Vet Recommended Food?

Having fed our "new Kitty" basically only Grain-Free dry and Wheat Gluten free Food since we got her at ~3-4 months (now about 1 1/2 years old), our Vet keep recommending Purina Pro Plan for her, saying it is high in Protein. It all has lots of rice in it which of 'course is carbs that we have always avoided. She is thin having had 2 illnesses already that
were basically a mystery. Picky eater except for the Fancy Feast Shredded Chicken she loves. Realize it does not
have all the nutrition she needs but other than Grain-Free dry from Pets Mart and baby food meat, she will not eat much else. No raw, not much other canned anymore, esp. fish. Oh, but she loves lizards and bugs!

Just appalled that the Vet insists on the Purina!

What country do live? This will make it easy for people to recommend foods- as things available in the UK are nit available in the U.S. and visa versa.

I think the most important thing, for a fussy eater is to give them what they will eat! I find rotating different brands/flavours helps with my fussy eater as she gets bored easily!

Vets often insist on foods which they sell, if the only reason he is recommending it is because of the high protein content, there are many other grain free high protein wet foods such as Feringa or Leonardo.

Vets do have a tendency to recommend the foods they stock - its extra revenue, after all

As you're talking about Fancy Feast, I'm guessing you're in America. I'm in the uk, so can't help much with brands etc. Have you thought of making your own food? She might take to home cooked more readily than commercial foods. I appreciate it's a significant time commitment, but it does sound like you're running out of ideas. There a lots of good, nutritionally balanced recipes here http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263751/cooked-recipes-thread

It might also be worth trying Fortiflora as a topper - a lot of cats find it irresistible.

As you're trying to build her up at the moment, bone broth might make a nourishing treat in addition to her meals. Here's a video on how to make it
[VIDEO][/

If she's doing fine on the food she's on now I would keep her on it. 

DPGirl said:

Having fed our "new Kitty" basically only Grain-Free dry and Wheat Gluten free Food since we got her at ~3-4 months (now about 1 1/2 years old), our Vet keep recommending Purina Pro Plan for her, saying it is high in Protein. It all has lots of rice in it which of 'course is carbs that we have always avoided. She is thin having had 2 illnesses already that
were basically a mystery. Picky eater except for the Fancy Feast Shredded Chicken she loves. Realize it does not
have all the nutrition she needs but other than Grain-Free dry from Pets Mart and baby food meat, she will not eat much else. No raw, not much other canned anymore, esp. fish. Oh, but she loves lizards and bugs!

Just appalled that the Vet insists on the Purina!

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Just because the vet recommends a particular food does not not mean you absolutely have to feed it. Feed whatever food you want and that your cat will eat. If the vet keeps pushing the food, just firmly but politely disagree and keep feeding what you want.

Is that the Fancy Feast Classic or Gourmet chicken? Those are complete diets for cats so your cat is getting enough nutrition. Avoid the Fancy Feast Broths and Appetizers because these are only treats, not complete diets. I wish Fancy Feast (and other companies that make similar foods) would make that more clearer on the label.

If you're in the US, your cat may like Weruva. There's a shredded chicken one in gravy similar to the Fancy Feast shredded chicken.

LTS3 said:

Is that the Fancy Feast Classic or Gourmet chicken? Those are complete diets for cats so your cat is getting enough nutrition. Avoid the Fancy Feast Broths and Appetizers because these are only treats, not complete diets. I wish Fancy Feast (and other companies that make similar foods) would make that more clearer on the label.

If you're in the US, your cat may like Weruva. There's a shredded chicken one in gravy similar to the Fancy Feast shredded chicken.

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Now I understand @DPGirl's conundrum -- I'd forgotten about the Fancy Feast supplemental foods!

