What brand of wet food should I feed my cat? (pic included)

starbuk · Sep 2, 2014

Hello - I would like your opinions on what brand of wet cat food I should feed my 13 week old Siberian kitten. She has been eating Life's Abundance dry food but after doing research I want to switch to soft food. She has had wet before and likes it so the switch should be easy. What brand would you recommend - I have heard that Wellness and Fancy Feast are good choices. Is it true that I should avoid fish ingredients because of toxins?

What size cans do you recommend I purchase? I leave for work for 9 hours and sometimes more. I have been filling her bowl with dry food and letting her eat - is this ok? How many times should I feed the cat, keeping my schedule in mind? Can I leave her some dry food in her bowl in case she gets hungry?

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starbuk
Sep 2, 2014

starbuk · Sep 2, 2014

edit -just saw all the recommended reading posts on top of the forum.. looks like my questions will be answered there.

micknsnicks2mom · Sep 2, 2014

@starbuk -- yes, go ahead and read and see if you find the answers you need.

many people have different opinions about what foods are best for their cats. we all do the best we can to make sure our cats eat well and stay healthy.

i prefer to feed measured meals on a relatively set schedule each day. this works well for my snick, and she knows her routine. cats do very well with a routine because they know what's supposed to happen and when.

if i'm understanding correctly, you're not home for 9 hours each day. i know someone who serves her cats two breakfasts (wet food), about an hour apart, each morning before leaving for work. then when she arrives back home she feeds another wet food meal, a mid-evening dry food snack, then a second wet food meal shortly before bed time. you might consider trying something similar for your girl, but bearing in mind that your girl is still a kitten and will still be growing (for a siberian, up until she's about 3 or 4 years old...?).

something that might help is to buy single cans of a bunch of different brands you feel are good nutritionally. try them one by one and see which ones your lil girl enjoys the most. then use those brands/flavors in a rotation. a rotation is very helpful should a brand/flavor be discontinued, there's a recall, the recipe is changed so your girl no longer likes it, or she just decides after a while that she no longer likes it. with a rotation, you have other brands/flavors that she'll eat while you find a replacement. it's also good for cats to not get set on one particular brand/flavor. and there's less chance they'll become bored if they eat more of a variety.

and......your lil girl is very beautiful!!!

starbuk · Sep 2, 2014

mickNsnicks2mom said:
@starbuk -- yes, go ahead and read and see if you find the answers you need.

many people have different opinions about what foods are best for their cats. we all do the best we can to make sure our cats eat well and stay healthy.

i prefer to feed measured meals on a relatively set schedule each day. this works well for my snick, and she knows her routine. cats do very well with a routine because they know what's supposed to happen and when.

if i'm understanding correctly, you're not home for 9 hours each day. i know someone who serves her cats two breakfasts (wet food), about an hour apart, each morning before leaving for work. then when she arrives back home she feeds another wet food meal, a mid-evening dry food snack, then a second wet food meal shortly before bed time. you might consider trying something similar for your girl, but bearing in mind that your girl is still a kitten and will still be growing (for a siberian, up until she's about 3 or 4 years old...?).

something that might help is to buy single cans of a bunch of different brands you feel are good nutritionally. try them one by one and see which ones your lil girl enjoys the most. then use those brands/flavors in a rotation. a rotation is very helpful should a brand/flavor be discontinued, there's a recall, the recipe is changed so your girl no longer likes it, or she just decides after a while that she no longer likes it. with a rotation, you have other brands/flavors that she'll eat while you find a replacement. it's also good for cats to not get set on one particular brand/flavor. and there's less chance they'll become bored if they eat more of a variety.

and......your lil girl is very beautiful!!!

Thanks so much for the compliment and advice. I am going to feed her the rest of the Life's Abundance soft food that we have and go from there. I am even more confused now after reading about raw food

Ordered some raw chicken from Feline's Pride and we will see if she likes that. If yes, then I will transition her over from the soft/hard food shortly.. took me all day to research this stuff and I probably only scratched the surface.

micknsnicks2mom · Sep 2, 2014

starbuk said:
Thanks so much for the compliment and advice. I am going to feed her the rest of the Life's Abundance soft food that we have and go from there. I am even more confused now after reading about raw food Ordered some raw chicken from Feline's Pride and we will see if she likes that. If yes, then I will transition her over from the soft/hard food shortly.. took me all day to research this stuff and I probably only scratched the surface.

have you looked in the "raw & home-cooked cat food" part of the cat nutrition forum? there are recipes that are nutritionally balanced/complete there. here's (at least) one thread with raw food recipes -- http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272287/raw-recipe-thread

feeding a raw or home cooked diet can be a very good thing, but......and this is a very important thing......it's extremely important to make sure kitty gets a nutritionally balanced/complete diet.

