What brands of canned food do you feed? - Page 2

There is a problem with losing the taurine in cat food if you reheat it in the microwave.

I leave food out of the fridge to get to room temperature. If I can plan ahead. A little warm water added and mixed in canned food will warm food and add more fluids.

I've been storing partially used cans of food in the fridge, in the cans, with snap on plastic lids, for many years, with no ill effects. Cats like the leftover food fine as long as it is room temperature or warmed with warm water. It's never more than a day or two old.

Robin

 

I agree, I use wax paper to cover when reheating anything in the microwave. A good trick when you need it to not touch the food or it will get stuck, (cheese etc..) is to crinkle the wax paper in a ball, then open it back up again & make a tent w/ it. (makes it form able)

 

I use Natural Balance. (mainly the limmited Ing, ones)  Turkey & giblets, chicken & liver,  chicken & green pea (use this one dry too), Duck & green pea, & once & a while, he likes the venison as well.

The Soulistic Good Karma chicken and gravy does not have menadione sodium bisulfate. Only the fishy foods. Many fishy foods contain this artificial ingredient. I had one pet food manufacturer (EarthBorn) tell me it was because

According to AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) cat food that contains greater than 25% fish in the formula is recommended to have Vitamin K in the formula. Technically, this relates to the amount of Omega 3's that are in the product as they tend to thin the blood. Vitamin K has antihemorrhagic properties that are beneficial for cats. Normally, the pet produces enough Vitamin K on his own, but high Omega 3s push the need for added Vitamin K according to AAFCO.

They did not answer my question about it being an ARTIFICIAL ingredient in a supposedly "holistic" food.

I feed in the current rotation (some more often than others):

Before Grain: chicken, turkey, beef
By Nature: chicken&liver, beef&liver
Castor&Pollux: chicken and vegetable stew
Merrick: cowboy cookout (beef), thanksgiving dinner (turkey)
Natural life: chicken, lamb
Soulistic Good Karma chicken and gravy,
Wellness: turkey
Weruva: nine liver, steak frite

Used as snacks only
Natural Balance platefuls: chicken & Giblents, chicken&liver

Purchased, but not tried yet
By Nature organic: Chicken&turkey

On the list to try as I get low on other foods ( to add to the rotation):
Nature's Variety
Nature's Logic

You're welcome

One thing to keep in mind is caloric content varies wildly, not only from brand to brand, but in some brands, from formula to formula.

For instance the Wellness foods are very high in calories, with the grain free canned chicken being highest at 220calories for a 5.5 ounce can. The Turkey is slightly lower.

The Before Grain 96 % beef is 137 calories for 5.5. ounces and the 96% chicken is 157 calories per 5.5 ounce can

All the By Nature 95% formulas contain 120 calories per 6 ounce can.

Weruva's foods are all about 84 calories per 5.5 ounce can and Soulistic is 94-98 calories per 5.5 ounce can.

I keep a daily cat journal and record everything they eat, what time, what brand/flavor and how much, one of the reasons I do this is so I can make sure they are getting the correct calories every day, with such a wide variety of foods.

True, for an obese cat calories are definitely important - BUT earlier in this thread you said you were going to feed for ideal weight.  I need to interject that you said you thought he should be at 10 pounds, but you definitely cannot feed a 17-pound cat only enough food for a 10-pound cat. The max a cat should lose is 2% of current body weight per week.  Here is a great article on feline obesity from CatInfo.org: Feline Obesity. I think the formula for weight loss is 15 calories per pound, so for your cat 255 calories per day - again, losing no more than 2% body weight per week - and adjusting up or down depending on how he is losing.  

 

It doesn't have to be but so much work!  You can choose what brands you want to feed (hopefully so far on the thread you have a working idea of at least 5-6 brands with different flavors among them), work out how many calories per can (here's that chart I linked to earlier again - tells you how many calories per can) and maybe keep that on a cheat sheet by your feeding area?  Then you'll have the numbers right there to make up a day's calories and divide between the meals (2 125 calorie cans, 2 100 calories cans plus half of another, etc.).  Okay, it might be a bit of work at first, haha, but once you do it for a week you'll get it!  Then as he loses you can reduce the calories!  

 

If you need to write the numbers down as you feed them to keep it straight, you could always..... start a journal thread here!!!  Heehee!  I need another 5- or  7- or 18- or 25-page thread to be obsessed with!!!  

For canned food, my cats like Narure's variety, Nature's logic, Organix, California natural venison, Innova, 

 

Is there any reason that you make your cat eat in that position on cat tree?  Is that better for  his joints?

Haha, cute.  I'll try it, see if they like the idea.  They are all over 10 though.

My one cat gets the following:

-Nature's Variety Instinct in rabbit, duck, lamb, venison and beef
-Nature's Variety Homestyle stews in duck, lamb, turkey, beef and seafood
-Weruva-most flavours
-almo nature in chicken drumsticks and breast, mixed seafood, other flavours.
-go! Natural grain-free

My other cat who has CRF gets a rotation of:

-wellness turkey and chicken
-Weruva chicken flavours
-Natural Balance LID in duck, chicken, salmon, and venison
-Holistic Selects duck&chicken, chicken & lamb, salmon & shrimp, turkey & barley
- almo nature in chicken and cheese, salmon & cheese, mackerel
-hills' k/d, g/d, c/d
-Medi-cal reduced protein, mature

Note they only get the fish ones occasionally, maybe once a week or every other week. I'm running out of options for my CRF cat as he gets sick of foods So quickly. So I have to give him some of the forbidden foods like the almo nature and some of the Weruva formulas. Wellness I'm not a huge fan of but Schweppie will eat it. If it wasn't for his CRF and pickiness he'd get what the other cat gets.

