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  #31  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:17 PM
damejennifer damejennifer is offline
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oh really? my vet recommend dry and wet as a treat.
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  #32  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:24 PM
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That's where a dog crate comes in handy.....have one cat always eat its meals in the dog crate (or another room). Problems sometimes arise for a cat that likes to eat only a little and then graze the rest of the day with one that'a a piggy who eats all its food at once and cleans up other cat's food as well! If that's the situation, you may have to just feed them their morning meals, and then remove any uneaten food if you have to go to work, give them an early evening meal, and a late evening "snack". You may have to adjust quantity of food with growth spurt with your 8 mo. kitten. You'll have to observe on weekends how much food they need to eat at one meal.
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  #33  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:28 PM
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Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
oh really? my vet recommend dry and wet as a treat.
I know. It's unfortunate, isn't it? Please take a look at the site. It will amaze you.
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  #34  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:31 PM
damejennifer damejennifer is offline
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i would gladly switch him over. but my bf is the opposite and sees nothing wrong with dry food. we do have him on a very healthy one, very low ash and real meat as the ingredient, and not meal
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  #35  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
i would gladly switch him over. but my bf is the opposite and sees nothing wrong with dry food. we do have him on a very healthy one, very low ash and real meat as the ingredient, and not meal
Could you tell us what food it is? Maybe your bf can read the site as well. As I said, it's an eye opener.
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  #36  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:36 PM
damejennifer damejennifer is offline
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it truly is though we cant afford to do a raw diet. we feed him authority. can we maybe feed him wet in the morning and night and just leave out a tiny bit of dry during the day?
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  #37  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
it truly is though we cant afford to do a raw diet. we feed him authority. can we maybe feed him wet in the morning and night and just leave out a tiny bit of dry during the day?
hey welcome to the forums and i think two are better then one i have three myself!

i do feed my cats moist morning and night and some dry inbetween. i know dry food isn't good for them but they don't really much of it because i think they love the wet so much more. i'm hoping to get them off dry totally. i mean i think it works good for them but again there are a lot more people here with a lot more experience then me
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  #38  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:47 PM
damejennifer damejennifer is offline
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how much wet do you give them? im new to wet food. i have always given my cats dry
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  #39  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
it truly is though we cant afford to do a raw diet. we feed him authority. can we maybe feed him wet in the morning and night and just leave out a tiny bit of dry during the day?
Oh no, I'm not talking raw diet. Although it has been proven that raw is actually cheaper to do than dry or canned. The site does have some recipes for raw which are econimical.
While the optimal canned foods would be the grain/corn/by product free foods sometimes being on a budget means not being able to afford the best. So.......move to some of the others - The canned can even be some of the Fancy Feasts. Stay away from the ones with gravies as they cantain wheat gluten, the major cause of the last huge food recall. There are some not badly priced foods available. If you are feeding the best quality dry food then you are paying a big price for it so switching to canned you may find you are maybe saving some money. Check out pet food stores and see what they have available.
There is a comment on that site - The worse canned food is still better than the best dry food out there. The thing is with dry cats never get enough water into their systems. They need to have their liquids/fluids with their food. Not beside it. Because of their nature they have a very low thirst drive. Unfortunately by the time you see a cat drinking water they are already on their way to being dehydrated. That is why a canned food diet is so important to them. The money you pay now for a good quality canned food means a lot less money spent at the vets in later years trying to fix the problems the dry food has caused.
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  #40  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:54 PM
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can i leave out a bit of dry during the day? he is so use to it. as well, how much wet do we give in a day to him? and can you recommend a good brand?
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  #41  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
how much wet do you give them? im new to wet food. i have always given my cats dry
It may take a while for your cats to transition from dry to wet. You will probably need to keep a little dry down for a while until the cats get used to eating wet.
With two cats you will probably find one large can (12 oz or something) a day is more than enough. Of course with one being a kitten still he will eat more. Start off with half a can in the morning and see how it goes. It's not so much the amount as it is the amount of calories. That should be approx 25- 30 calories per pound per cat a day. It won't take long for you to figure out how much food your cat(s) require in a day.
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  #42  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 12:59 PM
damejennifer damejennifer is offline
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thank u so much
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  #43  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 01:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
can i leave out a bit of dry during the day? he is so use to it. as well, how much wet do we give in a day to him? and can you recommend a good brand?
There is Wellness, Innova Evo, Natural Balance, and more.
This is a section of the site that tells you what to look for in a canned food. Maybe that will give you a starting point when you go looking for foods.

http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm

I think that's enough info for you to assimilate in one day. I know it's a lot to learn but once you know it it's golden.
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  #44  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 01:10 PM
damejennifer damejennifer is offline
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its alot to learn lol i just want to make sure i do the right thing
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  #45  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 01:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damejennifer View Post
i would gladly switch him over. but my bf is the opposite and sees nothing wrong with dry food. we do have him on a very healthy one, very low ash and real meat as the ingredient, and not meal
Here is a good experiment: Have your bf eat crackers all day, then tell him he can lick water and see how thirsty he is at the end of the day , sometimes men need to experience to understand .

