Hi, it's been a while since my last post here, so just to get a few details out of the way: I have quite a few cats (all fixed and vaccinated), and as much as I would like to feed them an all wet diet, it's a little out of budget, not to mention that at least 3 of my cats absolutely refuse to eat any wet food. I feed them mostly dry food, plus canned food a few times a week, they always have water available and they do seem to drink plenty so no concerns there.
I'm currently feeding them for dry food:
- Tractor Supply's brand 4Health All Life Stages (Chicken) - Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 18.0% minimum
- Chicken Soup Adult (Chicken, Turkey) - Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 20.0% minimum
And for wet food:
- 4Health Turkey and Salmon, or Chicken and Brown Rice
- Friskies Classic Pate Poultry Favorites
Now here's the thing. My oldest cat (vet thinks she's around 11 years old), got sick last year (around January 2014) with what we thought was bronchitis. She was coughing quite a lot so after a trip to the vet and a round of antibiotics, she was back to normal. A few months later she got sick again, same symptoms as before, and the vet ordered some xrays as he thought perhaps something was wrong with her heart, said it was common in older cats. Except for some congestion, the xrays all looked normal, so after more antibiotics she was back to normal again. Long story short, she got sick a total of 5 times in the span of a year, all with the same symptoms (coughing, heavy breathing), the latest just over two months ago. On this last time, the vet ordered a new set of xrays to see what was going on, and this time noticed her heart was slightly larger than normal and there was a strange mass near her stomach, he thought it was a tumor and recommended an exploratory surgery to see what could be done. Things weren't looking to good at this point, and during the surgery her heart actually stopped for a moment, the vet was able to restart it but it was quite the scare. Thankfully there wasn't a tumor, but the vet found the mass in the xrays was actually fat tissue from an enlarged ligament, he said it was so big it was putting pressure on her stomach, spleen, lungs and was even pushing her heart into her chest. He removed the fat tissue, some hairballs, and recommended a temporary low fat diet to get her to lose some weight so it wouldn't happen again; she is a big cat and currently weighs around 14lbs, I got her Natural Balance Fat Cat food to help with her weight and so far she is doing very well, but the food is expensive so realistically, it's not the perfect solution.
Some of my cats are at their ideal/perfect weight, while others are a little overweight. I can't go around separating them to feed them different amounts, and it wouldn't be ideal to feed them different foods either, so I'm wondering what the best options for dry food would be? I've read plenty of messages saying that it's better to feed a normal diet rather than a weight management one because of the changes in protein amount, and the use of powdered cellulose in weight control diets, which I understand many are against. Basically, I want to find something that will work for all my cats (those on their ideal weight and those that are overweight); I'm not sure how much the crude fat from the guaranteed analysis matters, but both the dry foods I feed them right now are on the higher percentages from what I've seen, so I'm concerned about that.
Right now, I'm looking into possibly changing their dry food within the same brand as both 4Health and Chicken Soup work for them, and I'm considering this options: (click to see the ingredients/analysis)
I have also seen a new Chicken Grain Free formula from 4Health at my local store (they only had a chicken and whitefish before and I try not to feed them fish), it doesn't seem like they have uploaded the information to their website, but I remember it not having fish and being around 34% protein/13% fat. Would this be a good option? Two of my male cats have had UTI's and crystals before (they both got blocked, one of them twice) and I know some think grain free diets are not good in this case, but I would still like to hear everyone's perspective on the matter.
Anyway, I know it's a long post but I would really appreciate your thoughts on this, are weight management diets really effective or would it be best if I just kept feeding them their normal diets?
Thanks!
