What Do You Feed?

[joyfulrose]

I love reading everyone's reply's on what they feed their cats. You all seem like lovely and caring people.

 

[maggie101]

So much that I spend more on them than me!

 

[Erin80]

My two are really liking Hound and Gatos right now (rabbit, turkey, gamebird, chicken). They also get Koha, First Mate, Natural Balance and fancy feast at the moment. It all depends what is on sale. They love Nutro and Pro Plan, so next time those go on sale I will stock up. They love Merrick rabbit too.
Kaia seems sensitive to fish, gets diarrhea when she has it...so it’s mostly chicken, turkey, rabbit or duck. They also really love Performatrin Ultra stews. I have a couple cans of Boreal I’m going to try too. It’s a big mix here! No dry food.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I love reading everyone's reply's on what they feed their cats. You all seem like lovely and caring people.

Many people here are. Nice bunch here.
Most of our cats are fed a raw diet but the cat that can't deal with it is doing very well on Fancy Feast Classics pate wet only (no dry).
Feeding a quality brand is very good, and important, but sometimes whatever the cat eats without throwing up/pooping weird/having urinary or allergy issues on is MORE important.
I've heard people say "Cats in the wild wouldn't eat cooked/canned/dry foods" and they're right...but cats in the wild that can't eat raw foods would die. And as owners of spayed and neutered pet cats, that whole "death" thing is what we're aiming to avoid.
Be smart, be informed, offer your cat a lot of variety (and be prepared for some of it to be snubbed) but if they're young and healthy, expand their taste buds a bit. 10-15 years from now, when your cat is locked onto one food and won't eat it and won't consider sampling something new, it's heart wrench time.
If they're used to variety (even a little), this can be avoided.
Do your best. Be smart. Give your cat decent food, and tons of love, tons of exercise and tons play time. And enjoy them like they enjoy you.

 

[joyfulrose]

Many people here are. Nice bunch here.
Most of our cats are fed a raw diet but the cat that can't deal with it is doing very well on Fancy Feast Classics pate wet only (no dry).
Feeding a quality brand is very good, and important, but sometimes whatever the cat eats without throwing up/pooping weird/having urinary or allergy issues on is MORE important.
I've heard people say "Cats in the wild wouldn't eat cooked/canned/dry foods" and they're right...but cats in the wild that can't eat raw foods would die. And as owners of spayed and neutered pet cats, that whole "death" thing is what we're aiming to avoid.
Be smart, be informed, offer your cat a lot of variety (and be prepared for some of it to be snubbed) but if they're young and healthy, expand their taste buds a bit. 10-15 years from now, when your cat is locked onto one food and won't eat it and won't consider sampling something new, it's heart wrench time.
If they're used to variety (even a little), this can be avoided.
Do your best. Be smart. Give your cat decent food, and tons of love, tons of exercise and tons play time. And enjoy them like they enjoy you.

Well said!!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Well said!!

Thank you, joyfulrose .
I got some flack from the raw feeding people when I said our IBD cat is eating FF.
Pet food cliques are sometimes worse than politics or religion. Yikes!
If anything this cat has taught us a valuable lesson. He gets lots of love, has a happy cat family that he loves and exercises as much as he can.
We do our best. Most folks here do, too.

 

[Kal_shadowsmom]

I recently switched to Acana dry. And found out to my dismay that Shadow isn't a fan of salmon flavor, and doesn't like fancy feast. She's on a tuna Friskies kick right now.

 

[daftcat75]

I honestly don't see anything wrong with FF Classic for an IBD cat if that's what he's stable on. It's more species-appropriate than most of the boutique brands out there. At least it doesn't have peas or cranberries. I offered Krista some FF during the worst of her pancreatitis because it's better to eat heartily at McDonald's than starve at (or get stooled by) Whole Foods. When she would eat nothing else, she would take a few bites (or more) of the FF. A lot of people also have nothing good to say about fish-based foods but Krista wouldn't have made it this far without Tiki Cat, and specifically the tuna with pumpkin and crab with pumpkin flavors.

Krista has taught me so much about stubbornness (but also resilience.) One thing I've learned with her is never accept her first answer. If she's not eating, she can be convinced to take a few bites. If she wants to leave her meal early, she can be called back. If she is done in one location, move her food to another location. If she didn't like a food the first time it was offered, keep offering it. That strange new food she snubbed on Monday may be her new favorite by Friday.

