wet foods

maxy24

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so what wet foods do you guys like? I told my parents that some wet food would make the cats less likely to get crystals and other urinary problems so I think they might get it. What foods are good,

petco has: Eagle Pack, Natural Balance, Royal Canin, and Solid Gold

Petsmart has: Authority, Blue Spa, along with a few of the above ones.

Pet World has: innova, California Natural, Chicken Soup and Felidae, they probably have more but this is all I know they have.

So which do you think would be best or what do you like. Also if you could tell me the texture I would appreciate it. Thanks!!
 

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Why don't you get a couple of cans of each, and see what the cats like? You could also feed a variety. I've only tried a few of those brands. Eagle Pack is a non-watery paté, as are Innova and California Natural. I recall Felidae as being a rather wet paté. Solid Gold is also paté, but with a slightly chunky character.
Authority is involved in the recall: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Cat/...ity_040507.htm, so you might want to take that into consideration.
 
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maxy24

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I didn't know it was in the recall thanks. i have not been reading all the stuff about it since I don't feed wet and my dry is Wheat Gluten free.

You mentioned variety so i was wondering if switching wet foods around can give cats upset tummies like switching around dry food will.
 

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Originally Posted by Maxy24

I didn't know it was in the recall thanks. i have not been reading all the stuff about it since I don't feed wet and my dry is Wheat Gluten free.

You mentioned variety so i was wondering if switching wet foods around can give cats upset tummies like switching around dry food will.
I haven't ever had a problem switching up wet foods (brands, flavors, etc) from meal to meal. My cats rarely eat the same brand twice in one day.

I'm not sure what the explanation for that is, other than maybe the fact that wet food is naturally easier to digest anyway.


I have heard that variety is good for preventing pickiness, and food intolerances.

One reason I like variety is that from brand to brand, and flavor to flavor there can be less of certain "good" things and more of certain "questionable" things...so I hope by keeping the variety going I can strike a happy balance when it comes to the high points and low points of each food.
 

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Switching dry foods tends to give them upset tummies, but most can tolerate switching wet food without a problem. Odo gets a different flavor every two meals. The only time he has an issue is if I forget and give him something with fish--then he tends to puke. My other cat tolerates the fish just fine.

If you know that your cat normally has a sensitive stomach, you can try switching varieties of the same brand. Natural Balance is good for that as they have about 7 or 8 different flavors.
 

jcat

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I switch foods all the time. In any given week, I'm rotating 3 dry foods for breakfast, and 3 to 5 wet foods for dinner, in a variety of flavors. Some cats have sensitive tummies, and can't tolerate changes, but I think the "stick to one food to avoid problems eulogy" is a myth created by pet food producers. They'd like us to believe that carbohydrates are "healthy" for cats, because dry foods are convenient, and a 40% share of carbs is required to produce dry foods, but they're catering to machines, not cats.
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by Maxy24

so what wet foods do you guys like? I told my parents that some wet food would make the cats less likely to get crystals and other urinary problems so I think they might get it. What foods are good,

petco has: Eagle Pack, Natural Balance, Royal Canin, and Solid Gold

Petsmart has: Authority, Blue Spa, along with a few of the above ones.

Pet World has: innova, California Natural, Chicken Soup and Felidae, they probably have more but this is all I know they have.

So which do you think would be best or what do you like. Also if you could tell me the texture I would appreciate it. Thanks!!
I forgot about your original question.

My Petco doesn't carry Eagle Pack or Solid Gold. They have Royal Canin, but I don't think RC has any regular (not Rx) wet food, though.

My cats like Natural Balance quite well...their favorite is the venison and pea flavor.

I feed the Eagle Pack too...I just get it elsewhere. My cats eat the duck/oatmeal the best, but 7 out of 8 of mine are acting a little funny about EP now. Leopold loves it, though...every flavor. It's a kind of mushy pate...the food in the extra-large cans I get may be a little mushier than the smaller cans...that's been my observation anyway.

I can't find canned SG locally, so we haven't had any. I've heard good things about it, though. My cats love the dry SG, though.

Between regular Innova and Innova EVO, my cats all prefer the regular Innova. They eat both, though. EVO is a really good food. The texture is again, sort of mushy pate...the innova has a somewhat oily feel to it.

