Do you feed canned/wet food only?

Hi everyone! My cat eats about 50/50 wet/dry right now. However, she has digestive issues and periodically gets constipated. I give her 2ml of lactulose twice daily, but I've noticed that she seems to get constipated more so if she's going to town on dry food (she goes through phases of wanting to eat dry food, then not wanting to, then wanting to). I'm wondering if maybe eliminating dry food would help the issue, so I'm thinking of switching her to canned food only (preferably grain-free or low in grains). If that goes well, I may start incorporating raw.

The problem is, she's been free-fed dry for her entire life, and she's almost 12. If she doesn't get food at least every 6 hours or so, she has a tendency to puke. Sometimes I wonder if she does it solely because she knows it will force me to feed her (she did it this morning, and then she was all happy and playful after I got out of bed to feed her ). I don't have the ability to feed her every single time she feels like munching on some food, since I work 30 minutes away from my home. Also, she takes FOREVER to eat anything. I know it's disgusting and I shouldn't leave it there, but I'm not sure how to get her to eat it in a short period of time.

So my questions for those who feed canned food only or mostly canned are:

How many times a day do you feed your cat(s)?
How long should I leave the canned food out?
Do you attempt to feed grain-free canned food?
What are your canned foods of choice?

Also, Bailey flat-out REFUSES to eat any food that has been refrigerated and warmed up. I've been able to get her to take about 2 bites of Evangers Holistic Pheasant dinner, but that's it, so I end up wasting 1/2 a can of expensive food. She's really picky and isn't too fond of chicken, turkey, liver, or fish, and she doesn't like food that has chunks of vegetables in it. She seems to be pretty happy with duck, pheasant, beef, lamb, venison, and rabbit. She also prefers a more solid consistency rather than the mushy stuff.

Does anyone have cats with similar tastes? Have you had any luck finding a variety of canned food that they like? Am I doing a good thing by switching her to canned food? I would talk to her vet about it, but they're all gung-ho about dry food and the poopy food they sell there.

Thanks everyone!

How do you warm up the refrigerated food? Charlie and Ling split a small can of food (not the tiny fancy feast, but the 6 oz?) I give them about 1/4-1/3 (or about 2 medium teaspoons) of the canned. They get that as the evening meal - the dry they get about 1/3 cup in the morning and nibble on that.

The canned they will eat within 5 mins - the dry usually within an hour or two at the most.

When I warm up the food - I let it sit out for about 1/2 hour while we eat dinner. If I forget to do that, I add hot water (about 2-3 teaspoons) to the canned and mix it up to warm it - they like it more soupy and I can be sure they are getting water - tho they do drink water throughout the day.

The canned I use is Friskies. I do have a few of the Fancy Feast for either emergencys or for when I show Charlie.

When feeding canned to a kitten its best to feed a variety of beef, chicken, liver, turkey, lamb and sparingly on the fish. That way they don't become picky.

Have you tried boiled shredded chicken breast?

Originally Posted by JennyJen

So my questions for those who feed canned food only or mostly canned are:

How many times a day do you feed your cat(s)?
How long should I leave the canned food out?
Do you attempt to feed grain-free canned food?
What are your canned foods of choice?

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My cats are on canned only, and some raw.

I feed them 3 times a day...7am/2pm/9pm. I have tried 4 meals, and 2 meals...and neither one worked as well for us as 3x a day. I have 1 cat that usually skips lunch, that's her preference, she eats well at the other 2 meals. I have one that would prefer 6 meals a day, but he has conformed to 3 as a compromise.

I leave the canned food out for about an hour. With 8 cats, I have to supervise/referee the meals...so I don't want to stand there any longer than that. In a reasonable temperature, I haven't had problems with 2-3 hrs in the past, when I had fewer cats.

I do feed some grain-free food. Wellness and EVO are 2 that come to mind. Some of the wellness wet is not grain free. The grain free ones we use are beef/chicken, chicken, and turkey.

