What food do you use and WHY:)

benthicat · Aug 8, 2007

I had this whole thing typed and it somehow deleted itself. (well, I probably pressed a bad key, but no matter.)

Merfy has been eating "natural" type foods for a while now. I mostly go by the ingredient list...whatever lists a meat product as the first ingredient and the fillers are either absent or further down. Right now she has Organix. I tend to empty the bags into a container to keep them fresh so I can't remember why I picked it. I think the first ingredient was "Organic Chicken."

The first bag of food I got for Isosceles was a bag of Purina One: Kitten. He ate it really quickly. The second bag was Royal Canin, which he doesn't seem to like as much. I only got it because I had a coupon for a free bag from the vet. He tries to eat Merfy's food instead so I'll probably go with the same method of buying food for him that I used for her.

both of them get a spoonful of canned food as a treat every evening when i get home from work. Eh...I just wanted them to be happy to see me.

I usually pick science diet, nutro, or something like that for that, too.. sometimes I get them a pouch and split it for them. They LOVE that.

animalsinheaven · Aug 8, 2007

Maui eats as close to nature as possible. I buy raw organic ground raw salmon, halibut, chicken, turkey, beef, ostrich, and elk from my local FISH market, and chicken livers and hearts from the butcher. Maui gets about 80% meat and organs and about 20% ground veggies mixed together with plant-cell supplements added just before serving. I add just enough purified water or nutrient rich broth to each meal to serve the consistency of a mushy meatball. Since changing to a raw diet Maui's SEVERE urinary tract disease has completely ceased. About 3 years now.

bonnie1965 · Aug 8, 2007

Seb and Daphne share Science Diet kitten dry and Natural Balance dry mixed together. I am concerned about Daphne getting the proper nutrition as a kitten. A few more months and she won't need it any longer

I am going to try Sportmix as recommended by Sharky (who rocks!). There is a feed store about 2 blocks from my work. Amazing. I called there, talked with the guy. He said they give free samples to people wanting to try their foods

Just need to get there. It is $5.99US for 16 lbs! Would be awesome if they liked it.

Tried them both on Chicken Soup. They ate a little bit but definitely didn't care for it.

Daphne will not touch wet at all. Still hoping that changes. Seb likes Meow Mix pouches, Sheba (too expensive) and has decided he likes Fancy Feast - he's even eating loaf which is shocking.

Tried again last week with 3 flavors Merrick's. He had nothing of it. Refused to even taste it.

Also tried 2 of Natural Balance wet, same deal, no way. Wish they would both learn to like the healthier foods.

distillednikki · Aug 8, 2007

Well, I used to feed my cat Meow Mix Indoor Cat formula...because it was THE ONLY food he would eat. My vet told me that Meow Mix seems to cause some kind of urinary problem in male cats, and he suggested that I switch to Purina Indoor Cat Chow instead. My kitty loves it! He is a VERY strange and Picky eater. He is just over a year old now (about 16 months) and I JUST got him to start eating wet food. I have tried it ALL! I finally discovered that he loves Fancy Feast Elegant Medley. He hates milk and beef (sometimes he will eat roast beef though

).

I also feed him deli Turkey. Usually one slice a day. And he eats about 7 or 8 purina cat treats a day. He likes strawberry yogurt, but I just give him a little lick here and there.

He also likes fruit cobbler and tortillas (no joke).

denice · Aug 8, 2007

California Natural Chicken and Rice or Wellness Chicken and Rice dry. Meow Mix Market Selects a few times a week because it is the only wet they will eat in any quantity. They will eat a little Wellness chicken or turkey wet.

lakeriedog · Aug 9, 2007

Before I found TCS, we fed our kitties Science Diet dry, Nine Lives, and Fancy Feast. I didn't know anything about the ingredients, and thought I was giving them a high quality diet. Then I came to this site looking for ideas about kitten food because our Tiny was having some issues giving up the prescription diet that the vet had us start her out on when she was weaned off her bottle.

