What are your feeding habits

I feed my cats Cat Chow (around 1/2 c a day) for them to nibble on. They call it their cereal.
Then in the a.m. they get a heaping Tbs. of moist cat food (they call it chicken), like 9-lives, and the same amount when I get home from work. They really love the tuna and cheese flavor.
Just wondering how many people swear by or use the expensive stuff like Iams or Science Diet and why you use it?

My kits get a bowl of dry royal canin to munch during the day. In the morning and evening they each get a pouch of nutro. I've switched to the premium brands becuase it is easily digested, and the royal canin contains l-lysine-which keeps Murphy's eye problem in check

I don't even think Science Diet or Iams are any good. I think youll find many people will agree. IMO, SD and Iams are no better than Cat Chow.

I use the holistic, natural, supposedly table grade food. I give them each 1/4 a cup of kibble in the afternoon when I am at work or class, and I give each boy 1/3 a can of wet morning and night, and my little princess (who is much smaller) gets 1/4 a can of wet twice a day.

I feed Felidae kibble, Evanger's Holistic Pheasant wet, Wellness Turkey and Salmn wet, and Eagle Pack Duck and Oatmeal wet. I have noticed SUCH a difference in their health since switching off of the major brands. Their coats are beautiful and Leo isn't sick all the time (the other two have always been on super premium since I brought them home...but Raph's IBD improved almost instantly upon switching off of Science Diet)

I give the youngest dry food all the time as she isnt fond of wet or raw...

My 17.5 yr cat get s wet food or raw depending on her ( I use only what i think are true premiums , most are holistic ) ... when she stays out of the younger cats food no vomiting as she gets all the moisture needed to digest her food

My dog get 75% raw with 10% dry for nibbling and the rest either canned or treats..


My suggestion is look at the labels avoid anything with by products, bht/ bha or other chemical presevative and grd corn( some use formulas with some corn but it is not a digestable thing and cats get little benifit )...

My Zoey eats Nutro s natural choice which I am happy with ... the only thing I wish is that it didnt have corn gluten but at least that is the protein of the corn and not grd corn... Zoey loves it and I have tried lots of foods with her

OK,now I know some may think I'm off my rocker,but here goes...One cat has a bowl of Friskes dry seafood flavor,one has Purina Cat Chow,and the other has Chef's Blend,which I keep filled for them to eat as they please. Then twice a day each gets a 3 0z can of Fancy Feast. It isn't the cheapest,but it doesn't give them diahrrea like the other brands do.

My kitties both get 1/2 c dry food per day and twice a day they get a mixture of pumpkin w/ a sliver of canned food. We don't free feed, but because of our work schedules, we're able to be home most of the day/evening with them and are able to feed them periodically throughout the day.

Stephanie

What's up with the pumpkin?

Originally Posted by Taurus77

What's up with the pumpkin?

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Pumpkin can be used to both firm up loose stools or loosen up rock hard ones it's a very versatile substance! I don't know why one would use it every day though, I only use it when needed.

My kitties are raw fed, they get fed morning and night (whenever it fits into my schedule, there are no set times). Only Nya gets any commercial food, and it's a sliver of wet ontop of her raw, as she will sniff it and walk away otherwise

I do feel the better quality food is worth the extra money it costs (I do not consider either Iams or Science Diet quality foods). You end up saving that money in the long run. First off because your cats eat less of it, making a bag last longer. And most importantly, because they are eating QUALITY food, they can best utilize the nutrients from it, and wont get sick as often (so you save money on vet bills!). There are many things I find people just write off as a normal part of owning cats, that are just symptoms of a poor quality diet. Excessive shedding, frequent vomiting (I know some people that put up with almost DAILY vomiting!), STINKY litterboxes, etc, etc. These things are all reduced or practically dissapear with a higher quality diet.

My 6 are all great self regulators, so they get dry Nutro Natural Complete Care, free fed.

Unfortunately, the only canned that any of them will touch is Friskies
They get three cans, split between them, twice a week.

Better quality food means less fillers, less fillers mean they eat less to get their needs nutrition and calories, which means less food in the long run, and less expensive, eating less also means less waste, less waste means less litter use.

Nutro Natural, by the way is comparable in price to most grocery store brands, and is by far better quality than most grocery store brands.

Iams/Eukanuba, Science Diet and Cat Chow, are all IMO, garbage foods.
The feline equivalent of MacDonald's.

