Comments on: switching cat foods, opinions?

By: Poor_Man

Poor_Man — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:14:59 +0000

keep your cat hydrated and feed him dry food!!!

I have researched this in depth since my poor dog died of kidney failure due to poor quality dog food!!
Taste of the wild is a great puppy and dog food and has great cat foods as well ..wet and dry!!! you can get it online and if you go to the website you can find stores near you .. they wont be at walmarts and the like… they are in feed stores .. Agway..tractor supply stores etc

NO fillers….grains….corn….gluten or by-products
ALL human grade food….fruits…veggies and probiotics!!
check it out you wont regret it !
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
6 out of 6 star rating
around $42 for a 30 lb bag …. its the cheapest 6 star food .. and I love it for my puppy!Check this link as well!
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com
Orijen is great but it is $60 – $80 for a 30 lb bag…
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By: LaurenN

LaurenN — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:02:59 +0000

if ur planning on changing ur cats food get ready for a bomb for asbout the first 4 weeks ur cat will fart like crazy and have diarea most likley
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By: Tabi

Tabi — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:38:59 +0000

There is an amazing cat food that they sell at petco or petsmart, its called WELLNESS and it contains no corn, or wheat. Every other catfood does, and this can cause many health problems in the future. WELLNESS can shine your cats fur, and put them at the perfect weight. Also it makes them more playful and happy. IT IS SO WORTH IT!!! We bought it for my cats and it is so amazing! TRUST ME!!!
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By: J C

J C — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:57:59 +0000

Those "light" diets don’t work, as they contain useless fillers that cats don’t need. Oh, they are better quality fillers than the Iams, etc, but still ingredients that cats were not meant to eat. And often the cats eat more of the diet food, as that fiber that "fills them up" means that they need to get more of the protein that their bodies need and crave. So, to that end, while I’d highly recommend getting him on an all canned diet, if that’s not possible then look to a grain-free one from either Wellness (the Core) or Blue Buffalo (Wilderness). They have minimal carbohydrates – think "Atkins diet" for cats. When he gets the limited amount of high-protein food, he’ll be satisfied with less and eat less, and the weight will slowly come off.

There is sometimes a period of gassiness/loose stool when transitioning from a bad food to a good one. But this is temporary, and won’t last. He’ll be much better off eating the higher quality food that the junky ones. And I’d take a bag in to the vet the next time you go, and have him explain to you how feeding corn and by-products is better for your cat than feeding them meat Science Diet is the same price (or close) to the Wellness and Blue Buffalo. It’s as if you went to the grocery store and paid the same price for a package of hot dogs as a package of good steaks!
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many years of cat rescue

By: Delilah

Delilah — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:30:59 +0000

Out of the 2 choices, I would go with the Wellness. I compared the ingredients, and protein and fat contents of the two brands and the Wellness looks better. I feed my cats Wellness CORE dry (but I feed mostly wet) and have had no issues with foul smelling poop. It’s typically the grains in food that lead to smelly poop (in one end, out the other) and Wellness CORE has no grain at all.

Regarding your decision to go with a ‘lite’ food, I have a few things you might like to know. The thing with ‘lite’ foods is that they have more fiber/carbs than regular food. Those being essentially undigestable to a cat make them feel fuller, but don’t really add any nutritional value. In fact the extra carbs can lead to diabetes down the road (it happened to my cat). Your cat would be better off just eating smaller portions of a regular food.

I know what you mean about refusing to eat wet food. I had a cat like that too. Sometimes I could get her to eat wet food by mixing it with the dry. If you haven’t tried that yet, it’s worth a shot.

If you decide to go with the Wellness, I recommend the CORE. If you can’t swing that (it is a little more expensive), then the next best would be the Complete Health. If you sign up for their email newsletter, you’ll get coupons that can help with the cost. Usually I get $3 off dry food and $1 off cans. I’m not sure if they still do this, but try calling or emailing the company and let them know you’d like samples and coupons. My recollection is that Wellness was quite generous with the coupons. You could request them as often as once a month! It’s worth contacting them to find out.

Lastly, as long as you do the transition slowly you shouldn’t have to worry about upsetting his system.
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http://wellnesspetfood.com/talktous_join_our_wellpet_club.php

By: rrm38

rrm38 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:09:59 +0000

Since you have access to Wellness and Blue Buffalo, I recommend either Wellness Core or BLUE Wilderness. Both are grain free and high protein, and I would recommend them over the ones you’ve listed. Keep in mind that weight control foods are pretty pointless. As long as you feed him the appropriate amount as recommended by the manufacturer for his desired (not current) weight, he will lose weight and won’t gain it back. It may also help to divide each daily serving in half and feed on a twice daily schedule as opposed to free feeding. This can be done gradually over a period of several days to a few weeks by taking his food up at night, then putting it back down… increasing the amount of time his bowl is not down every few days until you have it down to only putting it out twice a day. If he absolutely won’t adapt to wet food and you’re feeding dry on a schedule, I recommend leaving it down a little longer than you would wet food so he doesn’t gorge and cause himself to vomit. About an hour or two should be good. Be sure he gets plenty of exercise too. Try getting him motivated with a laser light, string or anything else that gets him going for 15-20 minutes a couple of times a day. Catnip will help get him going if he’s one that responds to it. Best of luck to you!

Edit – Oh, and, I’ve not had a problem with increased stool odor with Wellness, but I feed wet and no dry so there may be a difference.
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By: Ken S

Ken S — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:40:59 +0000

I would rather you feed worse canned then top of the line dry foods

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingredient a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?
http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/InterpretingLabels.htm
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s, constipation, and a host of other problems. Male cats are especially prone to blockages
from dry food. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. ( Have a fat cat?)
An even bigger problem is that it IS dry and it dehydrates no matter how much your cat drinks
Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food. Cats are not naturally big drinkers.
95% of the moisture is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Think about it.
Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don’t use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_Just_Fine_on_Dry_Food
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn’t have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.
THE BEST CAT FOODS CONTAIN NO GRAINS NO BYPRODUCTS
Cats are meat eaters not cereal or rice eaters
Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.
Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=librhttp:/
/www.felinefuture.com/?p=470ary&act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth

Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.catinfo.org/
http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food_vs_Canned_Food.__Which_is_reall

Vetinarian diets The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/Vets.htm
Nutritional Education Program website page for the American College of Veterinary Nutrition. Notice who they are receiving grants from for this program
http://mypetcarnivore.com/educational_grant.htm
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