Now we feed our kitties Innova Evo and Wellness wet and dry. There are two reasons, #1. I like what I see in the ingredients, and #2. All of our kitties like and are willing to eat the foods and are doing well on it.

There are a few other brands that I would like them to eat, but the babies are kind of picky...sometimes they will eat the Merricks, and they all enjoy the occasional treat of Solid Gold Tuna a.k.a. kitty crack. Tiny is still the pickiest of the bunch, and will rarely touch wet food. They like the Organix treats, and I give them about once or twice a week.

aussie_dog · Aug 9, 2007

Originally Posted by greenvillegal

This is surely a helpful thread!

What is RAW? I've seen that a lot of people have their cats on it and have never heard of it before. Please feel free to point me to another thread if necessary.

RAW is basically raw meat. You feed a certain amount of organs, a certain amount of muscle meat, and a certain amount of bone. If you want, you can add some veggies to the mix. There are two ways to feed it; one, if you have the know-how, you can make it yourself, buying the meats at the store. Two, if you're like me and still just starting out, you can buy the raw meat that's already pre-ground up at the pet food store and use that instead. One thing that we need if we make our pet's food ourselves is a meat grinder, and a good one at that (to grind up the bone), and I don't have one so that's another excuse for me to keep to the premade stuff.

And no, salmonella isn't as big a concern for cats and dogs like it is with humans (if you use terrible hygiene practices while handling meat, then yeah, the pet can develop bacteria problems). Cats and dogs have shorter digestive tracts (we humans have looooooooong digestive tracts) so the raw meat doesn't sit around in their intenstines for long. It's basically in and out, compared to kibble, which stays around for a looong time. Cats and dogs were basically designed to eat raw meat, as that's what they'd eat in the wild. But you still have to use safe handling procedures (wash hands before and after handling meat, use hot soapy water to wash dishes and any surfaces the meat may have touched, not letting raw meat sit around for too long (in the fridge, it can be safe up to around 3 days), stuff like that)

deljo · Aug 9, 2007

Originally Posted by distillednikki

Well, I used to feed my cat Meow Mix Indoor Cat formula...because it was THE ONLY food he would eat. My vet told me that Meow Mix seems to cause some kind of urinary problem in male cats, and he suggested that I switch to Purina Indoor Cat Chow instead. My kitty loves it! He is a VERY strange and Picky eater. He is just over a year old now (about 16 months) and I JUST got him to start eating wet food. I have tried it ALL! I finally discovered that he loves Fancy Feast Elegant Medley. He hates milk and beef (sometimes he will eat roast beef though

).

I also feed him deli Turkey. Usually one slice a day. And he eats about 7 or 8 purina cat treats a day. He likes strawberry yogurt, but I just give him a little lick here and there.

He also likes fruit cobbler and tortillas (no joke).

My daughters cat likes tacos. She needs to pill him and puts it in the taco meat.

laureen227 · Aug 9, 2007

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

I am going to try Sportmix as recommended by Sharky (who rocks!). There is a feed store about 2 blocks from my work. Amazing. I called there, talked with the guy. He said they give free samples to people wanting to try their foods

Just need to get there. It is $5.99US for 16 lbs! Would be awesome if they liked it.

i'm surprised Sharky recommended it... the first ingredient, according to their website, is ground yellow corn...

sharky · Aug 9, 2007

Originally Posted by laureen227

i'm surprised Sharky recommended it... the first ingredient, according to their website, is ground yellow corn...

It is but she needed a PRICE pt and that one is low .. the second ingrediant is chn meal

.. SPortmix is a ENTRY leval premium I often recommend for what it doesnt have

.. Animal by product s , artificial colors or flav and chem pres... and for 5.99-7.99 for 18 lbs it is dirt cheap

laureen227 · Aug 9, 2007

Originally Posted by sharky

It is but she needed a PRICE pt and that one is low .. the second ingrediant is chn meal

.. SPortmix is a ENTRY leval premium I often recommend for what it doesnt have

.. Animal by product s , artificial colors or flav and chem pres... and for 5.99-7.99 for 18 lbs it is dirt cheap

ok, that makes sense, now. it's definitely better than the supermarket brands!

lore · Aug 10, 2007

My Horatio & Yuki are on Iams Multicat... BUT I am Transitioning them onto Nutro Max

& Our new Kitty Max came to us eating Nutro Natural Choice Indoor & I am transition him onto Nutro Max as well

tigershark · Aug 10, 2007

I'm in morocco, so right now I pretty much have to do homemade. I do the raw diet from catnutrition.org, except I blanch all the meat in boiling water for 2 mins to help kill any surface bacteria.

