Vet told me not to feed friskies

matts mom

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I've read posts by  people that told me they raised 18yr old cats on nothing but friskies, I've read articles that tell me even the cheapest wet food is better than dry.................I called the vets office yesterday to get the exact amount of food I need to feed Matt for his size, and the vet says Get him off it....don't feed him any store brands. instead, drive out to us, and we'll give you a free bag of kibble to hold you over till your car's fixed and you can afford the good wet food he's been on....feeding grocery store foods could give him UTI

I have my own concerns about the salt, and Matt's put back on the weight he lost during the week he's been eating friskies(though he's eating the same amount as before) but this seems a pretty strong stance to take on canned food? I am going to pick him up a bag of weight control kibble for now, but with car repairs I simply don't have $1.89/day for cat food, when he could be eating cheaper like the people are. every penny counts and the kibble is $20 for 3weeks(the same amount of wet cost me $48.50)

I don't know about getting the free food, as it's hills, and hills gives him the runs every single time...but I can afford the kibble he eats. 

The other thing is, he's begging outrageously....eating then asking for more 20min later just because he likes to eat. I can't go in my kitchen without tripping over him. and he's trying to break open his food container. Should I get him one of those all thingies that you put the food in and make him work for it? I wonder if that would distract him from the main food container
 

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I guess it depends on the vet. . .my vet has cases of Friskies stacked in his office for their clinic cats :dk:. And whether you believe your vet is correct about this. Up to you. But didn't you say Matt gets barfy/constipated on all dry? If it doesn't make him sick I'm sure 3 weeks on kibble only will be fine. But if he does get sick from it the vet bill might be higher than the food bill :/.

How much do you pay for Friskies? :eek: I know prices are higher in Canada but it's only 50 cents a can here.

If he'll use it, a kibble ball would be a good idea. It'll keep him occupied and provide more exercise.
 
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jcat

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The other thing is, he's begging outrageously....eating then asking for more 20min later just because he likes to eat. I can't go in my kitchen without tripping over him. and he's trying to break open his food container.
It sounds as if the cheap food isn't filling enough for him. Generally speaking, the higher the quality of the food, the more nutritious it is and the less you have to feed of it, so that offsets the higher price. You also have to take potential vet bills and the amount of litter you're using into account.
 
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matts mom

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I guess it depends on the vet. . .my vet has cases of Friskies stacked in his office for their clinic cats
. And whether you believe your vet is correct about this. Up to you. But didn't you say Matt gets barfy/constipated on all dry? If it doesn't make him sick I'm sure 3 weeks on kibble only will be fine. But if he does get sick from it the vet bill might be higher than the food bill :/.
How much do you pay for Friskies?
I know prices are higher in Canada but it's only 50 cents a can here.
If he'll use it, a kibble ball would be a good idea. It'll keep him occupied and provide more exercise.
yeah he gets the runs on cheap dry food, and I think it's the corn fillers, which is also the reason I'm not sure abut getting the the free food-it's science diet

The kibble i buy him, is an easy to digest formula, and the food we settled him on once we determined that he didn't have anything wrong with him.....main ingredient fresh deboned salmon/duck depending  the flavor. In Canada I'm paying 69cents/can..........and i don't mind paying it, though his rapid weight gain bothers me. I'll be glad when the car's fixed and he can go back onto the good stuff.

i am beginning to wonder if i have a high-class  fancy vet, given the level of quality they seem to push for. I went to them for Sassy's dental work because they had a huge promotion on 1/2price pre-op and $100 off the cleaning......and when she died from the anesthetic they tried so hard with her, and were so good about everything, that we brought Matt into them when we got him.They're really great and helpful, always willing to answer questions, which i love........but sometimes they come out with something like this, and i' wonder.....what's the average income of their clientele that they can say absolutely o grocery store food is acceptable?
 

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Where in Canada are you located? I know it's a long shot, but if you're close to London and don't have a Costco card, I could meet up with you at one of them and let you use mine. You can buy a case of 48 cans of Friskies, it works out to about 49 cents a can. Also, right now Shoppers has a special on Friskies, I think it's 3/$1.49. They usually have Amigo for the same price when Friskies is on sale, they're 3oz cans but it looks like it's better quality (I have my suspicions that it's actually made by Weruva, but I have yet to follow up on that by contacting either company). Pet Valu also has a brand called Health Diet that's cheaper than Friskies, it's their store brand Friskies. I think it's either 49 or 59 cents a can, but I can't remember.  
 