The wet food we use is Wellness, Innova regular, Innova EVO, California Natural, Eagle Pack, Natural Balance (a sensitive subject at the moment), Nutro (the wheat free ones), Felidae, Merrick's and Nature's Variety.

My vet does recommend a canned only diet for cats with consitipation issues.

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that *some* grains would actually be a good thing for a cat with constipation issues, though. Maybe some one more knowledgeable (Sharrrrrrky!!!!) can clarify / correct that. The grains in the wet foods I listed are mainly rice or oatmeal.

Consistency-wise, I'm not sure what to recommend. I feed mainly from the xtra large (13oz) cans and I have found that consisitency varies a bit depending on the size of the can, as I believe the food is cooked in the can (?) so the size of the can affects the final product.

The Wellness I feed is pretty mushy. Natural Balance, Nutro, and Felidae Chicken/Rice are a stickier/drier consistency. The EVO/innova/Cal. Nat are sort of inbetween. Felidae Platinum (a low cal food, sometimes the only Felidae I can find) is very wet, but not really mushy. Nature's Variety is ground, like ground meat with water mixed in...and does have whole peas in it, maybe another veggie too. I can't remember. Eagle pack in a 5.5oz can seemed stickier, like Nutro. The larger cans of EP seem mushier/wetter. Merrick's is sort of stew like, the meat is minced...not a typical gravy food, but it is soupy. Hard to describe.

I probably missed a couple of your questions...but this is getting long, as usual so I'll stop there. Let me know.

Wow, I have a bunch of questions to answer

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

How do you warm up the refrigerated food?

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I've tried leaving it out to let it warm up to room temperature, adding hot water, and microwaving it. She'll eat a few bites, and that's it. If she doesn't hear me open the can, it's not good enough for her.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Have you tried boiled shredded chicken breast?

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No, I haven't. I probably cook about twice a year. She's never been the type of cat to ask for cooked chicken or turkey. She was pretty excited on Thanksgiving, but I think she likes turkey better than chicken. She seems to have a higher tendency to puke up food that has chicken and/or turkey though...

Originally Posted by beandip

I feed them 3 times a day...7am/2pm/9pm. I have tried 4 meals, and 2 meals...and neither one worked as well for us as 3x a day. I have 1 cat that usually skips lunch, that's her preference, she eats well at the other 2 meals. I have one that would prefer 6 meals a day, but he has conformed to 3 as a compromise.

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I'm really REALLY hoping that 2 meals a day works for her. In the morning, I'll have to feed her no later than 7am so that I can take it away before I leave at 8am. I don't get home until 5pm, and then I usually go to sleep at around 1am... So I guess I COULD do something like 7am, 5pm, and midnight. Then maybe I can get her down to one meal in the morning and one at night after getting her used to that.

Originally Posted by beandip

I leave the canned food out for about an hour. With 8 cats, I have to supervise/referee the meals...so I don't want to stand there any longer than that.

In a reasonable temperature, I haven't had problems with 2-3 hrs in the past, when I had fewer cats.

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I feel like a horrible person saying this, but I've been leaving her wet food out all day while I'm at work since September. I've known the whole time that it was disgusting, but I put her lactulose in her food in the morning, so I've always wanted to make sure she gets as much of it as possible. Do you think that she'll eventually get used to scheduled feedings and eat it more quickly? If she doesn't, I'll have to manually administer her lactulose, and I don't want to be resigned to shoving it down her throat with a syringe twice a day. She already hates me enough for giving it to her once a day. It'd be really nice if I could start giving ALL of it to her in her food. Then maybe she wouldn't ignore me so much.

Originally Posted by beandip

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that *some* grains would actually be a good thing for a cat with constipation issues, though. Maybe some one more knowledgeable (Sharrrrrrky!!!!) can clarify / correct that. The grains in the wet foods I listed are mainly rice or oatmeal.