There are lots of other low-carb chicken shred foods that might be worth trying if you haven't given them a look already. It can be so overwhelming to sort through and try new foods for a kitten! Here are some that we found worked for our cats:

-Weruva, as @LTS3 mentioned, has a bunch, though it's a good idea to check their Web site because some have more carbs than others. Our cats love the Cats in the Kitchen canned chicken shreds, which are low-carb and reasonably priced.

-Tiki Cat is great food, a little expensive but you definitely get what you pay for because everything's low-carb and they really keep cats (ours, anyway) sated. Our cats particularly love the Gourmet Carnivore foods, some of which have decent-sized chunks of organ meats. They've really been worth the money for our pickier cat, simply because she eats them and enjoys carrying the pieces around. Between the original "luau" and Gourmet Carnivore lines, there are four or five foods with chicken shreds to choose from/rotate through.

-Nutro Natural Choice has foods that aren't "pulled" shreds of meat like Tiki or Weruva but they seem to be pretty popular among Cat Site members' cats. Our cats love their minced chicken, sliced turkey, and chunky chicken. A Petco employee also told me they're very appealing to cats. These are available at PetSmart, too.

There are lots of other options that are a little (or maybe a lot, I haven't researched them all thoroughly) carbier: some of Soulistic's foods available at Petco (our cats loved the chicken with pumpkin, either pouch or can, though I drain off some of the sauce to cut the carbs, something I wouldn't suggest if it's a main source of nutrition for a picky kitten), many more of Weruva's foods, Nature's Recipe, Red Barn... there are lots that we've never tried because one of our cats can't eat potato and potato starch is a common thickener these days. Even so, if you could get your cat to eat a moderately carby chicken shred food, then perhaps she could be converted later to something less carby once she has a taste for real meat.

One other thought. @Columbine mentioned using Fortiflora to make foods more tempting. Other members have mentioned crumbling Pure Bites treats on food. Our cats go crazy for those! (I just give them as very occasional treats, not as a topper.) Another good topper, though, is Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried, which is sold in very small or pretty large bags. We use Stella & Chewy's as a garnish (ha!) for our cats' Primal meals.

Good luck!

Wow, thanks for the info!  Was unaware of the other brands of shredded food.  Cissy's big issue is chewing it seems,

seems to still not have all her teeth and hates to chew certain foods.  Prefers things she can slurp!  Although has no

problem with treats or dry food sometimes.  Just had another expensive visit to Vet; dehydrated, vomiting, etc.  No

diagnosis.  Am tempted to feed her whatever she wants except for lizards and birds!

Thanks again! 

I asked my vet, who is a internal specialist what to feed my cat, and she said feed whatever your cat will eat. The best food out there is no good if they don't eat it

Thank you so much!  Exactly what I tell my husband when he keeps saying "but the Vet said"! 

I think she is just thinking she might could use some carbs to fatten her up.  I just wanted to start

her off right and avoid the Diabetes that last cat developed from a strictly Iam's diet with Wheat

Gluten in it.  Knew nothing about it before.  The "MyDiabeticCat" site really is an eye-opener for all

Feline owners I think and what to avoid.  She ate Fancy Feast well at 1st (canned) and her Grain-Free

dry, this has all just started recently, more since we started letting her outside after she got "fixed".

She really is somewhat a very Feral-type cat.  Loves to hunt to my chagrin; kill and eat!  Yuk! 

Thanks for the info and advice!

Have tried everything, pretty much - raw, cooked, whatever.  She loves anything she can slurp, very wet and juicy!

Give her baby food meat (chicken and turkey), too, now, plus Whiskas Cat Milk sometimes.  Have had many cats ovee

the years, never had a problem.  She will not even eat scraps of our food! 

Thanks for the info and thoughts!

DPGirl said:

 
Thank you so much!  Exactly what I tell my husband when he keeps saying "but the Vet said"! 

