Diet Opinions...

I am seeking opinions on the following foods/diet for my overweight cat. Over the summer, I switched him from free feeding dry food only, to canned only during the day and dry food overnight. I have experimented with various canned foods, targeting lowest carbohydrate and lowest calorie canned foods, in order to find the foods he really likes. I am presently feeding the following wet foods during the day;

California Natural Chicken & Brown Rice - 149 calories/5.5 oz. can - 3.8% carbohydrate as fed
California Natural Deep Water Fish Formula - 138 calories/5.5 oz. can - 3.5% carbohydrate as fed
Merrick Surf & Turf - 160 calories/5.5 oz. can - 8% carbohydrate as fed

It takes my cat 3 days to eat one can. I rotate these three flavors one behind the other, which allows for rotation of protein sources of chicken, fish and beef.

At night, right before bed, I feed him one tablespoon of Innova Evo dry, mixed with one tablespoon of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul;

Evo Dry - 612 Kcal/cup - 7% carbohydrate as-fed
Chicken Soup - 367 Kcal/cup - 31.6% carbohydrate as-fed

This mixture leaves 490 Kcal/cup & 19.3% carbohydrate as-fed.

I had previously been feeding Evo dry only overnight. Given it is so high in calories, I thought it best to mix it with another food to lower the caloric content, even though it more than doubles the carbohydrate level. All of the Kcal and as-fed carbohydrate levels for the above foods were provided by the manufacturer.

I am seeking to get opinions on this diet. Will this provide enough variety? I have heard it is best not to feed too much fish or beef, although I have also heard protein sources such as fish or beef aren't that important provided the food meets AAFCO guidelines, which all of these foods do. Any opinions offered will be appreciated.

Have you checked with your vet about this??? I can't offer any opinions one way or the other but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will post soon!

The ingrediants are fine ... and many of us mix foods to get the right balence or flavor for our cats ...

TALK TO your VET prior to thinking about dieting a cat ... as you can actually HARM kitty if done wrong

So many people here consider the vet a bad advisor on food quality. I trust mine and follow her advice when feeding my cat.

That aside, nothing you are giving your cat is a bad food, and if they are eating it and thriving, they should be fine. Just stay away from supplements; all of these foods contain what the cat needs.

Originally Posted by Catitudes

It takes my cat 3 days to eat one can. I rotate these three flavors one behind the other, which allows for rotation of protein sources of chicken, fish and beef.....
At night, right before bed, I feed him one tablespoon of Innova Evo dry, mixed with one tablespoon of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul;

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So, does your cat only eat 1/3 of a can of wet food a day then (since you mentioned it takes him 3 days to finish a can)? Am I reading that correctly? I don't have a can in front of me, but doesn't an average 5.5 can feed a 6-8 pound cat for one day?

Originally Posted by sharky

TALK TO your VET prior to thinking about dieting a cat ... as you can actually HARM kitty if done wrong

Click to expand...

I totally agree with sharky. Make sure to check any new feeding trial with your vet first. You don't want to be serving out portions that are too little or may cause too much weight loss at once. That would be a disaster on the cat's system.