New Cat/Kitten Plan

I will be adopting a cat or kitten, and I believe I have a plan on what to feed it. I'm trying to get what's best, while also keeping cost down, and this is what I came up with.

Nature's Variety Instinct dry once a day, and BFF once a day (I'm thinking the wet in the morning, the dry in the late afternoon). I also plan to purchase a fountain water dish, as I've been reading that cats don't drink as much water for whatever reason. But cats love drinking from faucets, so something like that is ideal. And I was thinking of adding fish oil to the dry food, but since BFF is tuna-based I wasn't sure that was necessary.

If any of you know of a better diet, for around the same cost, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks

Keep in mind a growing kitten should be fed as much as it can eat. As such. I think it would be more appropriate to feed at least 3 times a day.

I would not include dry food as a dietary staple - more like a snack or dessert - due to the high amount of carbs.

I do not believe sticking to one brand of food is a good idea. If there is a problem with that food - for instance, if it is tainted and there is a recall (yes, this happens all the time) - then

A) the cat will have A LOT of the contaminant in it's system because that is all it eats making recovery more difficult

B) the cat will probably not be willing to eat a new food that it has never had before

C) introducing a new food to a cat used to eating one thing tends to cause diarrhea

Wellness & Evo are good brands. When you buy them in the 12.5oz cans, they tend to be cheaper per oz than lesser brands.

I think adding fish oil to the (wet) food is a very good idea, btw. 

re. the cat fountain:

I'd hold off on the cat fountain til the cat is older & u know for sure the cat is interested in running water.

My experience fwiw was that it was not worth it for my cats (a lot of cats do love them, though) who have no interest in running water.

I'm actually a dog food nutritionist, and I work at a store that sells cat food as well. So I know a little about cats, but not enough that I feel that comfortable with things. So thank you for the help.

I do plan on rotating foods, wet and dry, as I recommend dog owners to do that since all foods have pros and cons. Rotating keeps things more balanced. Good to hear that's as true with cats as dogs, as it was more an assumption.

Speaking of dry, I know that it's better to do wet food, but I'm not sure about cost. The Instinct is $20 for a 5.5# bag at our store (not including my discount... lol), while BFF wet is $1.29 for a 5oz can. I believe it's recommended to feed 1oz of wet for every pound your cat weighs daily. NOT every meal, but total in a day. So it may make sense to just pick a canned food and feed that only.

BTW, you mentioned Wellness and Evo, both of which I'm familiar with. Due to it's high protein content (50%), and solid reputation, I thought NV Instinct was a good choice. You don't agree? Although if I go wet that may change things.

I'd never heard of adding fish oil to wet food, but I'll keep that in mind. But is that really necessary if I'm rotating between BFF canned, which is all tuna based?

Finally, thanks for the heads up on the fountain. Hearing cats don't drink as much, and feeding half dry, I thought this would be best. I was going to look for a stainless steel one, as opposed to a plastic one, but they aren't cheap. So that was nice to hear first.

BryanV21 said:

BTW, you mentioned Wellness and Evo, both of which I'm familiar with. Due to it's high protein content (50%), and solid reputation, I thought NV Instinct was a good choice. You don't agree? Although if I go wet that may change things.

I'd never heard of adding fish oil to wet food, but I'll keep that in mind. But is that really necessary if I'm rotating between BFF canned, which is all tuna based?

Finally, thanks for the heads up on the fountain. Hearing cats don't drink as much, and feeding half dry, I thought this would be best. I was going to look for a stainless steel one, as opposed to a plastic one, but they aren't cheap. So that was nice to hear first.

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The reason I mentioned [color= rgb(70, 70, 70)]  Wellness and Evo was not because I thought they were superior to [/color][color= rgb(70, 70, 70)]NV Instinct, but because if you buy them in the the large 12.5oz cans they wind up being cheaper per oz than mostly anything out there - even fancy feast which is worse quality.[/color]

[color= rgb(70, 70, 70)]The omega-3 oils in fish oil do not hold up well in processing so it does not matter if the food contains fish. [/color]

[color= rgb(70, 70, 70)]I got the stainless pioneer fountain when the kittens were 9 weeks old. They were afraid of it. It took ~week before they would approach it. I wonder if it turned them off to running water. lol[/color]

Gotcha.

And I didn't even think about the processing killing off things, as it does in dog foods (thinking Glucosamine and Chondroiton mainly).

