Like I said. Just rotate proteins. No reason to obsess over it.
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Why Is Seafood Bad For Cats?
- Thread starter Rini
- Start Date
My whole amazon recommendations is cat food because I spend most of my summer days researching and looking into new foods to give Mika!
I get more excited to see her trying a new food that I got her than I do about getting new things for myself.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #24
This is when I knew I had progressed to crazy cat lady status. All my Amazon recommendations are cat food and cat toysMy whole amazon recommendations is cat food because I spend most of my summer days researching and looking into new foods to give Mika!
I get more excited to see her trying a new food that I got her than I do about getting new things for myself.
Buy it again! Yeah yeah...next month.Okay, now you guys have me freaked out as that's pretty much all my cat Charlie will eat. Wellness Turkey and Wellness Salmon and Turkey. The only treats he will touch is purebites Freeze-dried salmon. (He will, kind of, eat the whitefish and Salmon Core from Wellness.)
The issue with Charlie is that the vet suspects he has a food sensitivity to chicken. Though no one seems to be really sure and trying to change his food has brought me to tears more than once. He'll stop eating.
His poop is often dry and hard. Occasionally it will be the type of poop that shows inflammation. (The Diarrhea with the jagged edges. That's usually once every few months.) He also is on an inhaler for asthma.
I've tried prescription foods. I even once went and brought almost one of every can of LID available in the pet food store. Fail, fail, fail. Sometimes he would eat it if I put a tiny bit of parmesan on it, sometimes if I brought up one of the pure bites treats on top. Nothing has ever consistently worked.
I asked his vet about the Salmon because I was concerned that him being a male I could cause issues with his UI tract. She said it's okay as if he was pre-disposed to a UI tract issue that it wouldn't matter what I did.
Now I'm rethinking what to do.
The issue with Charlie is that the vet suspects he has a food sensitivity to chicken. Though no one seems to be really sure and trying to change his food has brought me to tears more than once. He'll stop eating.
His poop is often dry and hard. Occasionally it will be the type of poop that shows inflammation. (The Diarrhea with the jagged edges. That's usually once every few months.) He also is on an inhaler for asthma.
I've tried prescription foods. I even once went and brought almost one of every can of LID available in the pet food store. Fail, fail, fail. Sometimes he would eat it if I put a tiny bit of parmesan on it, sometimes if I brought up one of the pure bites treats on top. Nothing has ever consistently worked.
I asked his vet about the Salmon because I was concerned that him being a male I could cause issues with his UI tract. She said it's okay as if he was pre-disposed to a UI tract issue that it wouldn't matter what I did.
Now I'm rethinking what to do.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #26
Aslan gets one can of fish based food a day because that's the kind I have been able to get the kitten formula in. He hasn't had any issues. If that is what Charlie will eat, that is what Charlie will eat.
F
FeralHearts
no one is trying to freak you out, promise. I think it's worth it to try and limit fish when possible, but with a chicken-sensitive cat, that makes it so hard (I know, Trin has IBD and is sensitive to chicken). Chicken is in everything! Right now we are feeding Trin the Nature's Variety Instinct LID Rabbit Kibble, and no wet food at all. So I think a fish wet food has to be healthier than a rabbit dry food any day.
Also, you have Turkey as a main ingredient in the first one, so don't panic. Sure, it may be worth it to try some new foods once in a while and see if one sticks, but don't go crazy. The best food for your cat is the one Charlie will eat!
Also, you have Turkey as a main ingredient in the first one, so don't panic. Sure, it may be worth it to try some new foods once in a while and see if one sticks, but don't go crazy. The best food for your cat is the one Charlie will eat!
:-) This is good to know. Thank you. *does a dance*Aslan gets one can of fish based food a day because that's the kind I have been able to get the kitten formula in. He hasn't had any issues. If that is what Charlie will eat, that is what Charlie will eat.
:-)
LOL don't don't crazy... hmm...you mean like buying one of every can of LID to see if he would eat anything? ;-)
You are totally right - chicken is everywhere. It's near impossible to avoid it completely with what Charlie will eat so I aim for limiting until I can find things to replace it with that he'll eat.
Even the Wellness Turkey and Salmon has chicken in it: "Turkey, Chicken Liver, Whitefish, Chicken Broth, Salmon...", as does the Turkey: "Turkey, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Chicken Broth..." *sigh* but at least I know it's a good quality product for him.
I must admit I'd not thought of the mercury issue before now. (Only the UI track thing for boys.) Now that it's been mentioned it's kinda like a "Dah! Of course, that could be a problem."