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From what I've read, there are 2 basic schools of thought. One is that more fiber will cause bulkier, looser stool, therefore making it easier to pass (kind of like how people with regularity issues often take fiber supplements). The other is that more bulk will actually make it more difficult to pass, and a low-residue diet would actually be better. From what I've read and what the vet told me, different cats react differently to those changes. I can't really say from experience. I've been afraid to add fiber to her diet... Aren't dry foods normally higher in fiber than canned? Since she gets constipated more frequently when she's eating good amounts of dry food, I wonder if it's because of the increased carbohydrates or the decreased moisture. Possibly both.

Originally Posted by beandip

I probably missed a couple of your questions...but this is getting long, as usual

so I'll stop there. Let me know.

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Hey, I appreciate the detail! Right now, she's doing okay with one flavor of Evangers and about 3 flavors of Merricks (she's not overly fond of the Merricks, but she'll eat it for the most part). I was giving her NB Venison & Green Pea wet, but she puked it up Sunday which basically means she'll probably never eat it again. I give her 9 Lives tuna on occasion (either as a treat or when she's being a total pain and refuses to eat ANYTHING). I give her a sardine or a small amount of tuna a couple times a month for a treat (if she's lucky ). Let's see... She LOVED the Pet Gold stuff from Petco for quite a while, but then she decided she didn't like any flavors anymore. I gave her Wellness wet a few years ago and remember her liking it, but that was before she was such a snob.

Right now I am feeding my cats dry and wet combo... Mainly Wet! The older Cat and the Kitten are on Felidae Chicken and Rice Formula (wet) and I was trying Wellness Wet until the recall! For dry food the kitten gets Wellness Kitten Formula and the older cat was on Wellness Healthy Weight! I am taking the older cat off of weight management foods at the moment (since he got so fat off of it) and I am feeding him kitten formula during the day and then some wet at night! The only reason I have the kitten on a wet/dry combo (for the past two days) was because she was experiencing a little stomach upset from her wet food only diet (she just recently changed from dry to wet)! I plan on putting my older cat on a regular adult formulation dry and continuing with the wet! I hope to have both cats on a wet only diet in the future but it takes time! We're making good progress at this moment! The kitten gets as much food as she desires because she is quite petite (8 months = 4-5 pounds) dry in the morning if her tummy is upset (otherwise wet usually) and wet at night! Tiger gets about 1/2 a cup dry in the morning (sometimes wet instead of dry) and then a scoop of wet in the evening (he is still not 100% sure of wet)! I try to only leave the wet food out for an hour and that is pushing it... Sometimes they like to take their time or don't want to eat it as soon as it has come out of the microwave! I hope your kitty situation gets better!

Some grains are good the one I was recommended and it worked so I do .. is oatmeal ... lots of souble fiber without Excessive fiber, most likely dry is tooo dry ... br rice can work as can sweet potato or plain pumpkin

How many times a day do you feed your cat(s)?

Kandie as much as she wants minimum four sometime sup to ten ... ave 7

How long should I leave the canned food out?
No more than an hour I prefer 30 minutes

Do you attempt to feed grain-free canned food?
Mine also get raw so grain free isnt important ... i do use some wellness grain free and by organic
What are your canned foods of choice?
the most likely eaten
meow mix
nutro
wellness
solid gold
eagle pack

Honestly, what I do is put out dry food (Purina green bag) and I just free feed PHX that way he can eat whenever he's hungry. He seems to be doing fine that way But good luck!

Well, some of mine would pick at the wet food at first. They do seem to have realized that anything leftover will be disappearing within the hour (either by me picking it up, or their 'competitors' devouring it).

When I made the final switch away from dry, I had to resign myself to the fact that some of them would eat "light" sometimes, and make up for it at the next meal. Gradually, they have all leveled out, though. Nobody's missing meals or starving. It was tough getting to that point, though...I won't lie.