California Natural...they eat the Salmon/Sweet potato best. They'll eat the other flavors ok too. Salmon/sweet potato is mushy, the chicken/rice is still a little mushy but more like the innova consistency. Hard to explain.

Felidae ...my cats didn't really go nuts over the chicken and rice. The consistency reminds me of Nutro Pate, a sorta sticky pate. My cats prefer the one that has several meats in it...and it's a little more wet/ground texture.

We tried chicken soup kitten canned once and they all had stinky poos...they get a lot of kitten foods, so I don't think that was it. We may try again sometime. I don't remember the texture, it's a lot like the others above, though.

Out of your choice of stores, I would probably lean towards Pet World...mainly because the selection at Petco may not be that great. They have a lot more on their website than I really see in the stores here. Second reason would be that my cats don't seem to ever get tired of the Innova food.

Forgot to mention...my cats weren't impressed with Blue Spa, and I rarely buy 3 oz cans...to many cats to feed, and that's the only size BS comes in, around here anyway. It's a sticky pate, sort of like Nutro pate. Already mentioned, I too would skip the Authority at the moment.
 
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maxy24

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Thanks, so do you all agree natural Balance is good. I like the fact that they have many flavors so i won't have to change brands, plus that would be easier for my Dad since he will have to get it (he prefers i don't come when we get pet food, i slow him down and end up buying cat toys) and he will get confused if i tell him different brands every time. I think I'll be going to Petco tomorrow to get worms for the Lizard and I'll pick some up then.

What size cans should i get? I'd like to split one can between the two cats and they will still be getting the same amount of dry food (1/4th of a cup, twice a day).
 

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Originally Posted by Maxy24

Thanks, so do you all agree natural Balance is good. I like the fact that they have many flavors so i won't have to change brands, plus that would be easier for my Dad since he will have to get it (he prefers i don't come when we get pet food, i slow him down and end up buying cat toys) and he will get confused if i tell him different brands every time. I think I'll be going to Petco tomorrow to get worms for the Lizard and I'll pick some up then.

What size cans should i get? I'd like to split one can between the two cats and they will still be getting the same amount of dry food (1/4th of a cup, twice a day).
Yes, I like the NB food.

I would start with the 3 ounce cans...if they take to it real well, then you can go with the larger ones. It's alwasy an option to refrigerate and give a quick (7-10 sec) zap in the microwave, but some cats act a little funny about reheated food. You want it as yummy as possible at this point
 

kittylover77

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I'm in the process of switching my overweight girl to canned food.
But my little girl who is perfect weight is taking to it much better.

Its more expensive to feed canned food, so I am buying 13oz cans. That way if you pay about $1.25-1.40 per can, you can feed that to two cats exclusively.

One 13oz can, per day; split between two cats.

So its about $45 dollars a month, to feed exclusively wet food.

Innova, Innova Evo, California Natural, Eagle Pack, Felidae all make large cans. Also Precise, and Triumph, although I have never been able to find those in my area.

If money wouldn't be an issue, I'd feed different variety small cans, but those can add up pretty fast.

If you have just one cat, then its not really an issue.
 

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Can I ask a question? I've been wanting to feed my cats some wet food and I told my mom about the reduced likeliness of crystals and urinary problems and she considered it of course but does anyone have any links or research to back it up?
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by Mollysmom

Can I ask a question? I've been wanting to feed my cats some wet food and I told my mom about the reduced likeliness of crystals and urinary problems and she considered it of course but does anyone have any links or research to back it up?
This is one very good one, written by a veterinarian.

http://catinfo.org/

There's much more...I don't have my links very well organized. I will see if I come up with more. The attitudes are finally starting to shift on this. My vet is now pushing for premium wet food over rx dry...for crystal cats.

ETA ...a "wet" diet has been an immense help for my crystal prone boy. He's a new cat...unbelievable.
 

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Thank you very much, beandip!

BTW, I love your username and kitty's name!
 

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And thank you urbantiger!
The first article is great for simplicity and my mom put a lot of faith into the second one especially because of all the sources and professionalism.
Very helpful, both of you.
 
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maxy24

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well now I just read the post that was just put up about there being a natural Balance recall (sort of a recall)for some dog food formulas. Should I dump the idea of using this food?
 
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