Food rotation

How often do you do it. How do you do it?

You generally just rotate between different varieties or brands every so often Every couple of days is fine for canned food. I wouldn't rotate dry food too often. If you're getting to the bottom of the current bag, buy a different variety/flavor of the same dry food (most dry foods have the same formula in at least two varieties/flavors) to give your cat something new to try. Mix some of the new dry food in with the old dry food to transition your cat. Some cats are ok without a transition period but others may need a few days to get used to the new flavor of food.

I feed all wet and tried a can of this and that until I figured out what they like. I asked Companies for samples and picked up odd cans at the store. I then assembled 10 to 15 foods they liked and keep them available. I rotate every day, so far no problem. Now I have Merrick duck or chicken pate, pride rockstar rabbit, nutro natural chunky chicken or turkey loaf, tiki cat puka luau, red barn tricky chicky, against the grain chicken samba. Earthborn chicken jumble, wellness Devine duos duck/chicken, fussy cat tuna & prawns, Iams purrfect delicacies liver and chicken, fancy feast classics liver & chicken or chopped grill. If they look fussy I sprinkle purebites freeze dried chicken on top (buy the large dog size bag on line, more economical) dog loves as treats also

I feed wet with a little raw. With the wet I just open a different can pouch from the previous one. I use four flavours of Catz Finefood, two to three flavours of Thrive Complete, and two flavours of Nature's Menu pouches.

With the raw - the freeze dried I can easily get only comes in two flavours, so I alternate between them. I've only just started with frozen raw, so have only one flavour right now. At the moment, I feed one or two mini meals of FD raw most days. The frozen is a work in progress :lol3:

I feed 5.5/6oz cans of wet, which lasts me a day. Once the can is done, I start a new different one Works out to a new can a day. My cat does well with this system. I think it helps prevent her from  becoming picky in the future. 

So it's okay to rotated between different brands too?

Definitely. It's a great way to make the pricier brands more affordable too I just like to make sure that the composition of the brands is similar (ie all grain free etc), though even that isn't essential.

I have yet to get very many different foods in rotation, but I have wondered this as well.  Apparently it can be any number of ways, with the goals being not to have them stuck on one food (in case you aren't able to get it for whatever reason) and not to have them up and reject the only food they've been eating (leaving you scrambling for finding something they want to eat).

At the moment I sometimes feed two different foods in the same day, sometimes mix foods together, sometimes I go a couple days of the same food then swap, all seems to be ok, but I only have two foods going to any significant extent right now.  Still, they are two very different foods, Primal pork freeze-dried and Tiki Cat chicken canned, and they have continued to like these equally well for a couple months.  The Tiki has been a perennial winner for probably a year, they never seem to tire of that one, but I don't want to feed it constantly for various reasons.

The rotation is good for allergies, boredom, recalls. I feed different brands, meats, and textures.

With wet food it is totally okay to mix between brands.  My cat gets bored with his food really easily so I normally give him 3 different brands a day.  I usually mix two different kinds together for one meal so that way every meal tastes different.

But doesn't rotation makes them picky too? Like they demand to have their food rotated if not no eating

Rotation can make them picky, but I'd rather that than a cat who'll only eat one food. IMO, that can cause more problems long term (ie what happens if the food is discontinued or the recipe is changed).

You don't need to rotate between multiple brands of food. That can lead to pickiness in some cats. Rotating between two or three brands is plenty. Many brands have multiple varieties/flavors so a cat will get plenty of variety in the diet.

Its just as easy to mix it up! This is good for allergy prevention also

nessakhoo said:

But doesn't rotation makes them picky too? Like they demand to have their food rotated if not no eating

Click to expand...

So far with two foods my cats eat either or both without trouble.  I can feed just one thing for days in a row and they'll eat it.  Would they eat it for months in a row?  I don't know.  I did that in the past and after several months they seemed to start rejecting it (just as well, because what they were eating for several months straight was Stella & Chewys chicken, so the cats getting picky about that a few months ago prevented me from having something recalled that I was actively feeding, though it's still too bad because I would like that to be one of the foods they eat).

I am aiming to get more than two types of food in rotation though, because that doesn't seem like enough.  If something went wrong with one of the foods where it couldn't be fed for weeks or months, having only one backup might not cut it, it is true.  I'd like to be at 3 or 4 foods at least.  Also thinking I might look into a cooked homemade diet as part of the rotation.

bonepicker said:

The rotation is good for allergies, boredom, recalls. I feed different brands, meats, and textures.

Click to expand...

Plus, there's less chance of a nutritional imbalance if you're feeding more than one brand, and it's easier to switch to a prescription diet if it becomes necessary.

where do you guys check for recall of petfood? does this website pings when there is a brand recall?

nessakhoo said:

 
where do you guys check for recall of petfood? does this website pings when there is a brand recall?

Click to expand...

Pet food recalls are usually posted on the pet food company web site, on social media, on the local news, in pet stores, on the FDA web site, etc. The only current recall I am aware of is for some of the Rachael Ray Nutrish cat food.

LTS3 said:

 
Pet food recalls are usually posted on the pet food company web site, on social media, on the local news, in pet stores, on the FDA web site, etc. The only current recall I am aware of is for some of the Rachael Ray Nutrish cat food.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately some Stella and Chewy's formulas have been recalled too

nessakhoo said:

 
where do you guys check for recall of petfood? does this website pings when there is a brand recall?

Click to expand...

I recently signed up for recall notices from PetFoodRecall.org and set up filters on my email for the brands my cat eats. I've also noticed recall notices at stores for the specific brands they carry.