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-   -   feeding cats baby food -meats (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=56924)

dfoster September 25th, 2008 03:18 PM

feeding cats baby food -meats
 
my 2 cats love gerber baby food- meats- ham,turkey,chicken etc.
they wont eat regular cat food no matter how fancy. Does it harm them to give them baby food meats? one is 11 , 1 is 4 years.

kathryn September 25th, 2008 03:22 PM

As a snack, no but there is not enough taurine in there to keep them healthy. What brands have you tried? I'd say Innova Evo would be good since it's the same consistency as baby food.

Jim Hall September 25th, 2008 03:23 PM

Yes it does them harm cats need amino acids that are only found in cat foos like taurine without taurine they will go blind there are hundreds of different kinds of cat food you must be able to find something they like

have you tried fancy feast or adding a liitle baby food to regular cat food?

rainbow September 25th, 2008 03:35 PM

I agree with Kathryn and Jim.....cats need taurine and also most baby food has salt added.

What brands of cat food have you tried?

dfoster September 25th, 2008 04:02 PM

feeding cats baby food meats
 
Ive tried fancy feast, iams, natural balance, science diet, friskies....
they wont eat any of them.....

chico2 September 25th, 2008 04:06 PM

dfoster,try Wellness canned(no grain) add a bit of water and it's just like baby-food,my cats used to eat Fancy Feast,but now eat 100% Wellness and they love it(most of the time:cat:).

rainbow September 25th, 2008 04:22 PM

I agree.....most cats seem to like [URL="http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_wellness_can_index.html"]Wellness[/URL] the best. :thumbs up

sugarcatmom September 25th, 2008 04:41 PM

Try mixing some of the baby food in with a small amount of canned food and then slowly increase the amount of canned while decreasing the baby food. You can also just leave the canned out for them to nibble on throughout the day. Sometimes cats will act like you're trying to poison them when you first offer a food, but if you leave it down they'll come and sneak a few licks when you aren't looking.

Other tricks are sprinkling the top of the canned food with a really delicious treat like freeze-dried meat (Halo Liv-a-Littles or Real Food Toppers are a couple brands). Some cats really like the smell of parmesan cheese so a top-dressing of that might be enough incentive to at least try some canned. Bonito flakes (aka Kitty Kaviar) might also work.

Keep trying. Baby food is fine for an occasional treat but it's completely deficient in a whole host of nutrients that cats need. Not only taurine, but even more importantly, calcium. You definitely need to get them onto a better food. Do they eat any dry? As much as I hate dry food for cats, that would still be better than a steady diet of baby food.

sugarcatmom September 25th, 2008 04:49 PM

Forgot something: can you check the ingredients on the baby food and make absolutely sure there is no onion powder or any other onion product in the flavours you're feeding? Onion is toxic to cats, and a number of baby foods contain it, so if yours do, STOP FEEDING IT IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dfoster September 25th, 2008 05:51 PM

baby food for cats..
 
no preservatives of any kind -just meat and water....thanks for th tips

rainbow September 25th, 2008 06:02 PM

[QUOTE=dfoster;662946]no preservatives of any kind -just meat and water....thanks for th tips[/QUOTE]

That is still not complete and balanced nutrition. Please re-read [B]sugarcatmom's[/B] posts.....she is extremely knowledgable about cat nutrition.

kathryn September 25th, 2008 06:35 PM

[QUOTE=dfoster;662946]no preservatives of any kind -just meat and water....thanks for th tips[/QUOTE]

You could always to go a health food store and pick up some supplements to mix in with the baby food. That is a reasonable idea. That way the kitties could get all their taurine and things and eat what they like until you can find them a regular cat food they enjoy.

Ask someone else about the supplement though :loser: I dunno much about it but the raw feeders on here should.

growler~GateKeeper September 26th, 2008 02:48 AM

Another one to tempt your cats to eat proper food is [url=http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=10&code=240]Solid Gold Blended Tuna[/url], it's the only canned my mums' extremely picky cat will eat.

Try a variety of flavours - not just chicken or turkey - from different brands: Wellness, Evo, Innova, Fromms, Merricks, Eagle Pack, Nature's Variety

Ham is also not recommended to be fed to cats, the natural salt level in ham is quite high as are nitrates, and it is harder for them to digest it which is why none of the cats foods have ham in them.

Love4himies September 26th, 2008 06:41 AM

Your kitties may like to be on a raw diet, rather than canned food. There are some very convenient prepared raw for felines that are nutritionally complete. Natures Variety is one and I think Horizon is another company that is bringing out a line.


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