Cat Diets

[furbabyAudi]

I know there are probably many threads on this, but I'm going to post another one.

How do you guys feel about feeding your cats commercial cat foods? Friskies, Fancy Feast, 9 lives, Whiskas etc.?

Since I rescued my baby a couple months ago I've tried her on a couple different brands, and her favorite is by far Friskies. Her coat is so shiny, her stools are very healthy, and she's steadily gaining a healthy amount of weight (she's still about 7 months.) I'd like to get her on a better wet food (hopefully a raw diet) eventually, but at the moment I'm in college so Friskies fits the budget and it's her favorite so it works haha. I've discussed this with my vet, and he says that this is a healthy diet for now but if I can in the future I should get her on a raw diet. He says that by-products are actually not as detrimental as people make them out to be in the amounts that cats eat them. He half jokingly said that Friskies at least has less by-products than the animals she was eating when she was a stray. I know that it's doing more good than harm, but it all depends on personal preference.

 

[Neo_23]

Lucky you to have a vet that recommends raw diets! Don’t let that one go!

I think if you’re feeding all wet, whether friskies or not, you are already doing your cat a huge favour. So feed whatever wet you can afford until you can afford better. Maybe give your cat a few freeze dried raw treats here and there to get her used to raw food. Or, you could maybe feed a can of premium wet food once a week just to throw something different in the mix.

 

[MissMolly08]

I feed my cat 100% Friskies wet. Fancy feast as an occasional treat if it's on sale. I have no problem with these foods and they fit my budget. She sheds SO much less than she did on dry food, is losing weight (she was overweight on dry only) and is a healthy 10 year old!

 

[lalagimp]

It's really cool that your vet recommends raw, but don't be discouraged if she never ends up making the transition. My girls don't recognize raw as a food. The boys will eat anything I give them, and thrive on raw, but the girls prefer cooked. I had everyone on kibble until late 2016 and first the boys went to canned and then I'm "I can't afford this" because they equal 26 lbs of cat together, so then we moved to home made raw. The girls moved from kibble to kibble and canned in July 2017, and then I changed their kibble to a high protein low carb. They'll eat shreds in broth, minced, things in gravy, pate - but not raw and not fish. They're so funny because now they bug me all the time when I'm eating chicken since I have been giving them more variety.

 

[Neo_23]

lalagimp have you tried Rad Cat with your girls? Just curious because I know a lot of people had success with Rad Cat with their cats who don't eat raw. Maybe Rad Cat with fortiflora on top?

 

[lalagimp]

lalagimp have you tried Rad Cat with your girls? Just curious because I know a lot of people had success with Rad Cat with their cats who don't eat raw. Maybe Rad Cat with fortiflora on top?

I can get radcat from Big Bad Woof, but it's really expensive for my budget. I already have fortiflora.
The girls are running about $85 a month right now and the boys are running about $85 a month. If the girls would get on board with home made raw I could be feeding them for less than $40, I'm sure. They really like chicken and don't have any weight issues.

 

[himawari]

I'm feeding a raw diet (Rad Cat and Small Batch) but I feed Fancy Feast classics sometimes, and some other canned food that are more premium like Ziwi Peak or Feline Natural. You feed the cat what you can afford, most importantly, what your cat likes to eat.

 

[duckpond]

If your cats like the friskies and its in your budget than feed it, many cats have done very well for a long time. I like a bit of variety for cats, so when you have time hit the pet stores, pick up a can of this brand, that brand, different textures, shreds, pate, minced. What ever is on sale, or that you can afford. This i think gets them use to eating different foods, and textures. So if you decide to switch to something else in the future they may be more open to it. They may...will.... refuse a few things you bring home... they are cats

My cats get wet, and dry. I try to feed different brands of wet, and different textures, just to keep them open to new things

 

[maggiedemi]

I will never judge ANY canned food and call it "junk" because the moisture in wet food is so important for cats, I don't want to discourage anybody from feeding the brands they can afford. Friskies canned food saved my boy cat's life when he couldn't pee when he was blocked from eating too much dry food. My cats also like Fancy Feast, Sheba Cuts, Purina One, and Purina Pro Plan. They hate 9Lives and store brands like Special Kitty though, so I don't go that cheap. Once in a while they will eat Whiskas and Meow Mix wet food, but there are certain flavors they don't like, so I don't buy it very often. I hate throwing away food.

 

[maggiedemi]

Oh, I do try to stay away from the ones with Fish in the name though, and only feed them once a week.