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matts mom

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thanks for the offer, I greatly appreciate it.....my husband would have a fit and lecture me abut the dangers f internet
 if I took you up on it, or told you where I am..lol....but I do have family with costco cards, and given that I just helped my brother rehome his cat, he would probably help me feed mine in return. who sells Amigo? i'd like to follow up on your leads, and check the ingredients on Petvalu's food too......he's had problems eating anything with corn or oil so i have to read all labels before feeding.
 
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gloriajh

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Just a link for your reference: catinfo.org

I feed mostly canned - even to the Feral-born that are outside.

I give dry as a treat only to 5 of the nine inside cats, or in the case of the feral born cats, as a filler. I do use quality dry - such as Taste of the Wild, though.

I feed Friskies canned to our strays and former ferals, as well as the outside feral-born. The inside former ferals won't eat anything but the canned Friskies - I'd rather they eat the canned than kibble - even IF the kibble is quality. When I give them the better brands - i.e. Wellness, - they won't eat it.

I believe that good health is supported by quality food. However, my economic status isn't as generous now and I'm having to "just do the best I can".

As someone has said here - when you feed quality food they usually get what their body needs and little of the food ends up as a waste product in the litter pan, and they aren't starving all the time.

Sorry I can't be more helpful - I'm pressed for time. :)

Also, check out PetFlow.com - they ship free (to U.S.) for orders above $49.00 - I'm finding their prices and service very satisfactory.
 

feralvr

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Where in Canada are you located? I know it's a long shot, but if you're close to London and don't have a Costco card, I could meet up with you at one of them and let you use mine. You can buy a case of 48 cans of Friskies, it works out to about 49 cents a can. Also, right now Shoppers has a special on Friskies, I think it's 3/$1.49. They usually have Amigo for the same price when Friskies is on sale, they're 3oz cans but it looks like it's better quality (I have my suspicions that it's actually made by Weruva, but I have yet to follow up on that by contacting either company). Pet Valu also has a brand called Health Diet that's cheaper than Friskies, it's their store brand Friskies. I think it's either 49 or 59 cents a can, but I can't remember.  
How sweet of you to offer this :hugs: !!!

Matt's Mom, I was going to suggest trying to get to Costo for the Friskies Pate. I also feed Friskies to my feral cats and get it at Costco. :nod:
 
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matts mom

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I'll definitely get someone to run me out to costco.......i really do appreciate the offer Nerdrock, it was very kind 
 In the meantime I grabbed him some weight loss kibble to feed along with his friskies, the same brand as his easy to digest formula but with half the fat  more protein and less calories.......maybe that will help his weight gain?
 

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Amigo is shoppers drugmart's store brand. Its made in Thailand in a human grade facility, no by products, etc.
 
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matts mom

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Thanks, I''ll grab him some next time i'm out there and see how he likes it
 

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If you are using a nutrient dense kibble and the cat is drinking plenty of water you should be okay.  But, I would much prefer a wet diet myself but that's me.  Mine get a 90% wet to 10% kibble.  The feral is almost 100% wet although I leave dry out for her.  She seldom touches is, just every now and then.  I guess you'll have to decide whether or not to take your vet's advice on this one.  I know it gets confusing.  It really does and everyone has a different idea on how things should be.  I think you need to decide how to pack as much nutrition as you can into what you can afford.  If Friskies wet is what you can afford, then Friskies it should be.  If all you can afford is kibble, buy the most nutritious kibble your budget will allow.  I know you will do the very best you can no matter what your decision is.
 

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Weight control kibble is a scam. Unless by some magical reason it has more protein than regular kibble, it won't be doing him any good. Hills either. They never have any good amount of (animal) protein in their foods.

While Friskies is definitely not the best, it's better than dry IMO. It's dry that causes UTI's with it's body drying crunchies. It's possible that your vet has a high standard for food (which is rare to find), but don't let that discourage you enough to move back to dry... :nod:

The begging is normal if you have moved him from free feeding to meals. (Which you had just done, right?) Unless he starts crazy losing weight, don't believe him. He's using the power of annoyance to persuade you. Cats are sneaky like that.

Oh, and if he's rapidly gaining weight, just cut back on how much food you give him for the day. If you are feeding wet only, one can usually does it, if it's dry and wet, the dry should definitely be under 1/4th cup per day. (Sorry, I can't remember ;__; )
 
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matts mom

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Weight control kibble is a scam. Unless by some magical reason it has more protein than regular kibble, it won't be doing him any good. Hills either. They never have any good amount of (animal) protein in their foods.
While Friskies is definitely not the best, it's better than dry IMO. It's dry that causes UTI's with it's body drying crunchies. It's possible that your vet has a high standard for food (which is rare to find), but don't let that discourage you enough to move back to dry...