Mine aren't terribly fond of leftovers either. 7 of them will eat warmed up food (reluctantly), one will not AT ALL. He will eat it cold, however I have heard that it bothers some kitties' stomachs. Leopold does fine with it, though. I think the issue with mine is more a matter of seeing the "same" food again, rather than the next yummy flavor in the lineup. They demand variety.

Yeah, wet food can get a little gross after awhile, but I don't think you are a horrible person. The main reason I pick it up after an hour is structure. Over and over, I see how structure/routine is very important, with my cats anyway. I have to keep reminding myself of that. The other reason I pick it up is the fact that it dries out and then you lose one of the main benefits of it - the water. The 3rd reason is possible spoilage, although I haven't really experienced a problem. During the summer I have always been more careful, though. I keep it pretty frigid in here at other times of the year

For cats with consitipation, I think the main thing that wet food helps with is the vastly increased moisture. There's a lot more to it, and you touched on some of that. Dry foods, like Sharky said are just too dry. LOL... but it's true. They are very carb heavy (our old dry food was 42% carbs EEEK) ...but carbs don't equal fiber. Some "good" fiber is not so bad, I think...however I see no benefit from carbs/fillers, etc.

That's great that she'll take the lactulose in the canned food. I have had zero luck hiding meds in food...I envy you on that. My preferred 'easy' method is pill pockets. I medicated 3 of my cats this morning, before I even had my coffee. They all eat up pill pockets very willingly. Others haven't had such good luck but I have gotten a lot of mileage out of those.

Jaffa eats wet food only and Mosi eats mainly wet food but with a little dry sprinkled on top. They both get fed 3 times a day. I feed them first thing in the morning (usually about 7am) then again at 4.30-5pm when I got home from work then again between 10-11pm before I go to bed. If I think I will be home from work late I'll leave their second meal in an automatic feeder as Jaffa vomits if he goes too long without food.

When I got Mosi he was used to free feeding dry food but he had to get used to fixed meal times as any food left down around here gets scoffed by Jaffa straight away. He soon adapted, although he was young so probably easier.

Originally Posted by urbantigers

If I think I will be home from work late I'll leave their second meal in an automatic feeder as Jaffa vomits if he goes too long without food.

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That's what Bailey does too! She's such a pain. Do you have an automatic feeder for wet food, or is it just for dry? It would be really cool if I could find an automatic feeder for wet food.

Originally Posted by sharky

Some grains are good the one I was recommended and it worked so I do

.. is oatmeal ... lots of souble fiber without Excessive fiber, most likely dry is tooo dry

... br rice can work as can sweet potato or plain pumpkin

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My vet recommended the canned pumpkin idea when she first started getting constipated, but the lactulose usually seems to keep it under control. I might give it a shot since she seems to be getting constipated more frequently even with a pretty good dose of lactulose. I don't know if she'll eat it though. Do you know if it can be mixed with food?

Originally Posted by beandip

Mine aren't terribly fond of leftovers either. 7 of them will eat warmed up food (reluctantly), one will not AT ALL. He will eat it cold, however I have heard that it bothers some kitties' stomachs. Leopold does fine with it, though. I think the issue with mine is more a matter of seeing the "same" food again, rather than the next yummy flavor in the lineup. They demand variety.

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Bailey won't eat leftovers even if I try to give them to her the next day. I'll put it down, and she looks at me like, "I SAW you take that out of the fridge. If you expect me to eat, you're going to have to give me a NEW can." Grrrrrrr...

Originally Posted by beandip

That's great that she'll take the lactulose in the canned food. I have had zero luck hiding meds in food...I envy you on that. My preferred 'easy' method is pill pockets. I medicated 3 of my cats this morning, before I even had my coffee.

They all eat up pill pockets very willingly. Others haven't had such good luck but I have gotten a lot of mileage out of those.

