Nature's Variety

Hi all!

I adopted my two babies about a month and a half ago. (Info about them is in my intro post! !) I was unable to transition them from their old food to a new food properly, as the shelter they were at fed them whatever food was donated at the time. So I had to start them straight out on a new food. There was some diarrhea (of course) at first, but have since adjusted. One of them still has diarrhea so I took a stool sample in from him to check for worms last night, just in case that is the cause and not the food.

I did weeks of research before bringing them home (I adopted them a month before actually bringing them home, as Kenzie was too young in my opinion to leave her mother when I paid for them, and I was in the middle of moving into my apartment.) I read that raw was the best for them, but I knew it was absolutely not in my budget as I just moved into my first apartment. I wanted to still give them the best food available. I was told about three top-quality brands, and in the end I chose Nature's Variety.

I was feeding them the Raw Boost (chicken) but they seemed to always eat around the freeze dried raw part, and only eat that when there was nothing left. This time around I bought the regular Nature's Variety dry food. Is the raw boost significantly better or am I fine sticking with the regular one for them?

They get a quarter of a can to share of wet food every morning, and I keep the dry food down for them. I may increase the wet food amount but I didn't want to overwhelm their bellies. Should I increase the wet food or is this enough? They seem satisfied with the amount I give them.

Thanks for all your advice!!

Ideally being cat enthusiasts we would recommend against dry. I use NV Instinct myself and due to the price one I buy the dog food 13oz cans as it is cheaper and identical to the canned cat food.

I would think the dry with the raw boost would be the "better" of the two, but honestly as long as they have plenty of food all day long I wouldn't worry too much. As they get older they may be more apt to eat the freeze dried.

I fed my kittens (amost 9 months now) the same food and schedule when I first got them (Dry all day, with 1/4 canned 2x/day).

Good luck!

Oooh really?? I've been constantly told that canned food is far better than dry. Is that wrong?

No, Lo-Botomy, you are not wrong. Canned food IS better for them. I suggest feeding them as much canned food as you can afford. I have a large crew (including fosters) and I am able to do 2 canned meals daily (morning/night) and 1 dry in the afternoon.

Having kittens, they need all the nourishment they can get. If you can, I would offer them an additional canned meal in the evening.

We have 2 litters of kittens in our rescue right now that are on a canned only diet. They are 5 months and 6 months old (were very sick when we got them at 6 wks/12 wks) and they each eat 1 to 1 1/2 (5.5 oz) cans daily (3-4 feedings) depending on how hungry they are or if they are having a growth spirt.

Lo-Botomy said:

Oooh really?? I've been constantly told that canned food is far better than dry. Is that wrong?

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No..I meant dry.. Canned is good. I corrected my original post. so sorry.

JClark said:

 

Lo-Botomy said:

 
Oooh really?? I've been constantly told that canned food is far better than dry. Is that wrong?

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No..I meant dry.. Canned is good. I corrected my original post. so sorry.

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Haha no problem! 

CatPack said:

No, Lo-Botomy, you are not wrong. Canned food IS better for them. I suggest feeding them as much canned food as you can afford. I have a large crew (including fosters) and I am able to do 2 canned meals daily (morning/night) and 1 dry in the afternoon.

Having kittens, they need all the nourishment they can get. If you can, I would offer them an additional canned meal in the evening.

We have 2 litters of kittens in our rescue right now that are on a canned only diet. They are 5 months and 6 months old (were very sick when we got them at 6 wks/12 wks) and they each eat 1 to 1 1/2 (5.5 oz) cans daily (3-4 feedings) depending on how hungry they are or if they are having a growth spirt.

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Thank you! This is good advice!

Should I increase the amount slowly since one of them is still having a problem with loose stools? (I will hear back from the vet some time this morning to find out if it's worms or just...  the food)

My original intention was to feed them twice a day with canned food and free-feed the kibble. When I realized they were getting lots of loose stool I adjusted to help their tummies adjust. Should I increase to 1 can daily between the two of them to start, or is that too much? Some mornings they don't even finish the 1/4th they share. I could increase to 1/2 a can a day for a bit instead and then go from there?

I don't mind spending more on them if it's what is best for them! I've allotted a generous amount to them in my budget, it's just a tight budget until after the holidays (still buying furniture and Christmas gifts). I may start buying the food in bulk on amazon.com. I mix up flavors for them. I've discovered that Binx hates the pork, so I simply don't buy that one anymore. Their favorites are the chicken and salmon by far.

With my personal cats, I increased the wet and decreased the dry slowly (over about a week.) They all tolerated the change well.

With the kittens, we went cold turkey and put them on canned (a limited ingredient prescription diet) and they tolerated VERY well. In fact, within 24 hours, they all began having solid stool. They had previously been on a mix of Instinct LID canned and dry.