Feeding Friskies wet food? :(

I would like some opinions on feeding Twitch Friskies shredded canned food. Ideally, she would eat good food, but this may not be the case. I opened a can of shredded Friskies last night(a special treat from her godparents) & she ate the entire 5 oz can herself. She has never eaten an entire can herself before, not even a 3 oz can.

If I keep Twitch on 50/50 dry/wet, & feed her Friskies wet & high quality dry(EVO right now)....is that a good idea? I am mostly concerned with getting wet food into her so she doesn't get dehydrated. She has had issues with dehydration before. She doesn't eat much other than the gravy off high quality wet foods anyways.

I honestly don't think there's another high quality wet food out there that is shredded. I know some other brand makes "julienne cuts", but that brand also has by-products. (Nature's Variety...or Recipe?--I saw it on petfooddirect.com) The texture of the shredded is so easy for her to eat.

Any suggestions on this?

I think there *might* be some flavours of Fancy Feast that are shredded and have no by-products... but I may be incorrect. But do compare the ingredients, as I think the Fancy Feast would be slightly better than the Friskies.

Either way, as long as she's eating a great quality dry food, and you're just trying to get her to eat ANY wet food, I don't see a problem in it being of lower quality. It's more important that she's eating canned food at all!

Edited to add: I know Fancy Feast and Friskies are both very low quality foods, but I'm under the impression that the OP has had a heck of a time getting this particular cat to eat higher quality cans. Higher quality food is of course optimum, but I understand that not everyone can manage.

Stay away from Fancy Feast as well. It is not a very good quality food. I would try finding something with no by-products. Merrick is an excellent food and looks like human stew. It is lovely and our cats love it.

My cats won't eat much of anything that isn't in a gravy. Rocky in particular will ONLY eat friskies, only the shredded kind. In particular he likes turkey & cheese. If I buy something like merrick, maybe 1/4 of what I serve will be eaten. Personally I don't think fancy feast is much better than friskies.
Brands that they will eat some of that are quality- nutro pouches, pro plan- but they don't usually finish.
They will eat pretty much any pouched food and the meow mix market selects. They will also eat sophisticat, shredded 9 lives, and sometimes whiskas, but I prefer to service friskies over those brands.

I probably would have given up on the wet food a long time ago, but I think its important to have some wet food even if its a junk, plus I mix lysine in to help Rocky and help the others kitties from ever catching his herpes.
BTW I also free feed dry food.

Actually, believe it or not, the Meow Mix POUCHES are not bad, the only downfall that I see, is that they are primarily fish-based...high in magnesium. They do, however, consist mostly of meat, without the by-products...these would make a good treat if given 1-2 times a week, as a wet supplement. My kitties LOVE them, but I only substitute 1 or 2 meals out of the week with them.

I do agree with the others...Merrick, Wellness, Felidae, Solid Gold, and Innova would be better canned choices, if you could gradually switch him over.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Stay away from Fancy Feast as well. It is not a very good quality food. I would try finding something with no by-products. Merrick is an excellent food and looks like human stew. It is lovely and our cats love it.

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You are actually the reason I bought tons of Merrick cans. You said your babies loved it, so I bought some. Lily likes them, but Twitch still won't eat them, even when I mix a little Merrick in with something else.

I have tried getting Twitch to eat: Nutro cans, Nutro pouches, Gourmet Classics little cans, Merrick, Natural Life, Eagle Pack, Felidae, Meow Mix, Solid Gold, Innova/EVO, Eukanuba, Meow Mix & Friskies. *I think those are all I tried.* The only ones she would eat are the Nutro pouches, which I am not feeding until they figure out what's going on with them, Gourmet Classics cans, Eukanuba, & Friskies. I won't try the Fancy Feast as I know it if her secret addiction.

The dilemma I am running into is: Do I keep her on higher quality wet, & only have her lick the gravy off, not eat much of the food itself....or do I feed her Friskies, where she will eat both the gravy & the food? Trust me, I don't like the idea of feeding her the junk, but I am starting to wonder which would be better. I *hope* it won't be long term, but it very well could be.... I have been trying since November or December to get Twitch to eat high quality, but I have had little or no luck. She will eat maybe 5 or 6 bites out of a Nutro pouch, if even that many.

Several folks here has made the claim that it's better to let them eat some junk wet food than no wet food.

I think that after trying for so many months your cat is obviously not willing to cooperate with you.

Have you tried the Meow Mix pouches? Apparently the quality isn't too bad.

Maybe you'll just have to feed Twitch a good dry food. Mika prefers dry and eats very litte wet but she does love the water fountain so I know she is drinking more water.

Do you have access to Pro Pac??? all three here eat that and it is decent .. Feed the best kitty will eat ... without teeth does she eat dry>??

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Several folks here has made the claim that it's better to let them eat some junk wet food than no wet food.

I think that after trying for so many months your cat is obviously not willing to cooperate with you.

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Well, I do agree with this. If you've been trying all the aforementioned brands, with no luck, and Friskies is what Twitch will eat, I say let him. Because crappy wet food is better than NO wet food. However, if you must feed el-cheapo, then I would opt for Fancy Feast over Friskies. Friskies is almost purely by-products, and the % of quality protein is higher in Fancy Feast. However, if Friskies is what he'll eat, than that's probably fine. Many a cat has lived on Friskies alone, and lived long and healthy lives...including my husband's Maine Coon female, Kiki. Kiki lived to be 18, and was fed Friskies, and Friskies alone. She was a beautiful, and healthy girl.