I think she is just thinking she might could use some carbs to fatten her up.  I just wanted to start

her off right and avoid the Diabetes that last cat developed from a strictly Iam's diet with Wheat

Gluten in it.  Knew nothing about it before.  The "MyDiabeticCat" site really is an eye-opener for all

Feline owners I think and what to avoid.  She ate Fancy Feast well at 1st (canned) and her Grain-Free

dry, this has all just started recently, more since we started letting her outside after she got "fixed".

She really is somewhat a very Feral-type cat.  Loves to hunt to my chagrin; kill and eat!  Yuk! 

Thanks for the info and advice!

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Vets just don't know much about nutrition Even board certified veterinary nutritionists may not know proper nutrition. If your child's doctor says to feed only fast food, would you listen? Most likely not. Just because someone has a medical degree or other advanced degree and certification doesn't mean that they know everything and what they say is the only way to do things. I feed raw food and many vets are completely against that for various reasons (some valid, others not so much).

Some carbs is ok in the diet, IMO. You don't need to stick to low carbs unless your cat is diabetic. Stick with foods under 15% to 20% carbs for a wider variety of food choices. The occasional high carb food won't cause any harm to your cat. Catinfo.org has a chart that you can use to find out nutritional content.

You can run any canned food (even those with chunks or shreds) in a blender with some water to make it easier for your cat to eat.

I think you might be referring to FelineDiabetes.com or YourDiabeticCat.com. I've never heard of a MyDiabeticCat web site.

DPGirl said:

 
Wow, thanks for the info!  Was unaware of the other brands of shredded food.  Cissy's big issue is chewing it seems,

seems to still not have all her teeth and hates to chew certain foods.  Prefers things she can slurp!  Although has no

problem with treats or dry food sometimes.  Just had another expensive visit to Vet; dehydrated, vomiting, etc.  No

diagnosis.  Am tempted to feed her whatever she wants except for lizards and birds!

Thanks again! 

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You are welcome!

I'm glad you mentioned that Cissy likes to slurp. Tiki's Gourmet Carnivore chicken/duck and chicken/turkey have a fair bit to slurp, though they also have lots of shreds of real poultry. Once she's older and has more teeth, some of the other flavors, with the big chunks of liver and gizzard, might be good for her hunting instinct. (I'm sure that's why our cat Ireland loves those so much!)

One thing you might want to consider is blending/pureeing the food. Not all shred foods puree well but Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen flavor known as "Fowl Ball" is one that does, making a nice slurpy gunk. (You can add extra water, too, for the dehydration.) I suspect the Nutro foods would puree well, too.  I used a Cuisinart MiniPrep (I think it's called) mini-processor to blend food for our previous cat.

I hope you're able to get to the bottom of the vomiting soon and get Cissy to eat more complete foods that are good for her! It's definitely true that even the best foods are no good if the cat won't eat them... it can take time and a lot of trial and error to find a good combination of foods that we feel good about feeding and the cat feels like eating! That took us a few months after we adopted our cats and their menu is still a work in progress, a year and a half later.

FWIW, I'll mention that one thing that slowed us down on our cats' menu a little was Edwina's vomiting, which we finally figured out was caused by two things: she needs to be fed just before bedtime and then first thing in the morning, and potato. Food sensitivities can be difficult to pin down so we got lucky figuring out the potato. You haven't mentioned how Cissy's vomiting, but Edwina's was frothy and liquidy, usually first thing in the morning. A caloric night meal and no potato has almost totally eliminated the problem. Occasional sleep-ins are the only real problem.

Again, good luck!

DPGirl said:

 
Wow, thanks for the info!  Was unaware of the other brands of shredded food.  Cissy's big issue is chewing it seems,

seems to still not have all her teeth and hates to chew certain foods.  Prefers things she can slurp!  Although has no

problem with treats or dry food sometimes.  Just had another expensive visit to Vet; dehydrated, vomiting, etc.  No

diagnosis.  Am tempted to feed her whatever she wants except for lizards and birds!

Thanks again! 

Click to expand...

