B.G. (before grain) cat food

[quincymycat]

I just picked up a couple of cans of this food today and the 3 of my guys that eat canned food seemed to love it.
Before I let them get too attached to this food, does anyone have any comments about it - good bad or indifferent?
I notice on the label it is classified as a supplemental protein and not intended to be a sole diet. My boys get a good quality kibble and self feed on the kibble during the day - canned is only offered in small amounts twice daily.
Having a canned food that they like, especially Quincy who has to have meds mixed into it twice a day is handy for me, but I refuse to choose my conveneience over their health.
Thanks in advance for any comments.

[sugarcatmom]

It's definitely for supplemental feeding, meaning no more than about 10-20% of a cat's diet. So if a cat was eating 300 calories a day, I wouldn't feed more than 60 calories worth. Or perhaps every 5th meal could consist of canned BG. Because it's only processed meat, lacking calcium and taurine and other vital nutrients, it could result in nutritional imbalances if fed much more than that.

[14+kitties]

Originally Posted by quincymycat

My boys get a good quality kibble and self feed on the kibble during the day - canned is only offered in small amounts twice daily.
Having a canned food that they like, especially Quincy who has to have meds mixed into it twice a day is handy for me, but I refuse to choose my conveneience over their health.Thanks in advance for any comments.

I don't get the sentence I bolded. If you refuse to choose your convenience over their health then why are they eating dry? A much better choice would be a good quality canned food like Wellness, Innova Evo, Merricks, anything with no by products or corn and grain. They should be eating larger quantity of canned food with little or no dry. As SCM would say "the worse quality canned food is better for a cat than the best quality dry." Cats need moisture with their food. Not after their food.

A good site to check out is:

http://www.catinfo.org/

It is written by a vet who has most definitely done her homework.

[lUvMyLaB<3]

I like their kibble for dogds, and the canned dog food is the same cannot be used for their main diet but I like thei canned tripe, just tripe and water.

I feed a lot of raw, and canned, and I was going to pick up some of these cans also for when I don't give them raw that night. I think that is what it works best for, feed a good quality canned food and supliment with the BG, as a treat, a suppliment, like the salmon or something if you wanted to help their coat, I don't like to give my cats too much fish so this works for me, or in place of raw when travelling, or busy, or for me, when we get take out or eat out, and I don't make raw that night..... It is good stuff though. If I were you I would get my cats off that kibble, what kind do you feed?

[lUvMyLaB<3]

The BG, is made by Merricks, btw,

[quincymycat]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

I don't get the sentence I bolded. If you refuse to choose your convenience over their health then why are they eating dry? A much better choice would be a good quality canned food like Wellness, Innova Evo, Merricks, anything with no by products or corn and grain. They should be eating larger quantity of canned food with little or no dry. As SCM would say "the worse quality canned food is better for a cat than the best quality dry." Cats need moisture with their food. Not after their food.

A good site to check out is:

http://www.catinfo.org/

It is written by a vet who has most definitely done her homework.

Cats being cats, I have tried and even left them no option but to eat all of the above brands, plus several more purchased at premium pet food stores. After the dishes are ignored and crusty on top, I have to remove them. It would give me pleasure to feed them a no corn blend canned. As far as canned goes, they prefer Fancy Feast and I feel like a mother feeding her kids MacDonald's everyday!
The kibble I use is Eagle Pack Holistic and I have circulating water fountains in 3 places in the house., They do drink a great deal of water. They also like to sit on the sink and drink water from the tap several times a day.
I even tried making my own wet food after getting the supplements needed to ensure it was healthy. I used fresh whitefish and chicken breasts as the base - it was refused and I almost put a crust over it and served to DH for his dinner since it was definately high quality.

[Jim Hall]

ahh ok they like the wet bg so the dry meriick bg
i feed it to mine and while they dont go crazy for it, IF you keep it fresh is is prettty appeling

it took me 2 yrs to weam DU off ff and she still revrets once in a while

as far as mcdonalds well yeah but it saved a few cats that i know of including DU

[quincymycat]

Originally Posted by lUvMyLaB<3

I like their kibble for dogds, and the canned dog food is the same cannot be used for their main diet but I like thei canned tripe, just tripe and water.

