What Cat food to buy.
 

Hello,

First off my parents did bug me to cut my cat's nail. That got fixed. Now they are bugging me to do something about him shedding. However, they don't realize that the food that they are giving my cat doesn't help with his coat. First off, my parents are buy cheap brans.

However, I am thinking of buying my cat one of those expensive brans from the pet store (My parents buy the cat food at Wal-Mart for some reason). But I am looking for something with Omega 3 fatty acids or something that helps him not shedd.

To add to the problem, my cat is a very fussy eater. So what do you all suggest? I mean what food do you suggest I give my cat?

Sounds like you know something about quality cat food.

I feed my cats the following:

Wellness, canned grain free is their main food
Puddles and Jasper get Fromms 4 star, canned and limited Orijen kibble
Sweet Pea gets Go Natural (grain free, canned varieties) and Organics, by Nature, canned.

None of the above you can buy in the grocery store.

Puddles and Jasper used to eat cheap grocery store food: Jasper got bad diarrhea from grains. Puddles had greasy fur and SHEDDED like crazy (she is a himalayan and I thought it was natural). Sweet Pea came to me as a stray, her fur was very coarse and shedded like crazy, she was being fed at a feeding station with the cheapest kibble money can buy.

Now:
Puddles fur thickened, is no longer greasy and doesn't shed very much. Sweet Pea has extremely soft fur and also does not shed very much. Jasper has always had nice fur, but I don't know what he was eating before I adopted him from the SPCA.

Quality food has improved all their health and lessened their shedding.

There are a couple of members here who are fantastically knowledgeable in cat nutrition. They will be along soon, to give you more info.

Puddles is an extremely picky eater too. I did have problems getting her to change food, but with patience and persistance and help from growler and sugarcatmom it worked. Puddles will only eat pate type food to. I took away all her free feeding of kibble so she would be hungry enough to try the different cans at meal time. (Sweet Pea is not picky and Jasper liked Wellness immediately)

I did try many different kinds, some that she would eat at first, then stopped. Fromm's 4 star was the one she liked the most, but she needs low phosphorus and calcium too, so Wellness had to be her main food.

I think when dealing with your parents, you need to compare nutrition needs in humans the same as cats. Let them know that cheap food is processed with hair, feathers, hoofs, diseased meats, etc and it is comparable to you eating hot dogs with an added vitamin pill your whole life, not fresh meat, fruit and veggies. Cats digestive systems are not made to extract protein from grains, but from animals.

Are you in a position to help finance the food change? Perhaps you can offer that as well as information.

Good luck!

Better food will improve your cat's coat but it will not altogether solve the shedding problem. Try giving him a good brush on a regular basis, that will help.

Love4himies has already given you some great suggestions :thumbs up

Seeing as your cat is a 2yr old male you should [I]stay away from the dry food[/I] if at all possible in order to help prevent urinary crystals. Canned food being moist you can add a little extra water to help with water intake and it has far less salt than dry food which is a contributing factor in formation of crystals. You can also help prevent obesity in your cat by feeding exclusively canned food or at the very least half and half.

Wellness, Nature's Variety, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Merrick's, Innova, Evo, Fromm's are all great brands all come in canned and most do a dry food and Orijen is also a great dry food company. You want to look for the Grain-Free varieties and try limiting the amount of fish.

[url=http://www.catinfo.org/]Basics of Feline Nutrition[/url]
[URL="http://http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood"]Why cats need canned food[/URL]

And Badger's right brushing on a regular basis will help improve coat condition & minimize shedding plus it gives you some one on one time with your cat :)