I say let him eat Friskies, and be happy!!!

Ginger will only eat Tuna & Shrimp flavor Meow Mix and Fancy Feast. I did an ingrediant comparison, and Fancy Feast is actually higher in protein content for the same food. Because these are the ONLY two wet foods she will eat, I switch them out daily and give her a 3 ounce serving for dinner, but I'm sure to only feed her a mix of the highest quality dry that I can get in my area.

I'm of the opinion that if junk is the only wet the cat will eat, better to have some junk in their diet than an all dry diet that risks dehydration and UTIs.

I found a few flavours of Fancy Feast that contain no by-products. Some fish/ocean flavours, and a beef one. That is all I will feed of Fancy Feast. I sat and looked for by-products in all the "crappy" brands of wet food and these few Fancy Feast were the only ones that worked.

Usually I feed, wet Iams, Nutro or Chicken Soup though.

man this is not good. Birdie and charlie will only eat fancy feast. I tried sheba
scince diet and everthing else. but they wont anything else.
I cant feed birdie beef she gets

Originally Posted by sharky

Do you have access to Pro Pac??? all three here eat that and it is decent .. Feed the best kitty will eat ... without teeth does she eat dry>??

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Yes, she eats dry. Too much if I let her. I don't know if I can find Pro Pac, but if I ask the pet store guy, he will order it. I have also considered asking him to order some Pro Plan wet foods....I checked their website & see they have chunks in gravy. It's just that there is no other food out there that is shredded....it is so easy for her to eat!

I may have to look into the Fancy Feast cans...if they have no by-products, they may be a little better. They would have to be chunks in gravy, & even then I doubt she would eat much. I'll go shopping tomorrow to see what I can come up with.

Yosemite, I tried to Meow Mix pouxhes & she eats a little of them, about the same as all other wet foods.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

The dilemma I am running into is: Do I keep her on higher quality wet, & only have her lick the gravy off, not eat much of the food itself....or do I feed her Friskies, where she will eat both the gravy & the food? Trust me, I don't like the idea of feeding her the junk, but I am starting to wonder which would be better. I *hope* it won't be long term, but it very well could be.... I have been trying since November or December to get Twitch to eat high quality, but I have had little or no luck. She will eat maybe 5 or 6 bites out of a Nutro pouch, if even that many.

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These are my sentiments exactly!! I think I have tried every brand on the market in my area. Usually they come in a pate, and after the initial ooh this is new I'm gonna eat it.. they gradually eat less and less of it. Certain brands have only been sniffed! When I first got Zakk he took one sniff of iams wet kitten and that was it. I would rather save my money on the wet, and use the savings to buy dry food like nutro.

Originally Posted by KittyLova

man this is not good. Birdie and charlie will only eat fancy feast. I tried sheba
scince diet and everthing else. but they wont anything else.

I cant feed birdie beef she gets

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Just look for the Fancy Feasts that do not contain by-products, there are about 6 or so.

I know that you should feed your cats high quality wet/dry however my baby will eat a high quality dry however I have tried several of the high quality wet foods and she sniffs them and turns her nose up at them. Her 2 favorites are Friskies and the Meow Mix Pouches. I say if it means the difference between eating and not eating I say let them eat whatever it is they will!!

try the http://www.healthypetnet.com wet. they will ship you a sample to try. good ingredients and my Remy loves it.

Originally Posted by zak&rocky

These are my sentiments exactly!! I think I have tried every brand on the market in my area. Usually they come in a pate, and after the initial ooh this is new I'm gonna eat it.. they gradually eat less and less of it. Certain brands have only been sniffed! When I first got Zakk he took one sniff of iams wet kitten and that was it. I would rather save my money on the wet, and use the savings to buy dry food like nutro.

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Mollie, at least you get an "ooh this is new I'm gonna eat it.. ". I just get "What's this stuff & where's my gravy?".

OK, so I am getting to where I am considering my options. Here is the other shredded food I was thinking of. It's called Nature's Recipe. They have Julienne cut chicken, lamb, & tuna. The ingredients are:
Lamb stock, lamb, liver, soy protein concentrate, rye flour, corn starch, salt, pork by-products, dicalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, barley malt flour, calcium carbonate, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, inositol, vitamin A supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite, beta-carotene, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), choline chloride, taurine, minerals (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), magnesium oxide. The pet food direct link to all the Nature's Recipe wet food they carry is: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/d...&brand%5Fid=12

Compare that to our favorite Friskies flavor, ocen whitefish & tuna.
Water, liver, turkey, wheat gluten, chicken, ocean fish, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, soy flour, natural flavor, tuna, potassium chloride, titanium dioxide, taurine, tricalcium phosphate, salt, choline chloride, Vitamin E supplement, calcium phosphate, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, biotin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), potassium iodide. A-5227
http://www.friskies.com/feeding/wet_detail.aspx?p=176

So...does one have slightly better ingredients than the other? Reddicequeen...thanks for the website! I will look into the foods they have as well.

I called the vet & she told me that she would take a look at Twitch's gums again. So far, we have been ulcer free for awhile, but it is possible that she is getting a little more picky over what she eats because she is getting ulcers again. I have a 10 am appt. tomorrow.

The vet couldn't see a problem. I will be going shopping in an hour...so I'll see what I can find.

Let us know how the nature's recipe goes over. I think I tried that brand before but I don't know about that flavor. Interesting though, I didn't know that some of the fancy feasts didn't have by products!