Indoor Cat Food vs. others... What's the difference?

paprikitty · May 23, 2014

Hey all,

I have a 3 year old indoor cat and after reading about giving cats more protein/less carbs and mostly wet food, I just wanted to know if so called "indoor formulas" of food are better for my cat or should I still be able to feed her the high protein food?

Thanks in advance!

pinkdagger · May 23, 2014

I think indoor cat food is just lower in calories, and likely fat and protein too. It's made with the assumption that indoor cats aren't getting the same amount of exercise as cats who go outdoors and roam or hunt, as indoor cats have a more confined space, they tend to not exert themselves as much, and they sleep a ton. If your cat is more active and you can keep her active (getting her to pant during play is a good thing!), I don't see the harm in using the regular formulas and just doing measured meal feeding to keep her weight under control.

raintyger · May 23, 2014

What @pinkdagger said about the calories is correct, so your better choice is the high protein food. If your kitty gains weight, just adjust the amount of the high protein food. "Senior" and "weight management" foods, by the way, fall in the same category--less calories and protein, more carbs.

goingpostal · May 23, 2014

There are no regulations for statements like indoor or senior so it is a fairly useless marketing term. It's not a good way to judge a food.

paprikitty · May 24, 2014

I am trying to feed Paprika 80% wet food and 20% (or less) dry. I only try to feed her dry overnight but since we just adopted her 2 months ago, she's still used to dry food and I think she likes it more too. Is a high protein and rich food like Orijen or Evo ok for her even though she's an indoor cat? I tried to give her Natural Balance before but she started throwing up and we had to take her to the vet but I think it was because the kibble size was too big and caused gas because she ate it too fast.

As for the wet food, she's on Blue Buffalo but after reading about bad ingredients such as carrageenan, cranberries, and guar gum I want to switch her to maybe nature's variety instinct or something similar.

Thanks for all your responses!

lisahe · May 25, 2014

Raintyger said:
What @pinkdagger said about the calories is correct, so your better choice is the high protein food. If your kitty gains weight, just adjust the amount of the high protein food. "Senior" and "weight management" foods, by the way, fall in the same category--less calories and protein, more carbs.

Paprikitty, I couldn't agree more with Raintyger's suggestion of choosing a high-protein food and serving less if Paprika gains weight. You could also try tapering her off the dry food: I weaned our cats off it by serving only a small dish of it at night, gradually reducing the quantity and then using it only as a topper for wet food. After about a month the cats and I all forgot about it. They'd really loved the stuff -- they waited every night for it -- though they might have been easier to wean because they were only about a year old. They were also pretty underfed when we adopted them so I think they were just happy to be fed. They're strictly indoor cats, too.

If you're concerned about calories, a couple canned food brands with lower-calorie foods are Weruva and Tiki. In case you haven't already seen it, there's a canned food nutrition chart on catinfo.org (here) that list protein, calories and carbs. I buy a combination of higher and lower calorie canned foods -- including Nature's Variety Instinct, Weruva, and Tiki -- but they're all low-carb, without grains, tuna or potato (one cat can't eat potato), and mostly without carageenan. That definitely limits the options!

Good luck! Paprika is a beautiful cat!

paprikitty · May 25, 2014

LisaHE said:
Paprikitty, I couldn't agree more with Raintyger's suggestion of choosing a high-protein food and serving less if Paprika gains weight. You could also try tapering her off the dry food: I weaned our cats off it by serving only a small dish of it at night, gradually reducing the quantity and then using it only as a topper for wet food. After about a month the cats and I all forgot about it. They'd really loved the stuff -- they waited every night for it -- though they might have been easier to wean because they were only about a year old. They were also pretty underfed when we adopted them so I think they were just happy to be fed. They're strictly indoor cats, too.

If you're concerned about calories, a couple canned food brands with lower-calorie foods are Weruva and Tiki. In case you haven't already seen it, there's a canned food nutrition chart on catinfo.org (here) that list protein, calories and carbs. I buy a combination of higher and lower calorie canned foods -- including Nature's Variety Instinct, Weruva, and Tiki -- but they're all low-carb, without grains, tuna or potato (one cat can't eat potato), and mostly without carageenan. That definitely limits the options!

