Help with dry/wet food

 We just got Oliver a couple days ago and he's a skinny thing. We want to fill him out to what he should be judging by his frame. Anyway, since he was a surprise emergency rescue (abandoned outside) and we had nothing that night I picked up some Whiska's wet food in the foil stand up pouch and President's Choice Finicky Cat in the same form. He loves them :) 

  As for dry food, the next day we went out and bought Friskies Stuffed Morsels. He eats them free fed. His treat are and always will be Temptations. Tomorrow or Wednesday I will also pick up chicken hearts for the taurine. 

  I am a believer in raw diets but I'm afraid I don;t have enough money or variation to keep at it for 20 years so I want to ease into that slowly. For now, what foods do you recommend? Is there a cat food analysis site I can check foods on? (theres a dog food analysis site). I fed my senior dog PC Nurtition First, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Holistic Blend and Lick your Chops last going off and I had great results. I want to take a more proactive measure this time and start right for my cat as I tried too late for my poor dog. 

  I hear EVO is good, Blue Buffalo, Wellness but are those priced fairly? and easy to get at? What wet food do you recommend? 

  All thoughts are appreciated :) This is my first kitty and I wanna do by him right!

  I am also going to pick up enzymatic toothpaste next time I goes to PetSmart.. Do cats take it well? Is there flavours that some cats prefer?? And is there any preferred brands? Or is PetSmart brand or whatever's cheapest okay?

  I am by no means made of money. I get by on part time work and a student loan so I cannot afford crazy expensive stuff, just good food for reasonable price :) Thanks!

 Thanks :) 

 I don't plan on keeping him on Friskies (it was the 'best' kind in the store 30 seconds from our house) so it had to do. I wish we were better prepared for Oliver then I would have picked up a food I knew was good because I had planned on looking it up before adopting!

  Are chicken hearts okay as a treat? I think it would be gross but fun to feed. He comes from an indoor/outdoor lifestyle and I thought the hearts would benefit him? 

  I will look more into raw food but I would have to get my boyfriend on board. He knows I'm educated when it comes to my animals bc I'm always on the pet-specific forums (betta, bunny, cat, all pets) but I think it might take him a while to get used to a raw food diet (is it called BARF?) So for the time it will have to be dry/wet. 

  Dollarama sells Whiska's brand cat food for 50c a pouch. That's reasonable, and the fact that we can walk there from our house (or bike) is even better! I don't mind feeding him the pouches... Is there a more economical savvy wet food? I don't like the idea of refridgerating an open can for later... How does everyone else go about the cold can dilemma?

  (*Thanks for the raw food article, I'll read it after posting this)

 *edit* Okay, I understand now why raw food + dry food is no good. Is there any reason I shouldn't feed him a chicken heart once a week or so? Then it wouldn't have an effect on his acidity and the release of those 2 hormones. And just a question regarding this, cats who go outdoors and kill their own prey (birds, mice) eat parts of them and then go home to eat regular food, or scavenge around garbages etc. Might Ollie have some sort of indigestion problem if he was outdoors?

Hm, thanks! So it won't hurt if I buy chicken hearts today for Oliver and my mom's cat Mama?? I also need to go out to PetSmart for a good litter box and toothpaste sometime the week. Is there anything I should be looking for in labels?

 :D Yes I should clarify.. In wet food and dry food- are there particular ingredients I should avoid? I already know I'm probably going to go holistic (at least for dry) but analysis wise, how much protein and fats and taurine and all that should be present??

 An off question related to, is there any foods I should begin feeding now to help prevent problems later on?? (because I know with my dog I should have started him on glucosamine/chondriotin earlier than I did and he developed really bad arthritis) 

  Thanks for your patience! :D I really appreciate the help! 

Thanks again! Well I stopped into the grocery store earlier today and was reading the analysis on dry food to compare. The Holistic Blend is without all the ingredients you mention but only has protein of like 30-32% whereas there was a Purina One variety with 43%.. Would that be bad protein? Probably.. I don't intend on feeding these store brands I was just getting used to reading and comparing the ingredients and nutritional min/max's. 

