What do you feed?

ghosthunterbeck

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I'm not talking about brand names here -- I don't care for product placement
What I'm looking for is whether or not you feed your cat dry food or canned food and why?

I've been recommended by vets to feed exclusively dry food, but I do give our cats some canned food occasionally as a treat (and it helped me to "catch" Molly, too). However, Reagan has had a shedding problem that I believe was either related to a food allergy (we changed her food) or has something to do with needing more oils and fats in her diet. As she had no other signs of poor health, we didn't take her to the vet
but the change in food seems to have done the trick -- except that now we're dealing with dry skin due to the onset of colder weather and running the furnace *sigh*.

I would like to introduce some fish-based canned foods into her diet to see if the fatty acids might not help with her skin. Of course I can and will, if necessary, ask the vet about this issue, but I thought I'd bring it here first to see what your opinions were, considering the cost of an office visit just to ask some questions about food, especially given that her heath is *improving*
 

momofmany

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I feed as much wet as mine will take. I fed nothing but dry over many years and it worked against me when I had my first experience with CRF. Bogart didn't want anything to do with wet food and he really needed at that time. Now Stumpy has just had all of his teeth extracted and needs wet, but still wants the dry.

While I still free feed dry, Stumpy gets 3 meals a day of wet and the rest get their dinner meal of wet. Another advantage of wet over dry is that it is so much easier to slip their meds into wet food.
 

litterboxqueen

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I also feed as much canned or raw as possible. I usually feed dry if I'm out of canned or forgot to defrost some meat. Or as a snack.

I find canned to be FAR healthier than dry food. Vets seem to have this dated thought that dry kibble "cleans teeth", while that is not the truth.
Canned food as well contains more moisture, protein and is less processed. It usually also contains less fillers and grains.
 

jeanette65

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I have had better outcomes with my cats feeding them a good quality wet (canned) food with a bit of dry food mixed in for crunch. I've had two girls who frequently vomited up their dry food when fed dry food exclusively.

One of the girls had a skin disorder with loss of fur and rashes. I took her to a homeopathic vet and she put her on a raw diet with supplements mixed in. We would buy ground turkey or chicken and mix in the supplements the vet gave us. The supplements were things like bone meal and vitamins. The vet advised us to make a very large amount, portion it and freeze the excess for future use. This was fed raw. It was a bit of work, but my sweet kitty responded very well to it. She's since passed but the experience changed the way I looked at feeding my feline friends.

I wonder if you could just supplement with fish oils or omega 3 oils by giving direct supplements or adding them to the food. I'm not sure but thought I saw supplements like that at my local pet supplier.

I've had so many kitties over the years and I'm now just starting to realize the benefits of alternative supplements for them. I started using Bach remedies with the vets approval and have noticed that it seems to help quite a bit with minor issues.
 

tarasgirl06

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I've always fed small quantities of wet food morning and evening, with fresh water and high-quality varieties of dry food available free-choice. We do seem to grow some healthy cats around here -- Nicolas T. Cat, our eldest, is 18 years young and going strong.
 

sushilover

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I've been feeding dry food 3 times a day in small portions because it seems easier to control portion size since Misty is a recent adopted stray and will eat as much as there is in front of her. i can measure out the dry food easier.
 

mechanicalman

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I'm feeding dry food exclusively right now because:

1. Gracie was about 3 (best guess) when I adopted her, and she had only been fed dry food by the previous owners. As far as I can tell, she doesn't want to eat anything but dry cat food. She has refused to eat everything else I've offered her.

2. I don't think "premium" dry food is a terrible thing to feed a healthy cat. I'm feeding her grain-free dry.

3. Frankly, wet and raw diets are far more expensive. Quality dry food only costs me a few dollars a month.
 

sharky

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I have done wet and dry for all who would 50/50 and I think it is why the CRF in Kandie RIPwaited till she was nearly 15 ... I learned to feed my animals from Grandma RIP ... She feed a little kibble little wet( when at our house ) then she gave raw , lightly cooked and cooked meats veggies and organs... Turns out Grandma knew the best all along... she used to bring over packets for the animals when she could..

I like raw but my Zoey prefers quality dry with another dry for treats .. she eats very little wet and prefers her raw just dead ( ie she hunts it )

my dog do to medical issues went from raw to homemade ( you want alot of work make homemade
)
 

cairo

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I free feed dry food. Every couple of days when they ask me for wet, they get it. They actually like their dry food a lot. Both of them are in really good condition, weight, coat and health-wise.
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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I think we're going to start feeding some canned along with the dry, just to help a bit more with Reagan's coat, if nothing else. Reagan and Molly both know about canned, Whisper doesn't. It will be an adventure to see how he gets along with it!

