cat-food

[chico2]

I have been thinking about cat-food.
I buy rather expensive"good"dry food for my cats,thinking I am doing the best I can to ensure their wellness.The only thing that bothers me a bit,they only eat"Fancy Feast"wet 1/3 of a small can morning and night.I've tried better stuff but they won't eat it not even vet-bought cans.
I have a friend,he has five cats 3 Siamese,one Himalayan and one "just a cat",they are 19,15,13,11 and 4 yrs old.
I am telling him to buy better cat food,not Meow-Mix from the grocery store or store brand wet food,but who am I to tell him to buy better food,look at the ages of his cats and they are perfectly healthy..
Not that I am thinking of scrimping on my cats,but what's your take on this?

[LavenderRott]

My cats have a dish of Felidae available 24/7. They also have water. Never had a problem.

[amaruq]

I feed mine Eukanuba....It's small bites and they combines eat 1 1/2 cups. They love this stuff..they are like little drug addicts waiting to get their fix in the morning!

[chico2]

I have no problem with mine either,they have good dry food and water 24/7 too,but have"wet"food breakfast and dinner.
I was just wondering about the validity of "good"food when some cats seem to strive on the cheap stuff.
I am not planning on changing my cats food,I was just thinking(It happens sometimes )
I've heard a lot about Felidae but have not seen it at the store..

[mona_b]

Well I feed my kitties Eagle Pack....It's all organic.And they love it.

Considering Phoenix has chunked up since being fixed.

[chico2]

Mine love Nutrience also Natural Choice by Nutro,tried Eagle Pack,but they did not like it,I ended up giving it to the crows

Finicky little buggers!!! I tried Wellness to,but no go!
I guess most cats have this annoying habit of keeping their owners in suspense to see if they'll eat new food...then they take a sniff and walk away as if offended..
I suppose if they were hungry enough they would eat just about anything.

[Catt31]

I feed mine Iams Weight control/Hairball control dry food. They love it!! The smaller bits seem to be helping my puker!! She doesn't eat so fast and keeps it down!! I only give them wet food as a treat every few days or so...they love it!! My cats aren't fat, but Spunky, my older one, isn't all that active. Tux on the other hand is a NUT!! Its just easier to feed both the same food!

[amaruq]

This is just for FYI:

When something says "meat" it could be anything from road kill to other dogs or cats.....if i see it I don't buy it..Thats just gross!

[chico2]

Yeah,I know amaruq..road-kill,cowheads and all kinds of stuff,also horse-meat,which people eat in Europe,even in Sweden..I think the cats need"meat"no matter how gross we think it is...

[LavenderRott]

My cats get the occasional chicken liver. But as for meat, just what is in their kibble.

But you can bet I would not feed them cheap canned food either. I would feed canned food with beef or chicken but not horse or any unknown meats.

[amaruq]

If it say chicken on the bag great...if it says beef great...if it says meat....no way jose. Like just the word meat, not being specific...then its a pass.

[Looking4Mittens]

my cat eats Friskies, Wiskas and Fancy Feast for soft food, and Meow-Mix for dry food... the vet said it's not the best choice, but it's fine... my cat is not finiky.. she'll eat anything anyway and she's pretty healthy too

[wAggie]

isn't Wellness made for VEGETABLES & rice?!

what CAT would like that? LOL



I had mine on Nutrience as well... i think it was the pink bag... oh, the ocean something, that's it...


looking at the ingredients, I thought that was very suitable.

OH, and the hairball one... I bought one of each 15lbs bag & mixed it into a plastic bin... double the cat (had two), double the bags,

[chico2]

I was told by my vet(they all differ)it's not good to feed your cat hair-ball food all the time.
They must be adding something chemical to eliminate hair-balls..
Personally I'd rather clean up the odd throw up...
It does not happen very often with my cats..

[wAggie]

they never HAVE thrown put hair balls, one of them (with the thicker fur, more body mass as well, lol) had a couple of hackles... but it was primarily a preventative measure that I was feeding them the hairball formula.

[apikcew]

I feed my two Wellness, Natural Balance and Active Life. No dry food except for occassional treats.

[amaruq]

With Sunny (Maine Coon) we have to feed hair ball food. We spent quite a lot when all the hair balls bunged up in her belly. I know you shouldn't but I have too.

[Catt31]

I just spoke to my vet yesterday, showed him the bag of Iams hairball/weight control formula and he checked out the ingredients. He said there are no chemicals of any sort in there. The hairball remedy is a fiber based mineral which helps to keep the cats regular. He was fine with it, said if it helped with the puking, then go for it! Spunky, the puker, checked out fine, and so did Tux, the yappy one!! I guess thats just one vets opinion, but my cats are healthy and they like the food and there is less puke, so I'm happy!!

[chico2]

Catt31,yes,the vets all have different opinions and if you have(not you,your cat) a hair-ball problem..do what you think is right.
I have noticed no such problem in my cats..when I take them outside and they now,with the melting snow,can get at grass again,they seem to take care of any hair-balls themselves.

[Catt31]

I totally agree!! Every vet I'm sure, has their own opinion, and that is cool!! I trust my vet, he's been really good! Spunky doesn't puke at all anymore, so I'll stick with IAMS until another problem arises!! My cats don't go outside. I've tried growing grass indoors for them, but it was a disaster!! They were like warthogs, rooting into the soil....what a mess!!

[chico2]

Catt31
I don't want you to think I let my cats out by themself,I would never do that in a million years
Somehow we have trained them to stay within our backyard and our wooden fence(7feet)and since I am home all the time I take them outside and I watch them,like I would little kids
I have a large backyard and they love chasing each other and sniff for other cats,but when I go inside so do they and they are happy too.

[wAggie]

playing in the backyard... hahaha

such joy!

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE watching my "kids" run free

[chico2]

I know what you mean Aggie! We are now empty-nesters,but these 3 little guys are now running ourlives instead of our kids
Also I am happy I am able to be outside with the cats,cause they love it,but we live on a busy street,so leaving the safety of the backyard is a NO-NO...Anyway right now with snow on the ground,they are such sissy-pants won't even step in the white stuff,not even to check out the bird-feeders

[Catt31]

Oh no Anita, I didn't think that at all! I've just always lived in an apartment or basement suite, so they never went out - maybe once in a blue moon on their harness! Now that I'm in a house with a fenced yard and have the summers off, I may take them out a bit more, teach them to stay in the yard too!

[chico2]

Catt31..We started training our cats on a leash first,then the water-hose method as soon as it looked like they were going to jump the fence(oh,oh Lucky might not agree!!)they never got hosed down,just spraying a bit of water was always enough
Just in case they should escape,they are micro-chipped and wear a collar(only when outside)with name and phone.

[numberoneaggie]

Chico,

About your food problem.......

My breeding partner and I have both always fed our cats Iams until a few years back. When Iams was bought out and became available everywhere, the formula was changed slightly. Two or three of her cats started losing weight and not wanting to eat the new food. So she talked to vets and other breeders and researched ingredients and came up with her own kind of food. In a large plastic trash can (she's feeding many cats, though) she combines four or five different types of food, mixes them up and scoops the mix out of the can. Since all foods are different and some are better in some areas than others (i.e. hairball, high protein formulas), this provides them with everything and is really a well-balanced diet. The two cats that were not eating, loved the new mix and are now fine.

I myself still feed my cats Iams original because I haven't seen a problem, but I will mix in a bag of Hairball formula every so often.

Hope this helps!