Switching to all wet- Need advice on keeping kitties weight low

After my girls got fixed they started packing on the pounds big time. It took me a long time to get them down to the healthy weight they are now.

I am going shopping tomorrow as I want to switch them to an all wet diet. I am open to doing a part wet, part raw diet however I want to stay on just wet for awhile first if possible.

Right now they are fed breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is 1/2 cup dry and dinner is 1 (3 oz) can wet. They are on Royal Canine spayed/neutered adult. For the buck I am paying, I am NOT happy with the food especially, however it was my last resort as I tried many others that either upset my one girls GI tract or ended up causing them to gain weight instead of lose it (I will say that all of these foods I tried were dry with wet so they were getting at least half of their days worth of food in dry form). They got to a healthy weight on the RC but I would really like to switch to a better wet food only diet if possible. RC has a very high fiber content if I'm not mistaken.

I'm looking at the chart on catinfo.org and it seems like all of the foods I had wanted to try are so high in fat compared to what she recommends. Am I reading this wrong? I'm so scared I'm going to switch and my cats are going to pack on the pounds again! My top three choices for their wet-only diet were Hounds and Gatos, Nature's Variety Instinct (as I intended to start buying the raw bites they have in the far off future if all goes well to feed with the wet), or Wellness Core. I believe they did okay on Wellness canned in the past  but it may have been one of the ones that she gained a little weight on? I Just cannot remember.

Are there any other things that are good to supplement with the wet that can help to keep the weight off? I mix probiotics in my girls food regularly (I was using fortiflora but switched to probios).  I started walking my girls outside and now that they are settled in my new home they have free roam of three floors so are getting a lot more exercise. 

Any help is appreciated. They are almost out of their wet so I have to do this tomorrow and don't want to end up staring at all of the foods for hours and leaving empty handed. Thanks in advance for any advice!

So I'm sitting here looking at the chart, and it looks like Royal Canine Spayed/neutered is a LOT lower in fat and calories than the others. The carbs are pretty high though. Won't switching them to a lower protein, higher fat diet end in them gaining weight? Or will the fat just help them feel satisfied and the reduction in carbs be what helps keep their weight healthy? I guess I also have to remember that I don't even know what the values are in the RC dry food off the top of my head and as of now that is still half of their diet daily.

From what I have read the higher carbs particularly in dry food can pack the weight on to some cats.   Most on here try and feed high protein foods.  Meat proteins are what a cat body is deigned to eat and they can not utilize the plant based proteins like other animals. 

This is a great site to read about nutrition.  I found it very informative and even made my DH read it. 

http://catinfo.org/
 

For my previous cats I feed primarily dry food and just a little bit of canned foods because that is what I was told was the healthiest.  But, after researching after we adopted our new kitten we have eliminated the dry food all together and are just feeding canned. 

Cats do well on high animal protein / moderate fat / little to no carbs. They have no nutritional need for carbs and carbs are the main cause of obesity, diabetes, etc. Cats actually can handle high protein and even high fat well. Protein and fat are what make a cat feel satiated so that they can consume lower overall calories. Carbs just provide excess calories that cats can't utilize.

I would try to cut out dry completely. Your wet food choices mentioned above are good. You could also mix in Fancy Feast classic pates and some Friskies pates to keep costs down. Both of those choices are high in animal protein/fat, low carb.

Just want to add that fat doesn't always lead to, well, getting fat. Cats need a moderate amount of healthy fats, and consuming the right amount of fat can help them maintain an ideal weight.

I second what everyone has been saying about the carbs and dry food.

If possible, you also may want to switch to 3 feedings per day rather than 2. Cats do better with many small meals rather than a few big ones, and believe it or not that can affect weight as well.

Personally, I don't like Wellness Core that much. It is pretty high quality, but it's hard to find and expensive compared to foods that I think are even better (like Hound & Gatos; Natures Variety may be more expensive than Wellness- not sure- but I like it better too).

Wellness core was actually my last choice of the three so that's good- I do remember it being very difficult to find. Thank you for all the input, after looking at the chart and seeing that a lot of good foods were high pretty high in fat too I was thinking that it must be the carbs that I want to avoid most. I was thinking of doing three meals instead of two and since you mentioned it too I will definitely try that. Thanks again for the advice!

msbedelia said:

Just want to add that fat doesn't always lead to, well, getting fat. Cats need a moderate amount of healthy fats, and consuming the right amount of fat can help them maintain an ideal weight.

I second what everyone has been saying about the carbs and dry food.

If possible, you also may want to switch to 3 feedings per day rather than 2. Cats do better with many small meals rather than a few big ones, and believe it or not that can affect weight as well.

Personally, I don't like Wellness Core that much. It is pretty high quality, but it's hard to find and expensive compared to foods that I think are even better (like Hound & Gatos; Natures Variety may be more expensive than Wellness- not sure- but I like it better too).

Click to expand...

When my cat was on an all-canned diet, she would eat two meals. I eventually upped it to three meals a day, and it does make a huge difference. She was never a fat cat, but she seems a lot more happier and svelte. 

