Switching to a better food.

So, I'm on my lunch break now and my plan after I get off work at 6:00 is to go to a store called Pet People and buy a bag of Innova or Evo. My plan is to feed my cats canned food twice a day with a little dry food at night. I'm wondering if I should start my cats on Innova first and then after a couple of months then switch to Evo to get my cats used to the Natura ingredients, because I've read that some cats can't handle Evo. I was worried about the calories but considering small portions along with a predominantly wet food diet should not make my cats gain weight, they should lose weight. They're both somewhat overweight. As for my Iams multi-cat after I transition my cats the Iams multi-cat will go either to my neighbor or the trash can since there is no bus to take me directly to a shelter. I'm on public transportation. I simply cannot wait 3 or 4 months to switch my cats to a healthier diet. I'm eager to start today. I've been reading Dr Pitcairn's natural pet health book just for reference. I'm not going raw but I can certainly switch to a healthier pet food. I'm now convinced the rumors on the internet about by-products are at least somewhat true. I read about it in a book from people who have seen it with their own eyes. That's what I needed to be convinced. So Innova or Evo to start with? Innova is rich enough but I know the Evo diet has 612 calories per cup but maybe the low carb nature of it along with canned food could alter my cats metabolism. Also my cats get freeze dried meat treats so if I'm feeding a food with 50% protein like Evo has along with the treats could I be feeding too much protein? Is it possible to feed a cat too much protein? If that's the case maybe I'll go with regular Innova until the freeze dried meat treats are used up. Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions? I will check this forum again on my last break of the day here at work, at 3:30.

From what I read about the inconsistency of Innova EVO dry, I would say use the Innova regular dry and the EVO canned.
I bought a small bag of Evo dry the last time I ordered food and only a couple of my cats seemed to like it, but the Evo canned went over pretty well. All of my cats love the Innova regular and the HealthWise that I got.

My next food order, I am going to try the Serengeti Herbal Felid Diet that someone else originally put a link to http://www.timberwolforganics.com/it...--herbal_felid

It looks like a pretty good food and not any more expensive than the Innova products. I also looked at the ZiwiPeak that Pat & Alix posted, but I simply cannot afford that one.

Good luck with getting your little ones switched over. You should probably hang onto your Iams and do the slow change to avoid any digestion problems due to the change. Some cats don't take very well to those sudden changes.

I think I'll start them on the regular Innova and switch slowly mixing it with the Iams. Later on I can always try just a sample of the dry Evo to see if they like it. The canned Evo, I don't think Pet People carries but I intend to feed my cats a variety of canned foods including Evo if I can ever find it. Natura doesn't even ship to every state if you order on line. They're very picky about how people handle their foods.

PetFoodDirect just started carrying Innova again recently and the woman I talked to on the phone said they had no restrictions on where they could ship, (which surprised me).

I know what you mean about Natura sitting on their dealers.
I used to get it from a retailer in North Carolina, but the last time I ordered it from them, which was about a year ago, Innova wouldn't let them selll out of their region anymore. The closest place to me that sells it is more than an hour away. I called the people at Natura because no one locally carries it and they wouldn't give a bit.
You add the price of cat food to the price of gas and none of us would eat for more than one week a month.

The thing I like about shopping at perfooddirect is that they always have a percent off coupon that nearly covers the cost of shipping.

I wish my local pet supplies plus store had the foods I want, but they force me to go online for what I truly want.

Not meaning to hijack your thread, but out of curiosity what book did you read?

Originally Posted by CommonOddity042

Not meaning to hijack your thread, but out of curiosity what book did you read?

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Dr priticains... I just got it and it is quite intresting ...

My vote is Innova .... .. Thou I would start with California Natural

I have been feeding Shay EVO for a couple of months now and she is doing very well on it. When I switched her over I did it very, very slowly. I replaced 1 tablespoon of her regular food with 1 tablespoon of EVO. Every 2 days or so I would add another tablespoon of EVO and remove 1 tablespoon of her other food. She eats about 1/2 cup per day and is slowly losing her excess poundage.

The only place around me that carried the EVO was about an hour away. I emailed the company and they contacted my local pet store and I am now able to order it from there.

Originally Posted by Shay's Human

I have been feeding Shay EVO for a couple of months now and she is doing very well on it. When I switched her over I did it very, very slowly. I replaced 1 tablespoon of her regular food with 1 tablespoon of EVO. Every 2 days or so I would add another tablespoon of EVO and remove 1 tablespoon of her other food. She eats about 1/2 cup per day and is slowly losing her excess poundage.