Yes, exactly, I will keep trying new things and maybe one day he'll eat something different. I would even go for allowing me to rotate the proteins even a little.
Wait, that's crazy!? I thought that was just a regular Tuesday.
If you are looking for LID foods, some brands aren't labeled LID, but they don't have all the fillers and no chicken so they might as well be. If you are able to get any of the following brands, most are single-sourced proteins. Most of these brands are a little more expensive because they don't have many fillers.
- Rawz - they have single-source Turkey, Beef and Salmon flavors and have come out with four others, including rabbit and duck (although I haven't been able to find them yet)
- First Mate (also called Kasiks) has a Turkey flavor
- Dr Elsey's has a Turkey, a Beef, and two fish flavors
- Hound & Gatos has a bunch of single-source flavors
That is weird...
"Chicken, Chicken Liver, Whitefish, Chicken Broth, Herring, Carrots,..." I don't see anything on their list that shows Turkey in Chicken and Herring. :-\
LOL@ Regular Tuesday.
I don't know if I can get that where I am but I will certainly look. Thank you. :-) Price will be an issue soon if I end up bringing in Mia's sisters. That will make four kitties, but who knows maybe the future will bring a means.
I actually considered cooking for them if I could make it work.
I had a mislabel on a can of 5.5 oz can of Lotus Just Juicy Stew. It had the kcal for the 3 oz can. I thought it was super low calorie when I looked, but trusted the label and fed the whole can. Olive was a very happy kitty that morning!
I emailed the company to report the mislabel, and they have a funny customer service person, lol. Their response was: "Somebody did a copy and paste and didn’t check their work. So some cans went out with the wrong kcal, a few thousand labels went into the trash and I got to lecture people on the benefits of copy editing…."
I know Kasiks is a Canadian brand, and they do sell 12 oz cans which brings it down to a more reasonable cost. But most of the brands that don't include peas, potatoes or other starchy fillers tend to be more expensive, unfortunately. I look forward to seeing picture of Mia's sisters, though!
Unfortunately it’s another one of those dirty tricks of the pet food industry.
Here are the label name regulations (source: What Cats Should Eat by Dr Jane Hofve) :
The 95% Rule: “Chicken for Cats” must contain at least 95% chicken (excluding water for processing). Similarly, “Chicken and Giblets for Cats” will be 95% chicken and giblets together, and there must be more chicken than giblets, since chicken appears first on the label.
The 25% Rule: If the label says “dinner,” “platter,” “entree,” “nuggets,” “formula,” or similar term, there must be 25% of the named ingredients. That is, “Chicken Dinner” must contain 25% chicken. If more than one ingredient is named, such as “Chicken and Giblets Entree,” the two together must comprise 25% of the total, there must be more chicken than giblets, and there must be at least 3% giblets. So “Chicken and Giblets Entrée” could contain anywhere from 22% chicken and 3% giblets to 13% chicken and 12% giblets.
The “With” Rule: Ingredients labeled as “with” must be present at 3%, such as “Chicken Dinner with Giblets” must contain 3% giblets. (In the EU, the equivalent minimum is 4%.)
The “Flavor” Rule: An ingredient labeled as a “flavor,” such as “Beef Flavor Dinner,” may not actually contain any beef at all, but more likely will contain a digest or other by-products that (theoretically, at least) give the food a beef flavor.
I think it is “Chicken and Herring Dinner” which means it is 25% Chicken and Herring combined. The Herring would be between 3% and 12% of the food. As the 6th ingredient I would assume it is closer to 3%.
They don’t have to list whitefish on the label even though there is more of it than Herring. It’s just another ingredient in the can. That’s why reading full ingredients is so important, who can keep this all straight!?
They don’t have to list whitefish on the label even though there is more of it than Herring. It’s just another ingredient in the can. That’s why reading full ingredients is so important, who can keep this all straight!?
KarenKat
Thanks for explaining the % in the foods. It seems the food industry, be in hooman or Kitty shares the same sort of nonsense.
Daisy6
I think many complain about chicken is for sensitivities in cats. My vet said Chicken is the number one food sensitivity in cats. However everything I am learning and reading tells me Chicken, beef and fish have equal issues. So what does a hooman do? That's pretty much the whole shabang - poultry, beef - fish.This is why we are seeing a lot more duck and rabbit in the market place and not only in vets "special" food. "Novelty proteins" is the buzz phrase being used. Could it be that cats in general are forming issues with these mass produced foods like we are?
Threads like this are important - so we can all learn about these things. The the healthier we can keep them the less trips to the Doctor... one hopes.