I've never fed Wellness Core. I've always had the option too, but I fed the regular Wellness cans. I think if I remember, the regular Wellness had a better macronutrient profile than the Core. It's been a while though, and I've switched to raw so maybe my memory is fuzzy.

I am feeding 4 meals most days to our almost 5 month old kitten.  We have fairly flexible work schedules and my MIL lives with us so we are able to do that most days.  My kitten seems to want to eat about that many times a day.  She eats about a 1/4 of a 5.5 oz can of wet food at each meal.  Right now we feeding first thing in the morning, lunch time, dinner time and before I go to bed.  She actually goes to the kitchen and meows for her food those four times a day.

I could not find hounds and gato anywhere so bought instinct wet for them. I have a very allergic dog who I am switching to instinct too probably if I can not find taste of the wild locally.

LaurasOrphans said:

I could not find hounds and gato anywhere so bought instinct wet for them. I have a very allergic dog who I am switching to instinct too probably if I can not find taste of the wild locally.

Click to expand...

We buy Hound & Gatos online, though I've heard local pet stores will order it for a person.

Oh okay, good to know thank you. Now that I just bought a ton of Nature's Variety Instinct (I got a few different Non-Fish flavors), I'm thinking I want to go with Tiki Cat.

Tiki has 0 carbs in the two chicken flavors and very low fat and very high protein. Natures Variety has high protein but high fat and 2% carbs I believe. For kitties who are susceptible to weight gain wouldn't Tiki be better?

I know that cats are usually good with high fat and some do very well on high fat diets, but wouldn't it be safer for me to go with Tiki since it is low-fat and zero-carb?

Any advice is appreciated 

I haven't tried it yet, but from what I've read I think the chicken flavors of Tiki are great. It's certainly a high quality cat food. Don't forget though that it can be good to rotate foods so no one gets too picky. So having one "staple" and mixing in is great. So maybe Nature's Variety will be part of your rotation.

I'm feeding performatrin ultra does anyone find them to be good? I also feed EVO. The reason I feed those is because they come in 13oz can which lowers cost.

Other than those 2 I also feed a can of hounds and gatos rabbit per week just so my cat can get different kinds of protein once a while. I also throw Authority into the mix just so my cat isn't addicted to premium food only. Also I feed Tiki cat once in a while too because their chicken flavor is very high in protein and very low in fat to offeset the high fat in RVO

I'm very disappointed that my kitties didn't seem to want Tiki for their (new) afternoon snack. I will try to feed again at dinner to see if they will finish some of the can I just opened. If not ill be sticking to instinct as their main diet, but boy is it expensive at 2.99 a can.

Does anyone have suggestions getting really picky kitties to something new? I usually add fortiflora to encourage eating bc most kitties seem to really love it and it sprinkles on as a topper but I just ran out since I switched to a different probiotic that's better. Also my kitties dont seem to really care for the fortiflora anyway.
They would not eat instinct or tiki and finally did eat half tiki half their old food mixed in. They probably would eat tiki or instinct if I mixed beechnut baby food in but I would have to add probably half a can to each cats serving. I think they miss the baby food like 'gravy' that is in the royal canine.
Any advice ?

Toppers that have worked for me include bonito flakes, ground dried shrimp, freeze-dried chicken liver.

Don't be discouraged if your cats don't like something new at first. That was my mistake when I tried to transition my cat to the healthier canned. I tried to transition too quickly. Just keep offering little bits of the new along with the old.

Also, while I really like the Tiki chicken varieties, I think it's too low in fat to feed as the sole or main food. I believe a rotation is best so that they get different nutritional profiles. I would mix Tiki with at least one other higher fat brand.

peugeot206 said:

The reason I feed those is because they come in 13oz can which lowers cost.

Click to expand...

I love those 13 oz cans! I've never heard of the first one, but I feed Evo too.

LaurasOrphans said:

I'm very disappointed that my kitties didn't seem to want Tiki for their (new) afternoon snack. I will try to feed again at dinner to see if they will finish some of the can I just opened. If not ill be sticking to instinct as their main diet, but boy is it expensive at 2.99 a can.

Click to expand...

As vball said, mixing it in with their old food is generally considered the best way. Cats are suspicious of the new.

But I know how you feel. I like to (lovingly) berate my kitties when they don't eat a new, exciting, expensive food I bought for them. ("Do you know how much this cost?!?!")

I picked up a few cans of the Tiki at the pet store the other day, since they were on sale. Still expensive, but not as. Haven't tried it with my guys yet.

Incidentally, they also had a whole lot of Wellness Core, and in varieties other than Chicken. (I like feeding my cats a variety of flavors. More than I think they like getting a variety. ^^) I didn't buy any, but I stand corrected that its impossible to find.

Okay thanks everyone I appreciate it. And Vball, thank you I will definitely be just using Tiki ( chicken) to rotate. I started wondering about that fat content as I was staring at the chart but anyway, I like to be sure and wasn't sure if maybe it WAS a good thing.
My one girl is missing her dry terribly- I'm so used to working with kittens who love their wet and are easy since they aren't in the habit of eating dry yet. But she seems to be doing better now that she's getting a little more used to the new routine.

@msbedelia  Performatrin Ultra is only available at PetValu.