 

[Minxxy]

Nature's Variety Instinct Ultimate Protein kibble with a few Raw Boost Bites.
Fancy Feast Classics.

 

[GalaxyGirl]

My 7.5 month old kittens have a lot of food allergies. They eat mostly raw, Primal frozen all proteins. I struggled to find them a kibble for 4 months they could handle. It is Instinct Raw Boost. They have the Instinct Raw Mixers as treats or snacks. I am currently trying wet food again now that I understand what triggers their IBD. Here are the foods that work and I have.

-Honest Kitchen (Turkey they love. The chicken not so much)

-Purina Beyond (I have tried a lot of high end brands this one has better ingrediens than many high end brands)

-Blue Bufflo Freedom (It has no gluten, soy etc)

-FreshPet (I don’t see anyone feeding this. I don’t work as much as I use to so feeding 3 hungry kittens raw plus high quality kibble = food bill greater than my own. FreshPet last for 3 days so its about 2.50 cheaper than canned)

-Dr. Elsey’s CleanProtein Chicken (Just got it today from Amazon. I think it will work since there’s nothing that will t trigger them)


A brand I love was Tiki cat. Triggered my kittens both wet and dry. So they can’t have.

 

[maggie101]

My cat has totally stopped throwing up her food since I switched her to Dr. Else's. I also mix in some Weruva Double Dip. Small servings.

 

[joyfulrose]

Bumping this for anyone else who would love to share
I've enjoyed reading everyone's replies! You're all wonderful.

Side note- I got a sample of dr. elsey's cleanprotein chicken kibble in the mail a few days ago. Gave a few pieces to my four kitties, 2 of them absolutely LOVED it and the other 2 would not go near it lol! I was hoping they would all love it because I really like the ingredients.

 

[sunflower7]

Hi all. Just curious, what brands of wet and/or dry food are you feeding your kitty cats?

I have 3 cats, ages 13, 9 and 5.
They now eat 4 brands canned food: Nulo, Whole Earth, Nutrisource and Wellness.
I buy only chicken, turkey and 1 of the cans has some liver, 1 has some quail and duck.

For dry, they eat a mix of Fussie cat and Purevita but I also bring home samples and they have some earthborn, and various other dry, never with any issues.

I feed 3 cans a day , split, and and dry food. I weigh them once a month and make sure they haven't gained ( they don't, 2 of my 3 lost since I upped the wet and lowered dry food. My big guy went from 21.4 to 19...took me a year. slow weight loss is best

 

[Graceful-Lily]

Felix's main dry is this: Product Listing

And the wet: Product Listing

He use to get raw but he just doesn't enjoy it. I've had cats that have eaten raw before and it's easier for me to mix when they actually enjoy it. Since I got him when I was 11 years old, I didn't know much about cats or cat nutrition so I thought dry food was the only thing. That's what he's used to so I don't force him with raw anymore. Also, he's been sick a lot the past 2 years so I just want him to enjoy his life at this point.

 

[jen]

Nora is my 15 year old and she ate any random combination of dry most her life and literally any critter you could imagine from outside. Now that she is indoor only she eats Soulistic pouches with water added to it. She doesn't care for big chunks but loves to lick up the liquid parts which is fine by me. She will gnaw at a hunk of raw steak or chicken when I am making it for myself too. I also leave out a bowl of Dr Elsey's Clean Protein for her to nibble on. She has always been petite at 6 or 7 lbs and regulates herself well. She also eats crickets when we go on walks

 

[TobiDaDog]

Currently I'm feeding a mix of wet Crave, Sheba, American Journey, and Weruva. The Weruva is the biggest hit by far, quickly followed by American Journey. (I guess my two have expensive taste dang it!)
The Crave and Sheba honestly just goes to Sir, Reese can't stand the stuff. She'll lick the juice off but leave those little rubbery meat bits behind. Which strikes me funny because she LOVES to eat. And eat and eat! Just not that stuff.

 

[mizzely]

Currently feeding mainly Friskies Pate with a little Dr. Elseys Clean Protein to cure the 2am munchies lol

 

[m3rma1d]

I got some Canidae Pure cans on sale and my picky boy is LOVING it for some reason, the rabbit and trout flavors are his favorite. He licks the bowls clean on those.
He's now being picky about some previously beloved BFF, Weruva, and Tiki Cat flavors that he used to go bonkers for... Probably because he knows that we're well stocked on those but only have a limited amount of Canidae. Little turd!