struggling to feed ferals

I have to cut back on canned food for my feral cats. I was wondering if one 13oz can of Friskies would be enough for one meal between 5 cats. I would then give them dry only for the evening meal.

Right now I feed each one 1/8 cup dry and split two 5.5 ounce cans for the morning meal and then do the same thing for the evening meal. I can't afford all this canned food anymore.

I would like to try and give them some canned and not completely take it away. How much dry would I then give them for the evening meal?

The dry I feed is Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck.

They are fed morning and in the evening and they all get their own dish of food. I just want to make sure they are getting enough food when I start cutting out some canned food. They are not thin and starving in fact they are probably over weight but I don't want them to lose weight fast by not giving them enough food.

I have 3 cans of canned food left and I only have a little money left to get a few more cans for the month

Sorry about the delay in replying to your thread! YES - a divided up 13 ounce can of Friskies if just fine to feed five cats for one meal plus adding in a little dry food. :nod: Your kitties are lucky to also be getting Natural Balance dry cat food - an excellent choice. I would then bump up the dry food from 1/8 cup to 1/2 cup each, if possible. OR 1/4 in the AM and 1/4 in the PM. Feral cats will also supplement any diet we feed them by naturally hunting prey. :nod: SO - not to worry, any food (especially CANNED !! ) is a welcome bonus for them. AND for caring for feral cats.

We have a lot of strays here as well and I may also be looking to alternatives to our canned food as well. I am going to go through a mail order place to get our name brand first for awhile. It does cost a fortune to feed the strays.

I would also suggest you make sure there is a water bowl out there too. I have canned and see our strays drinking from time to time, especially when rain is scarce, ice and snow or very hot. In the winter it gets pretty cold here. Last year I bought a heated food and water bowl to help them out. I can tell they really need it. And if your strays get dry food, they will need to make up the moisture.

I know that canned is generally better for ferals in winter (if it can be kept from freezing) due to causing less metabolic work for the cats in digestion, but we've currently got enough ferals and little enough money that we've gone to all dry (with plenty of water provided in an electric, non-freezable bowl). We decided that dry food was better than no food... And I think the kitties agree our vets did! We supplement when we can with chicken fat and non-seasoned bits when we cook. But after much soul-searching, we decided a constant, known food source ( in combo with available water & warmed, insulated cat sleeping shelters made up for a supply of soft.). Hope we're doing the right thing!

I'm in the same boat, needing to cut back. I have changed to dry Dad's. I then get the 13 oz cans of Friskies. I use a half can in the morning and a half a can at night. I put the serving in a cup and add hot water out of my Keurig. I stir it up to make a gravy. Then I dump it over the dry. They seem to love it and it is warm food for them in these days that are going to be getting cold. You can usually get the large cans for around $1, so I think I'm spending about $45 a month for feeding four outside. When the raccoons go away for the winter, hopefully I won't have to put so much out.

I now have another issue, it's just one thing after another with these cats anymore. I have 4 related cats who are (I think) having an issue with any kind of canned Friskies cat food. They have been eating it since I started feeding them in 2009 but all of a sudden the 4 cats are constantly scratching and pulling fur out in clumps.

Mama kitty has never had this problem before but for several weeks now she is pulling all her fur out near her tail. The other 3 are biting fur off but not as much as Mama kitty and Maddie. Maddie has very little fur on her and a sore on her chin.

I tried a few days of feeding just canned and the next day they would look horrible with more fur gone. I'm not sure what to feed them anymore. I can't afford an expensive grain free canned food.

I was thinking about just giving dry food to see if the itching calms down some but I just feel bad because they look forward to the little bit of canned I give them which isn't much. One 5.5oz can split between 5 cats mixed with dry food.

It seems like no matter what I feed them anymore the 4 related ones aren't doing very well. The 2 who aren't related aren't having any issues.

Sorry I just needed to vent, the stress of caring for them is really bringing me down. I used to enjoy them but all I do is cry because I can't help them. My days are filled with stress, anxiety and sadness all because I can't do anything for them.

