Opening a Can of Worms??

Pardon the pun on the title...

Jozie eats her dry prescription kibbles. Nothing else as her primary meals.  She presently does not eat any wet food.  I had to transition her from regular dry food to her prescription food about 1 year ago. It took about 3 months to get her transitioned over to the strictly diet food.

I have some Fancy Feast food that remains from her predecessor (Sheba) who passed away.

Now and then Jozi hears me crack open a can of soup and she comes a running.  I'm assuming that she may have been fed canned food at her previous home because she gets quite excited when she hears that Campbells soup can crack.

Would I be opening up a Pandora''s Box by giving her a little bit of fancy feast now and then, as a treat?   The last thing I want is for her to start refusing her kibbles.  I do give her tiny pieces of cooked white chicken meat now and then as a small treat, however, I'm quite sure she realizes it's a treat since she isn't fed the pieces in her regular bowls.

I also appreciate the fact that Fancy Feast is junk food; akin to McDonald's for cats. So the goal would only be as a treat now and then.

Any wisdom and guidance would be most appreciated!

Thanks, kindly

CheetahCats

What condition is the prescription food for?  Wet food is generally healthier than dry.  The Fancy Feast classic pates aren't really that bad but it depends on what your kitty is on a prescription food for.

Denice said:

 
What condition is the prescription food for?  Wet food is generally healthier than dry.  The Fancy Feast classic pates aren't really that bad but it depends on what your kitty is on a prescription food for.

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Thanks for the prompt reply. I appreciate it.

Her prescription diet food is for weight management. She was overweight when I adopted her from the shelter 2 years ago.  She is now down to a much more healthy weight.

I'm talking about only a few teaspoons of Fancy Feast a week. I'm more worried that if I give her any, she'll start refusing her regular food.

Thanks again,

Cheetah

As long as it is the Pate(they are lower carb then anything cut,shredded,etc) you are probably helping her body as dry food is very dehydrating.  Many RX foods make a wet version if that makes yyou feel better.  Main thing here is to keep the calories around the same so not to gain.  I would feed as much wet as you can and just take some of the dry away.  Keep eye on her weight and cut back if she is gaining.

Hi @CheetahCats.

You've come to a site where a lot of us feed and encourage wet food (and/or a raw or home-cooked diet) as the primary diet. Please take some time to read what this well-respected veterinarian has to say about feline health: http://www.catinfo.org/. It's an eye-opener for a lot of people.

I will pardon your pun, if you pardon my honesty.    I'm glad to hear that your kitty is at a healthy weight, but kibble is full of carbs (and likely grains, such as corn) and is very dehydrating. It is the total opposite of what a cat needs, which is a high protein, low carb, grain free, wet diet. Unfortunately, a lot of traditional vets (even mine) don't know much, if anything, about feline nutrition. They recommend the prescription diets they learned about in school (Hill's, Royal Canin, etc.), which are the same companies that sponsor and pay for a lot of the programs, scholarships, grants, and what not.

But to get back to your original question...YES, go ahead and offer Jozie wet food! In fact, I hope in time you could make it at least 50% of her diet. My Boo and Caesar get a rotation of the cheap and premium wet foods and very little kibble (they are all seniors who don't eat as well anymore or else I'd make it all wet). Sebastian does get an ALL wet and home-cooked diet because he has chronic pancreatitis, and eliminating kibble has made a world of a difference in his well-being.

Like @catsallaround said, when it comes to Jozie's weight, it's all about calories and energy level, and pinpointing where she needs to be.

^^^ This. There is nothing in dry food that facilitates weight loss and the extremely low moisture cintent means you are setting your cat up for a number of debilitating conditions.

FF Pate foods fit the profile of a "good" cat food, and they lack the grain fillers that are all too often flund in prescription foods. They are a good starter food to transition onto if a cat is not used to wet food (because they are a lot cheaper than Wellness, Tiki Cat and other premium brands). I use the Pate flavors in my own cat's rotation.

I have been feeding my own cat an exclusively wet diet (NON-Prescription) for the 2 months I've owned her. She was 14.04 pounds when I adopted her on 2/18 & now she is down to 12.8 - she should weigh around 9-10 as she is a small-framed cat. According to Dr. Pierson of catinfo.org, 1-2% of current weight per week is a healthy rate of weight loss, and Shelly is well within that range.

I would suggest that you remove all dry food from the diet, drop the prescription food entirely - and if you are using Science Diet keep in mind that their wet foods are also much higher than the optimal less-than-10% carb level of a cat's natural diet, & transition over to an all-canned diet. A raw diet would be even better.

CheetahCats said:

 
Pardon the pun on the title...

Jozie eats her dry prescription kibbles. Nothing else as her primary meals.  She presently does not eat any wet food.  I had to transition her from regular dry food to her prescription food about 1 year ago. It took about 3 months to get her transitioned over to the strictly diet food.

I have some Fancy Feast food that remains from her predecessor (Sheba) who passed away.

Now and then Jozi hears me crack open a can of soup and she comes a running.  I'm assuming that she may have been fed canned food at her previous home because she gets quite excited when she hears that Campbells soup can crack.

Would I be opening up a Pandora''s Box by giving her a little bit of fancy feast now and then, as a treat?   The last thing I want is for her to start refusing her kibbles.  I do give her tiny pieces of cooked white chicken meat now and then as a small treat, however, I'm quite sure she realizes it's a treat since she isn't fed the pieces in her regular bowls.

I also appreciate the fact that Fancy Feast is junk food; akin to McDonald's for cats. So the goal would only be as a treat now and then.

Any wisdom and guidance would be most appreciated!

Thanks, kindly

CheetahCats

Click to expand...

If weight loss is the goal for your kitty, then she will lose more weight on canned weight food than dry food. Its all about total calories per day based on your cat's ideal weight. If she likes the Fancy Feast, then I would encourage you to feed more of this and less of the dry as catsallaround pointed out. Fancy Feast is one of the better budget canned foods in my opinion. It has muscle meat as a first ingredient and many of the varieties do not contain carageenan or wheat gluten, so it has these two things going for it.

EDIT: If you can find Authority brand canned cat food in your area, this is one another decent budget brand that does not feature by-products or carageenan but does contain guar gum and a bit of brewers rice which is not the same as regular rice, making this food next to grain-free. This is what you are looking for :  http://www.authoritypetnutrition.com/cat-products/adult/canned-food.shtml

Thanks for everyone's feedback and guidance!

I greatly appreciate it