breed specific foods

mom2raven

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Do you think that breed specific food is taking it a little to far or is it a good idea?
I have been researching foods, I like what I am feeding but it is a bit pricy for me. I picked up a royal canin pamphlet (and it is more expensive than the nutro I am feeding anyway) and read through it. I thought it was really interesting. I like how they have kitten food for kittens before their big teeth come in, I am sure Jack would have done better on that. And they have quite a selection. And everything they wrote about the breed specific food made sense, but I wonder if it is just a marketing ploy.
I worry that I am too suseptable to a ploy. I am buying indoor kitten food, neccesary? probably not. But just like all of us here I want what is best for my kitties that I can provide.
Just wondering your thoughts.
 

kai bengals

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I'm primarily a raw food feeder, but for the kibble I do use Royal Canin.
I've been very happy with their product and the baby kitten kibble is excellent.
Perfect size for weaning kittens less than 4 months old. After 4 months, we switch to the RC kitten kibble.
Our adults get the Adult FIT 33 and our pregnant girls get the Queen formula.

I'm pleased with the results.
 

sharky

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MOST cats DONT need INDOOR food ... as it is a cross between adult and light... higher in carbs and lower in fat and sometimes protein....

Breed specific I understand the idea but think it is a little extreme to say a persian should eat different than a main coon....

BOth Nutro and RC are good brands ... I have had decent results with RC but the girls all seem to do better on Nutro
 

siggav

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I know the shape of the persian kibbles are designed to make it easier for them to eat with their squashed in faces. While I think the Maine Coon kibbles are unusually large to try and get them to chew a bit rather than inhaling things or something like that.

From what I've gathered, it's more about the shape of the food rather than the content. I've not researched it properly myself though.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Siggav

I know the shape of the persian kibbles are designed to make it easier for them to eat with their squashed in faces. While I think the Maine Coon kibbles are unusually large to try and get them to chew a bit rather than inhaling things or something like that.

From what I've gathered, it's more about the shape of the food rather than the content. I've not researched it properly myself though.
But if that WAS so pertinant wouldnt all the cats not eating special shapes have issues...( devils advocate and food for thought
 

misskiwi67

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Originally Posted by sharky

But if that WAS so pertinant wouldnt all the cats not eating special shapes have issues...( devils advocate and food for thought
Is it easier to eat with a fork or with chopsticks? Sure, we all get fed, but my hands are much less cramped when I use a fork! Its all about comfort for the cat, and I have a friend who swears by the persian formula.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Misskiwi67

Is it easier to eat with a fork or with chopsticks? Sure, we all get fed, but my hands are much less cramped when I use a fork! Its all about comfort for the cat, and I have a friend who swears by the persian formula.
Sorry this is a joke... depends where in the world you are ... I am sure a native to a Asian country would say chop stick but most of us a fork... I tried the breed specific and found out my yorkie preffferred the GSD size better
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by sharky

Sorry this is a joke... depends where in the world you are ... I am sure a native to a Asian country would say chop stick but most of us a fork... I tried the breed specific and found out my yorkie preffferred the GSD size better
That's a Yorkie for ya!


I honestly do not buy into the breed specific, but I've never done thorough research. I've also only had moggies, so I'm biased!
 

mimosa

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I think the breed specific foods are a marketing ploy, how convenient the most popular breeds Maine Coon, Persian and Siamese turned out to have special needs, and Sphynxes , Rexes and Singapuras didn't


All those kinds of kibble actually made me sceptical; why isn't there a kind of kibble which is good enough for all cats ?
 

siggav

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I don't think it's bad to have the breed specific food, it's just more choice and maybe some cats really do prefer the smaller kibbles the 'persian' food has or the larger one that the 'Main Coons' have.

They don't have to be of those breeds though and the breeds don't need to eat that food.
 

goldenkitty45

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IMO its just the shape/size of the kibble - not the nutrition part. Charlie has to be on RC Urinary now. But the only difference in that from regular RC (Beauty & Fit) is the color/shape and its formulated different.

I think the "breed" ones are only different in shape/size.
 

abymummy

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Having been to an RC workshop, I do understand where they are coming from. The basics is that Perisans, Siamese and Maine Coons do have different eating habits and frankly the different shapes and sizes of the kibble do make a difference based on the shape of their head and muzzles. For example, Persians do NOT eat the same way normal cats do - their tongues fold down on the kibble not scoop up.

Having said that however, I would not recommend that you feed RC Maine Coon to any cat besides the Maine Coons, NFOs and Sibs tho. The kibble is much harder and larger than the norm, and yes, it's designed that way to force the cats to chew instead of inhale


I personally feed my cats a combination of Sensible + RC Persian as adults, and for the kittens and my queens, they get RC Kitten + Kitten Persian, unless pregnant, they get RC Queen.

Now, you may ask, why on earth should I feed RC Persian to Abyssinians??? The answer is simple - I don't really know why, but I LOVE what RC Persian does for my Abys coats. A happy mistake I made a couple of years back when I mistakenly took a bag of RC Persian instead of Fit32. After a couple of weeks on Persian, I discovered that their coats were more vibrant in color and more supple in texture. For Abys a snappy coat is a great plus in the judging rings and somehow, RC Persian does that for them.
 

sol

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Originally Posted by mom2raven

Do you think that breed specific food is taking it a little to far or is it a good idea?
It's taking it to far. Persians, Maine Coons and Siameses have done very well without breed specific foods earlier and I truly don't believe that the breed specific foods, in any way, changes the well being of these specific breeds.

Having some... 20 (something like that) different types of dryfoods (and that's not including the foods especially made for sick cats) for cats is by far to take it to far.

Boy what troulbe you're in if you have an old overweight Siamese with a sensitive stomach who also is a finicky eater AND lives indoors only. What should you choose? The Siamese food? The Sensitive food? The food for "mature" cats? The food for indoor cats? The food for finicky eaters? Or do you buy them all and mix?
 

kitytize

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Don't the different breed foods add different amounts of nutrients for specific breed problems. I want to say I remember in the MC food that they add something or more of something for joints since they are large? And isn't something added for Persians because of kidneys or something?

I hear all the time that the Persian food really does make a difference in Persians but I cannot say if that is true.
 

epona

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Some of the Siamese/Oriental breeders I know swear by RC Siamese - Siams & Oris with their long faces are often notorious food-gobblers and are particularly prone to eating too fast and being sick with some sizes and shapes of dry food. The RC Siamese is shaped so that it slows down their big greedy mouths when eating and I've spoken to a number of people for whom it has solved this problem. I reckon it would also be a good food for other long-muzzled fast eaters who have this tendency such as some of the rex breeds.

I would also imagine that a very active muscular breed would have slightly different nutritional requirements than a quieter breed.

I haven't actually tried it myself, I feed mostly wet, but I do make sure to feed shredded or large chunks rather than pate style for the same reason, the likelihood of it coming back up is greatly reduced if they can't slurp it. Before I realised this, I had a lot of problems with speed-eating induced vomiting, just due to the shape/texture of the wet foods
and I would imagine similar applies to the size and shape of dry foods.
 
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