  When I have a day off I'll head out to PetSmart and see what they carry in the way of holistic or close to it foods. I know they have some pretty knowledgable staff there for dogs, fish and reptiles but I'll go in and take their opinions with a grain of salt. (I was never keen on taking their advice wholly)

 :) well, I also am a little edgy taking a vet's nutritional advice. My dog's vet reccomended I buy their vet food for him and after 2 months he was still losing weight and not feeling well on it. I took him off that and he got better. But I hear what you're saying, I always do my own research and back up my findings usually.. Anyway, after browsing around I think I like the looks and reviews from Blue Wilderness. I'll see what kinds the PetSmart carries and begin switching him this month :)

Thanks alpha! That was informative ^.^ I didn't realise there was any difference between canned wet and pouch wet! I'll feed off what I have already bought. I like the idea of feeding dry for the time being because it gives him something to snack on when he's hungry. The wet food is more or less just to substitute so he has a routine and looks forward to meal time. Plus, I would need to get my boyfriend on board with any diet change because I need him to take responsibility too. I don't want to be expected to take all the food buying chores just because I did the research, I need him to fully understand and accept any choices we want to make in Oliver's diet :/ Seems like an extra pet sometimes!

@Minka, thanks again! It's all a learning experience for me :) I always grew up with cats but it's only now that I have responsibility of food and stuff. I want the best for my kitty :) I only feed him 1 pouch in the morning- so it's like 50c a day in wet so far :) The dollar store carries Whiska's and Friskies brand wet food. But if I find some economic value somewhere else I'll switch. 

 Oh, the bag I picked up was the kitten kind in the Purina 1... So I guess that was my mistake!! :P oops! I think I will write up a list when I drag him to PetSmart with me :D

Vaseline in the drawers?!? That would be just too funny.. and , erm ... Messy! I'm sure we'll work something out, even if it means I pay for it with his card so I make sure I get the right kind! 

Well I already stated I am not going with regular store brands like Purina 1. I just noted the 40% protein in the kitten variety and wondered why is all :)  I'll make sure to check for potato and other starches though! ^.^ 

http://www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline/products.jsp?type=details&catIds=41&productId=prod530127 this is the food I picked up to transition Oliver off crappy grain food. I know it has potatoes and fruits but it seems to be a better quality store brand. Plus I work at a Loblaws location and save 10% on my purchase.. I'd like to switch him to Blue Wilderness (or whatever band is blue with a picture of a lynx on it) but I'm slowly getting swallowed up in debt and priority sets my realism straight - vet comes first. 

  What do you guys think of PC Nutrition First?

Protein= min 32%

crude fat= min 15%

crude fibre= max 3%

moisture=max 10%

ash=max 7%

Magnesium= max 0.1%

taurine= min 0.15%

omega 6 fatty acids= min 2.3%

omega 3 fatty acids= min 0.3%

Thanks Auntie! ^.^ I'll check out those articles and pick out some better canned food. I have a test Monday which I must study for so the articles will have to wait actually. But I appreciate your comment! I always agreed with feeding variety and as far as these store brands go I've been buying different brands and already took him off the pouches! I cannot believe there are such bad ingredients in it! how can they get away with that?! 

 Anyway, I'll look into what PetSmart and my local non-animal-selling lps carries :) 

 Wow.. Now I'm super paranoid about the dry food I feed Oliver! I think I can increase his wet food to maybe 2 cans a day (since the article mentioned wet must be 50% of the daily diet) but money wise it will likely be the cheaper ones, things like Friskies and Fancy Feast. They're better than not receiving wet food at all! I also learned about the ingredients bone and meat meal etc. Euthanised pets?!? How terrible! Could Oliver's digestive upset be caused by eating a poor diet all this time and now he's getting a better food (albeit it's PC Nutrition First) 

 :D 

We're going in to the vet Saturday morning. I have a list of things to go over with her as it is (I'll make a post of my concerns in another thread).. As for food..Enzymatic toothpaste- benefit for dry-food eating cats? Oliver loves dry food. He wakes us up when his bowl is empty overnight if we forget to fill it. Sometimes he puts it above his wet food! Oliver also is not dehydrated. He drinks his full bowl of water every day and sometimes he wants to go "look" at the bunny's water bowl :P I don't notice his thirst as excessive but I know he's not starved, so to speak, for water. 

  Foods formulated to balance urine ph are they a gimmick? What makes them worth buying?? I will have a look around bc I still need to find a way to the pet store to get his toothpaste and some other things.