I Am Going Crazy

[Furballsmom]

Thank you @LTS3

 

[1 bruce 1]

My cat
me

I should NOT be laughing, but sheesh, you summed up so much!!!!

 

[JamesCalifornia]

sunflower7 said :
I Am Going Crazy ~

~ Welcome to the club ! Personally I think I was born this way . `
A lot of people feed Friskies wet food. They are a huge producer of pet food and are frequently visited by the FDA. Where I live a 13oz. can is $1.09 . The high quality dry food is a budget killer. Fortunately we don't feed more than 30% in kittys' diet . I use Purina Beyond , Crave , and others if on sale. Chewy.com has a good one :
American Journey Duck Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food, 12-lb bag
. ( 1st bag 1/2 price ! )
I'm pretty sure that the best "food" we give our pets is love and affection . They live much longer with that ... And so do we !

 

[1 bruce 1]

I dont have a problem with Thailand for food. They work under the European foods regulations that are even more strict than US regulations. I feed several foods made in Thailand.

my cats like Rawz, the turkey only
i feed several of the weruva brands
I feed several of the fussie cat super premium foods only.
Nulo i feed the minced flavors only
Earthborn montery medley or catalina catch when we eat fish
Nutro minced chicken and sliced turkey are good
fromm my guys wont eat
halo my guys wont eat
redbarn, there is something i dont like, i just dont remember what, same with natural balance, tender and true and bravo, and health extensions.

I do feed quite a bit of Tiki cat, especially the after dark.
i like the new chewy food, american journey the minced ones, and its afordable

I pretty much agree with this whole thing.
Thailand is not China, and many times Thailand has stricter requirements than the US does.
I am/would be more than confident feeding a food made in Thailand.
I've fed Tiki and my cats love it, but it is a bit expensive for our numbers so it's rare. Sometimes we mix it with grinds. We also have used Wellness, Fancy Feast (it's not the best ingredients but super palatable to sickies, oldies, or any cat that's gone off food for any reason) as well as Natural Balance (not my favorite company but the cats liked it!)

For the OP, the 50 hours of research is good as it shows/proves you're a caring owner and you only want the best. The internet is a wealth of information but also full of things that aren't exactly true, and anyone can say anything they wish without any repercussions.
I have never fed (for example) IAMS, but I could easily get online and say that I did (even though I didn't) and I fed this food to my healthy dog or cat and they died, genetics, vaccine schedule vs. over-vaccine schedule, overall health, environment and the pets history be damned.
Food is scrutinized, and rightly so, but sometimes it gets out of control. Find a food (or even better, a variety of foods and train your cats to easily rotate in case there IS a problem and they're not addicted to one food, one flavor!) that you feel good about. If you won't do raw, I think canned is a good option. =)

 

[1 bruce 1]

sunflower7 said :
I Am Going Crazy ~

~ Welcome to the club ! Personally I think I was born this way . `
A lot of people feed Friskies wet food. They are a huge producer of pet food and are frequently visited by the FDA. Where I live a 13oz. can is $1.09 . The high quality dry food is a budget killer. Fortunately we don't feed more than 30% in kittys' diet . I use Purina Beyond , Crave , and others if on sale. Chewy.com has a good one :
American Journey Duck Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food, 12-lb bag
. ( 1st bag 1/2 price ! )
I'm pretty sure that the best "food" we give our pets is love and affection . They live much longer with that ...

Absolutely right, love and affection and a good environment (not to mention hopefully hearty genetics) make things go well =)
I think sometimes we (and I'm NO exception...no finger pointing here!) get so wrapped up in diet that we forget how important things like love, play, sunshine, fresh air, and other aspects of "overall health" really are. Food can bring our pets (and ourselves) up to genetic potential. Even as a raw feeder, I understand this, as we've lost many raw-fed and raw-raised (and naturally reared) pets to various cancers and other weird diseases at young ages.

 

[sunflower7]

I know that "crazy" feeling. I still get that from time to time. We can thank the pet food industry for that.

At some point though you have to step back, take a deep breath, and realize that things you read on the internet need to be taken with a grain of salt. Yes, there are some foods that are better than others, and yes, if you read too much into everything you are bound to find problems with it all, but at the end of the day I don't think it's as horrible as we make it out to be in our minds. Just be cautious (as you already are being) and do your best.

