Same brand, different flavors?

thisismallory

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I know it's important to switch food slowly to prevent any issues, but is that the case even between different flavors of the same brand? (Talking about grain free kibble)

I'm paranoid about my kitties getting addicted to one specific food. I feed a combo of wet/dry and hope to move to raw once I have the freezer space. (Another reason why I don't want the kitties to get stuck on one type of food.)
 

vball91

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All dry food transitions should be done slowly, even within the same brands as the formulations may be quite different. If dry is a really small part of the diet, then a slow transition may not matter as much since they're not eating a lot of it. If you want to transition to raw eventually I would start by transitioning out the dry slowly.
 

emandjee

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My two kittens are fed commercial raw now, but like you, I also fed a combination of wet and dry initially, and slowly phased out the kibble as it seemed they were becoming more partial to it! They only used to get minimal servings, about 1/8 cup per kitty at the time, but I managed to decrease that day by day until I got them eating 2-3 meals of canned food a day and some freeze dried meats as a healthier treat alternative to the kibble. I varied dry food often, with different brands/flavors but were all in the same quality and had no ill effects for them at all. If you go up/down in quality grade, the drastic change may cause digestive upset.

Just remember when you do switch to raw, refrain from feeding kibble for at least 12 hours. Kibble is harder to digest (very highly processed), so it will sit longer in the cat's GI tract. Having raw in the same day will have a higher chance of tummy upset due to increased bacterial growth in their system due to the slow-down from kibble. However, feeding canned and raw is fine and is what I did for a successful transition and adding probiotics!

Best of luck to you and your kitties!
 
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