My cats food is always available to her...I don't think she'll get fat as she only eats a full bowl of food about every 3 days.

Hmm, I haven't heard of any of these foods you all speak of..the good ones I mean. I feed my cat Pro Plan dry...is it any good?

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

My cats food is always available to her...I don't think she'll get fat as she only eats a full bowl of food about every 3 days.

Hmm, I haven't heard of any of these foods you all speak of..the good ones I mean. I feed my cat Pro Plan dry...is it any good?

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Pro plan I put above many others but it has the corn and by products they are just not the main ingrediants... If I had access to nothing better Pro plan would work

I personally think proplan is pretty good.
I usually feed mine a semi-high quality dry food, and they get 1/4 can each twice a day of wet food.

For dry I usually use proplan, nutro max, nutro, or purina one. Occ they will get Iams. They are free fed. Most of my kitties seem to be pretty good about not pigging out, the exception is rocky, who is slightly overweight. he does get steriods on occasion, and I think this affects his appetite. The other thing is that he doesn't eat as much as the wet as the others, usually just a taste. He isn't crazy about wet food like a normal cat, probably because his nose is always stuffy from his herpes.
For wet it is usually friskies, but I occ try different brands to see if they will eat them. I thought Zakk was strictly a junk food wet, but he has surprised me lately by eating some pate style high quality foods! I'm going to TRY to switch them to something better if I can.

My two girls get a 5.5 oz can of Nutro to share in the morning. I put out about a half cup of Nutro Indoor Adult and they nibble on that during the rest of the day but usually don't eat all of it. In the evening before bed they get a Nutro pouch to share. Thier weight is looking better (both were pretty overweight from just dry food), thier skin and coat are great, they don't get hairballs all the time anymore, don't throw up all the time anymore, and thier litterbox doesn't stink.
I feed Nutro because it doesn't have any ground corn or chicken by products, or any vague ingredients like "meat" or "animal." It also gives a great skin and coat and helps with hairballs. It also isn't grossly overpriced like a lot of stuff out there.
Works well for us.

Amber

My 2 boys get 3 ozs each in the morning, 1.5 ozs in the afternoon, and 3 ozs at dinner, they are on a all raw diet.Lately they have been eating alittle less, maybe bc their system is cleared of the diet they had b4 they came to me.

RIght now she gets a bowlfull of dry incase she gets hungry while we are at work and a pouch at 6 while I am cooking dinner. She likes the nutro but we have been out and I havn't been able to get her anymore yet so she has been eating what is left of her whiskas.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Better quality food means less fillers, less fillers mean they eat less to get their needs nutrition and calories, which means less food in the long run, and less expensive, eating less also means less waste, less waste means less litter use.

Nutro Natural, by the way is comparable in price to most grocery store brands, and is by far better quality than most grocery store brands.

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The food IMO, lasts longer and as Arlyn said, the price is'nt all that bad. I get Nutro pouches for 44cents-where as the old grocery brand i was buying was 50 cents and up for the little baby cans so you def. get more for your money

Mine have access to dry food (currently a mix of Purina One Chicken and Rice and Eukanuba Indoor) 24/7. I split a can of wet food between them every morning. The only kind they all like is Friskies Tuna & Ocean Whitefish, but it's better than no wet food at all.

I feed Nutro Natural Choice. I am currently switching my kitty from the kitty food to adult. I give her one-half a pouch of wet both in the morning and evening as well as a small amount of Natural Choice Indoor Complete to nibble during the day and evening. I would like to switch her entirely to wet, but am taking it slowly. Still experimenting with how much to give her as a daily total. It has worked well for her.

my girls (both about 9mos old) get Natural Balance Ultra kibble (about a cup every day between the two of them). in the morning, they split a small can of Natural Balance ultra or turkey/giblets. i'm thinking of giving them another small can in the evening, too, but they seem to be doing really well with they way it is right now. and they both drink from the petmate freshflow several times a day, so i know they're getting their moisture.

I feed a prepared raw food (Aunt Jeni's Home Made 4 Life) once a day in the early evening as I am preparing my own dinner. I also keep Innova EVO dry down most of the time. Two or three times a week they each get a (pre frozen lab raised) mouse purely to exercise their teeth and keep their gums healthy. They munch 'em up feet and all.