Researching Foods For New Kittens + Senior Cat...totally Overwhelmed!

[lsanders]

We are bringing home two new kittens today from the shelter I volunteer at. They're five months old. At the shelter, they're being fed dry kitten Science Diet and Fancy Feast wet kitten food.

We have an 11-year-old cat now, Luna (the black cat in my photo). We feed Nutro Max Cat for dry food....not the best, I know, but we didn't know any better ten years ago or so when we got her and we haven't had any issues, so haven't switched. A few years ago, we upgraded the wet food we were giving her to Canidae and we've been mostly happy with that. Luna's not a big eater- she's maintained her 7lb weight for years with free feeding dry food and getting sometimes half of a 3oz can a day, sometimes the whole can.

We had two cats until April, when Albus, the tuxie in my photo, passed away, and now we'll have three cats. I've been researching foods off and on for a couple weeks and I'm overwhelmed with information....what one source says is a good brand, others say is terrible. Now I'm finding out about this menadione stuff...UGH!

I'm considering just feeding all three of them kitten food because Luna seems to have self-control and could stand to gain a few ounces. If I think it's becoming a problem, I'll figure out how to separate them for food. But in the meantime, I'm still overwhelmed with the brands, and the prices are getting crazy, especially now that there's three. I mean, we'll be fine being able to afford it, but it's still just sticker shock.

Any advice on a brand that's really all-around good food, wet or dry, low-to-no history of recalls, that isn't insanely expensive and is either readily available at the big pet supply chains or online?

 

[KarenKat]

Oh man, you’ve jumped into the weeds asking for food recommendations! First of all welcome and congratulations on your new furry family members! Sorry about Albus, he looked like a beautiful kitty.

The reason it is so ... weedy ... out in food recommendation land is everyone has a different opinion on brands and even ingredients. The guideline is to feed a food with a named meat as the main source of protein, and pay attention to the top five ingredients. Ideally you want high protein (from meat, not peas, corn, wheat or potato) medium fat and low carbs. A good way to check is Catfooddb.com or contact the manufacturer and ask them. I doubt anyone will disagree with these points.

Beyond that, I avoid carrageenan, agar-agar and gums when I can, I prefer no corn, wheat or soy, and I don’t prefer peas or potatoes (but these are impossible to avoid, so many of the foods I feed have them). I prefer wet to dry, but two of our three cats mostly get dry. My piggy cat Olive chunks up on dry food so she only gets wet. I also limit fish flavors and avoid menadione.

We currently feed Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Rabbit dry (for our IBD kitty since we are staying with one protein for a while). It has a lot of peas, which is one drawback. I also on occasion feed Dr Elsey’s CleanProtein Chicken kibble which is extremely low carb but also expensive. This is for an occasional snack or when we go out of town, so I don’t feed it often.

Olive really likes variety, so I feed her a lot of different food. Rawz brand (no fillers, gums or bad stuff), Lotus Pate and Lotus stew, Go! Petacurrean Fit and Free (two flavors), Life’s Abundance (only available on their website), Dave’s Pet Food Shredded Chicken Dinner, Tiki Cat After Dark, Dr elseys Turkey Pate, and Hound & Gatos Gamebird.

Some are expensive and some are not, I try to mix in cost effective brands with pricey ones. My best advice is to read Catinfo.org and read Dr Hofves book “What Cats Should Eat” to help learn to read the labels. Then come up with your own idea of what ingredients you like or don’t like in foods. Much of it is dictated on the the cats will actually eat, too. Good luck, and if you find a food you and your kitties both like feel free to share!

 

[abyeb]

It's fine to feed kitten food to a senior cat. In this thread: kitten food ok for adult cats?, the original poster also had an 11-year-old cat. What posts #4 and #5 say is that kitten food won't harm an older cat. On the contrary, some people feed kitten food to senior cats if the cat needs to gain weight. As long as Luna doesn't have any health concerns where she would need prescription food (such as kidney diet, urinary diet, etc.), then you should be good to go feeding her the same food as the kittens. Of course, you can also call your vet if you have any questions.

These articles have some good recommendations for foods. You can also check the TCS reviews section as well.

Best Cat Food Of 2015: Tcs Member Choices

Top 5 Brands Of Wet Cat Food Our Members Love The Most

Cat Food | TheCatSite

 

[duckpond]

I dont think kitten food will hurt the adult cat. And you can also feed an all life stages food to the kittens as well. They do not necessarily need Kitten food.

There are a lot of ingredients, some in almost every brand you can name that im not fond of. I try to rotate in different foods, making sure the same questionable ingredients are not in all of the foods. I hope it lessens any impact.

I think find brands you like, and can afford. Rotate in different brands, proteins and textures to give variety. Especially with wet, i dont rotate dry, i have one i like and i use it to give them additional calories along with their wet. I try to feed more wet, but sometimes i need to give dry.

I have two places i like to look up foods

CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

and i always read the reviews on Chewy. you get some good feedback from others that have used the foods.