Too Much and not good for her

Ok well here I go. My kitty is Skittles you al might know of her from other threads, well she eats 1 wet can of 9 lives food plus I keep the dry on the counter also. So I figure she has 1 cup dry plus a can of food a day. She looks great and vet said she was in super health. My ? is do you think am feeding her to much. She was hubbies cat and now since he is gone I just took over his routine. I have no clue about the right or wrong amount. I have to say he did all the research and stuff. Up until Yesturday this cat ran from everyone, But hubby. She is the most cuddly and squishy cat right now. She is letting me pet everywhere and she is just right under me now. I hope she isnt feed to much. Do you all think am using the brand that is ok for her. She has a long coat and is 10 months maybe 11. I do not know when hubby found her sorry.

When it comes to wt go by the vet as they are trained on this well.....

I would suggest a trip to a pet of fed store to see a few "higher " end brands that arent budget bussters////

these are good and usually not too$$

chn soup
nutro
solid gold( a bit spendy cept for my feed store)
innova
california natural
felidea
pro pac(canned only)
royal canin and sensible choice
evangers
eagle pack( wet)
this is a starter list I am sure others will add to it..

the difference is these foods contain no by products( heads ft eggs organs) , most have no grd corn ( not easy to digest) many have no corn gluten( easy to digest thou some dont like it ) no chemical presrvatives..

Do you think am feeding to much or to little...

If the vet thinks she is in good health, then I think you are doing just fine

Depends on the food. The best way I've found is to look up the energy requirements (kcal) for your cat and feed to that. An adult cat requires between 18-30kcal/lb (18 if your cat is inactive, 30 for extremely active). For the higher quality foods that sharky mentionned the about of kcal/serving (or cup) is found either on the package, the manufacturer's internet site or by calling them. Ex. I have a 10lb cat that is moderately active so I feed approximately 200kcal/day. 1 can of wet food (Eagle Pack) is approximately 150kcal and 1 cup of dry (natural balance low cal) is 385kcal/cup. If you add this up, 1 can and 1 cup would be way too much food for my cat to consume.

(i found the kcal numbers by googling kcal requirements house cat)

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

Do you think am feeding to much or to little...

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Personally for a kitten to young adult it seems right... the vet said she looks good , go off that... how much does kitty weigh??

9 lbs and beautiful ball of fluff. If I could attach a picture I would still no clue how ti.

She sounds like a wonderful cat and you are doing a wonderful job. I don't think you're feeding her too much unless she starts getting pudgy. Cats don't tend to overeat.

You might want to switch to a brand of wet that doesn't have water as its first ingredient though. It doesn't have to much more expensive... I know my cat didn't do very well on 9lives. She stunk, for one. Look for something with a meat as the first ingredient. Plus, you won't have to feed her as much of it for her to get the same energy from it.

I have 2 cans left of the 9 lives I will use them and make a switch what do you all suggest. Money is not a facter. I feed my kids well balanced meals and these are my fur babies so I want to do good. Right now I use the Purina Once Development Kitten food. It is like 9.00 for 4 or 5 lbs. Do you think I should switch that also.

It sounds like shes the perfect size. 9 Lives is a very very low quality food, though. I wouldn't even feed it to my fish. Purina ONE isn't much better, maybe a just step up, but not a huge difference. You don't want anything to do with grocery store brands, honey. Stay away froms foods that have by-products, corn, unknown protein sources (i.e. "animal" fat, "poultry" meal, etc.), wheat, etc. I'm not sure what formula you feed, but here are the ingredients for 9 Lives Tender Sliced with Real Chicken in Gravy:

Water sufficient for processing, meat by-products, chicken, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, chicken broth, modified starch, steamed bone meal, animal digest, wheat gluten, guar gum, titanium dioxide, sodium tripolyphosphate, glycine, potassium chloride, choline chloride, caramel color, salt, taurine, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), iron oxide.

Grossss! The bad ingredients in this are meat by-products (feathers, intestines, beaks, etc of an unkown animal), wheat flour, soy, animal digest (what animal did that come from?), wheat gluten and menadione sodium bisulfite complex (which is known for many many healt problems.)

Purina ONE is not much better:

Chicken, chicken by-product meal, soy flour, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), fish meal (source of DHA), whole grain corn, non-fat yogurt, poultry by-product meal, animal digest, wheat gluten, phosphoric acid, salt, brewers dried yeast, potassium chloride, choline chloride, taurine, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, DL-Methionine, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

Well, atleast this one actually have real meat as the first ingredient. But it's not much better. Again with the by-products, animal digest, wheat, menadione and soy. This one also has corn, brewer's rice, animal fat, fish meal (what fish? Who knows?) and poultry by-product. Eww!

I HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest this food, Innova EVO:

DRY:
Turkey
Chicken
Chicken Meal
Herring Meal
Potatoes
Chicken Fat
Egg
Turkey Meal
Natural Flavors
Apples
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cottage Cheese
Dried Chicory Root
Taurine
Herring Oil
Rosemary Extract
Vitamins/Minerals
Viable Naturally Occurring Microorganisms

CANNED:
Turkey
Chicken
Turkey Broth
Chicken Broth
Chicken Meal
Herring
Carrots
Whole Eggs
Salmon Meal
Natural Flavors
Guar Gum
Seaweed Extract
Apples
Tomato Flakes
Cottage Cheese
Herring Oil
Potassium Chloride
Apple Fiber
Inulin
Vitamin C
Sea Salt
Choline Chloride
Sunflower Oil
Beta Carotene
Vitamins/Minerals

As you can see, Innova EVO is MUCH healthier than 9 Lives and Purina. Well, it's your choice. Good luck!

I can't even imagine what you could get if money isn't an issue. However, the most expensive isn't necessarily the best. And I ran across a few foods that just seem ridiculous, like they have caviar in them.
Firstly, you'll have to go to a pet store and not the grocery. Look for a food with meat in the first three ingredient slots at least, chicken turkey lamb duck venison, etc, not meal or by-product. And no grain fillers, esp corn. I know there are a LOT of cat nutrition experts around who can recommend a few good brands.

The quantity you are feeding sounds totally reasonable. In general cats are pretty good at regulating their food intake and if she's not fat, then she's fine.

As for the kind of food, though, 9 Lives just may be literally the worst one on the market! Even Friskies - which is by no means premium - would be a step up.

For dry food I would recommend investing in a large, re-sealable bin from Wal-Mart or wherever and buying dry food in bulk. Right now you are paying $2 a pound for Purina O.N.E., which is a mediocre food. If you went to a pet specialty store or a human health food store, you could buy an 18# bag of Chicken Soup dry food for around $20-$22, which ends up coming to about $1.10-$1.20 per pound. That's a substantial savings for a much better food. Or you could get Nutro for around $25 for a 20# bag - also well under the $2/pound that you are paying now.

For wet foods, decent options that are not too expensive are Felidae, Authority (PETsMART premium store brand), Nutro, pretty much anything you can get at a human health food store (like Whole Foods or a small local store), and many of the foods you can get at a small locally owned pet supply store. Many foods also come in 12-14 ounce cans (like the size of a can of beans or vegetables) and this makes a big difference in cost effectiveness. You can buy a can cover for about $1 at a pet supply store and refrigerate leftovers. At mealtime, just zap the food in the microwave for 10 seconds, stir, and it's good as new.

Those are great tips. I plan a trip to petsmart Monday and I think I will look up the Nutro and the Felidae. I am getting a puppy (pomarania) Tuesday what do you think the best is.

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

Those are great tips. I plan a trip to petsmart Monday and I think I will look up the Nutro and the Felidae. I am getting a puppy (pomarania) Tuesday what do you think the best is.

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I like both ... Nutro seems to work with well with my youngest cat... the dog was on Nutro till vet said no grain.. for a small breed look at nutro natural choice chn rice and oatmeal or the ultra .... If you can get felidea at Petsmart try it...

I suggest Innova EVO for dogs, too. : ) Innova EVO has both canine and feline formulas, along with canned and dry. I fed Innova EVO to my Min Pin before I fed raw with great results! She had the softest, shiniest and smoothest coat. Before that I fed her Nutro Natural Choice, with not such great results. I had to feed her more, because Nutro has so many fillers and less meat and her coat was dull and dry. It all changed once I switched her EVO.

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

Those are great tips. I plan a trip to petsmart Monday and I think I will look up the Nutro and the Felidae. I am getting a puppy (pomarania) Tuesday what do you think the best is.

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There's also a formula for dogs, Canidae, that you could try, but check to see whether it's for all life stages, or if they have a puppy formula. You might have to try a couple of brands till you find ones they like/which agree with them.
To begin with, I'd give the puppy whatever he/she is now eating, and then switch gradually.

Originally Posted by jcat

There's also a formula for dogs, Canidae, that you could try, but check to see whether it's for all life stages, or if they have a puppy formula. You might have to try a couple of brands till you find ones they like/which agree with them.
To begin with, I'd give the puppy whatever he/she is now eating, and then switch gradually.

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Canidae is a life stages. Except for the Platinum formula, which is a senior/light formula.

I gave her the best shell likely find at Petsmart ... which if you actually read up compares on par with Canides which is great if you can get it and theyll eat ... Evo is a very good food but only for a select group of animals many here have tried it with kitties and had some very undesirable results( myself included) for the dog I found a better and far cheaper food..

Canidea is a all life stage