The only place around me that carried the EVO was about an hour away. I emailed the company and they contacted my local pet store and I am now able to order it from there.

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Wow, so your cat is actually losing weight on the high calorie EVO which has more calories than I've ever seen in a dry food. It's the portions isn't it? The weight control foods are worse because the cats must eat so many fillers just to get the nutrition they need. So it must be better to feed less of a high calorie nutrient rich food than it is to choose a low calorie food. I only need to take 2 buses to get my Innova but I decided it's worth it. I'll check into buying stuff from Pet Food Direct. I got my Innova yesterday from Pet People and the sales lady gave me a list of all the Pet People stores in San Diego. That was so nice of her. I realize I must change food slowly but I can't wait to throw that bag of Iams away.

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

Wow, so your cat is actually losing weight on the high calorie EVO which has more calories than I've ever seen in a dry food. It's the portions isn't it? The weight control foods are worse because the cats must eat so many fillers just to get the nutrition they need. So it must be better to feed less of a high calorie nutrient rich food than it is to choose a low calorie food. I only need to take 2 buses to get my Innova but I decided it's worth it. I'll check into buying stuff from Pet Food Direct. I got my Innova yesterday from Pet People and the sales lady gave me a list of all the Pet People stores in San Diego. That was so nice of her. I realize I must change food slowly but I can't wait to throw that bag of Iams away.

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I am glad you got some

My dog lost some wt while on evo dry( till I found out she was allergic) but my vets cats that eat dry have gained considerable wt///

Before EVO, I was feeding her Eukanuba indoor formula and she would get 3/4 cup and still cry for more. With the EVO, she eats less and seems to be very satisfied with the amount. I have inherited my daughter's cat for the next year and have started him on EVO. He needs to drop a few pounds, so I hope it works as well for him. Eventually, I hope to have them both on a mainly wet-food diet. Quicker if they start gaining weight!

Try using a calculator. I have found that if I figure out how many calories my cats need per day based on my vet's advice and then adjust accordingly how much to feed based on how many calories per cup or can of food, the calorie content of the food doesn't really matter unless you let the portions get out of control. For example my vet says Rosie needs approximately 180 calories per day and Spotty needs about 220. Books on feeding cats usually suggest feeding more than this so I'm not exactly sure who is right.

Innova dry= 537 calories per cup
Evo canned= 217 calories per 5.5 ounce can.

1/4 cup of Innova=134.25 calories
1/2 can of Evo=108.5 calories

Total=242.75 So going slightly under 1/4 a cup dry could balance it out to 220 calories. Although I wonder if he should be eating more. Spotty is 16 pounds and needs to lose some weight.

Rosie
1/8 cup of Innova =67.125
1/2 can of Evo=108.5

total=175.625 calories

So Rosie needs slightly more than 1/8 of a cup dry Innova combined with her half a can of wet to match 180. She is 12 pounds and also needs to lose some weight.

Someone tell me if these calorie estimates don't seem right. Considering vets don't necessarily know much about feline nutrition and the books on feeding cats don't match the vet's reccommendation, how much should I feed?

Dumb question how much wt do they need to lose???

According to my vet, Spotty should weigh probably about 11 pounds but to be realistic, is setting his goal weight to be about 12 1/2 pounds or even 13. He currently weighs almost 16 pounds. Rosie's goal weight is about 10 1/2. She currently weighs 12 pounds. They're indoor cats in a small 2 bedroom condo with a balcony. That could explain why they're still overweight even though I really don't feed that much. I don't free feed them or do any of the things a lot of pet owners do that makes their pets fat. Maybe it's the fillers in Iams dry. I don't know. But I hope Innova doesn't make them fatter because this is a difference between 360 calories per cup and 537. If it's due to fillers and carbs, my cats will be eating less of those on Innova so maybe it will help.

It's tricky though, because Spotty has a tendency to take from Rosie's bowl. Rosie eats only as much as she wants.

But how many calories should average size indoor cats eat per day? Who is right, my vet or the books on cat care? I checked the feeding guide on the Natura web site. Apparently their portions seem to be too much.

I hope that you get this figured out....
I need to know too.

Most pet food companies portions are tooo high... with that amount of wt needing to slowly come off I would ( ask the vet) give them 3/4 of the old calories and reevalutae after a month

I think the feeding guides published by most pet food companies are for (unneutered?) outdoor cats, and thus too high. I know I always go with the minimum amount stated for weight maintenance.