THANK YOU! I agree. I tend to go overboard on things involving research and then have to back off. I do realize pretty much every site/blog/page is OPINION. There are many top
10 "best" lists out there that don't even overlap.
I think the cans I am using now are better than what I WAS using so that's a good step. Happy healthy kitties. and as another post said, they get tons of love and attention and playtime too which is very important.

Thanks

 

[sunflower7]

Absolutely right, love and affection and a good environment (not to mention hopefully hearty genetics) make things go well =)
I think sometimes we (and I'm NO exception...no finger pointing here!) get so wrapped up in diet that we forget how important things like love, play, sunshine, fresh air, and other aspects of "overall health" really are. Food can bring our pets (and ourselves) up to genetic potential. Even as a raw feeder, I understand this, as we've lost many raw-fed and raw-raised (and naturally reared) pets to various cancers and other weird diseases at young ages.

and there's the argument for using better/raw foods or just store crap! LOL
some cats live 18+ years on Friskies so i can't keep driving myself nuts.

 

[sunflower7]

I pretty much agree with this whole thing.
Thailand is not China, and many times Thailand has stricter requirements than the US does.
I am/would be more than confident feeding a food made in Thailand.
I've fed Tiki and my cats love it, but it is a bit expensive for our numbers so it's rare. Sometimes we mix it with grinds. We also have used Wellness, Fancy Feast (it's not the best ingredients but super palatable to sickies, oldies, or any cat that's gone off food for any reason) as well as Natural Balance (not my favorite company but the cats liked it!)

For the OP, the 50 hours of research is good as it shows/proves you're a caring owner and you only want the best. The internet is a wealth of information but also full of things that aren't exactly true, and anyone can say anything they wish without any repercussions.
I have never fed (for example) IAMS, but I could easily get online and say that I did (even though I didn't) and I fed this food to my healthy dog or cat and they died, genetics, vaccine schedule vs. over-vaccine schedule, overall health, environment and the pets history be damned.
Food is scrutinized, and rightly so, but sometimes it gets out of control. Find a food (or even better, a variety of foods and train your cats to easily rotate in case there IS a problem and they're not addicted to one food, one flavor!) that you feel good about. If you won't do raw, I think canned is a good option. =)

GOOD NEWS HERE! Actually funny. I got some Weruva pouches and fed the cats 1 last night ( chicken). 1 cat ate like he hasn't eaten in 5 years. The other gobbled it down. 3rd looked it at, looked at me, looked at it again, next thing I know, it was gone from her bowl too.

 

[sunflower7]

DECIDED! Thanks for all the input!

Day cans:
Fromm, Nulo, Health Extension + using up the earthborn or keeping it if they decide to like it more.

Night "snack"- Weruva pouch or fussie cat can.

Dry: Farmina and rotating in either HE, Nulu or fussie. They get about 20% of their diet dry.



Decided against:
RAWZ
NUTRO
HALO
REDBARN
NATURAL BALANCE
TENDER AND TRUE
BRAVO

 

[sunflower7]

Mental notes?!
I need a spreadsheet...

THAT is funny! and TRUE. I have notes and have written and rewritten and rewritten lists over and over. #nuts

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Well,

 

[1 bruce 1]

and there's the argument for using better/raw foods or just store crap! LOL
some cats live 18+ years on Friskies so i can't keep driving myself nuts.

Many of my childhood cats saw ages 18-21 on Purina dry food alone! They had other things going for the (outdoors access, low vaccination schedules, etc.). I do think raw feeding or feeding the best food available does a lot for over all health, but it can't over-ride genetics IMO, which blows when you realize one of your own doesn't have genetics on their side. =(

 

[aradasky]

The above post is so important. I have had cats all my life and fed them dry and now canned food. I often drive myself crazy wanting them to eat what I serve. I have finally decided to put it down and walk away. I do put toppers on them, which is crazy because they come back to eat more when the toppers are gone so they really do not “need” them. There are days when I really hate throwing out left-over food from their dishes, but they are hungry at the next meal! I have four cats, 16, 7, and two 3. The older cats have no problems at all, the two younger, a brother and sister have stomatitis and may lose all their teeth eventually. No matter what I feed them. They are like us, some smoke and get cancer and other do not smoke and get cancer. Some of us live to be 100 and others to 65. It is in the genes. And for many, many of my many years, I fed only dry food to my cats. They lived good lives but were outdoor cats and many died from being hit by cars and diseases picked up from cat fights and just being around other cats. These are all indoor cats and I really believe that is the best thing I can do for them. I have gradually gotten over my guilt of them not loving some foods. I love them. They love me. I cannot ask for more.

