Senior cat food

[ancientgirl]

The other day I was buying some food for the Dynamic Duo at Petsmart. As I was reaching for a couple of cans, a woman asked me a question about the food, since she only just started feeding her cat wet, she was asking me how I fed mine. Anyway, I got distracted and instead of getting what I was reaching for, I took two cans of Senior cat food. Vlad and Oksana are 8 and 7 months old. Would it be okay to feed this to them or should I take it back? I don't want to give them something that might upset their stomach because of the different nutritional content.

I'm such a dork. I do this all the time when I do groceries. I reach for something, get distracted and get home to find I've got the thing next to what I was reaching for!

[sugarcatmom]

A couple of cans won't be a big deal. Senior food tends to be lower in protein and higher in carbohydrates, which isn't what you'd want to feed regularly, but such a small amount isn't going to cause any harm.

[ancientgirl]

Cool, thanks.

They both share one can in the morning and the same in the evening. They really don't eat much in one sitting. In the morning they don't eat all of it, so I toss it before I leave for work, so as not to have it out all day. But in the evening, they will finish in a span of about 2 hours. These two are the epitome of grazers. That's why I have to leave the kibble out for them.

[clm]

I do the same thing once in a while, a couple of cans isn't going to hurt them.

Cindy

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by ancientgirl

In the morning they don't eat all of it, so I toss it before I leave for work, so as not to have it out all day. But in the evening, they will finish in a span of about 2 hours. These two are the epitome of grazers. That's why I have to leave the kibble out for them.

You know, you could actually leave the canned out all day if you want. My guy is also a nibbler, and that's what I do. It doesn't spoil as much as you'd think, especially if you add some extra water to it to prevent it from drying out too much (although Aztec likes the dried bits!).

[ancientgirl]

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

You know, you could actually leave the canned out all day if you want. My guy is also a nibbler, and that's what I do. It doesn't spoil as much as you'd think, especially if you add some extra water to it to prevent it from drying out too much (although Aztec likes the dried bits!).

I'm going to do that tomorrow then. Before I leave for work, I'll just add a bit of water to keep it moist. I stopped leaving it out for them, after I came home one day and saw it got all crusty. I didn't think to add water, but it makes sense.

[growler~GateKeeper]

Yup you just need about 1-11/2 teaspoons of water to keep it moist enough for several hours - hopefully that way they will eat more of the wet food

[ancientgirl]

I tried it this morning. Hopefully it will encourage them to have more of it. Last night I saw the Little Miss drinking water from the bowl. I hadn't actually seen her drink in a couple of weeks, so I'm always excited when I see that.

[krdahmer]

One of my vets actually told me to make the wet food more like a soup. I add about 3-4+ tbsp hot water to about 1/4 can of the food. The boys love it.... it's a bit messy that way but good for them. (I think they also like that the hot water mixed with the cold or room temp. food makes it like a warm soup... more like what I eat- which they are always trying to get into.)

It doesn't last much more past lunch around here so I've never had a problem with it drying out.

[ancientgirl]

That's a great idea. I'm going to try it this evening and see how they like it. Thanks.