Giving and Making Decisions

So my pocket book is done with the stretching and the trial and error, for now, is coming to an end. Amelia and Rory are now 6 and 7 months old and FINALLY healthy. After trying at least 10 different manufacturers and that many if not double in formulas and types, I am throwing in the towel and just buying Fussie Cat canned for the kids. They eat a rotation of four of the varities that come in gravy and while I am at work and at night have kibble. My need of everyone's expertise is in this. Currently they are eating the Pet Smart brand Good Natured kitten formula, chicken and egg. They love it. I like it for the size of the kibble and the ingredients. I tried Blue Buffalo kitten before this but neither one of them liked it at all. When I first adopted them they were on Purina Kitten Chow. In reading on here and looking at ingredients I had quickly changed them from that to the better kibble. So my problem. Car issues in the last month that are on going, have raised an issue of buying a food that is only available from one source. So given the whole realm of Chewy please give me what you guys feel the right route is to go for kibble. I want to keep them on a kitten formula until they are at least 1 if not a bit older. As the Fussie Cat is the only canned I can get them to eat I want to make sure their nutrional needs are being rounded out with the kibble.
Rory @ 6 months now Amelia @ 7 months now

This looks similar, also most cats like Merrick Pates in cans. Their adult kibble is tiny also, which I like. I feed the kibble for treats and feed 90% wet. Make sure you transition dry slowly so no stomach upsets. My cats liked Fussie also, but I did not want to feed fish, they did not like the non fish ones (go figure). They love chicken in Merrick pate and chunky chicken loaf in nutro natural choice!

Rory looks like my Purrdy

Thanks for the reply!! I will look into it for sure. I am in a good spot right now that I have one more bag of their current food so I can transition over smoothly and slowly. I'm trying to find something that is similar in being grain free and the kibble size Merrick may be the way to go. Purrdy is very lovely.

ThePonds said:

Thanks for the reply!! I will look into it for sure. I am in a good spot right now that I have one more bag of their current food so I can transition over smoothly and slowly. I'm trying to find something that is similar in being grain free and the kibble size Merrick may be the way to go. Purrdy is very lovely.

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She was feral

Is it a good idea to rotate kibbles or just stick to one kind?I'm not going to be changing or trying any different canned but wasn't sure about kibble. I'm looking into Merrick, Fromm, and maybe two others. Once I found a kibble size and brand they like I can rotate just in their varieties. I rotate kibble for my dog I wasn't sure if people had sucess with cats or not.

Kibbles tend to vary more in composition than wet foods, making rotating between brands tricky. If you want to use different brands you need to either do a gradual change to the new brand (usually over a couple of weeks), or mix the brands together and feed them as a mixture. Sudden changes can result in upset tummies

I don't recommend rotating kibbles, as others have mentioned it can cause tummy issues because it's more complicated than canned foods. If you really want to rotate you could change flavors, but stick with the same brand.

I feed Orijen cat & kitten and I mix it with several flavors of Ziwipeak air dried (Lamb, Venison and fish, Venison, and Beef) as a supplement to wet food because I have several kittens. 

Here's a good list of good quality kibbles. 

Thank you for the replies everyone!! I think the smart thing to do based on everyone's experience is going to be choosing a great quality kibble I have access to, until they are adults and then if I was to rotate I may go with something like Fromm or Orijen but only switch to the different proteins in that one brand. The Fussie Cat formulas they eat are all in gravy, chicken, chicken with egg, chicken with duck, less frequency chicken with sardines and chicken with anchovies. For any add ons or treats the only kind I have found that they like are temptations and vital essentials minnows. I worry that I'm not making sure they have balanced diets and am not doing enough to make sure they are getting what they need. Do I keep trying for more rotation in their diet or are there other things I need to look into??

So long as all the foods you're feeding are 'complete and balanced', varying the animal protein is less important. They'll still be getting all they need from their current diet

It's still a good idea to keep trying different brands, proteins etc for your kittens though. The wider the range of food they eat, the fewer problems you'll risk running into long term. For example - what if Fussie Cat isn't available for a time, or of one of them needs a prescription diet etc. Keep experimenting with wet foods.

It would be great to get them eating paté style food as well as chunks in gravy. Paté foods are more likely to be higher protein and grain free, and this is healthier for cats longer term. A great tip is to thin a paté food down with water - my stubbornly gravy addicted 13 year old made the switch to paté foods this way. As he got used to the new texture I was able to reduce the extra water.

Don't panic! You're doing fine. The number one rule with feeding is feed the foods your cats will eat. The greatest food in the world is useless if it stays in the tin It's simply that the younger they are, the easier it often is to persuade them to try new things :catguy:

Thank you so much!! We shall try some different things then once I have reliable transport again. Much more budget friendly to pick up a few cans of different brands to try then ordering a case. I will definitely try the water with the pate foods for sure. Just as it is they refuse.
I am hoping too, as more time passes from when they were so sick, I may be able to re-introduce some of the good brands they had turned their noses up to.
Nutro, Max Cat, Wild Calling, Dave's, some Tiki Cat, Mauri, Sheba, Friskies, Fancy Feast, Science Diet, some Weruva, some Against the Grain, BFF, Blue Buffalo, Pride, Solstice, Merrick, and Lotus have all been rejected by the picky two.

:doh3: I didn't realise they'd been ill. Of course, that can make a big difference when it comes to fussy eating. If they've eaten other brands before, I'm sure they will again

I shall remain hopeful then! They were both little rescues and they each had a few health problems. I think our food challenge lies in they both battled a mystery virus/bacterial infection at the same time that lasted three months. We shall figure this out and we will keep trying to find more cans to put into rotation. TCS has been such a blessing to find help with these things.