What Are Your Thoughts On Fancy Feast?

[simbasmama]

Hi everyone,

I’d given her some really good expensive food before and then about a week before she got sick, started giving Fancy Feast once a day because she seemed to like it. I just heard from my local pet store that Fancy Feast is not really “good food” because it’s made of all sorts of leftovers and byproducts and a lot of sodium, kind of like junk food.

Would you say the same, & could this have caused her an upset stomach? My parents bought those from Costco as a gift when they were visiting us because they don't really know anything about cats (but they love her so they buy stuff for her whenever they come), and my cat seemed to like them, so I just took to feeding her one can per meal and two meals per day, but I don't know if this is why she vomited yesterday and had diarrhea over the past few days. She's at the vet and everything seems fine now, but I don't want to keep feeding her bad food if it really is!

So what are your thoughts on Fancy Feast? (And "Temptations"?)

 

[LTS3]

Fancy Feast Gourmet / Classic pates are often suggested as an affordable easy to find brand to feed. The other varieties of Fancy Feast (Gravy Lovers, Elegant Medleys, etc) are ok once in awhile but tend to be high in carbs or contain too many fillers or something. The 3 oz cans aren't a lot of food so you end up spending more money on 3 oz can than you would on a 5.5 oz or larger can.

Is Fancy Feast a Good Cat Food?

There are better quality foods out there but not everyone has the budget for them. Pet stores sell some decent brands that are quite affordable, especially during huge food sales.

Sometimes a cat's tummy just can't handle the inexpensive brands. If you think the Fancy Feast is causing the upset tummy, try a higher quality brand for a week or so to see if that helps. If it does, you can donate the unopened cans of Fancy Feast to the local shelter

Temptations and other treats are ok in moderation. A few treats daily or less is plenty. Many people here on TCS prefer to feed healthy freeze dried 100% meat treats such as PureBites or even real plain cooked meat.

 

[tuffsmom]

My cat has eaten 2 cans of FF every day for 2 years and never had any problem. I feed only the Classic chicken, turkey with giblets and beef. His coat is a beautiful shiny black. I have never tried Temptations so no comment.

 

[zoocat]

You might want to just feed her less of it and not every day. If it's the "classic" variety, I doubt it is the cause. If it's one of the other varieties, it could be one of the ingredients used in gravy type foods--the things that keep it from being grain free. As for temptations, I have one cat that throws up EVERY time I give him even one treat, so I don't anymore. The other cat loves them and never gets sick with them.

 

[abyeb]

It might just be the fast transition too, sometimes that causes stomach upset

 

[maggie101]

Is it mostly morning she has an upset stomach? My cat sometimes gets an upset stomach so she cannot always eat much in the morning. Sometimes she's a pig! Spread her food in the bowl so it takes her longer to eat.

 

[cheeser]

One of our cats does just fine on the the Fancy Feast Classic flavors, but the other requires more expensive foods due to some chronic health problems.

The Temptations, on the other hand, made them puke like crazy. Now we just buy freeze-dried treats like PureBites, which have been a huge hit with our kitties.

 

[MissMolly08]

My cat eats lower end foods like Fancy Feast and Friskies just fine, as long as it's the classic.
When I first got her from the shelter as a kitten, they had her on a little bit of Friskies in addition to her dry and they didn't tell me what kind, just said Friskies. I made the mistake of buying the gravy kind and it resulted in diarrhea! Every time I fed her the wet food it upset her stomach but she was fine on her dry. I didn't know a thing about cat nutrition and thought that meant she couldn't handle wet food so I stopped giving her the canned food and she stayed on dry for the next 9 years of her life! I found this site and learned that wet food is better and that some cats have issues with the ingredients used to make the gravy, not the wet food itself. I have since started offering her wet food again, this time sticking to mostly pates and no corn, soy or wheat. No diarrhea this time!
If it was one of the varieties like gravy lovers or creamy delights, it was probably something used to make the sauce, not the meat.

 

[Willowy]

Costco (here anyway) only sells the gravy kind (grilled? I think they call it). So if she's not used to gravy-type food that could have caused the tummy trouble.

 

[sooser]

Did you transition the change in her diet slowly? Some kitties can't handle getting one kind of food one day and then a totally different food the next (especially if there's a change in quality/nutrition value). Gradually shifting what they eat by combining the food over the space of a week helps their tums adjust. Or this is what I've read and been told by vets at least.

As for temptations there is not a cat I have met who doesn't like those. They are kitty crack, total junk food...but that's why they call them treats right? As long as kitty is healthy, that's all that matters.

 

[EmmiTemmi]

I've only had my cat for a month, so maybe I'm not the best source of information, but I figure it can't hurt to let you know what I think. Personally, I feed my 5mo kitten a can of FF every day, mixed in with dry kitten food (And of course I leave a bowl of dry out for him all day too). I got the FF from Costco, so it was a good deal on the 36 can Grilled Poultry and Beef variety pack. Colby loves it and looks forward to getting the wet food twice a day. I haven't had any problems with his digestive system disagreeing with it so far, so I'll probably keep using it. Compared to a lot of other cheap wet foods, the ingredient line is pretty good.

As for temptations, Colby adores them. But I don't feed too many a day, and only during 'training' sessions. Like teaching him to 'sit' or 'come'. They're really good motivators!