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I really didn't think she would eat it with the lactulose in it, but thankfully she does. You should see her when I give it to her with a syringe. Oh my GOD. She fights SO BAD. I've tried using a medicine dropper too, which I think I'm gonna have to go back to. I stopped using the medicine dropper because it seemed to be releasing air into her throat, and she would sometimes cough and hack after I gave it to her. I went back to using a syringe, but it either squirts out of the other side of her mouth directly onto the floor (or my pajamas ), or she manages to move her head just in time for me to get it all over her. Plus, she's having dental issues right now, so there have been a couple times when she just drooled the lactulose out of her mouth ALL OVER my lap (and herself). Right now, she has lactulose on her face, ear, the top of her head, her paw, tail, back, and stomach. Every couple of days, I take a wet washcloth and a comb and get all the sticky lactulose out of her fur. She seems to like that though. I read there's a powder form of lactulose now that can be encapsulated or sprinkled on food. I wonder if it would be easier for her to get that and put it in the pill pockets. Hopefully

I keep thinking about how ridiculous she was this morning. Since she was showing signs of constipation yesterday, I took away her dry food and gave her a little Solid Gold Tuna at night (which she wasn't too excited about, but she went back to it a few times). This morning, she came in my room meowing and meowing and meowing like she was going to DIE of starvation. Then she started howling (I hate that noise), and then she puked a little. I think she might have puked just to spite me because I was trying to sleep and didn't wake up immediately so she could stuff her face. As soon as I got out of bed, she was SO EXCITED. I went into the kitchen and she devoured some tuna flavored laxatone off my finger like she hadn't seen any food in DAYS (even though it hadn't even been 7 hours), and then went to town on some Evangers. It was funny to see how excited she got over laxatone just because she didn't have dry food all night.

I have to mix it with food ... I advice organic baby sweet potaots they taste less yukky according to my Kandie

Originally Posted by JennyJen

Bailey won't eat leftovers even if I try to give them to her the next day. I'll put it down, and she looks at me like, "I SAW you take that out of the fridge. If you expect me to eat, you're going to have to give me a NEW can." Grrrrrrr...

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LOL I have seen that look...it's so true.

Originally Posted by JennyJen

I went back to using a syringe, but it either squirts out of the other side of her mouth directly onto the floor (or my pajamas

), or she manages to move her head just in time for me to get it all over her.

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I feel you on this too. The syringe is TOO fast for me. I have a scar from the last time I tried a syringe on Precious.

Originally Posted by JennyJen

I read there's a powder form of lactulose now that can be encapsulated or sprinkled on food. I wonder if it would be easier for her to get that and put it in the pill pockets.

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Hmmm yeah I forgot that part, you'd have to find it in pill form first. Or I have put small amounts of powder inside of them too. I have one pill for Beandip that's way too big and full of way too much powder for pill pockets...I have to do that one the old fashioned way.

Originally Posted by JennyJen

It was funny to see how excited she got over laxatone just because she didn't have dry food all night.

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LOL ...Bailey sounds like quite a character.

Beandip, Bailey is special. She also makes this distinctive noise if she feels you're ignoring her when she wants food. It's this lower-pitched meow rumble type noise. I've heard other cats do it at the beginning of a meow, but the way she does it makes it sound like she's seriously irritated with you! I think she's developing more of an attitude in her semi-old age.

Just a thought... do you refrigerate the whole can? I've heard that leaving food in cans after they're opened can cause something to leach into the food, so it doesn't taste as good.

Originally Posted by momto3cats

Just a thought... do you refrigerate the whole can? I've heard that leaving food in cans after they're opened can cause something to leach into the food, so it doesn't taste as good.

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Unused yes i put in fridge and often just add a bit of water to warm up

Odo gets canned only. He gets a rotation of a couple of Natural Balance flavors (Chicken & Liver Pate and Venison and Green Pea) and a couple of Evanger's flavors (chicken, pheasant, and turkey). In the past he also got a can of Nutro, but I don't feel comfortable feeding that right now--I pulled it out of rotation not too long after the recall started just because I didn't feel quite right about it.