If you are in the US and are near a Petco, I recommend their house brand Soulistic. My cats (all of them) love the Good Karma and the Harvest Sunrise. GK is in a green can and is shredded white meat chicken in a broth like gravy. The HS is the same but with bits of pumpkin in it. It is made by Weruva (which is not sold in big box pet stores) so for a lot of people (in the US) it's more readily available. This is one of the few foods that all 3 of my really enjoy. Right now it's the only thing my boy Henry wants. I'm off to Petco to get him some more today. 

Wow, thanks for the info!  Will look for it, have not seen it.  Employees not very helpful,

should be more informed!

DPGirl said:

 
Wow, thanks for the info!  Will look for it, have not seen it.  Employees not very helpful,

should be more informed!

Click to expand...

Glad to help. I have put a can of the Good Karma and a can of the Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken side by side and the only difference I could see is that the gravy in the Weruva appears to be a little thicker. I'd avoid the Soulistic varieties in gelee because they have thickeners  hat I think are unnecessary. I only buy the Good Karma and the Harvest Sunrise because they are the only varieties that do not contain fish which I very rarely give them. Here's the link to Petco's site with the Soulistic. 

http://www.petco.com/product/110264/Soulistic-Adult-Canned-Cat-Food-in-Gravy.aspx

My Henry is normally not a picky eater but Lilith and Sophie are (I call them the diva sisters). They must have gotten into his head because lately he won't touch anything other than the Soulistic. The diva sisters strike again. 

If you get a few cans and they like it, Petco has a subscription service for repeat orders. They are running a deal for $10 off a $60 order and have free shipping over $49. I just ordered some more myself and will be getting some in store to hold him over until it gets here. 

Kat0121 said:

 
Glad to help. I have put a can of the Good Karma and a can of the Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken side by side and the only difference I could see is that the gravy in the Weruva appears to be a little thicker. I'd avoid the Soulistic varieties in gelee because they have thickeners  hat I think are unnecessary. I only buy the Good Karma and the Harvest Sunrise because they are the only varieties that do not contain fish which I very rarely give them. Here's the link to Petco's site with the Soulistic.

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Those are the only Soulistic foods I buy, too: the cats really love the chicken/pumpkin ones, either in the pouch or in the can. They have higher carbs than I usually feed but they're easy to drain a little. They're also good to have on hand for the pumpkin: maybe it's coincidence but when one cat had the runs, she got better almost immediately after eating Harvest Sunrise.

According to the Petco site, there are some new Soulistic foods; they didn't have them in the store when I stopped by last weekend, though.

Oh, and the biggest difference -- for me, anyway -- between the Good Karma and the Paw Lickin' Chicken is that Good Karma is thickened with tapioca instead of potato, which Edwina can't eat! I don't like either very much but at least tapioca doesn't make her barf!

LisaHE said:

 
Those are the only Soulistic foods I buy, too: the cats really love the chicken/pumpkin ones, either in the pouch or in the can. They have higher carbs than I usually feed but they're easy to drain a little. They're also good to have on hand for the pumpkin: maybe it's coincidence but when one cat had the runs, she got better almost immediately after eating Harvest Sunrise.

According to the Petco site, there are some new Soulistic foods; they didn't have them in the store when I stopped by last weekend, though.

Oh, and the biggest difference -- for me, anyway -- between the Good Karma and the Paw Lickin' Chicken is that Good Karma is thickened with tapioca instead of potato, which Edwina can't eat! I don't like either very much but at least tapioca doesn't make her barf!

