Another food switch question...

I am switching my new cat from the Iams dry food she was used to at the shelter to Nutro Natural Indoor dry food. I'm doing this gradually and started today.

I also want to switch her wet food. Right now she eats Fancy Feast but I am switching her to Natural Balance. Does this need to be a gradual switch too? Should I swich her wet food on her at the same time as the dry food or would that be too much? Also, is it bad to use about 3 or 4 different flavors from the same wet food company? Should I stick to just 1?

(Oh, and a funny thing - my cat is totally picking out the Nutro dry food from her bowl and leaving the Iams dry food there. It's only been 1 day, I think she's liking the new stuff though. yay!)

Originally Posted by Sakura

I am switching my new cat from the Iams dry food she was used to at the shelter to Nutro Natural Indoor dry food. I'm doing this gradually and started today.

I also want to switch her wet food. Right now she eats Fancy Feast but I am switching her to Natural Balance. Does this need to be a gradual switch too? Should I swich her wet food on her at the same time as the dry food or would that be too much? Also, is it bad to use about 3 or 4 different flavors from the same wet food company? Should I stick to just 1?

(Oh, and a funny thing - my cat is totally picking out the Nutro dry food from her bowl and leaving the Iams dry food there. It's only been 1 day, I think she's liking the new stuff though. yay!)

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As a general rule you don't need to gradually changeover wet food. However, since you are in the process of changing the dry, I wouldn't make too many changes all at once. Let her little system get used to the dry before introducing a new wet. Once she is OK with the new dry, then you can just start giving her different wet foods. If she will eat 3 or 4 different flavours that's great. It's also great if she will eat different brands - that way you'll never be stuck if the store is out of her usual brand. Our two will only eat 2 flavours of Merricks so if they are ever discontinued/difficult to get, I'm in trouble.

I've successfully switched our cats to a different dry immediately and on several occasions before I finally settled on the Orijen. Our kitties don't have a problem with the abrupt switch and it sounds as though your kittie is fine with a faster switch as well. Some poor little felines get diarrhea and that's nasty.