What do you feed?

4557 Views 25 Replies 13 Participants Last post by littlesushi, Dec 31, 2011

wolfsnaps

Discussion Starter · Dec 30, 2011

I am just wondering what you all choose to feed your cats? I am a huge dog foodie (is that even a thing?) and want to do my best for my kitten. I looked back a few pages but I didn't see any similar posts.

So what do you feed?

I started Otis off with tuna, then when I realized she was staying she got milk replacer followed by Iams kitten and now Purina kitten chow. I need to buy all the animals' food so now is the time to make this decision.

Do any of you do a rotation with your cat's food? I rotate my dogs food. Since Otis is still a kitten and seems to eat anything, I want her to get used to different foods. I'm going to see what is the best deal when I go but I am thinking Taste of the Wild, Natural balance, or something of that nature.

Thanks for your input.

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

saitenyo

· #2 · Dec 30, 2011

Mine get get grain-free canned food in the morning and raw at night.

I rotate their canned foods (a couple different flavors of Merrick BG, Merrick Entrees, and EVO at the moment). The raw is just Primal Chicken and Salmon because I'm kind of limited in variety (Apollo throws up beef and lamb and won't eat turkey and I can't get much else besides that).

marie73

· #3 · Dec 30, 2011

My cats eat Wellness Core (all stages, okay for kittens) and Merrick: Grammy's Pot Pie, Thanksgiving Day Dinner, Turducken, and Cowboy Cookout, also all stages, okay for kittens. They get a different flavor every meal.

You have no idea how good that felt listing those foods. For so long, they were eating not so good food.

wolfsnaps

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 30, 2011

marie73 is it because they wouldn't? Was it a difficult transition?

marie73

· #5 · Dec 30, 2011

They got a taste of Fancy Feast (my fault), which is all Cinderella would eat, and started refusing to eat the good stuff. Because of money issues, I could afford the better food, but what I couldn't afford was to keep throwing food out. Now that I'm getting back on my feet financially, I bought the Merrick again and they made the switch over night. Brats.

wolfsnaps

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 30, 2011

Crap. Guess what I have bags and bags of from Walmart? LOL. But Otis will eat anything. ANYTHING! I have never seen a cat eat anything but cat food before. This crazy cat will eat carrots, bread, ham, etc. Of course, I am not going to feed her these things all the time. It was just on a whim. I have yet to see her turn her nose up to anything. Except of course the one thing I want her to eat.... raw food. Sigh. Brats indeed.

wolfsnaps

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 30, 2011

Thanks Auntie Crazy. We should have a thanks option on this forum

I will look into that article.

Tylt33

· #8 · Dec 30, 2011

Wolfsnaps, I was in the same quandary as you, and I posted about it a few topics down (under "Feline Nutrition). It's just a really basic primer that I wanted to write so people wouldn't have to do all the reading that I did, if they didn't want to. I rotate feed Nature's Variety Raw Chicken, Wellness Chicken, Wellness Turkey, EVO Chicken & Turkey Cat and Kitten. All four are AAFCO certified for all life stages.

Penny135

· #9 · Dec 30, 2011

Mia came from the shelter eating science diet kitten food (dry) She is has always been on dry as she wont eat wet. She had very loose stools from it. I would have changed her food after the free SD was over anyway. Next I went to Purina One Kitten food. She did great on it but after reading more about grain free foods I decided to switch her to Taste of The Wild (all life stages). She didnt do well on it at all! Very loose stools and throwing up at least once a day. Next I got some Eagle Pack Kitten food for a price I couldnt refuse. She did great on it! But again I decided she needed something a little better so I started her on Natural Balance Ultra Origanal. She loved it but after being on it 10 days and having very loose stools I decided to try mixing Eagle Pack kitten and Natural Balance. She is doing great on it and loves it. Best of all no throwing up or loose stools!

You might have to switch foods for a while to find something she really likes and does well on. Just give her some time to adjust to the food before you try to switch again (if you do).

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asrowley

· #10 · Dec 30, 2011

Pinky came with the science diet, and I haven't switched her yet (even though it's got the WORST I mean the WORST things ever in it) When the free bag gets closer to the end, I'll probably start mixing a wet food diet, depending on research I've been doing on here. Good question though

marie73

· #11 · Dec 30, 2011

Tylt33 said:
All four are AAFCO certified for all life stages.

So is Fancy Feast. Which doesn't give me much confidence in anything AAFCO-approved.

MowMow

· #12 · Dec 30, 2011

marie73 said:
So is Fancy Feast. Which doesn't give me much confidence in anything AAFCO-approved.

This. There are a lot of crap brands that AAFCO says are 'complete'...it doesn't mean they are anything I'd put into my cats.

asrowley

· #13 · Dec 30, 2011

It's like half the stuff by the FDA I don't put in my body, just because something is regulated doesn't mean it's good for you (or your cat)

marie73

· #14 · Dec 30, 2011

Wait a darned minute! Are you talking about my beloved Cheetos and Fritos?? And my BFF, Little Debbie?????

MowMow

· #15 · Dec 30, 2011 (Edited)

Cheetos, Fritos, Little Debbies (as well as Diet Pepsi) are actually food groups so.... they are covered.

I think the point was, just because an organization has official looking initials doesn't mean that they can replace research and common sense in choosing a food. I'd rather have a non nondescript food NOT certified by AAFCO that I've researched and know is nutritionally sound than just blindly trust one because they say it's OK.

I love how on AAFCO's main page they talk about how they work "Closely with pet food manufacturers"... yeah I bet they do... with an open wallet.

marie73

· #16 · Dec 30, 2011

Whew!

asrowley

· #17 · Dec 30, 2011

No Marie! More of the weird medicines.

Because I sure downed myself a huge slice of new-york style pizza today without a blink :3

But yes, the point is a LOT of foods are not good for our furballs and I think what they advertise as "wholesome" foods on the TV is shameful.

Sinatra-Butters

· #18 · Dec 30, 2011

Taste of the wild, yo. Sometimes Soulistic for a treat.

WolfRyder

· #19 · Dec 30, 2011

both the cats and the dog would eat wet food exclusively if I could afford to feed it to them. It's way more expensive and I'm on a very limited budget that will get only more limited as I get older.

I can't afford to feed them all meat, either. And the hormones in the meat, well, I don't trust them.

So I'm looking for a compromise. The very rich 'Blue Buffalo' gave the cats diarrhea and throw-ups,They turned their noses up at Science Diet after they got a whiff of what the dog was eating.

And with switching up the wet foods (I did this when the kittens were younger) it was hard to know what was causing the diarrhea. Last night after not having any problems for a week, one of the kittens had explosive diarrhea. On the same food they've been eating *sighs* time to try something different I guess.

Tylt33

· #20 · Dec 30, 2011

marie73 said:
So is Fancy Feast. Which doesn't give me much confidence in anything AAFCO-approved.

My point was that if they're looking for a food to feed a variety of cats across the age spectrum, they'd do well to pick one that is AAFCO certified for all ages. It might not mean much, but, within the same brand it might make sense to pick a food that is certified for all ages rather than one that is only certified for adults i.e. EVO Chicken & Turkey (all ages) versus EVO 95% Chicken & Turkey (adults only). If trials are as slack as Auntie says, either the EVO 95% didn't keep kittens alive, or they didn't bother testing kittens on it, or the blood values weren't within ranges. In this situation, deciding between the two foods, I defer to the AAFCO certification, for better or worse.

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

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