Supermarket keeps changing brands

Hi guys,

I just joined this forum today - I've found it helpful in the past for general questions, and I realized I should probably join to ask my own questions.

I have a little cat, Lucia, who is seven months old and was spayed this weekend. I'm hoping she'll start to gain weight because she's always been really skinny - she's just not a cat who is that interested in food. She eats but she never eats more than her fill and she's not that interested in treats, either (vast contrast to my cats at my parents' house who will hear a packet of crisps opening three houses down and come running).

Anyway, my problem is that my local supermarkets keep changing the brands of cat food they sell. I live in la Condesa, Mexico City, which is a VERY dog friendly neighbourhood. People hate cats and LOVE dogs. So the supermarkets have an entire aisle of dog food, and a tiny corner for cat food.

When she was very young, I gave her Whiskas kitten pouches, but the supermarket discontinued them a couple of months ago and I haven't been able to find them anywhere else (trust me, I've looked). I was giving her Fancy Feast for a couple of weeks, because that was the only wet cat food that said it was suitable for adult and growing cats. Then they started selling Felix (which also said suitable for growing and adult cats, unlike Whiskas adult pouches, which was the only other wet food they had and said it was only suitable for adults). So I stocked up on Felix and it seemed like they were going to start stocking Felix permanently, so I started feeding Lucia only that. She wasn't a huge fan of Felix but it was that or Fancy Feast, and Felix was a better deal and I've read good reviews. But now the past week, they've stopped selling Felix. I cleared them out of Fancy Feast the other day (and they only had tuna fillets, which is her favourite, but I don't want to get her hooked on it).

I have also always left out dry food for her to graze on when I'm at work...at first Whiskas kitten, and now Purina kitten (because they stopped selling Whiskas).

The supermarkets in my neighbourhood only have Whiskas adult dry and wet (regular and gourmet), a selection of Purina dry food, sometimes Felix, and usually Fancy Feast. I tried her on Science Diet kitten I found in a pet shop but she hated it and wouldn't eat it. There's a high end "cat boutique" relatively nearby (but not that close if you don't have a car, like me) and they sell Royal Canin dry food (and I guess wet food but I haven't seen it).

I know cats have delicate digestive systems and it's not good to keep changing the food, but I don't have a choice if the supermarkets keep changing what they stock. Pet stores have even worse selections.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I right to be concerned or am I just being neurotic? What can I do to keep her diet constant? Start just giving her plain meat from the butcher? I know a dry food only diet isn't ideal either...

Thanks for your help in advance...she's my little baby who I bottle-fed several times a day when she was a tiny orphan, I just want the best for her!

Hi and welcome to TCS. Glad you joined. How annoying that the supermarket keeps changing brands. However, as long as the foods are fairly healthy, rotating wet foods is not really an issue as long as your cat will eat them. In fact, rotating foods is better as it can help prevent allergy formations, relying on one food that may get discontinued or recalled and provide different nutritional profiles. I am not sure which of the foods listed on the below chart are available in Mexico, but if you can shop online, you may be able to find good foods for less money. You are looking for high protein/moderate fat/low carb foods from this chart:

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Also, you can provide home-made raw or cooked food. As long as it is less than 15% of her total diet, you don't need to worry about balancing. However, if you are thinking of providing more than 15%, then these threads provide some very useful information on how to ensure that your cat is receiving the proper proportions of nutrients.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources

Thanks! It's good to know rotating wet food might actually be beneficial

Do you think foods that state they're okay for adult and growing cats really are suitable for kittens, like Fancy Feast and Felix? I know kittens and adults have different needs so I find it hard to believe that one food is good for both. I really want her to gain weight! But if I give her more, she just won't eat it. As it is I usually throw food away every day because she's left it.

And thanks for the links! Looking at the resources, a completely homemade diet sounds like a lot of time I don't have, also I don't think I could stomach grinding up raw animals organs :S But if just a little bit of raw or boiled meat would have significant health benefits, I'd like to try that.

Yes, meat (either raw or cooked) is great as healthy treats. You can just cut off small raw pieces of whatever you're cooking for yourself if you eat meat, and see if she'll eat it. She may prefer thin slices or small diced pieces. If you're going to cook it, just make sure you don't use any spices. You can boil it (serve with the cooking water) or bake it (again, serve with cooking juices), whatever is easiest for you.

As for kitten versus adult formulas, most kitten formulas are higher in protein and fat. Since she is already 7 months old, if you can find healthy "nutritionally complete" foods with good amounts of protein and fat and low carbs, I think they will be fine for her. Given that you want her to gain some weight, high fat is preferable. Just make sure that the food is not for "supplemental feeding only."

As I'd really like her to gain weight and the Fancy Feast/Felix seems to be the best I can get (supplementing with dry kitten food left out over the day), what kind of meat would you recommend is the best and most high in fat to help her gain weight? I don't eat meat so anything I buy will be especially for her. Anything I give her will be boiled because I don't know how fresh the meat will be.

If you buy chicken and leave the fat and skin on it and bake it, that is going to be pretty high in fat and protein. The baking brings out the smell more, which is more appetizing to most cats. You can try boiling it too. You never know what a cat is going to prefer.  But really any high fat cut of meat (beef, lamb, dark meat poultry) should work.