I'm a fan of Evo, so that sounds like a great idea.

Again, thanks a lot. Now I just have to get the kitten, lol. Hoping for a Maine Coon kitten, but I won't do the breeder thing so it's up to whether I can find one at a shelter or rescue group.
 

also, with a new kitten from the shelter, you want to get whatever they are feeding them @ the shelter and slowly wean them off of it to prevent tummy upset.

Yeah. I'm afraid of finding out what they're feeding him/her.
 

probably science diet

 

Since you're a dog nutritionist, have you considered feeding your cat raw? We have a very active and informative raw feeding forum here. It's easier than you might think, and if you do homemade, it's cheaper than canned.

Cats are obligate carnivores -- they have no use for things that don't come from another animal. So all those fillers in kibble and canned are useless for them. On raw, they just eat meat, bones, and organs. There are commercial raw preparations too if you're wary of doing your own, but those are more expensive.

Good luck and keep us updated :bigthumb:

I have thought of raw (we carry Primal raw for cats), but for the time being it doesn't work for me. I hate saying that, as it makes me sound like a bad parent, but we gotta work with what we can do... right?

I was thinking... if I can't be around enough to feed 3x a day (for a kitten), would feeding wet in the morning, then leaving out dry while I'm out, make sense? So it turns out the kitten gets wet in the morning, dry during the day to free feed on, then wet for dinner. As you know, I can't leave wet out that long.

Can I ask what part of feeding pre-made raw doesn't work? I've found it to be just as easy as feeding canned food. Freezer space is a concern for some people, but if you work there you can bring it home daily if you need to! I'd recommend having it in your rotation of wet foods, at least.

For a kitten, I probably would leave dry out during the day. I know it's bad, but I have a hard time keeping kittens well-fed and satisfied on wet food only. I would reduce the dry food as he gets older, though, and cut it out entirely once he's fully grown. However, I DO leave wet food out all night, and then let the dogs have the leftovers. . .and nothing bad has ever happened. So I think that recommendation is a bit overcautious. I've done it with raw, too :anon:. And, the 3 meals a day don't need to be at "traditional" meal times--I feed my cats before work, after work, and at bedtime. I think most working people here do that, too.

I doubt you'll find a purebred Maine Coon kitten in a shelter. . .but there should be plenty of Maine Coon "types"--the big shaggy brown tabbies are my favorites, and aren't hard to find.

Yeah, I doubt it will be pure-bred too. "Mainly" Maine Coon will work, though. Heck, any kitten would work for me.

I could do the morning, after work, before bed, routine. I just didn't know that would be as good. In fact, I'd rather do that than leave food out during the day for them to free feed on.

As for not doing raw right now I want to figure out the cost for sure. I guess it's not that it won't work for me, I'm just concerned about having the time/money to do it right. But doing the Primal, which comes in medallions, it wouldn't be hard at all.

I tell you what, I'll look further into it. I know it's really good for dogs, and it makes even more sense for cats (being obligate carnivores, as opposed to dogs which are facultative carnivores... they can process some non-animal foods).
 

I think before work, after work, and before bed wet meals sounds good for your kitten. I still might consider leaving a good quality dry food available during the day though depending how long you're gone. Kittens eat allll the time and if they're starving by the time you get home, they might eat too much/too fast and get sick. Kudos to you for doing your homework before bringing your new kitty home

Good call on leaving the dry out, even with 3 meals a day. At least while it's young. Thanks.
 

There is only one reason to feed dry food: the cat will not eat anything else. There are many reasons kibbles are bad for cats. One is solved if you buy a fountain (cats don't need it if they only eat wet food), but carbohydrates are required to make kibbles, so they have more carbs than wet foods even if they are grain-free. That is not a problem for wet food, which is only one percent carbohydrates and has a lot more proteins.

It is better to put fish oil on wet chicken than buy a fish-flavored can because there are safety issues with cats eating fish every day.

EmilyMayWilcha said:

It is better to put fish oil on wet chicken than buy a fish-flavored can because there are safety issues with cats eating fish every day.

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I've read that, but thanks for backing it up as I wasn't sure. Makes moving away from BFF even easier of a decision. I think Evo wet will get it done.

BryanV21 said:

I've read that, but thanks for backing it up as I wasn't sure. Makes moving away from BFF even easier of a decision. I think Evo wet will get it done.

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Look for Evo's 95%. Kittens need as much protein as they can get.