I'm currently feeding them for dry food:
- Tractor Supply's brand 4Health All Life Stages (Chicken) - Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 18.0% minimum
- Chicken Soup Adult (Chicken, Turkey) - Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 20.0% minimum
And for wet food:
- 4Health Turkey and Salmon, or Chicken and Brown Rice
- Friskies Classic Pate Poultry Favorites
Now here's the thing. My oldest cat (vet thinks she's around 11 years old), got sick last year (around January 2014) with what we thought was bronchitis. She was coughing quite a lot so after a trip to the vet and a round of antibiotics, she was back to normal. A few months later she got sick again, same symptoms as before, and the vet ordered some xrays as he thought perhaps something was wrong with her heart, said it was common in older cats. Except for some congestion, the xrays all looked normal, so after more antibiotics she was back to normal again. Long story short, she got sick a total of 5 times in the span of a year, all with the same symptoms (coughing, heavy breathing), the latest just over two months ago. On this last time, the vet ordered a new set of xrays to see what was going on, and this time noticed her heart was slightly larger than normal and there was a strange mass near her stomach, he thought it was a tumor and recommended an exploratory surgery to see what could be done. Things weren't looking to good at this point, and during the surgery her heart actually stopped for a moment, the vet was able to restart it but it was quite the scare. Thankfully there wasn't a tumor, but the vet found the mass in the xrays was actually fat tissue from an enlarged ligament, he said it was so big it was putting pressure on her stomach, spleen, lungs and was even pushing her heart into her chest. He removed the fat tissue, some hairballs, and recommended a temporary low fat diet to get her to lose some weight so it wouldn't happen again; she is a big cat and currently weighs around 14lbs, I got her Natural Balance Fat Cat food to help with her weight and so far she is doing very well, but the food is expensive so realistically, it's not the perfect solution.
Some of my cats are at their ideal/perfect weight, while others are a little overweight. I can't go around separating them to feed them different amounts, and it wouldn't be ideal to feed them different foods either, so I'm wondering what the best options for dry food would be? I've read plenty of messages saying that it's better to feed a normal diet rather than a weight management one because of the changes in protein amount, and the use of powdered cellulose in weight control diets, which I understand many are against. Basically, I want to find something that will work for all my cats (those on their ideal weight and those that are overweight); I'm not sure how much the crude fat from the guaranteed analysis matters, but both the dry foods I feed them right now are on the higher percentages from what I've seen, so I'm concerned about that.
Right now, I'm looking into possibly changing their dry food within the same brand as both 4Health and Chicken Soup work for them, and I'm considering this options: (click to see the ingredients/analysis)
Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, turkey meal, white rice, powdered cellulose, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), peas, potatoes, potato protein, natural flavor, ocean fish meal, flaxseed, turkey, duck, salmon, egg product, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, choline chloride, taurine, dried chicory root, L-Carnitine, dried kelp, carrots, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, cranberries, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 32.0% minimum, Crude Fat 13.0% minimum, Crude Fiber 8.0% maximum, 3,388 kcal/kg (317 kcal/cup)
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 32.0% minimum, Crude Fat 13.0% minimum, Crude Fiber 8.0% maximum, 3,388 kcal/kg (317 kcal/cup)
Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, turkey meal, white rice, powdered cellulose, peas, potatoes, potato protein, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural flavor, ocean fish meal, flaxseed, turkey, duck, salmon, sodium bisulfate, egg product, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, choline chloride, taurine, dried chicory root, L-Carnitine, dried kelp, carrots, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, cranberries, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 9.0% minimum, Crude Fiber 8.0% maximum, 3,295 kcal/kg (317 kcal/cup)
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 34.0% minimum, Crude Fat 9.0% minimum, Crude Fiber 8.0% maximum, 3,295 kcal/kg (317 kcal/cup)
Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, egg product, ground rice, powdered cellulose, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), salmon, potatoes, millet, natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, ocean fish meal, sodium bisulfate, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, choline chloride, dried chicory root, taurine, dried kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberries, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-Carnitine, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 32.0% (min.), Crude Fat 14.0% (min.), Crude Fiber 8.0% (max.), 3,450 kcal/kg
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein 32.0% (min.), Crude Fat 14.0% (min.), Crude Fiber 8.0% (max.), 3,450 kcal/kg
Anyway, I know it's a long post but I would really appreciate your thoughts on this, are weight management diets really effective or would it be best if I just kept feeding them their normal diets?
Thanks!