We are going to do it! *LONG*

We are going to switch from dry to canned food. I have been trying sort of half heartedly for the past few days, but I really need to do this for Twitch's sake. She is getting to be a...robust...cat. Ok, porky needs to watch her weight so she doesn't get ot be a cow! lol She is nowhere near overweight, but she is definately getting larger. She eats 1 cup of dry food every night at bedtime. That's quite a bit for her, but she barely eats all day. If I give her canned, she doesn't seem to need to eat as much.

I am equipped with their favorite dry foods: Nutro Indoor Kitten & Innova adult. I also have a variety of canned foods: Eukanuba kitten(the only one they will eat as of now, better buy more tomorrow), Wellness Chicken & Lobster, Merrick Southern Delight, two different cans of Eagle Pack, two different Nutro kitten pouches, & three different cans of Nutro. I have quite a few questions for you.

The only canned food I can get both cats to eat is Eukanuba. I don't have any more adult, but plan on sotcking up on tons of Eukanuba tomorrow. Should I keep them on Eukanuba until they eat only canned food, or try to get them to eat other types of food as I get them to eat only canned food?

How can I get them to eat other brands of food?

They prefer cans with tons of gravy in them. Is there any other brand other than Nutro pouches & Eukanuba you can recommend? The Nutro is hard for Twitch because the bites are too big & she has no teeth, so the Eukanuba is easiest in terms of her ability to eat.

Should I give them(lily-15 weeks & twitch 3 1/2 years) two meals a day, or more? Shouldn't kittens get 3-4 meals a day? Should I feed Twitch 2 meals & Lily 3 meals(one when Twitch doesn't see)?

Since I am sure I will be ordering most of the canned food online, where can I get it cheap? We sort have have a limited cat food budget, so I want to make the money go as far as I can.

I am going to try to feed them again when I am done posting this. They ate a light breakfast, but refused lunch. I am going to puree some Pink Salmon to pour on top of some Wellness to see if they will eat it. I paid $35 for a case of Wellness, & of course, that is their least favorite food. I think I spoiled them too much! I am so pleased with that. Edited to add: The pureed salmon was a no-go. They smelled the canned food underneath. Drat!

I read an article soeone posted on another thread from catinfo.org called Feeding your cat:knowing the basics of feline nutrition, so I have some idea of what I am doing, but suggestions would be appreciated! Oh yes, and be nice to me. Right now I am really unpopular in my house. The kitties want *real* food not this mushed up junk!

What do you who feed canned food only, do for their teeth? I am afraid to switch them because their teeth may rot out....I have them cleaned once a year but in the meantime they won't let me brush them.

OK - firstly dry food does nothing for their teeth. In fact you may find their teeth will be healthier on wet food.

We were also only feeding dry food and our darling Bijou is a hefty fellow who barely resembles a Siamese now. Mika was the runt of the litter so she is still small.

I pretty much did what you are doing. I went to the local pet store and read every can and bought about 5 different kinds of food - all with NO by-products and tried each of them on the cats.

They ended up preferring the Merricks (which is really soft and a fair bit of gravy). They weren't "thrilled" with wet food initially, but now they wait impatiently morning and night for their wet food and I've cut the dry food to about 1/4 cup per day each and even that is not always all gone by the next feeding.

I think you are doing it the right way - try different ones and you will find the one(s) they like best. I took the rest of the unopened cans of the ones they didn't like back to the pet store and exchanged them for Merricks.

I thought the crunchies cleaned the tartar off the teeth, that's what our dentists tell us anyway... At our clinic, we find lots of canned only feeders bringing their pets in with rotted teeth....Vets don't know a whole lot about nutrition, his is something not covered in vet school for very long, so we techs don't know that much either, just what we're told by the vets and sales reps... I wouldn't mind switching to canned, I've been reading all the posts and additional material about how beneficial it is for their health so I'm for it, but I guess I also want their teeth to be healthy. I could take them for more dentals I guess....

the food itself wont clean teeth , that is a wivetale //// some companies put in grediants to assist with dental care but wet benifits out way dry by so much ....

Cept for Zoey all my animals have had equal wet and dry food and never any dental problems..

Here's an excellent article that will give you reference points to discuss with any vet regarding the myth that dry food cleans the teeth: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

I stumped the vets at my old clinic with this one And now my babies are wet food only cats, with tooth-brushing (well, for 3 of them) and dental cleanings keeping their mouths healthy.