How are the new brands going?  Any he doesn't like?  

Hi Hobo !!  My cats wet diet consists of Nutro Natural Choice and Nutro Max. To give them different flavors and textures I will sometimes buy Wellness and Innova as well as a couple of others. Your kitties will do well on the wet diet.  You will most likely decide on a brand(s) that fits into your requirements and budget

LOL... At least he is enjoying it

Currently  in the cupboard:

 

Before Grain - Quail & Chicken

Weruva - Paw Lickin' Chicken, Grandma's Chicken Soup

BFF - Tuna & Pumpkin

Evangers - Pheasant, Turkey & Butternut Squash

Natures Variety Instinct - Lamb, Beef

 

 

Jinx will eat whatever I put in his bowl, so that makes shopping easy and fun.   I like to stick grain-free with his cans, so I'm not sure what brain fart I was having when I decided to try Evangers! Ah well.

Just wanted to add something. A year ago we switched our overweight cat off of a crappy royal canin diet onto a holistic diet. We gave her the same portion of the new holistic food as the Royal Canin wet food. She lost weight so fast she got fatty liver and we had no clue until we noticed she stopped eating and we found blood in her stool. The label on the holistic food stated that due to her weight she was required to eat 2-2.5 cans a day of the new food (which we thought was WAY too much) in comparison to feeding her 1-1.75 of the other stuff. So be careful decreasing required amounts too quickly just because they seem like too much. If your cat is overweight I would suggest taking the food to your vet and he/she can recommend a feeding plan, where you slowly decrease the amount fed over a long period of time.

I just switched all my cats to only canned food a month ago. Right now I'm feeding them Wellness grain-free, Evo Cat and Kitten, and Evo 95% chicken and turkey. These come in the 13.2-oz cans and my local Pet Supplies Plus carries them. I also order them on petfooddirect if they have a good sale and free shipping.

Upon the advice of our vet, and also our friend's vet, we have just begun using Costco brand grain-free wet food.  The cats love it.  The only issue that I have seen that bothers me a bit is the ingredient change that seems to occur with some frequency.  It is my understanding, however, after making this discovery, that this is status quo for most canned pet food brands.  I am not so sure that I like the sound of that, but if it is occuring with most brands, should we villify Cosco for it?  Is it a reason to stop using what our vet has vehemently praised as one of the best grain-free cat foods on the market?  Anyway, just thought I'd contribute as it was a recent question that we put to our vet so I thought I'd share the answer...

 

Hi Kittees Just read an interesting article. You might want to take a look at it.  This is just a FWIW post.

 

Excerpt:

 

 

" By Dr. Becker

Recently the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) added a fifth 'vital health assessment' for veterinarians in determining the health status of their cat and dog patients.

The four existing assessments are: temperature, cardio function, respiratory health, and pain.

The new "5th Vital Assessment"¹ is nutrition.

Per Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, and executor director of the AAHA:"

 

Read More Below:

 

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/09/nutrition-the-fifth-vital-assessment.aspx

 

 

But that article is about vets pushing "therapeutic" (ie "prescription") pet foods. You know, those grain loaded awful ingredient things. If a vet is recommending a grain free canned food to be purchased commercially, to me that says the vet is likely to do her/his homework on cat nutrition and is trustworthy.

I agree! I read the article & YUK!!    Shame on ANY Vet that would recommend that stuff!!! 

 Quote:

 

 

 

From that link (my added bold):

 

 

 

Looks like the rx food manufacturers are ramping up their efforts to get vets to push their high priced foods on their poor unsuspecting patients. 

 

Shame on the AAHA...

 

 

 

 

 

Just found this thread and am astounded at the options you have over there!  I don't feed canned food as it is just commercial junk food here, but you seem to have some excellent choices in the US.

 

I do buy a meat mix from the pet shop which is organic.. it comes in 1 kilo lots and I break it up into bits and freeze.  I really agree with tscatmom about reheating things although I go once step further (my friends think I'm over the top) and don't even own a microwave.  I've never come to grips with it as a way of heating and cooking food.  I tend to defrost, and if it's still too cold, just tip some very hot water over and mix.

 

I just noticed bastetservant does a similar thing, and the comment about the taurine and the microwaving was very enlightening.  Surely that says something about the microwave process.

 

I'm learning so much on this site!

I try feeding her Harmony Farms but she won't really eat it just lick it. It seems all they have is pates, not pieces in gravy. But she pretty much just licks any kind I give her without eating it. I think she might eat a little bit of Fancy Feast Flaked Shrimp and Fish which I give her a lot. I also just started trying Newman's Own. I've tried Back To Basics before. And sometimes all different kinds like Purina One and Iams and even cheap brands but I try to go usually with either Harmony Farms or Fancy Feast Flaked Fish and Shrimp. I actually like getting the Special Kitty pouches where it's chunks in gravy and she seems to like that better and I find it easier to just open and pour but I know it's not the healthiest

I feed mainly wellness and Blue Buffalo for canned. They get Wellness dry.

 

My picky princess wont always eat the Wellness or Blue Buffalo and for those days she gets Nature's Recipe. I think it is like her chocolate she loves the stuff even though it isn't as healthy for her as the wellness. But she is a tiny peanut at 4 years old just shy of 8lbs so I try to get her to eat anything rather than nothing. For reference the feral baby we took in is 4 months old and weights 6lbs already.