In America I want to hopefully continue raw but with Innova EVO and Wellness grain free to supplement.

gavigan · Aug 12, 2007

I feed Marlowe a mix of Premium Edge and Nutro MAX dry. He gets a small can of Wellness wet once per week. Should he be getting more wet and less dry? He has loose stools (always has), and we're trying to get to the root of those...

gavigan · Aug 12, 2007

I should mention that cost is an issue for me, too, unfortunately. :/

curlyq629 · Aug 12, 2007

Lilly eats Wellness or Merrick wet food in the morning and at night. She really likes the fish flavors best, so I keep them in the rotation for her, and she's never had any health issues. For dry, she gets a mix of Wellness and Nutro Max.

Leo is a slightly different story. He just had pu surgery a couple weeks ago after chronic urinary issues. He's getting Wellness or Merrick wet food (non-fish varieties only) in the morning and at night, mixed with lots of water so it's "soup". This is the only way I know he's getting enough fluids. He also gets Nutro Max (uti health) and SD c/d mixed right now, although I won't use the SD again when this bag is gone. The vet sent it home with him following the surgery, as well as some c/d wet, which he won't eat, even mixed in with the Wellness or Merrick (I don't blame him!).

I feed the Wellness and Merrick because I like the ingredients (as well as what they don't have) and both cats love them. I feed the Nutro dry because it's certified for uti health and after spending 2K at the vet this summer with urinary issues, I'm comfortable feeding it. It's also a decent option, and Leo doesn't seem to have any uti problems with it (like he did when he was on all Wellness).

auchick · Aug 12, 2007

Hello all, I just introduced myself on the intro page. I hope to start posting here somewhat frequently.

Anyway, my kittens are currently eating 1/2 cup Ckn Soup dry each and 1.5 oz Natural Life or Natural Balance or Wellness canned each. When this bag of Ckn Soup is done, I plan to switch them back to Wellness dry. They were doing well when it was 75% Wellness, 25% Ckn Soup, but they suddenly developed diarrhea when it went to 100% Wellness while my mother was watching them so I'm not sure if they're not able to handle it or if they just caught a bug. They absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE their canned and beg me for it daily. Everytime I get anything out of the microwave, the girls come running and crying.... it's pretty funny.

I feed these foods after spending quite a few hours educating myself on feline nutrition and deciding these foods are good

savannahcat · Aug 12, 2007

Prey based natural diet and raw meaty bones.

Its the healthiest diet for cats as its the most natural diet. It keep their mouth sound and their mind/ body stimulated and nourished. Its great for cats with various health backgrounds and cures a number of problems caused by processed food. I would never feed any species of cat a different diet.

Cheers!
Savannahcat
http://www.usrmb.net/
"Unnatural diets predispose animals to unnatural outcomes."
Dr. Tom Lonsdale

tarasgirl06 · Sep 20, 2007

I feed quite a variety to my Nine, including: Nutro Max Cat, Natural Choice and Complete Care, Triumph, Solid Gold Katz-n-Flocken, Natural Balance, Optimum Nature's Recipe, PetGold, ProPlan, and Trader Joe's. I do not feed supermarket brands because of their ingredients, which I feel are of lower quality.

Asteria · Sep 20, 2007

My cats eat Felidae. They eat it because I'm happy with the ingredents and will try to never feed another food from a grocery store again. They're doing much better on this food than they have on any others. Their coats are soft, their stools have much less odor, their eyes are clear, they're just doing great.

What food do you use and WHY:)

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