Amanda

Thanks, I will research!!

Just so you know, menagerie mama, Twitch was on dry food only & now she has no teeth. That wasn't related to the dry food, though. Just pointing out it made no difference whether she ate wet or dry. Some cats will have dental troubles, no matter what you do for them.

I am going to check with Pet Expo to see if I can buy Nutro pouches in bulk. Here's a question. Does it make a difference if Twitch & Lily get adult canned food or kitten? I had one of the women who worked in Pet Expo tell me that she didn't think it made a diffence. She used Merrick as an example. The cans are cat & kitten food, not seperate. I will have to search this site to see what I can find.

I keep on trying to get Twitch & Lily to eat the Wellness that I have a case of, but it still is a no go. I even went so far as to put the gravy from Fancy Feast on top of some Wellness. They still wouldn't eat it. Pet Expo better give me a refund or store credit or something.

I am leaning towards buying more Eukanuba because the article I read suggested getting your cats to eat wet food, then worrying about the quality. Now if only they would eat Euk. all day I would be doing excellent!

Yosemite, how long did it take you to make the switch? I think Lily will be easy, but Twitch can be stubborn. She ripped open the bag of Innova this evening. Apparently, it was lunch time & the food I gave her(wellness) wasn't satisfactory. Don't ask me how she got into the bag, though. She for sure didn't rip it open with her teeth! lol I shouldn't joke about that, should I? I hope I have the willpower to ignore the "death stare" from Twitch.

if twitch is trying to lose weight, maybe kitten food isn't the way to go, as I believe kitten food has more calories than adult food. I do think wet food is healthier, I add tuna juice and baby food (they can't resist baby food) to entice my kitties to eat the wet food as one kitty is a kibble addict. my kitties are fed natural balance as they like the pate texture, but sometimes I will give them the meow mix pouches (full of gravy and very tasty) so they get excited about their wet meals.

Twitch will eat Whiskas, but not Meow Mix(pouches). She doesn't like pate style, but prefers cuts in gravy. I have gotten Lily to gain enough weight that she probably doensn't need kitten pouches or cans, but would like the input before I buy tons (more) of food. I have been giving Lily Nutri-Stat everyday & it seems to make the difference. Hey! Maybe I should try a pea size dab of that to stimulate Twitch's appetite to get her to eat canned!

Neither like baby food, but I am wondering about tuna juice. When Twitch gets tuna in a bowl, all she does is lick the juice off. That is all she seems to be doing with the canned food I feed her, licking the gravy off.

Hi, just to hit some of the various questions...yes, Lily the 15 week old needs to continue to have kitten food until at least 10 months to a year. There are some brands that make a "for all life stages" food, which then gives a larger amount for a kitten than will be suggested for an adult, and you can use one of these.

I do not feed eukanuba, it is one of the more expensive foods, I prefer other brands.

For brands that have gravy try the Merrick line, a brand of ground that you like - simply add warm water and make it have a bit of gravy.

Brands I like - innova, california natural, natural balance, active life (not in production at the moment) addiction (new to the US and very nice!), evangers, petguard, nutro natural pouches, and for a very sensibly price and decent food - Authority brand (petsmart), which comes in a super soft "loaf" or a sliced (I think) with gravy. natural balance

Brands that are all lifestage: innova, california natural chicken and brown rice, natural balance to name a few.

In general, I choose foods that do not use soy, wheat, corn (though I'll use a product with corn gluten meal), by-products, animal or poultry digest, garlic.
I prefer canned foods that do not use multiple grains in the same can - I don't want to see turkey and then barley, rice, millet all in the same can.

Feeding - yes, I'd feed a 15 week old at least 3 if not 4 times per day.

hth a bit!

I am going to have to look everywhere I can think of to see if anyone carries Innova canned food. The all llifestages canned food might be the easiest.
Pat, I never even thought about adding warm water to make more gravy! I am going to have to try that. That should get Twitch to eat Merrick!

I'm not a fan of the Nutro pouches. If you look at the feeding instructions, you have to feed a 10 pound cat something like 5 pouches a day! That's a bit crazy IMO. If your cats like chunky Nutro, the 3 ounce "gourmet classics" cans are a way more cost effective choice.

As for other chunky foods, my favorites are Merrick, Avoderm, and Whole Foods store brand. Authority also makes some chunky flavors.