 

[maggiedemi]

Outdoor cats can get their own wet food though, mice and rodents. That's why they do okay on dry food, like my childhood cats did. Indoor cats can't get their own wet food, so we supplement with canned.

 

[misty8723]

...I'm thinking that you all really really really don't know how good you have it in regards to being able to just walk out the door/hop on whichever website, order up food and said feline eats it
My cat
me

That is my Cricket, except it's more like I'm not eating that! Are you trying to poison me!?? Or, alternatively, meow! meow! meow! Come out here where the food is! Oh wait, I changed my mind.

The only wet I've been able to get her to eat are two flavors of Weruva (Chick Magnet and Mack, Jack and Sam) and Soulistic (Midnight Delight). The common theme is mackerel. And she doesn't eat much of it, so I have to supplement it with the dry food.

Swanie, on the other hand, will eat pretty much anything.

I've driven myself crazy too trying to come with something healthy that I can afford.

 

[1 bruce 1]

The above post is so important. I have had cats all my life and fed them dry and now canned food. I often drive myself crazy wanting them to eat what I serve. I have finally decided to put it down and walk away. I do put toppers on them, which is crazy because they come back to eat more when the toppers are gone so they really do not “need” them. There are days when I really hate throwing out left-over food from their dishes, but they are hungry at the next meal! I have four cats, 16, 7, and two 3. The older cats have no problems at all, the two younger, a brother and sister have stomatitis and may lose all their teeth eventually. No matter what I feed them. They are like us, some smoke and get cancer and other do not smoke and get cancer. Some of us live to be 100 and others to 65. It is in the genes. And for many, many of my many years, I fed only dry food to my cats. They lived good lives but were outdoor cats and many died from being hit by cars and diseases picked up from cat fights and just being around other cats. These are all indoor cats and I really believe that is the best thing I can do for them. I have gradually gotten over my guilt of them not loving some foods. I love them. They love me. I cannot ask for more.

I know of a cat that has stomatitis and got a full mouth extraction, and this cat is doing super good many years later and still eats dry food, wet food, human food, you name it!
I have the same feelings but in a different context (kind of). We have a lot of cats that are raw fed but one (while he liked raw food) can't handle it. Aside from certain offal (livers etc.) it messes with his IBD and makes him miserable. I can't feed him liver and hearts and call it a diet, so I toss a few in for him and I am feeding wet food to him as a "real" diet. I feel bad that he gets what some call "lesser" quality but the bottom line is we do the best we can, the "best" foods are worth nothing if our cats go on a hunger strike, and (in my cats case) health issues prevent him from eating the regular diet we offer. He will never be "healthy", but I want him to be happy and have a good quality of life! I also remind myself that if he were left to his own devices, outdoors, with no access to food other than whole prey, he'd be dead. So I've done OK there =)

 

[Furballsmom]

the "best" foods are worth nothing if our cats go on a hunger strike,

I'm not eating that! Are you trying to poison me!?? Or, alternatively, meow! meow! meow! Come out here where the food is! Oh wait, I changed my mind.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Outdoor cats can get their own wet food though, mice and rodents. That's why they do okay on dry food, like my childhood cats did. Indoor cats can't get their own wet food, so we supplement with canned.

I hate to say, but our indoor cats bring in "wet food" all the time from their catio when a critter is stupid enough to stray into a small, caged in area with 6 gleaming eyes staring at them! =/

But in all seriousness, yes, a lot of indoor cats have little access to "the real deal"!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Their food habits ("I'M STARVING...lol j/k") reminds me of my cats when they are clawing and leaping at a door with all fours, suction-cupping their feet to the door itself then slowly sliding downward in a pathetic display of probably cat-abuse on my part, then when you open the door they sit and look at you all "....what?"

 

[Furballsmom]