LTS3 · Sep 2, 2014

Catinfo.org and Catnutrition.org are two good web sites to learn more about raw food diets

On Catinfo.org, look for the section titled "Making cat food".

There's a raw food forum here on TheCatSite that you can read through as well

There are basically three ways to do a raw diet: buy a commerical raw pet food, make it yourself either from a recipie or frankenprey, or what I call "semi homemade" which is raw meat mixed with a pre mix.

I've heard of Feline's Pride but have never bought it. It seems too pricey for me, especially with shipping costs. You can find raw pet food at pet stores. These can be frozen medallions/patties or small bites or rolls/chubs. I know Petco sells Nature's Variety frozen raw food now. My two cat are currently eating the old Nature's Variety froze raw formula. I'm slowly transitioning them over to "semi homemade". I'm using a commerical raw meat for pets (Hare Today, Bravo) with a pre mix (Better In The Raw).

It might be better to just offer your cat raw meat that you purchase at the supermarket just to see if she will eat it. Buy a cut of meat instead of ground. Ground meat may have bacteira mixed throughout it. When you prep meat for dinner, cut a few small pieces off and offer that to your cat. One of my cats go nuts when he sees me pull raw chicken out of the supermarket package

LTS3 · Sep 2, 2014

Adding that one solution to providing meals throughout the day is to use a programmable timed feeder. I've used the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder in the past for canned food. it works really well

You can add extra water to the food to keep it moister longer. Or freeze canned food and pop a frozen chunk into a compartment to slowly defrsot by meal time.

denice · Sep 2, 2014

She is such a cute kitty. Which food to feed is really individual to the kitty and the owners budget. Of course kitty gets a vote just based on what she likes.

starbuk · Sep 2, 2014

Thanks everyone again for feedback. I'm gonna read up on those sites. Hopefully a prepared raw meal will suffice because I don't know if I can deal with mixing or blending food and bones together, but I don't mind buying in bulk the prepped food if she likes it. She's not too picky yet so I got the raw chicken meal from FP to see if she likes it. I still have a good amount of wet food that we'll go through as well to see what she likes best. I hope she likes raw and that it's worth it in terms of health. Sounds like hard food is not recommended but I sometimes wonder if raw is worth the hassle and $, although I have a feeling it comes down to preference.

micknsnicks2mom · Sep 2, 2014

starbuk said:
Thanks everyone again for feedback. I'm gonna read up on those sites. Hopefully a prepared raw meal will suffice because I don't know if I can deal with mixing or blending food and bones together, but I don't mind buying in bulk the prepped food if she likes it. She's not too picky yet so I got the raw chicken meal from FP to see if she likes it. I still have a good amount of wet food that we'll go through as well to see what she likes best. I hope she likes raw and that it's worth it in terms of health. Sounds like hard food is not recommended but I sometimes wonder if raw is worth the hassle and $, although I have a feeling it comes down to preference.

i plan on making a home cooked diet for my future cats. i made that decision after my snick developed ckd, ibd, and idiopathic hypercalcemia and her brother/litter mate (mickey, who crossed the rainbow bridge about a year and a half ago) developed ibd and diabetes. i feel i owe it to snick and mickey to do something different in order to try to avoid these diseases for future cats.

i've done a fair amount of research into feeding raw and home cooked diets, and found that it can actually cost less to make your own at home. i don't plan on grinding the meat and bones myself, because i'd then need to invest in a pretty expensive grinder. what i plan to do is to buy the ground meats with bones and organs from https://www.hare-today.com/ and mix in some chunks then add a nutritional supplement to it (like alnutrin, but there are other brands to choose from too).

there's really no wrong choice. the best choice for your girl is what you feel is right for you both -- in terms of cost, nutrition, time it could take to make/cook, etc

