I personally think you are doing fine by your cats. You researched, and you are feeding what is best on your budget. Don't listen to the vet that has a dry food company in her pocket. Feed what you want to feed based on the simple fact that cats do better on wet.

 

Don't listen to the vet that has a dry food company in her pocket. Feed what you want to feed based on the simple fact that cats do better on wet.

EXACTLY right. Vets are paid highly to force science diet on their customers...

If I could afford a better quality wet...I would. They occassionall get grain free wellness core dry as a treat

 

Most vets are very misinformed about proper diet for cats. You made the right call in feeding them canned, dry food is not good for cats, and especially with males, can lead to a lot of expensive urinary tract issues. It is also much higher in carbohydrates than canned food and therefore leads to more excessive weight gain than canned food.

The problem here is you are feeding them too much, I don't listen to the cans on how much to feed them. They put higher amounts than is usually necessary and I assume this is in order to sell more cans of food. One 13 oz can of food recommends I feed my 8 lb cat the whole thing in a day, he would love to eat a whole can, but he would explode, and eventually balloon out of proportion. Base the amount to feed off of what works for your cats, and by the sounds of things both of your cats need to be fed less. There's a formula someone here will probably know it off by heart that tells you how much you should feed your cat based on the cats ideal weight and whether you want them to lose weight or not.

Also, totally understandable about not being able to feed high quality canned every time, it's not feasible for everyone, I know I am unable to, just some tips: Rotations. If you rotate through different brands of food you can add the high quality in with the low quality in order to balance out costs. Also, buy the big cans whenever possible, and refrigerate what is not eaten at meal time. And remember, it's not all or nothing when it comes to food quality, there are plenty of decent foods for good prices that may not be top of the line, but they can be a step above Friskies (not that frisks is actually a totally horrible food, it's in my rotation for cost purposes, but you can get better for similar prices). Nutrience is a really good, Canadian only brand I believe, you can find at most pet stores. It comes in the big cans for 2 something here which is a fantastic price for the quality of ingredients, and my cat really loves the duck and rabbit version .

Just another note on them being constantly hungry. They probably aren't really as hungry as they'd lead you to believe. My last cat was severely overweight due to free feeding dry food, which is how your cats lived the first portion of their lives. Once we switched her over to scheduled feedings she was ALWAYS begging for food. She didn't need any, but she wanted it. It gets annoying, but it's something you're going to have to deal with if you want them to lose weight, you can't feed them just because they asked. Even my boy now, who is a perfectly healthy weight, runs to the kitchen whenever anyone comes home/comes upstairs. He is constantly trying to con us into giving him extra meals my mom and I have to leave each other notes . So them crying for food is something that's going to happen now that it isn't available 24/7.

Also I feed my cat 1 5.5 oz can of food a day, half at breakfast, half at dinner time and his ideal weight is 7-8 lbs. If you're finding you're having trouble with a lot of annoying meowing and begging try feeding more smaller meals throughout the day so they think they're getting more, even if they really aren't

 

Most vets are very misinformed about proper diet for cats.

Agreed. This is so infuriating!

I had one vet trying to get me to switch to Science Diet dry food because it is healthier for them. I asked how it is healthier, and she said it has more nutrients. I asked what nutrients it had that raw or grain free canned did not have and that cats need.... she said it was more nutritious. I kept asking for some reason why I should switch and she kept saying meaningless crap! I tried to explain that I wanted a food without grain, cheap fillers, something low in carbohydrates and high in protein etc. and all she could say was that SD was more nutritious. :???:

I was pretty angry that someone with a university degree couldn't give me any kind of real reason for switching foods... she finally conceded that I probably have done some research and that the cats don't look unhealthy so that what I was feeding was probably ok.

Nutrition is SO important, it really bothers me that vets don't have a clue for the most part.

 

I think you are doing just fine. And friskies is pretty good nutritionally, so don't feel guilty feeding it! We do the best with what we have. I am disappointed, but not shocked, that your vet said that. Vets are taught very little about nutrition, and if they are, it is typically taught in a seminar by a big pet food brand rep. Dry is the worst thing to feed a cat, especially if trying to lose weight since it is so calorie dense. My kitty ballooned over thanksgiving break when we visited my parents who free feed their cat dry...




