How do you feed your cats?

[catman7766]

Just give the ones that needs a diet seperate, its easy

 

[donnageorge]

For our one-year-old cats Ari and Sully (both girls), we used to free-feed dry food during the day, and give canned wet food only in the mornings and evenings. The brands they ate were usually Wellness, Innova, and Holistic Blend.

But soon after Ari and Sully grew, we noticed that Sully started developing skin problems on a hind leg. We brought her to a holistic vet clinic where she was tested for skin sensitivities. They recommended feeding fresh raw foods and now her skin problem have almost disappeared.

We now feed both of them only in the mornings and evenings. The food is brought out from the fridge and left out for about an hour; after that hour, whatever leftovers remain are put back into the fridge for the next feeding. We're currently feeding them pre-packaged raw foods made by Amore and Pets4Life, and we sometimes mix in a bit of canned Wellness into the raw foods to serve as an "enticer".

- Donna and George (humans owned by Ari and Sully)

 

[dawnofsierra]

Hi, donnageorge, Ari, and Sully and welcome to TCS!

Sierra's holistic vet also recommends raw, so Sierra enjoys Amore rabbit, salmon, and veggie. She didn't much care for the quail, though. She also gets Innova Lite as well as occassional Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. I've never heard of Pets 4 Life. Is that a Canadian brand? What do they make?

 

[chelle]

we leave the cat food out all day

 

[baileysidney11]

I worry about the diseases from a raw food diet. I know cats eat outside "raw food" but we're talking human processed food like chicken which may carry salmonella etc. Is this safe for cats? Are others concerned? What do you know?

 

[amberthe bobcat]

I have 7 cats and I free feed all. My Pixie Bobs and bobcat get raw turkey or chicken a few times a week too. Amber should have an all raw meat diet, but she likes the dry so much, she only eats the turkey or chicken when I give it to her. The raw food is left out for a short time,then it is put back in the refrigerator. I have never had a problem with the raw meat and i have been doing this for a few years now.

 

[baileysidney11]

I love Amber. How is she doing? I went to your web site and saw the pixie bobs, too. Love them all.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Thank You

Amber is doing good, although she has been quite a brat this past week. I have been on day shift and my wife works during the day too, so she misses me being home with her in the morning when I was on afternoons. She has been pouting a lot. Like I said, she is spoiled

 

[marge]

I free feed the dry all day. He loves his dry food so it's great. He enjoys the wet so I do give him quarter to half a can each NIGHT, not in the am cause I don't want him waking me up for food.

This is working so far, he is very lean.
Not overweight at all. If he starts to gain weight then I will reconsider leaving the dry out all day.

 

[donnageorge]

Originally posted by dawnofsierra
Hi, donnageorge, Ari, and Sully and welcome to TCS!

Sierra's holistic vet also recommends raw, so Sierra enjoys Amore rabbit, salmon, and veggie. She didn't much care for the quail, though. She also gets Innova Lite as well as occassional Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. I've never heard of Pets 4 Life. Is that a Canadian brand? What do they make?

Hello Dawn and Sierra. Thanks for the warm welcome.

Yep, Pets4Life (www.pets4life.com) is Canadian. Like Amore, they make several varieties of raw foods for cats, and they also make treats and supplements. Their website's contact info listed a U.S. distributor in Maryland. Incidentally, there's also another raw food that we're planning to try out on the cats called Healthy Paws (www.healthy-paws.ca). It might be available in the U.S. as well.

We wish we could get the Amore quail for the cats to try, but currently our local supplier has only turkey, chicken, rabbit, and ostrich. Maybe soon...

- Donna and George

 

[twofatcats]

When I answered the poll a few days ago, I said I free feed. Well, it looks like there is going to be a change in that after seeing the vet yesterday. We are still trying different remedies with regard to Red Cat's licking his belly until it is bare and raw. So for a while I'm switching food to see if a food allergy might be involved. Unfortunately, I have a lot of the other foods left, so Purdy will get those. That means I'm going to have to feed them separate and take up the dishes when they are through, since both are big believers in checking to see if the other one got any more or better food than they!

 

[dawnofsierra]

What kind of food are you planning to feed Red Cat?

 

[twofatcats]

dawnofsierra - Right now I'm feeding Red Cat Pro Plan Total Care Adult - turkey and barley formula. My vet said that of the foods he had in stock, that was probably the least likely to cause allergy problems. If there is no change, then the vet will have to order some Science Diet veterinary formula for me or I'll have to find it elsewhere. I know that the vet in the next neighboring town sells Purina, too, so I can't get Science Diet there, but perhaps someone in another neighboring town has it. Both cats were on several different types of Science Diet previously, but when this vet bought the practice, he switched brands. And it dawned on me that Red Cat's problems did start last year just about the time of the switch. Of course, we still don't know if it is an allergy or just an obsession-compulsion problem. I'm hoping it proves to be allergy, as that will be much easier to solve!

 

[dawnofsierra]

Would you consider California Natural Chicken and Rice Formula? I've read great things about cats with food related sensitivities doing great on that! (On the other hand, there was a post the other day about someone's kitty not tolerating it...)They're all individuals. But maybe Red Cat would like it!

 

[dawnofsierra]

donnageorge,
Thank you so much for the links! It's very interesting to learn about other companies providing raw food. Have you tried any of the Pets4Life treats?

 

[donnageorge]

Originally posted by dawnofsierra
donnageorge,
Thank you so much for the links! It's very interesting to learn about other companies providing raw food. Have you tried any of the Pets4Life treats?

Nope, haven't had the cats try the treats yet, but they do sound good.

By the way, we were flipping through the current issue of Animal Wellness magazine (http://www.animalwellnessmagazine.com/m62/toc.htm) and there is an article there listing many prepared raw foods. The only Canadian one listed was Amore, but there were dozens of US brands that we'd never heard of.

 

[dawnofsierra]

Thanks again, donnageorge! What a great magazine! Sure wish it would let me read it online. The entire magazine looks very interesting and I would especially like to read the article about raw food. I haven't seen anywhere around town that carries Animal Wellness though. I may need to subscribe if I plan to read this magazine. I'm glad amore made it to the list!

 

[donnageorge]

Originally posted by dawnofsierra
Thanks again, donnageorge! What a great magazine! Sure wish it would let me read it online. The entire magazine looks very interesting and I would especially like to read the article about raw food. I haven't seen anywhere around town that carries Animal Wellness though. I may need to subscribe if I plan to read this magazine. I'm glad amore made it to the list!

Yeah, unfortunately they only allow a couple of their articles to be shown online. But at least you get to see the article on top cities for animal wellness; we never realized Boulder, Colorado was such a great place for pets. Too bad George's favourite US city, New York, came in 48th place!

From their distribution link on their webpage, it says the magazine is available in the US at places like Barnes & Nobles and Petsmart. We were able to get our copy at the holistic vet clinic.

 

[dawnofsierra]

Sierra's vet receives a subscription. She loans out her wonderful books, so she probably would loan out her magazines also! Pet Smart is about an hour away and I'll be going this week, so I'll be able to check there! Thanks for letting me know!

 

[weatherlight]

We only have two cats, so they get fed four times a day (mix of canned and kibble, except the last feeding, where they only get kibble).

Fish is an especially bad idea for cats. Ever hear of vitamin K? I thought it wasn't recommended for cats to be eating a lot of it. To all the people who feed fishes to their cats regularly, what do you think of it?

I don't worry about Salmonella as everyone at my place is vegan. We add digestive enzymes to the kitties' commercial food.