LTS3 · Sep 3, 2014

You don't necessarily need to grind your own bones and meat. You can buy rolls/chubs of raw meat and bone from the pet store, particularily non-chain specialty pet stores. Bravo and Primal Pet are two brands. Hare-Today.com is another source for a mix of meat and bone. A 2 pound roll costs around $6 or so depending on the meat. I'm only using store bought rolls for my cats. One local pet store here actually sells some Hare Today products which works out well for me. The Hare Today web site has a 10 pound minimum order and I don't have the space for that much raw meat.

starbuk · Sep 3, 2014

LTS3 said:
You don't necessarily need to grind your own bones and meat. You can buy rolls/chubs of raw meat and bone from the pet store, particularily non-chain specialty pet stores. Bravo and Primal Pet are two brands. Hare-Today.com is another source for a mix of meat and bone. A 2 pound roll costs around $6 or so depending on the meat. I'm only using store bought rolls for my cats. One local pet store here actually sells some Hare Today products which works out well for me. The Hare Today web site has a 10 pound minimum order and I don't have the space for that much raw meat.

Thanks. After doing more research I see that it is possible to buy things that don't require a grinder. I will try out some chicken meal from Feline's Pride first to get her used to it but think that the products from Hare Today are a better deal. Just have to make sure to add and learn about the supplements too, because those are not in the Hare Today products. FP has a mix that can be added into their food so that might solve the supplements issue.. I still have time until we finish up her soft food to where this becomes a problem.

mservant · Sep 3, 2014

Good luck finding the what wet food works best for your kitten, she looks adorable and I bet she's going to be a really stunning cat as she grows. I see you are interested in trying her with raw feeding and if she likes this then considering transition her over to raw feeding.

If you want more advice on commercial or home cooked raw feeding once you are reaching the end of your current food supplies you can get this over in the Raw section of the Nutrition Forum: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-home-cooked-cat-food

LTS3 · Sep 3, 2014

starbuk said:
Thanks. After doing more research I see that it is possible to buy things that don't require a grinder. I will try out some chicken meal from Feline's Pride first to get her used to it but think that the products from Hare Today are a better deal. Just have to make sure to add and learn about the supplements too, because those are not in the Hare Today products. FP has a mix that can be added into their food so that might solve the supplements issue.. I still have time until we finish up her soft food to where this becomes a problem.

I know someone who uses Hare Today products with the recipie at Catinfo.org The recipie is for 3 pounds of meat but she doubles it and uses 5 pounds of Hare Today (meat with bone, I think) and 1 pound of plain chunked raw meat.

I'm using the Better In The Raw pre-mix with my rolls of raw meat/bone. TC Feline and Alnutrin are two other pre-mixes that I am aware of for use with raw meat.

Even though I feed raw food, I still keep cans of food on hand just in case. My preferred brands are Nature's Variety Instinct and Weruva. I also have freeze dried raw on hand.

zoneout · Sep 4, 2014

All these petfood companies play games with the ingredients in the can to maximize profit. Take Wellness Chicken Formula for instance....

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, Zucchini, Cranberries, Blueberries, Guar Gum, Dicalcium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Ground Flaxseed

The first 4 ingredients are fine. Then of the next 5 ingredients - 4 of them are carb-loaded filler veggies. And what in the world is `Natural Chicken Flavor`????? The chicken should have chicken flavor - why do we need more flavor? This has got to be some underhanded way to sneak in another carb that THEY CLAIM tastes like chicken. And whatever it is there is alot of it - cause it`s the 6th ingredient listed. I can tolerate the berries for their urinary tract benefit but again - even more carbs. Then the last 4 are garbage - especially the guar gum and carrageenan. So yes the first 4 are OK (though how much of the proteins get altered by their manufacturing process?) - but the rest of the list overwhelms the good so you are left with maybe half of the food being a questionably good source of protein. So that $2 can of Wellness really costs you about $4 to get the equivalent weight in meat protein.

This is why the best way to get the highest quality protein to your carnivore is via raw diet. And probably at a lower cost since you are not paying for fillers that might have an adverse impact on the cats intestines/colon due to the enormous increase in the size of the stool required to pass it out of the system.

starbuk · Sep 4, 2014

zoneout said:
All these petfood companies play games with the ingredients in the can to maximize profit. Take Wellness Chicken Formula for instance....