They've always gotten bits of cooked meat for treats, and when we have organs we'll give them to them, or an occasional raw egg as well (yolks are a great source of fatty acids, too!). We'd like to add some fish to their diets as well, just for development.

The dog only eats dry. I've never had much success with feeding dogs canned food, and for Dozer, at least, it's a bit more stimulation with the added crunch than canned provides (and he *needs* the stimulation
).
 

exoticbabee

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I feed wet food 2x/day and leave dry food out for snacking. Babee is happy with her feeding schedule and it works for me..everyone's happy.
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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I forgot to mention that we free-feed dry food, and we don't have a single overweight cat. As much as Molly is eating, we might need to restrict her diet a bit more, but she needs to put some weight on. Her tail is pure skin, bone and fur right now
 

sharky

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HAS something like worms been ruled out??? does she lick the hair off that area???


CAREFUL and CAUTION>>>>> RAW egg WHITES CAN cause a BIOTIN DEFICIENCY
 

kalikat

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I feed Blossom a mix of wet pouches & dry. I had intended getting her used to eating raw chicken bones & occassional lamb flaps to keep her teeth clean. I have been very lax in this but she still gets occasional raw chicken meat which she loves. My dogs get a lot of raw bones to eat.
There has been a lot of information on the forums & net on the advantage of feeding wet food to cats. It tells us that dry food does nothing to clean their teeth. I have also read over the years that too much fish is no good for cats & lately that tuna should only be fed rarely. I stay clear of wet & dry that has tuna in it. Blossom gets other fish such as salmon, mackeral, bream & snapper. Perhaps someone can tell me if any of these fish should also be fed occassionally.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Kalikat

I feed Blossom a mix of wet pouches & dry. I had intended getting her used to eating raw chicken bones & occassional lamb flaps to keep her teeth clean. I have been very lax in this but she still gets occasional raw chicken meat which she loves. My dogs get a lot of raw bones to eat.
There has been a lot of information on the forums & net on the advantage of feeding wet food to cats. It tells us that dry food does nothing to clean their teeth. I have also read over the years that too much fish is no good for cats & lately that tuna should only be fed rarely. I stay clear of wet & dry that has tuna in it. Blossom gets other fish such as salmon, mackeral, bream & snapper. Perhaps someone can tell me if any of these fish should also be fed occassionally.
Are you talking cooked fish in a cat food?>?? or cooked by you plain or raw???
 

forensic

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Currently free-fed dry and wet/dry/water mix daily. He prefers the wet mix, the more water the better.
This is good, keeps him hydrated, I suppose!
 

kluchetta

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We feed Wellness wet food several times a day, with a fairly good quality dry being out to free feed. The wet food particularly seems to make our 18 year old cat feel more full, keeps her from over grooming, and makes her coat beautifully shiny.

I don't know why vets keep saying dry food is good for their teeth. I think they get their cats and dogs mixed up.
 

missymotus

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I feed mostly raw with a small amount of dry left out overnight.
 
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ghosthunterbeck

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Originally Posted by sharky

HAS something like worms been ruled out??? does she lick the hair off that area???
Who are we talking about? Reagan? Worms have been ruled out and a change in diet has solved the shedding problem. She has no problem with licking the hair off any area.

If it's Molly we're talking about, she's only been inside for 24 hours and hasn't had the chance to see the vet yet. She has no apparent hair issues, eyes are bright, and no sign of external parasites. She needs a looking-over from a vet though (obviously).



CAREFUL and CAUTION>>>>> RAW egg WHITES CAN cause a BIOTIN DEFICIENCY
Whenever I feed my pets, I tend to look at human consumption of the same foods. If the food cannot safely be fed to a human baby, I question "why" and simply don't feed that food. In other cases, when in doubt, I ask the vet
I've always been told that eggs (raw or cooked) are good for cats. I've also been told some really ridiculous things by vets in the past, too. Like "don't bother to vaccinate if every other cat in the neighborhood isn't!" Human babies should *not* consume egg whites (cooked or raw), so the cats don't get them either. But the yolks are a good source of DHA and ARA, which is good for the developing youngster.

This isn't something that they've gotten often -- once or twice since we've had Whisper (and he's been with us for about a year now).
 

epona

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I feed 2 meals of wet a day, and 1 of dry - the dry is mostly for our convenience since we both work and it can be left out. They get the occassional treat of a little cooked fish or plain scrambled egg.

I'm rethinking my feeding strategy at the moment though, Sonic should by now have stopped growing but he's a tiny bit podgy and I think I may need to feed them separately because it's difficult to tell who's getting what!
 
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