Nutro Max and FF

I'll admit I didn't give the nutrition thing much thought, but maybe I could re-eval Keaira kitty's diet.

I adopted her from the shelter about a year ago. They were feeding her Nutro Max Cat. Some of her paperwork, medical records from the shelter vet office, talked about her having a upper respiratory infection (s?) for quite awhile. They recorded she wasn't eating well and loosing weight. The vets instructed several times to offer her FF to entice her appetite.

When I adopted her, she clearly was underweight, but healthy. She was under 5lbs. at the time. I wanted to get some weight back on her. She had a good appetite, so I kept her on Max Cat and offered FF. I didn't want to introduce a new kind of food. For about one month I also gave her about 3/4 inch Nutra Cal paste daily.

Of course she's gorgeous now, with robust muscle feel and a good weight for her. She's a very petite cat, certainly the smallest stature in an adult cat I've ever seen. She's probably a healthy 5.5lbs.

After a year now, I just keep giving her Max and FF because I always have. The FF is fed only when she asks for it, say 4 to 5 times weekly. The rest the time it's Max.

The bit I've read on this site suggest FF is not such a good idea but I can't really find the posts that may explain why? And thoughts?

Also, I don't know much about Max. Nutro also offers a Natural food. I'm not sure what's the difference. Is Max considered a premium food? Or more like a "store" brand ie. Petco brand? Thanks for your thoughts.

Max is premium it is just not as "specialized" as Natural choice .... I used max with my older one and had great results .... my younger one eats the natural choice to to allergies and tummy issues ... Neither has by products , grd corn or chemical preservatives...

FF has some good ones but most are by product and soy ladened ... by products are heads feet and intestines... you might want to if budget allows try the max small cans the gormet classics

Yes, the gourmet classics are good alternatives to Fancy Feast. I don't think there is anything wrong with feeding Fancy Feast if that's all the wet food your cat will eat because I believe feeding even the Fancy Feast wet foods are better for cats than no wet food at all, but you might consider introducing some better brands now that your cat is healthy. I personally(I say me personally because many disagree) am not totally against by-products because I think certain by-products like the heart and kidneys or some ground bone rich in calcium are actually quite nutritious as long as by-products are not the only animal based protein source available. What I'm really against are things like soy, unnecessary plant fillers, companies cutting corners by using a lot less meat than they could use, artificial colorings, artificial flavorings(this is why I believe cats favor Fancy Feast, Purina who makes Fancy Feast does not play fair and will hook your cat on Fancy Feast by using artificial flavor enhancers), sodium nitrates, anything that just isn't natural. Of course "natural" means different things to different people.

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

Yes, the gourmet classics are good alternatives to Fancy Feast. I don't think there is anything wrong with feeding Fancy Feast if that's all the wet food your cat will eat because I believe feeding even the Fancy Feast wet foods are better for cats than no wet food at all, but you might consider introducing some better brands now that your cat is healthy. I personally(I say me personally because many disagree) am not totally against by-products because I think certain by-products like the heart and kidneys or some ground bone rich in calcium are actually quite nutritious as long as by-products are not the only animal based protein source available. What I'm really against are things like soy, unnecessary plant fillers, companies cutting corners by using a lot less meat than they could use, artificial colorings, artificial flavorings(this is why I believe cats favor Fancy Feast, Purina who makes Fancy Feast does not play fair and will hook your cat on Fancy Feast by using artificial flavor enhancers), sodium nitrates, anything that just isn't natural. Of course "natural" means different things to different people.

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100% what you said! It's nice to see a response that makes sense and isn't simply the lame "Well it's like feeding Mcdonald's." when again... there's really no truth in people saying a cat on Fancy feast will not live as long of a life as a cat on Innova.

I firmly believe in the Nutro NAtural and Maia loves it! Selection of flavors, dry, wet, a little more expensive but worth it!

Thanks for the replys. I think I'll try the canned Nutro gourmet in place of FF once she finished off the cans we still have. Hopefully she won't prove to be finicky.

I suppose some types of byproducts wouldn't be so bad since in the wild cats will eat these just in the course of eating the mice, birds or fish they catch. Then again, by products from a factory doesn't describe exactly what by products "they" are referring. Thanks again!

The Blue Spa Select (at PetSmart now) has a superior selection of canned foods compared to the others available. No wheat, corn, soy, beet pulp, vague fat sources or animal by-products and human-grade ingredients. Another option if you have a PetSmart nearby and she doesn't care for the Nutro.

Good luck!
Rachel

Max Cat is a fine food. I would prefer a food free of ground corn and that sources its meat from the human food supply, but other than that it's very good.

My main issue with FF is that it seems to be almost addictive. Cats who eat it will often refuse any other food. For me that is reason enough to avoid it.

The Nutro foods that come in 3 ounce cans are definitely a good alternative to FF. They are highly palatable and most cats who don't mind chunky type food will readily eat them.

Originally Posted by semiferal

Max Cat is a fine food. I would prefer a food free of ground corn ( UM it contains none) and that sources its meat from the human food supply, but other than that it's very good( Is this true>>?? since human grade can be tripe...

My main issue with FF is that it seems to be almost addictive. Cats who eat it will often refuse any other food. For me that is reason enough to avoid it.

The Nutro foods that come in 3 ounce cans are definitely a good alternative to FF. They are highly palatable and most cats who don't mind chunky type food will readily eat them.

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Semiferal
Come over and explain that to my girls ..lmao they think chunky is from another planet unless it is raw organs

Cats seem to either love chunky or hate it except for licking up the juice. My guys love it. But for the Nutro chunky foods, you have the option of mashing up the individual chunks.