Diet variety

[Juniper_Junebug]

I'm thinking ahead to when I switch my kitty to adult food, and I'm thinking about rotating several brands / meats. The thought behind this is that I don't want to create a picky eater or get into trouble if a brand goes out of stock/production or goes up in price too much.

But then I read this on Chewy, while researching the transition: "Unlike humans, pets eat the same diet every day, and therefore develop microbes to digest that specific diet." What's the cause/effect there? Is it bad for a cat to have too much variety? Or will she simply adapt (assuming each food in the rotation has the appropriate transition time)?

Right now, she gets three varieties of Purina Pro wet (plus dry in between), and a wide variety of treats, e.g., dried shrimp or chicken hearts, plain cooked pork, raw turkey gizzards, etc.

TL;DR Is diet variety bad in itself?

 

[daftcat75]

Cats in the wild/feral cats will eat mice, rabbits, birds, lizards, and bugs. Variety in the diet is not a bad thing. But too much variety, counterintuitively, might create a picky cat as your cat will learn there are other foods and she can hold out for something else. You could try scheduled variety, e.g. she gets the same thing for each meal, but each meal might be something different. So chicken for breakfast and turkey for dinner. Make one change at a time with a proper transition period (5 to 7 days.) Let her poops be your guide. A little softer or a little smellier when you introduce a new food is to be expected. Wait a poop or two to see if it improves before proceeding with the transition/introduction. If it is persistently softer and smellier than usual, that's probably not a good food for her.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

That's interesting that Chewy says that. I feed a variety of proteins to one of my cats, otherwise he won't eat. But like Daftcat says, I usually give him the same thing for breakfast every day, then something different for lunch, but he gets the same lunch every day, then something else for dinner, but he usually gets the same dinner every day. Occasionally I'll spice it up and give him smething completely different for one of those meals, and then he looks at me like I've lost my mind

My other cat used to eat one thing, and one thing only, for years. Suddenly he didn't want it anymore and demanded something new every time he ate. Now I'm still trying to find foods he likes and it's driving me nuts. Plus he went from eating only pate to to eating all sorts of different textures, etc. It's kind of crazy. I can't figure it out. And every once in awhile I'll try to give him his old food that he loved, and he runs from the room! So I would definitely feed a variety ASAP to try to avoid a picky cat.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

So I would definitely feed a variety ASAP to try to avoid a picky cat.

The Purina Pro variety pack I feed her now is a mix of pate and flaked, chicken and fish. (I plan to cut the fish when we transition to adult). I dole the varieties out at random. Sometimes I even mix them, if I have a partial can leftover. So far she hasn't protested or turned anything down (knock wood). I'd like to keep that going (to the extent she continues to oblige).

I am thinking about mixing brands rather than relying on an adult variety pack so I don't have all my eggs in one basket. I also have this unsubstantiated notion that different brands probably have different nutritional weaknesses and that variety would help to "even that out."

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Variety in the diet is not a bad thing. But too much variety, counterintuitively, might create a picky cat as your cat will learn there are other foods and she can hold out for something else. You could try scheduled variety, e.g. she gets the same thing for each meal, but each meal might be something different. So chicken for breakfast and turkey for dinner.

That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that. So far she's been good with my rotating different flavors at random, but that's maybe because she likes them all equally. I guess I need to worry if she finds one she decidedly prefers over the others.

Today I fed her a small amount of Rawz Turkey, which I plan on having in her adult rotation (It's marked All Life Stages, so it's fine now too. It's expensive and hard to get, so I wanted to test it before ordering more.). She seemed to eat it first but then also finished the rest of her Purina.

 

[FeebysOwner]

No real help here. Sad to say that up until about 3 years ago, Feeby (16+ yo) ate one thing and one thing only. Dry food. It wasn't until I introduced her to canned food that pickiness became a factor. Now, I have gone through a couple dozen different foods and will likely go through more given her recent history.

My 2 two previous cats - also fed dry only for all their lives never went through a picky phase and ate the same thing until they died. Neither of them had kidney/urinary issues - one boy and one girl.

My verdict on all this 'variety' push is on the fence.

 

[klunick]

My two are 9 months and have always had a variety of brands of food but I have kept to the flavors of chicken, turkey, beef, and salmon. I have tried other flavors like venison and duck but they aren't fans.

I have one staple brand ( Tiny Tiger variety pack) and then switch around two other brands each month with my Chewy autoship. With having one staple brand, if on the off chance they do not like one of the new brands, I have a back up until I can get a brand I already know they like.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

I do 3 brands and 5 proteins. Neko-chan gets a different proteins each day.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think doing BRAND variety is always a good idea. That way if a brand changes their formula, your still ok if your cat decides they don't like it anymore since you have backups.

 

[ladytimedramon]

Delilah gets the same kibble every day, but a variety of wets (3 brands, about 4 flavors each). The only thing she gets slightly fussy with is the beef and beef/chicken mixes. With her wet, 1 is easily available in the supermarket in case of emergencies, the other 2 are harder to find.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

With her wet, 1 is easily available in the supermarket in case of emergencies, the other 2 are harder to find.

That's a good consideration, especially since I'm going to start her on Rawz, which seems to go on backorder online a lot... (and I refuse to buy it from unauthorized dealers on Amazon because I've been burnt one too many times).

 

[daftcat75]

That's a good consideration, especially since I'm going to start her on Rawz, which seems to go on backorder online a lot... (and I refuse to buy it from unauthorized dealers on Amazon because I've been burnt one too many times).

Oh yes! Definitely have a readily available backup. Krista's IBD forced us into Rawz and only Rawz. And many times I wished I could have fed her something different. There were a few emergency transitions to different Rawz flavors because of nationwide shortages and outages. My next cat will start out on Fancy Feast Classic pates. Cheap, sound recipe, and easy enough to find just about anywhere.

 

[ladytimedramon]

Delilah has Crave dry indoor (can be found in supermarkets), Crave wet cuts (usually can only find at petsmart or Chewy), Nutro wet cuts (again petsmart or chewy), and Sheba cuts (found everywhere).

I prefer going in and picking things up in small amounts. I don't give her a lot of fish, and if she goes off a flavor (she won't eat Crave chicken and beef, but will eat Sheba) I don't have 20 cans she won't eat.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

But too much variety, counterintuitively, might create a picky cat as your cat will learn there are other foods and she can hold out for something else.

Uh oh. I think you might have called this one correctly. I tried mixing in portions of a few other types of wet food I thought I might use as adult food, and today she refused to eat her usual food. But was fine eating her post-play treat and then some cooked pork for lunch (which I fed her bc I was worried her failure to eat meant she was sick... but no, I think maybe she's gone picky on me). Blerg. Cats are so weird.