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If they like it, the Friskies pate is better than the slices or chunks or whatever they're calling the non-pate now.

In the meantime, think about checking out other vets. If you like her and everything else she says matches your research, then you can just agree to disagree about food. But it never hurts to see what other options are out there.

 

Dry food is more fattening.. when my cat went to went she lost weight

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Wet*

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The cats at the shelter here all have dull, harsh dry coats. When I was looking for a cat, before I adopted Munch, I went to the SPCA and was surprised at how horrible all their coats were. Now I know why. They're fed dry science diet only. Sure didn't make me want to adopt one of them!

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My cat was at a shelter and was fed whatever was donated.. she has a very lush coat but always has

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My own cats eat a combination of wet and dry foods. They only get the dry because I haven't been able to fully wean them off of it (I have a couple of dry food addicts,) but I really do think it contributes to their weight issues.

I start my fosters on a wet only diet from day one, and I have never had an overweight foster cat--and I foster adults, so they're sometimes with me for several months. Not only do my fosters maintain a healthy weight, they also have beautiful glossy coats, lots of energy, healthy daily eliminations, and zero dandruff. My fosters are often big eaters and eat more than the recommended daily amount for a cat their size, but it's never caused a problem with weight gain.

I pretty much completely disregard the vet when it comes to my cats' nutrition, because I've seen the results of vet recommended dry diets vs. a wet or raw diet, and the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

My cats so only eat dry and they are thin, always have been. I asked my vet how to fatten them up some and she said canned food and treats lol. I only wish I could get them to eat canned. I waste so much trying. But dry food hasn't made my two fat, wish it did lol.

 

I mean, I wouldn't place such a heavy blame on animal shelter's. They've got to feed their animals something, and those crappy foods are better than nothing. Healthy foods aren't cheap to feed to one or two cats, let alone a shelter's worth of cats, and those companies that create the healthy foods aren't donating as heavily to shelters as Hills, that's not the shelter's fault. There's only so much they can do with community donations. They can't feed their entire shelter great foods off of them, especially great wet foods.

As far as promoting those foods goes it would sort of become mandatory wouldn't it? I mean, if the shelter isn't promoting the companies food, the company is going to stop donating to the shelter, simple as that. Then the animals are worse off than they were eating that food. This "junk" food is better than starvation due to a lack of food imo. If my shelter didn't get donations from Royal Canin they would be in a hard place. They're constantly begging the community for cans of wet food for their cats, there's only so much they can do.

 

Thanks so much everyone for the advice and opinions. I will keep doing what I am doing but at the same time keep an eye on portion size. Our first cat passed away from asthma but at the same time our vet at the time (not the same one as we have now) thought Mini had renal failure since he was so thin but at the same time never really encouraged wet food. I have guilt because at the time I really didn't research it and kept with the dry.

Anyways this time I am educated and hope to keep Bib and Marley healthy and happy for many many years. Thanks again everyone

BOB

MARLEY



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Ahhh, they're gorgeous!

 

They are gorgeous! Love the stripes.

 

Yes they are gorgeous if I must say so myself. Bob has beautiful markings and the personality to match.


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Yes they are gorgeous if I must say so myself. Bob has beautiful markings and the personality to match.


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He is very regal-looking. Very handsome!

 

Love the picture of bob!!

Id like to echo Nebraska Cat and say that if you keep away from the friskies that includes gravies and stick closer with the pates it will also help the weight loss. Feeding NOT according to the can is fine, especially if you're trying to trim down Bob a bit. Also nutrience was brought up in the thread. Its a good canned food that sells the big cans too and Petsmart has them on sale for 1.59 for the big cans (approx 13 oz). If you go by oz, you pay 12cents for a small can of friskies, and also 12 cents for a big can of nutrience. You only pay 9 cents for a big can of friskies though, but if you want to go a tad bit better food, nutrience's duck and rabbit is a good way to go.

Just to compare, the best brand PetSmarts carry in my area are the wellness, and while on sale right now for a big 13 oz can, you pay 23 cents an oz... Just thought Id put it out there...

So for 9 cents an oz,you get the big friskies can 3 cents more gets you the nutrience,and double that gets you the best brand in the store. A=That only one store. I think Walmart sells friskies cheaper though. And I live in Ajax, Ontario so.. I'm Canadian too lol!
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