Odo gets two meals per day most of the time. I have a weird work schedule, so occasionally he gets an extra meal. I feed him shortly after I get up and very soon after I get home (though now he thinks that he gets fed whenever I come home, even if I'm only gone a few hours. I just put the food out and leave it until I get home or wake up in the morning. He eats the vast majority of it within 20-45 minutes (depending on how awake he is). My house is kept pretty cold (especially in the winter, when the kitchen, where he is fed, was 59 degrees), so I don't worry about the food being left out. He gets half a can each meal. The second half I heat up by mixing in hot water. When I mix it well, he usually doesn't have a problem with it--if I don't he sometimes throws up.

While I would love to feed only grain free foods, I am limited to non-fish varieties as Odo's seem to throw up more after eating anything with fish (especially salmon or white fish) or fish meal.

I've considering getting an automatic feeder for him so I can feed him three times per day, but I haven't been willing to spend the money on something that might not work.

Have you considered reconditioning Bailey to eat leftovers? For example, if she associates the sound with fresh food, perhaps you could run an electric can opener just before feeding her? It might be worth trying.

Willow is much pickier--she grazes and lost too much weight on canned food alone (she was not needing to lose any weight in the first place). She gets occasional canned meals (and steals some of Odo's food) and then has dry food available all the time. While not ideal, it works for her right now. I feed her on my dresser which she can jump up to but Odo can't.

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

Have you considered reconditioning Bailey to eat leftovers? For example, if she associates the sound with fresh food, perhaps you could run an electric can opener just before feeding her? It might be worth trying.

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That's actually a good idea

Bailey seems to be constipated again... I'm seriously about 2 seconds away from repeatedly bashing my head against the wall. I'm calling the vet in the morning if she doesn't poo tonight. I'm getting so discouraged. ALL I WANT IS FOR HER TO POO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buffy eats canned only and Molly and Willow eat RAW only (occationally I'll let Molly have a few spoonfuls of Buffy's canned to tide her over if it's not time for Molly's meal and she's acting SO hungry, or Buffy has eaten her canned and left a few bites in her bowl; I'll give the few bites to Molly). Molly's a special case, in that I have to be very delicate in what I feed her. She can't digest dry food, which is why I converted to RAW, and while she does fine on canned, I recently found out that if her give her a full serving (for one sitting), she'll have diarrhea later on. So she can't have anything but her RAW meat (which, right now, is Bison), and occationally a few bites of canned.

I'll admit that I tend to take out Buffy's refrigerated food and just give it to her. Sometimes I'll add some warm water, but I swear she doesn't care for that (it's when I add the water that she tends to leave some food sitting in the bowl when she's done). I think she wants FOOD, not pudding, lol. I used to let the canned food sit out, covered, because she'd eat the whole can within a day (half a can in the morning, half a can at night), but now she gets a bigger can that takes a day and a half to eat, so I can't leave it out (don't want it to spoil and cause problems). But Buffy seems okay with cold food. She definitely prefers fresh-out-of-the-can food, though, over cold food (with or without warm water).

Molly and Willow eat RAW, as I said (the Bison formula from the Arusha brand), and the plan was for Buffy to eat RAW as well, but she doesn't know what to do with raw meat. Oh well, canned is better than the dry-only they were previously eating.

Buffy eats Evangers, the Organic line (right now she's eating the Organic Chicken). She gets fed twice a day, breakfast and supper. If I don't feed the food she gets right now, I will feed her a food that's free of grains and fillers and preservatives. Well, I'll try to feed her something free of grains, but I won't balk at feeding her something with brown rice or something, but nothing more than that (absolutely no corn or soy or wheat). If she doesn't eat Evangers, foods I like feeding are California Natural, Innova, Innova EVO, Solid Gold, Wellness, BLUE Spa Select, Nature's Variety Prairie, Merrick, Evolve, and Chicken Soup For The Pet Lover's Soul. The Chicken Soup I haven't actually fed yet, but I want to someday in the future. Felidae is also a good choice, but for some reason my cats have never liked canned Felidae (dry Felidae, on the other hand... lol)