don't know of any place to get Dr Elsey's on the ground.

 

[maggie101]

Their website has variety. It would be cool if you could pick what food you want in a variety. I might email them that suggestion

 

[GalaxyGirl]

I feed the dry. No fish for my crew. I sometimes feed fish. Only two of the cats seem to eat it. While Cali doesn’t. I took worry about the thyroid issues with so I don’t feed it often. My cats are more obsessed with lamb than fish. Specifically New Zealand lamb. :/

 

[KarenKat]

There’s a local store in Colorado called Chuck and Don’s - they sell some of the cans. Maybe try local places around and see if they carry it?

 

[cheesycats]

I always look at feeding nothing but fish in this type of way, when women are pregnant they are told not to eat seafood for the most part because of the heavy metals, it’s also recommended not to let small young children eat fish very often either so I always ask myself, then why should cats be eating it day in and day out for their whole lives if it’s so dangerous to give to pregnant women and babies??? Cats are no bigger than young babies so couldn’t it pose a risk to them as well? Anyway I don’t feed it for that reason, and I myself eat low mercury fish in moderation as it is and I’m a grown adult
And that’s just one of the many reasons I wouldn’t feed fish.