I feed a lot of raw, and canned, and I was going to pick up some of these cans also for when I don't give them raw that night. I think that is what it works best for, feed a good quality canned food and supliment with the BG, as a treat, a suppliment, like the salmon or something if you wanted to help their coat, I don't like to give my cats too much fish so this works for me, or in place of raw when travelling, or busy, or for me, when we get take out or eat out, and I don't make raw that night..... It is good stuff though. If I were you I would get my cats off that kibble, what kind do you feed?

I feed Eagle Pack Holistic Select kibble

[Jim Hall]

the worse quality canned food is better for a cat than the best quality dry." Cats need moisture with their food. Not after their food. while i agree with the last statement. the first one i think is hyperbole.

[quincymycat]

Originally Posted by Jim Hall

ahh ok they like the wet bg so the dry meriick bg
i feed it to mine and while they dont go crazy for it, IF you keep it fresh is is prettty appeling

it took me 2 yrs to weam DU off ff and she still revrets once in a while

as far as mcdonalds well yeah but it saved a few cats that i know of including DU

Hey Jim,
Does the Merrick kibble come in a small white bag? somewhat plain looking except for the name Tuna or Salmon?
I think I tried that sometime last year. It went over okay, but not everyone liked it - the tuna was the preferred choice though.

[Love4himies]

I have to agree with 14+ and SCM, kibble should only be used for a treat, not as food. The effects of feeding kibble may not be immediately apparent, but as they age it will be.

It is very difficult to get a stubborn kibble addict to eat canned. Try sprinkling the kibble on top of a bit of canned food so they get used to the smell of canned and gradually decrease the amount of kibble. Once they are on a quality canned, you can then try lightly cooked meat, then raw.

I make my own raw for my cats, definitely not convenient, but is what is best for my cats. Not too difficult, I use the recipe posted on the website catinfo.org.

[Jim Hall]

Originally Posted by quincymycat

Hey Jim,
Does the Merrick kibble come in a small white bag? somewhat plain looking except for the name Tuna or Salmon?
I think I tried that sometime last year. It went over okay, but not everyone liked it - the tuna was the preferred choice though.

yup whats nice is that the wet has aton of moisture but as the pacaking says
you have to only have the wet as a small percentage

so i use that and thier treats are boiled chicken or salmon or and god help me purina kitten kibble. i know i know, but i like junk too sometimes is comfort food
i like pancakes uitter and maple syrup what can i say

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by quincymycat

Cats being cats, I have tried and even left them no option but to eat all of the above brands, plus several more purchased at premium pet food stores. After the dishes are ignored and crusty on top, I have to remove them.

Did you see my response to one of your previous posts about how to get a cat to eat canned? http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....ned#post789783

It's not unusual to have difficulty switching a cat from dry to wet food. Kibble is coated in flavour enhancers by the pet food companies in order to make cats eat more of it, and therefore they can sell more of it. Cat's taste preferences are also set early in life and convincing them to try something different can be a challenge as they get older. They are reluctant to try new foods as a defence mechanism to avoid eating something toxic.

It can take a great deal of patience and persistence, sometimes over a period of months. Trust me, I've been there. But it IS possible, with even the most stubborn of kibble-addicts. Read the link in my previous post, it has lots of good advice. It may require more effort than just putting down some canned for a few hours on a few occasions. You have to get creative - sprinkle the top with crushed kibble or treats or parmesan cheese. Put just the tiniest speck of canned in with a measured amount of dry and very very slowly, increase the canned. Whatever it takes to get a cat used to the smell and texture of a new food.

And no Jim, it's not hyperbole to say that any wet food is better than the best dry. One of the most important ingredients in a cat's diet is water. They would be getting 60-80% moisture from the juicy rodents and birds consumed "in the wild". Dry food contains 10% moisture. Canned food contains 60-80% moisture. Even feeding half dry and half canned doesn't make up the difference (although it's certainly better than no canned).

[automaton2]

I also feed my kitten Maine Coon wysong nurture w pheasant it does have grain but he likes it a lot
http://www.wysong.net/products/nurtu...g-cat-food.php