Good luck! Paprika is a beautiful cat!

Thanks so much! When I'm switching brands of wet food, do I have to do the week long transition process or is that only for dry food? Another question is, I know that fish is bad to feed everyday, but from what I experienced, Paprika seems to like only fish type wet foods! I want to experiment with different chicken or turkey wet foods but I'm afraid when switching brands. She's so picky lol

As for calories, I'm definitely concerned but Paprika gets sufficient exercise at home and hopefully will be trained to use the harness by this week so we can take her out for walks (I can't wait!). Thanks for all the brand recomendations, I narrowed my choices down to those actually.

lisahe · May 26, 2014

paprikitty said:
Thanks so much! When I'm switching brands of wet food, do I have to do the week long transition process or is that only for dry food? Another question is, I know that fish is bad to feed everyday, but from what I experienced, Paprika seems to like only fish type wet foods! I want to experiment with different chicken or turkey wet foods but I'm afraid when switching brands. She's so picky lol

As for calories, I'm definitely concerned but Paprika gets sufficient exercise at home and hopefully will be trained to use the harness by this week so we can take her out for walks (I can't wait!). Thanks for all the brand recomendations, I narrowed my choices down to those actually.

I probably don't follow the guidelines for food transitions as well as I probably should, though it's my understanding that dry food transition is what takes the most time and requires the most care. (I did that very slowly...) That said, I do tend to introduce new canned or raw foods in small amounts (a spoonful or two to start) because our cats (Siamese mixes) have tender stomachs. Bad results tend to be obvious and quick, which makes things a little easier. Lucky for me, they don't seem to like fish much, though they do enjoy some occasional salmon in certain poultry/salmon foods. Perhaps some fish/chicken foods would be a good way to try to start getting Paprika off all the fish? Tiki, for example, has a chicken/salmon food that our cats love.

It's great that Paprika gets lots of exercise and that you'll be walking her! Our cats get so much exercise playing and running around the house that they can still eat quite a bit more than the recommended calorie intakes for their fairly small size. I'm still glad, though, that they've slowed down a little, both on running and eating, now that they're over a year old!

calliharvs · May 27, 2014

GoingPostal said:
There are no regulations for statements like indoor or senior so it is a fairly useless marketing term. It's not a good way to judge a food.

^ this exactly.. it's purely for marketing purposes. I would look for yourself, and compare ingredient and nutrient composition, and decide for yourself. In my opinion, there is no advantage to buying an indoor formula for your indoor cat over buying another.

paprikitty · May 30, 2014

LisaHE said:
I probably don't follow the guidelines for food transitions as well as I probably should, though it's my understanding that dry food transition is what takes the most time and requires the most care. (I did that very slowly...) That said, I do tend to introduce new canned or raw foods in small amounts (a spoonful or two to start) because our cats (Siamese mixes) have tender stomachs. Bad results tend to be obvious and quick, which makes things a little easier. Lucky for me, they don't seem to like fish much, though they do enjoy some occasional salmon in certain poultry/salmon foods. Perhaps some fish/chicken foods would be a good way to try to start getting Paprika off all the fish? Tiki, for example, has a chicken/salmon food that our cats love.

It's great that Paprika gets lots of exercise and that you'll be walking her! Our cats get so much exercise playing and running around the house that they can still eat quite a bit more than the recommended calorie intakes for their fairly small size. I'm still glad, though, that they've slowed down a little, both on running and eating, now that they're over a year old!

I got the Nature's Variety Instinct in the beef variety and my cat loved it! I never saw her eat that fast and finish her plate of wet food ever! But I noticed that NVI has tomato and cranberries in it. Isn't that bad for cats? I'm just not sure with anything anymore

. I'm going to try the chicken or turkey one next though. I'm not sure where to buy Tiki cat in Colorado but I want to try that too!

Indoor Cat Food vs. others... What's the difference?

paprikitty

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pinkdagger

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lisahe

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lisahe

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