I dont think the reason they are pulling out clumps of fur is anything to do with the food your feeding them. It sounds more like a flea problem.

The most common reason for cats to pull out their hair, especially around the base of the tail, is flea-bite allergy. It only takes a single flea bite to produce an intense reaction that can last for weeks.

Or It could also be another parasite that may be causing the problem:

a Mite.There are several species of mites that produce a condition called “mange.” Sarcoptes mites (scabies) cause unrelenting, severe itching.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/skin-coat-problems-in-cats/


Hope its not one of these, but i would think its more likely to be one of these then the food you are kindly feeding them.

Snugglecat said:

 
I now have another issue, it's just one thing after another with these cats anymore. I have 4 related cats who are (I think) having an issue with any kind of canned Friskies cat food. They have been eating it since I started feeding them in 2009 but all of a sudden the 4 cats are constantly scratching and pulling fur out in clumps.

Mama kitty has never had this problem before but for several weeks now she is pulling all her fur out near her tail. The other 3 are biting fur off but not as much as Mama kitty and Maddie. Maddie has very little fur on her and a sore on her chin.

I tried a few days of feeding just canned and the next day they would look horrible with more fur gone. I'm not sure what to feed them anymore. I can't afford an expensive grain free canned food.

I was thinking about just giving dry food to see if the itching calms down some but I just feel bad because they look forward to the little bit of canned I give them which isn't much. One 5.5oz can split between 5 cats mixed with dry food.

It seems like no matter what I feed them anymore the 4 related ones aren't doing very well. The 2 who aren't related aren't having any issues.

Sorry I just needed to vent, the stress of caring for them is really bringing me down. I used to enjoy them but all I do is cry because I can't help them. My days are filled with stress, anxiety and sadness all because I can't do anything for them.

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Have you changed the kind of Friskies? It could be fleas as suggested above.

I did find a grain free food suggested on another thread called 4Health. I found it at Tractor Supply. It was a little over a dollar for a 13 ounce can. I got a couple cans of both flavors. The strays weren't crazy about it, so I went back to the Friskies. It seems now they are liking the turkey better than the mixed grill. I also throw out my scraps and leftovers that we don't get to to them.

I finally figured out what my cats are allergic too. Now I don't know what I will feed them when it comes to canned food. I have 3 cats that are allergic to anything with Chicken, chicken liver or Turkey that is in canned food. I have one who is allergic to anything with Peas in the food.

The one who is allergic to peas I  pretty much have under control if I can just keep her away from the others food. She is eating Firstmate Chicken with Blueberries dry food and Blue Wilderness Chicken recipe for kittens. She can't have the adult one because ingredients are different. She still itches like crazy but her lip does not swell up on this food. Just like the others she is allergic to soy, brewers yeast, brewers rice and corn so this is the only food I can come up with her and it's not cheap. I recently treated this one with Revolution and she still pulls her fur out so it's not fleas.

Now for the others, I have them on Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck dry food. They all seem to be doing good on this but now they can't have any Friskies canned food and I can't afford the better canned food that does not have some kind of chicken or chicken liver in it. The problem with not giving any canned food is I can't get them to eat the dry without canned food on top.

I never thought I could have so much trouble with a feral colony. I have talked with several people in my neighborhood who feed feral cats and they don't have any problems feeding them the cheap stuff that they can afford. Like I have said before I don't have enough money in my budget to feed me and my two sons and here I am with a special needs feral colony.

I'm glad I finally figured out what food they are having an issue with but there is not much I can do about it. It's taken me 2 years to figure all this out.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I really wish I could find someone to take them because it might come down to me having to take them into the Humane Society and pts.

Snugglecat:  Just wanted to let you know that you are doing a wonderful thing.  I've been a dog person all my life, until two ferals found me.  I know what you mean about the stress--for some reason caring for cats is (in my opinion) is a lot more stressful than caring for dogs.  Keep up the good work--you sound like such an awesome person.

Snugglecat --you're being so wonderful and caring with your colony.