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, Zucchini, Cranberries, Blueberries, Guar Gum, Dicalcium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Ground Flaxseed

The first 4 ingredients are fine. Then of the next 5 ingredients - 4 of them are carb-loaded filler veggies. And what in the world is `Natural Chicken Flavor`?????

And probably at a lower cost since you are not paying for fillers that might have an adverse impact on the cats intestines/colon due to the enormous increase in the size of the stool required to pass it out of the system.

I agree and this is why I actually ended up wanting to do raw. It started out just wanting better hard food then I thought well if I'm paying for high quality why is there junk in there.. Better go for soft high quality and even Wellness had not perfect ingredients and I wondered why I'm paying up for it so that led me to raw. Going to get felines pride mixes and throw in a chicken wing or whole rabbit pieces once in a while because I think she'd enjoy it. Running around play hunting it feels right to give them a whole animal to eat once in a while.

zoneout · Sep 4, 2014

I have to commend you for giving thought to the food your pet is eating very early on. Unfortunately most people don't think about it and wind up blinded by the advertising and crafty marketing of these companies. Good luck - she's a very pretty kitty.

Anne · Sep 5, 2014

We have a couple of articles on the topic -

Choosing The Right Food for Your Cat and you is a great starting point, as it compares the various types of cat food, including canned and raw. As with everything, there are are pros and cons to each method.

There's also -

What Makes the Best Canned Cat Food?

If you do want to learn more about raw - and there is a learning curve - we have lots of information in these articles:

Raw Feeding Cats: Types of Raw Diets & Feeding Options

Feeding Raw to Cats - Safety Concerns

Homemade Food for Cats: Consider Your Recipe!

Preparing Raw Cat Food At Home - Tools of the Trade

Raw Feeding Cats: Calcium and Bones

Raw Feeding for Cats: The Ingredients

Prey Model Raw: The Basics

Raw Feeding for Cats

I agree that it's great that you're researching early on - well done!

May I just ask that any specific questions and recommendations about raw be posted to our raw feeding forum? Let's keep this thread for discussing options for feeding canned, as per the thread title. There are good options for feeding canned food, so it is a great topic in its own right

Exploring raw and/or homemade is wonderful too, but should be done in the raw forum for the reasons explained here. As always, feedback to that policy - or any other policy - is welcome in private PM's to me.

starbuk · Sep 5, 2014

Anne said:
We have a couple of articles on the topic -

Choosing The Right Food for Your Cat and you is a great starting point, as it compares the various types of cat food, including canned and raw. As with everything, there are are pros and cons to each method.

There's also -

What Makes the Best Canned Cat Food?

If you do want to learn more about raw - and there is a learning curve - we have lots of information in these articles:

Raw Feeding Cats: Types of Raw Diets & Feeding Options

Feeding Raw to Cats - Safety Concerns

Homemade Food for Cats: Consider Your Recipe!

Preparing Raw Cat Food At Home - Tools of the Trade

Raw Feeding Cats: Calcium and Bones

Raw Feeding for Cats: The Ingredients

Prey Model Raw: The Basics

Raw Feeding for Cats

I agree that it's great that you're researching early on - well done!

May I just ask that any specific questions and recommendations about raw be posted to our raw feeding forum? Let's keep this thread for discussing options for feeding canned, as per the thread title. There are good options for feeding canned food, so it is a great topic in its own right

Exploring raw and/or homemade is wonderful too, but should be done in the raw forum for the reasons explained here. As always, feedback to that policy - or any other policy - is welcome in private PM's to me.

Thank you and of course did not mean any disrespect with the raw food talk.. we had a cat that was fed all hard food his entire life and this one has been eating soft early on so I have done it all. I am just excited about the prospect of a new, different kind of food and hope the cat likes it and that it works with my lifestyle. I had almost forgotten we were in the canned nutrition part of the site as the topic progressed, which is my mistake.

Everyone is so polite here it is great and totally opposite of 99% of other forums

jlkhgkp · Sep 6, 2014

The best thing to feed your cat is to give them 90% raw meat and, because raw meat doesn't have all the things cat needs, live it a half or handful of Royal Canin cat food. But if you sterilize the cat, you have to feed with food for sterilized cats only. If your cat's mouth smells bad, then feed it like this.

What brand of wet food should I feed my cat? (pic included)

Brand of wet food to buy

Wellness

Fancy Feast

Life's Abundance

(Something else)

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