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It's no coincidence. Pumpkin is very good for tummy issues. it works for diarrhea and constipation. I keep plain canned pumpkin on hand all the time. I have small ice trays and put the pumpkin in them then I put the little frozen pumpkin cubes in a freezer bag to take out and thaw if I need them. My Petco had the Soulistic on sale when I went in and the pouches were the same price as the small cans. They are both 3 ounces so I cleaned them out of both the Good Karma and the Autumn Bounty (Harvest Sunrise in pouch form). I have seen the new ones and I won't be buying them. They are the "moist & tender" line and they have names like call them Chicken Dinner, Turkey Dinner, Duck Dinner, etc and all of them have tuna broth as the first ingredient and tuna as the third. Here's the ingredients list for the turkey as an example:

Soulistic Moist & Tender Turkey Dinner Adult Canned Cat Food in Gravy

Tuna Broth, Turkey, Tuna, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil, Guar Gum, Calcium Sulfate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Celery Powder, Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Taurine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin, Copper Glycine Complex, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K3), Potassium Iodide

That annoys me. I rarely feed my cats fish and if I hadn't looked at the ingredients lists on the cans on all of them I might have picked up a couple. They need to add TUNA to the descriptions. 

Kat0121 said:

 
It's no coincidence. Pumpkin is very good for tummy issues. it works for diarrhea and constipation. I keep plain canned pumpkin on hand all the time. I have small ice trays and put the pumpkin in them then I put the little frozen pumpkin cubes in a freezer bag to take out and thaw if I need them. My Petco had the Soulistic on sale when I went in and the pouches were the same price as the small cans. They are both 3 ounces so I cleaned them out of both the Good Karma and the Autumn Bounty (Harvest Sunrise in pouch form). I have seen the new ones and I won't be buying them. They are the "moist & tender" line and they have names like call them Chicken Dinner, Turkey Dinner, Duck Dinner, etc and all of them have tuna broth as the first ingredient and tuna as the third. Here's the ingredients list for the turkey as an example:

Soulistic Moist & Tender Turkey Dinner Adult Canned Cat Food in Gravy

Tuna Broth, Turkey, Tuna, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil, Guar Gum, Calcium Sulfate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Celery Powder, Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Taurine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin, Copper Glycine Complex, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K3), Potassium Iodide

That annoys me. I rarely feed my cats fish and if I hadn't looked at the ingredients lists on the cans on all of them I might have picked up a couple. They need to add TUNA to the descriptions. 

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That's a good idea for the pumpkin! I've been lucky not to have needed it much yet so far with these two... but the time when it was used, oh my, I was glad it occurred to me. I should probably at least buy a little pouch of pumpkin at one of the local stores, just to have on hand.

As for the new Soulistic foods, I find their habit of sticking tuna into everything very annoying, too. I also very rarely feed much fish: our vet says she thinks it's okay to serve some occasional salmon, so between their very small daily amounts from Primal and an occasional can of Tiki chicken/salmon, that's about all the fish they get. Anyway, yes, you're right that Soulistic's labeling should be more forthcoming. It's just wrong (wrong, wrong!) not to include tuna in a name when it's the first protein ingredient in a food!

Based on my look at the ingredients, Soulistic has one new food without tuna (see below). Cynical me, I wonder if there's a mistake in the ingredient list! It has all the gums, though, and I suspect it's probably one of their aspic-like foods, like the Aromatic Chicken. (Which our previous cat would even eat and kind of play with in her waning weeks, I couldn't believe it!) I'd love to have another couple canned foods for variety meals so am always on the lookout, though I'm a little skeptical about this one, despite a combo of chicken, liver, heart, and gizzard... and Ireland's love for organ meats.

Soulistic Pate & Shreds Chicken Dinner Adult Canned Cat Food in Gelee, 3 oz.
Water For Processing, Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken Heart, Chicken Gizzard, Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sunflower Seed Oil, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

May I ask where you purchase the "Good Karma" food?  Have not seen it.

Thanks!

Happy 4th!

DPGirl said:

May I ask where you purchase the "Good Karma" food?  Have not seen it.

Thanks!

Happy 4th!

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It's a Soulistic food available at Petco. Our store sometimes sells out of the chicken-only Soulistic foods, so it's worth asking if you can't find it. Were you able to find either of their foods with chicken and pumpkin? (I only ask because Edwina and Ireland recommend those even higher! )

Happy 4th to you, too!