And I really truly know how you feel - from the major worrying about the health & happiness of your brood --to the concern over money! But reading your notes has reminded me that we're making their lives SO much better - with or without the soft. When's the last time any furry baby in our colonies had to suffer a single hunger pang? As much as we want to give them the best (I sometimes think I do it partially bc I feel SO much guilt I can't bring the whole group inside) ---as much as they love the soft (or in my case - treats like tuna!) the most important thing for THEM is that you're monetarily healthy so that you can keep feeding them anything!

You're giving them a fantastic (& not cheap by any means!!) nutritionally wonderful hard food. If the soft is causing you undue hardship (trust me - I know how scary-quick it all adds up!!) -- the hard is more important and less problematic bc of the allergies. Perhaps you limit it to a can a week as a treat? They still get a treat & you get the joy of giving it to them- without breaking the bank. The truly important thing to them is that they're not hungry!!!

Concerning the chicken allergy- are you sure it is the chicken and not something else in the food? I am pretty sure very little real chicken ever ends up in pet food, maybe they just wave it over the top and dub it chicken. Kind of like canned chicken soup is mostly water with noodles and three pieces of chicken.
In all seriousness, I have four cats that can not tolerate any pet cat food. And I have tried everything! Real expensive stuff too, still threw up, diarrhea etc. I now buy chicken breast in bulk at the grocery store and cook it and add a powdered vitamin mix. No more sick cats. And I am spending less money than when I bought cat food! I used to feed my 9 ferals canned Friskies and dry cat food. My indoor cats I fed Earthborn canned chicken, which they did well on but it is way more expensive than chicken breast.
I don't really spend that much time on cooking either. I just fill up the large pot with raw chicken and water and cook it till it mashes easily. I then put it in a large glass dish and mix in vitamins. To feed I just fill dishes and let sit for 15 minutes or so to warm a bit or nuke and they dig in. They eat less because the chicken fills them up better. The indoor cats have way less litter box mess which is really nice.
I hope this helps. I have struggled for years with sick cats. And the cost of feeding 12 is prohibitive. I literally went without things I needed because of it. And just when I thought I had found the perfect food someone would start reacting to the newly bought bag of the same brand as the last bag. I am going on four months for my indoor cats with no one throwing up in all that time.

DaniKit said:

Concerning the chicken allergy- are you sure it is the chicken and not something else in the food? I am pretty sure very little real chicken ever ends up in pet food, maybe they just wave it over the top and dub it chicken.

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With severe allergies it doesn't take a lot of protein to trigger the allergic reactions. Sometimes so called "hypoallergenic" food would still trigger a reaction just because the batch was processed in the same line where a batch of food containing the allergen was processed the day before...

I guess my question is how sure that it is the chicken and turkey the kitty is allergic to? Turkey, of itself, is not usually seen in cats or people- mainly because it is a more expensive meat so we arent exposed to it on a daily basis. I have multiple allergies myself and know that it can be hard to pin down even with blood work for allergies. One of my cats gets severe diahrrea with pet food, have tried several kinds. (Not chain store but organic etc.). However, she has no problems with plain meat, butter, eggs, small amount of cheese and bread, rice crispies, etc. Something in pet food set her off. I basically did an elimination diet with her. I fed her Beachnut baby food turkey for three weeks then slowly added one new food item every week. The one thing that she doesnt handle well is fish-salmon or mackeral. Fish is in almost all cat food someway or another.

Snugglecat, cI am sorry the cats are having a hard time. And you most of all because you care so much for them and want them to feel good and be happy.
Concerning the people who feed other feral colonies-they probably do have the same problems. They just arent as concerned or perhaps knowledgable? Out of my 12 cats, 5 have major problems with pet food. I really be!ieve it is because of poor quality ingredients and/or not species appropriate food. Zoos dont feed the lions bags of dry cat food for a reason.
I really do sympathize about the cost. When I started with my colony I had visions of just tossing down dry cat food for them. Then there are the vet bills for sick kitties! It truly is a labor of love. I truly hope that you can find a solution.