Please read that link that 14+ sent, it is full of wonderful info on cat nutrition. Kibble should only be an occasional treat for cats. They are carnivores and all their nutritional needs comes from meat. Your cat will be so much healthier with a good quality canned.

I make my own homemade raw (use the recipe in the link above). It costs me about 50 cents for 5.5 oz of raw and $2.50-$3.00 for a can of quality canned (Nature's Variety Instinct). But not everybody is into making their own raw.
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  #46  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 01:41 PM
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I feed my cat both. no problems. You also have to remember that wet food sitting out is only good for an hour. after that it starts to grow bacteria on it and should be thrown out. Unless your cat eats everything in its bowl, it will go to waste.
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  #47  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 01:47 PM
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I feed my cat both. no problems. You also have to remember that wet food sitting out is only good for an hour. after that it starts to grow bacteria on it and should be thrown out. Unless your cat eats everything in its bowl, it will go to waste.
Where did you get this info NG? Raw food yes. Canned, . I have never had an issue leaving canned food out. Even with all my cats.
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  #48  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 02:26 PM
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Hi 14kitties: I mean canned. I was told this by my professors when I was in college for Vet tech a few years back...in my animal nutition class. After it has been out for a bit..it starts to turn more of a brownish colour..which is the bacteria growing on it.
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  #49  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 03:53 PM
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You have gotten a lot of great advice already,I just wanted to add,it's great you are considering the 4yr old kitty.
4 yrs is in no way old for a cat,who could live to be 20yrs old.
I'd say at 4 he's more like a teenager in the cat-world and has a lot of living and playing to do.
It will be heaven for him to finally have his own home.
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  #50  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 04:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NoahGrey View Post
You also have to remember that wet food sitting out is only good for an hour.
Not true at all, especially if you feed a grain-free high quality meat diet. I and countless others leave canned (and even raw!) food out for many hours every day with no problems. If you live in a very hot climate without air conditioning, or insects are an issue, then it might be necessary to do things a bit differently - but even so, it's still possible to leave wet food out for cats to nibble on.

Some ways to keep canned "fresh": 1) add a tablespoon or 2 of water to prevent it from drying out as fast, 2) use a timed feeder with freezer gel-packs in it, 3) freeze canned food in an ice-cube tray and plop a couple frozen chunks into a dish to slowly thaw out over the course of the day, 4) and if you're home, just feed several small meals a day.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NoahGrey View Post
I was told this by my professors when I was in college for Vet tech a few years back...in my animal nutition class.
Animal nutrition classes for vets or vet techs are not actually a good source of info when it comes to cats, sorry to say.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NoahGrey View Post
After it has been out for a bit..it starts to turn more of a brownish colour..which is the bacteria growing on it.
The "brownish colour" is just the meat oxidizing and a crust forming as it dries out. Even when bacteria does flourish (and if you think kibble is free of bacteria, think again), cats have digestive systems well suited to handling a higher bacteria load than us mere humans. It's short, so the food is in and out relatively quickly, limiting the ability of bacteria to colonize in the intestines. It's also more acidic, making it a pretty hostile environment for bacteria to set up shop. Having said that, some things are common sense - like don't leave wet food out for more than a day, and make sure you wash the dish with soap and water between every meal. And if your pet has a compromised immune system, be extra cautious.
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  #51  
Old June 3rd, 2010, 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
Not true at all, especially if you feed a grain-free high quality meat diet. I and countless others leave canned (and even raw!) food out for many hours every day with no problems. If you live in a very hot climate without air conditioning, or insects are an issue, then it might be necessary to do things a bit differently - but even so, it's still possible to leave wet food out for cats to nibble on.
Yep, I leave the gangs food out for them. What I do is after they've had their morning bit, I put the remainder in the fridge. Right before I leave, I take out the food in the fridge which is cold, and put it on their plates. They nibble on that until I get home. Most of the time it's gone when I get home.
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  #52  
Old June 4th, 2010, 10:38 AM
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2 are definitely better than 1..

As for the dry versus can, I do both. My Casper has had a very sensitive tummy since he was a kitten, he can't have canned. If he does, he pukes it up. And trust me, I have spent alot of money on tests. He does well on a good quality dry and drinks well. Winnie loves her canned. But I have to stand there till she is done so Casper doesn't get it. I made that mistake a few times. Casper ate a tiny bit that was left over, he puked right away. And with the hours/shifts I work, I will not let my cats starve. So dry is left out.

The funny thing is, 2 co-workers have had to take their males in for crystals. Theses cats were raised on wet.
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