Wet / Dry or both?

[jen]

Did you buy the food directly from the vet? A lot of times they like to promote what they sell

Just like lots of vets and shelters promote Iams and Purina and those are not good foods at all.

I feed Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul. I love it, my cats love it (they are not picky whatsoever) It costs $17-$19 for the 18lbs. bag depending on if I buy lite or not. I was buying just cheap wet food as a rare treat but I am in the process of switching to a high quality wet food for my cat Bowie who has crystals.

But I think all wet food would be best, or raw, but 50/50 wet and dry should be fine.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Denice

I have the same problem with the wet food. I always thought cats preferred wet but not mine. The only quality food they will eat any of and my one sensitive cat doesn't have problems with is the Merrick's poultry flavors. They won't touch the fish ones and the beef one made my sensitive one sick. Unfortunately it is one of the more pricey ones at $.79 apiece for the small cans. I am also stuck with a pricey one for the dry because of my sensitive one. The only ones he can consistently eat is a prescription food with lousy ingredients at $48 for a 14 pound bag or California Natural. Here I am pay $19 for an 8 pound bag of California Natural. I don't know how true it is, but a lady that works at my vet's office told me that she thought cats could get to a point where they would eat only the cheap food for the same reason that some people get to a point where they only like junk food. I guess maybe it is the artificial flavorings they just think it tastes better.

Bijou and Mika will only eat the turkey and chicken Merricks as well. You think $.79 is expensive! I pay $1.69 per can for Merricks (5.5 oz.) I recently changed their dry food to Royal Canin for Siamese and they love it. They share a can of Merricks in the morning and another one for supper with the dry food out during the day for snacking.

 

[renny]

Originally Posted by Denice

I don't know how true it is, but a lady that works at my vet's office told me that she thought cats could get to a point where they would eat only the cheap food for the same reason that some people get to a point where they only like junk food. I guess maybe it is the artificial flavorings they just think it tastes better.

It's completely true. Before I knew better I was feeding my monsters on lower quality food and I had a heck of a time getting them to eat the good stuff. I compare the crappy food to McDonalds (ever seen Super Size Me), the cats were completely addicted. I'm so glad that I got them weaned off of that!

 

[zissou'smom]

When Zissou had fleas I used Diacetomous (sp?) Earth on her. Its about 15 dollars for enough to last more than one house and more than one cat. It is not chemical, so it can't possibly hurt her except maybe a little sneezing because its the consistency of powdered sugar and gets in the nose a little.
I definitely agree though if you want the chemical kind NEVER use the stuff they sell in pet stores / grocery stores. It can kill them, and the shampoo we used when we didn't know any better make my heartbeat irregular for a couple days. I can't imagine what it did to her.

I also feed wet and dry. She gets iams kitten dry as her snack and then wet food once or twice a day. I just ordered some Merrick and we are going to try that for wet. I am probably going to stick with the iams kitten dry for now though, since it isn't much of her diet and she LOVES it.
Someday I might switch to all wet. But not today.
As long as your cat is getting not just dry, it's fine.

 

[lightninrod]

Our 11 month old Ocicat get's 50/50, wet/dry twice a day. I've settled on Merrick's(tried Paul Newman's[YUK!], NB, Wellness, Authority, etc.) canned meats for her. If you havn't seen the ingredients(in the can not on the label) it's hard to describe just how good they look.

We use Royal Canin's Special33 dry food. Ginger tries to push it to 75/25 in favor of the RC dry. My wife call's it "cat crack"

. I put 3 flavors of Merrick on her plate with the RC sprinkled around the wet meat. No free-feeding dry food for her.


Dan

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by lightninrod

Our 11 month old Ocicat get's 50/50, wet/dry twice a day. I've settled on Merrick's(tried Paul Newman's[YUK!], NB, Wellness, Authority, etc.) canned meats for her. If you havn't seen the ingredients(in the can not on the label) it's hard to describe just how good they look.

We use Royal Canin's Special33 dry food. Ginger tries to push it to 75/25 in favor of the RC dry. My wife call's it "cat crack"

. I put 3 flavors of Merrick on her plate with the RC sprinkled around the wet meat. No free-feeding dry food for her.


Dan

Our cats would only eat the Merricks as well and they have the Royal Canin Siamese dry. I certainly agree - the ingredients look dang good.

 

[del]

Felix is 7 months old. I feed him twice a day. Half a packet of wet food in the morning, mixed with some dry food and tarter control pebbles. The rest of the packet in the evening, mixed with dry food and tarter control pebbles. I divide the suggested amount of tart control pebbles up and feed half in the morning and half at night.

As far as brands go... I'm a general Wal-Mart shopper. Dry food - Meow Mix, Iams, Purina Kit n Kaboodle. Wet food - Whiskas, 9 Lives, Iams, Fancy Feast. The tarter control pebbles are just a general brand. I don't even know it off the top of my head.

 

[charmed654321]

I was told that a minimum of 50-50 wet and dry, not a complete dry. Especially for male cats. But if you put dry in their diet, make sure they drink water. I found if I put an extra water bowl around where I usually hang out, they drink more.

My guys are a pain because neither one, Rocky or his Mom, will eat wet food. I can sometimes get them to take a few bites of something, but that's about it, and they may never touch the same flavor again.

Wish I could find a way to get them to eat more wet food. I've tried everything.

Good luck!

PS: Check the ash contents of foods too. The lower the ash content the better is my understanding.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by Charmed654321

I was told that a minimum of 50-50 wet and dry, not a complete dry. Especially for male cats. But if you put dry in their diet, make sure they drink water. I found if I put an extra water bowl around where I usually hang out, they drink more.

My guys are a pain because neither one, Rocky or his Mom, will eat wet food. I can sometimes get them to take a few bites of something, but that's about it, and they may never touch the same flavor again.

Wish I could find a way to get them to eat more wet food. I've tried everything.

Good luck!

PS: Check the ash contents of foods too. The lower the ash content the better is my understanding.

Lower ash isnt pertinant as most foods have a low mineral content now.... low magnesium and phosphorus is good if urinary issues are present