How to Implement a Varied Diet?

Hello. I've been reading that its best to alternate foods for your cat so that any deficiencies in one brand of food can be eliminated.

I'm wondering how to actually do this..I have a 3 month old kitten who is eating Purina Pro Plan Kitten wet food and Nutro Complete Care Indoor Kitten dry food.

I was thinking about adding Innova EVO dry food to the equation and maybe another brand of wet canned food.

The problem is that she seems to be developing a pickiness for only the salmon flavored wet food from Purina and doesnt like the other foods as much. I'm worried she may not eat all the new foods that I buy.

Assuming that she does eat the new foods..how are you supposed to alternate the foods? Do you feed one brand of food one day and another brand the next? Doesnt that cause stomach upset?

thanks

With wet food, there's generally no problem at all rotating numerous brands/flavors. I have 6 or 7 different brands (x multiple flavors of each) in the cupboard and I just grab whatever strikes my mood when it's meal time...err, their mood I mean. I don't eat the cat food. They try new stuff all the time, no problems to report at all w/any of my 8.

With dry food, I would suggest mixing in small quantities of the new stuff to begin with...gradually more and more each day until you have the ratio you want. (half/half, etc)

It may take some experimentation to find the ones she is willing to eat, in regards to the wet food. One trick might be to mix some of her favorite in with the "new" food so it's familiar and more tempting that way.

Thanks Beandip..

Thats interesting to know that you dont need to gradually wean cats to a different brand of wet food. My little kitten goes through bouts of diarrhea alot and I'm trying to minimalize that. It seems that her stools are harder and less watery when she eats dry food but she usually prefers wet food.

As I'm running out on the Purina canned food..I was thinking of getting some different brands to try out.

You say you have lots of different types of canned food...how do you choose them? Is there any particular logic? I know from reading the forum about the better ones out there like Felidae, Innova, Nutro, etc. Do you just get an assortment of those?

thanks

There can be a lot of reasons for the diarrhea, especially at that young age.

I will say that when I started feeding more wet food, their stools were a little soft and quite stinky at times. After a short time the stink went away and now they have nice firm stools that hardly smell at all unless you're right over the box. They're on all wet food now, no dry. New brands and flavors don't seem to have any effect on that any more. Wet in general took a short adjustment period but it's been OK since then.

The quality of the food can have a lot to do with the smell and consistency too. And some cats are more sensitive to certain ingredients than others.

Food wise, there are certain things I look for as a rule...

No "by products" - meat by-products, chicken by-products, etc. There are wholesome "by products" (hearts, livers, kidneys, etc) but I like to see those named as such ("beef kidney" for example). The vague term "by products" leaves a lot of room for very undesirable parts of unknown animals.

Wheat, corn, and soy turn me off. They're common allergens, they are grains (i.e. not meat), and they can have an effect on the stinky poo department too. When I see those on the label, I know that some of the "protein" listed came from those grains, which I don't like. Corn can play a valid role in some 'urinary tract' formula foods but it's not something I like to feed. Rice is OK by me...but meat, meat, meat - that's what I really like.

Chemical preservatives and artificial flavors/colors turn me off.

Wet foods that my cats like and I'm happy with...Wellness, Natural Balance, By Nature, Avoderm, Merrick's, EVO, some Nutro (kitten is tastier, they say) and probably a couple that I forgot about. I like to try new foods but those seem to be the reliable standby ones that they always gobble up.

Others that are good but they don't eat quite so often (they like the others better)...Felidae, Eagle Pack, Nature's Variety, California Natural, Innova, etc.

Beandip
Can you explain:

Corn can play a valid role in some 'urinary tract' formula foods but it's not something I like to feed.

My girl has a UTI every 3 weeks, seems like clock work. I am trying different
things so stop the cycle but haven't hit the target. Just wandering what
your comment means.

Brenda

Originally Posted by Ms.Blackie

Beandip
Can you explain:

Corn can play a valid role in some 'urinary tract' formula foods but it's not something I like to feed.

My girl has a UTI every 3 weeks, seems like clock work. I am trying different
things so stop the cycle but haven't hit the target. Just wandering what
your comment means.

Brenda

Click to expand...

Corn (corn gluten meal specifically I believe) is a "low ash" source of protein. Ash (total mineral content in the food) has been a concern in the past for bladder/urinary issues. More recently the focus is more on magnesium specifically. There's also some evidence that suggests that corn acidifies the urine, which can be helpful for cats who's urine pH is too high (causes problems).

There's an article here about corn gluten meal in pet food...

http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewA....aspx?id=12808

The unfortunate thing about corn is that it is less digestible than meat...and it's just simply NOT meat...which is what I want to feed my little carnivores. I prefer to feed minimal grains...usually limited to rice.

I can go into more detail if you want...feel free to send me a PM.

Thanks for the info Beandip!

I guess my kitten is going through an adjustment period. Maybe she was a little sick earlier this week but it seems to have gotten better and now her appetite has returned. Shes devouring everything I put in front of her. Even the flavors that she wasnt eating earlier, she slurps up.

I'm gonna head out to the local petstore now and see if I can pick out some of those brands you suggested. I'll be sure to read the ingredients closely too so I dont get the bad stuff like corn and by products.

thanks again!

Originally Posted by beandip

With wet food, there's generally no problem at all rotating numerous brands/flavors. I have 6 or 7 different brands (x multiple flavors of each) in the cupboard and I just grab whatever strikes my mood when it's meal time...err, their mood I mean. I don't eat the cat food.

They try new stuff all the time, no problems to report at all w/any of my 8.

Click to expand...

I do the same. I feed different foods quite randomly and there are no digestive upsets They're both very unfussy about food too and will eat whatever I give them.

Hmm, the diarrhea may or may not stop with feeding all wet.. with Khan he had it until/unless we got some dry into him (of course, we had trouble finding food he would eat for two years and we went through every variety of wet and dry known to man that was stocked in our local stores).. all wet kept him with runny poo. With Noel, she can eat anything and suffer no intestinal side effects. He doesn't have it now that he's on raw.

Again, with the others, changing their wet foods does cause them to have variations in their poo. And it doesn't seem to matter if it's one brand or many .. if it's not one specific flavor, the others get diarrhea.

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Evo. I had heard there was a slight concern about the ash/magnesium content, but that's not something I have to personally worry about with my crew. Their coats are phenomenal, clear, glossy, thick, silky, plush (in fact, commented on by everyone who visits them on how they've never felt a cat that had fur like that.. and that's different breeds of cat, so, not due to the specific breeds.) They're *HIGH* energy, well muscled, and commented on by the vet to be some of the healthiest kitties he's seen. That being said, three of them also eat a raw diet in addition to the Evo (but that's the basis behind the Evo anyway). I do try to vary their raw diet, but I also add a supplement, which you may consider as well, that will balance it out.

I did find that when my cats ate Purina Pro Plan, they really liked the taste of it, especially the kitten formula, but their coats weren't nearly as nice. I know that sounds like a silly reason, but I figure if they have top notch coats, that means they're getting top notch nutrition, or at least lends to the thought that if their coats *aren't* as nice as they could be, they're missing something. Back before I got into the whole raw diet idea.. they got Royal Canin skin and coat, or skin and hair 30.. don't remember the exact formula and they've changed the name since.. they did really well on that.