The begging is normal if you have moved him from free feeding to meals. (Which you had just done, right?) Unless he starts crazy losing weight, don't believe him. He's using the power of annoyance to persuade you. Cats are sneaky like that.
Oh, and if he's rapidly gaining weight, just cut back on how much food you give him for the day. If you are feeding wet only, one can usually does it, if it's dry and wet, the dry should definitely be under 1/4th cup per day. (Sorry, I can't remember ;__; )
the protein is the same, it has half the fat and less calories. I've never free fed him, so that's not an issue, he gets kibble as well as wet to total calories of 275/day split to 5 meals because he BEGS something fierce abut every 4hours so I split him to smaller meals.....if i give hi a bigger meal, he'll still eat it all and act like hes starving 2hours later so i figure frequent feedings isthe way to go. He wakes me at 4am and gets locked in the basement with food and a lazy boy....breakfast when I get up, lunch at 2, supper when we have it and something when we go to bed.

i think the reason he gained weight is that friskies comes in around 230 cal/tin and i didn't realize this so I was feeding him the same as I did on go natural(200/tin)....he usually gets 1/8th cup on top of the tin as his daily allotment
 

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275 calories a day? That is way way way too much unless he is a very large cat. My 9 and 10 pound cats eat less than 150 calories a day. And usually closer to 100.

And as someone else said "weight control" food is a scam. A marketing ploy and the food is full of junk.

What is this "good food" your vet wants to sell you? I'd feed friskies canned before I'd feed any corn laden kibble.

Here is a brand new nutrient chart complied by Dr Lisa Pierson, it includes carbohydrates. Cannned foods only because Dr Pierson is against dry feeding for cats.

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf
 
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matts mom

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wow, I've never seen a cat that big before . matt's only 14lbs. His ideal is 12. I was concerned that the top ingredient was oatmeal...it's always been debonedchicken with this brand's other varieties. strange. i'm thinking it's filler. I won't be buying it  again, i  saw another,simple kibble that was less fat good protein and oven baked.....but didn'tbuy it because Iknow this brand...should have considered it
 

otto

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wow, I've never seen a cat that big before .
What? I think you have misunderstood something? My cats aren't big, they are 7 pounds, 9 1/2 pounds and 10 1/4 pounds. And with the exception of the 7 pounder who has an extremely high metabolism, they eat between 100-150 calories a day (if the pet food manufacturer can be believed), usually closer to 100 than 150.

matt's only 14lbs. His ideal is 12. I was concerned that the top ingredient was oatmeal...it's always been debonedchicken with this brand's other varieties. strange. i'm thinking it's filler. I won't be buying it again, i saw another,simple kibble that was less fat good protein and oven baked.....but didn'tbuy it because Iknow this brand...should have considered it
Oh well. I just think trying to reduce a cat's weight while feeding kibble is counter productive. But then, I am one of those anti-kibble people. :lol3:
 
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matts mom

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the cats in the article you linked me to are 20-30lbs. I've always fed dry food, wet food is new to me. The good food i refer too is EVO,california natural, wellness, merrik, go natural etc. I won't feed what the vet sells because they push science diet. they told me not to feed him friskies, and offered me free food, and instead I went and bought him a bag of kibble...I figure even kibble has gotta be better than science diet for  week of two....he's never eaten that stuff without it coming out one end or the other in the wrong consistancy.

I've already cut his food back by about half.I was originally feeding him by package instructions, which when I  figured it out came up to almost 500 calories/day and he's ALWAYS asking for food/trying to get it himself. hes 14lbsand his current feeding guidelines come from the vets office based on the kcal of the Gonatural wet and wholesome blend kibble. not all foods give me a kcal measurement
 
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matts mom

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275 calories a day? That is way way way too much unless he is a very large cat. My 9 and 10 pound cats eat less than 150 calories a day. And usually closer to 100.
And as someone else said "weight control" food is a scam. A marketing ploy and the food is full of junk.
What is this "good food" your vet wants to sell you? I'd feed friskies canned before I'd feed any corn laden kibble.
Here is a brand new nutrient chart complied by Dr Lisa Pierson, it includes carbohydrates. Cannned foods only because Dr Pierson is against dry feeding for cats.
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf
otto i'm  not so good with numbers can you simplify this or me? which foods  are good, which are ok, and which ones should I just ignore completely?  oh and here's the website for his kibble...www.nutreco-pet.ca  it isn't corn-laiden, hes allergic to corn....he usually eats the easy to digest formua in the purple bag
 
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