Various Proteins

[ashekitty]

Which proteins do you all feed your cats? Are there any you avoid? I feed chicken, duck, and turkey dry foods and I’m wondering if I should be adding more. I buy a 15lb bag or so of one protein and then use it up and move to the next protein. I’ve heard that if you overuse certain proteins that cats are more likely to get allergies to them later in life.

 

[duckpond]

Most of the time mine get chicken and turkey, their fav, they wont eat duck and are not fond of Rabbit, for some weird reason. I do also feed some fish, some beef, some venison, and goat. mine are not really fond of pork. I use almost any protein i find in a good food, just to see if they like it I like rotations

 

[LTS3]

I'm avoiding chicken for one of my cats right now since it appears it triggers his IBD. I feed a variety of other proteins: venison, elk, rabbit, goat, etc. I feed raw.

In canned foods, Koha and Hounds and Gatos have novel proteins you could feed in rotation.

 

[Neo_23]

I feed chicken, turkey, rabbit, venison, pork. I think there’s arguments both ways. Some say you shouldn’t feed too many different proteins because then when they do develop sensitivities there won’t be anything novel left to try, while others say you shouldn’t feed the same thing over and over. I’m personally always for diversity and like to give my cat variety, especially outside of poultry.

Oh and I guess mine also gets some fish oil and New Zealand green mussel.

 

[prairiepanda]

I feed Jonesy chicken, turkey, pork, elk, kangaroo, and ostrich. He has a lot of food sensitivities, so he gets home-made raw. I've always liked to give my pets as much dietary variety as possible, but not to avoid allergy development. One reason is to avoid relying on one food source, in case there is a recall or shortage. Another reason is to ensure a good nutritional balance. Commercial foods need to meet AAFCO standards, but those standards don't cover everything and don't have upper limits for many nutrients, so variation in the diet helps mitigate imbalances and accumulation of toxins that could potentially arise with giving just one food.

 

[ashekitty]

Thank you everyone! I feed plenty of different brands but usually only those three proteins because they are usually the least expensive and my cat doesn’t have any current food allergies that I know of. So the general belief is that I should add a couple more proteins? Or is three okay? Thanks.

 

[Summercats]

Three is fine but I have heard chicken is the most common allergen for cats. Maybe because it is in so many foods as the main protein and as a filler in others. I try to watch how much chicken I am feeding.

 

[vynm]

Auggie is a very picky cat, and only seems willing to branch out when it's fish. So he probably gets too much fish, but oh well.
He eats: Chicken, Venison, Salmon, Trout, and Tuna. He won't even touch anything Duck flavored and isn't fond of Turkey.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

Fish, beef, turkey and chicken. I don't mind buying duck, but my cats like Fancy Feast and there is no duck formula.

 

[Ardina]

I feed my cats homemade raw, so it's particularly important to feed multiple protein types to provide a good balance of protein, fat, and nutrients. I feed rabbit, chicken, turkey, duck, and goat. Saipha and Mishka aren't a fan of beef or that would be in the rotation too.