Rotating Food Brands (To feed or not to feed..)

[laura mae]

I usually have about 5 different brands of canned food and then I have also tried to get more than the one guy interested in the freeze dried raw. For him, I mix it with extra water since it is rare to see him slurp up water from a water bowl. He gets his own special coffee cup of water on a table. 

This crew or my previous cats have ever had digestive issues with different brands of canned food. I could write a book on which brands have looked and smelled good with human grade ingredients that no one will touch.

For their main meals I offer a 5.5 oz size can of higher quality food and one side dish (3 oz can of Fancy Feast split 3 ways). When my girls were still alive it included 3 sources but that's more food than the ones who eat canned food to finish. The Fancy Feast is the appetizer but they want to eat more so they dive into the good stuff most of the time.

The newest brands that are semi hits include Lotus Just Juicy Pork Stew. The only sound was the sound of kitty lips smacking.  Second time was less enthusiastic. 

Nutrisource and Pure Vita is hit or miss.

Nutrisource chicken and rice was a mild paw up.

Pure Vita stews (which really are pates) was not a big hit tonight. Left on everyone's plate.

Boo gets the freeze dried raw and gets tired of the rotation very quickly. He doesn't like canned food much but has a soft spot for Friskies Pate (what I give to the regular stray cat). He's pretty young still probably nearly 5 years old now.  The others are senior cats and my oldest Scoo Baby who is 16  likes the freeze dried but I worry about the phosphorus because they grind up bones for the calcium. He's slightly hyper thyroid with okay kidney function so I don't like to test it.

As a result of the hyperthyroid and my recently departed great cat Etta (who had very high thyroid) I try to steer clear of fish (which is a sneaky ingredient in Fancy Feast flavors and some Wellness flavors) .

They like Wellness okay. They will not eat even one bite of Weruva anything. Weirdos.

 

[cat dad72]

I have been doing
Wellness
Authority
Nutro
Chicken soup
Holistic select
Friskies
Fresh pet

I usually will take two large cans of the Wellness or Holistic select and mix in some of the others and keep in the fridge until used up. Then do the same with something else. With six cats it's easier then opening a bunch of different cans a day some I wich they may or may not eat. I haven't had any digestive issues at all. I haven't seen any posts yet of others who have done this. Would there be any other down sides besides digestive issues feeding this way? Thanks

 

[cat dad72]

I usually have about 5 different brands of canned food and then I have also tried to get more than the one guy interested in the freeze dried raw. For him, I mix it with extra water since it is rare to see him slurp up water from a water bowl. He gets his own special coffee cup of water on a table. 

This crew or my previous cats have ever had digestive issues with different brands of canned food. I could write a book on which brands have looked and smelled good with human grade ingredients that no one will touch.

For their main meals I offer a 5.5 oz size can of higher quality food and one side dish (3 oz can of Fancy Feast split 3 ways). When my girls were still alive it included 3 sources but that's more food than the ones who eat canned food to finish. The Fancy Feast is the appetizer but they want to eat more so they dive into the good stuff most of the time.

The newest brands that are semi hits include Lotus Just Juicy Pork Stew. The only sound was the sound of kitty lips smacking.  Second time was less enthusiastic. 

Nutrisource and Pure Vita is hit or miss.

Nutrisource chicken and rice was a mild paw up.
Pure Vita stews (which really are pates) was not a big hit tonight. Left on everyone's plate.

Boo gets the freeze dried raw and gets tired of the rotation very quickly. He doesn't like canned food much but has a soft spot for Friskies Pate (what I give to the regular stray cat). He's pretty young still probably nearly 5 years old now.  The others are senior cats and my oldest Scoo Baby who is 16  likes the freeze dried but I worry about the phosphorus because they grind up bones for the calcium. He's slightly hyper thyroid with okay kidney function so I don't like to test it.

As a result of the hyperthyroid and my recently departed great cat Etta (who had very high thyroid) I try to steer clear of fish (which is a sneaky ingredient in Fancy Feast flavors and some Wellness flavors) .

They like Wellness okay. They will not eat even one bite of Weruva anything. Weirdos.

Mine were not to thrilled with the freeze dried raw either so I would sprinkle some of it on top of the canned food. They loved it like this. I started cooking up some chicken gizzards and hearts, grinding them and sprinkling them on too of their food. They love that.

 

[bonepicker]

I usually have about 5 different brands of canned food and then I have also tried to get more than the one guy interested in the freeze dried raw. For him, I mix it with extra water since it is rare to see him slurp up water from a water bowl. He gets his own special coffee cup of water on a table. 

This crew or my previous cats have ever had digestive issues with different brands of canned food. I could write a book on which brands have looked and smelled good with human grade ingredients that no one will touch.

For their main meals I offer a 5.5 oz size can of higher quality food and one side dish (3 oz can of Fancy Feast split 3 ways). When my girls were still alive it included 3 sources but that's more food than the ones who eat canned food to finish. The Fancy Feast is the appetizer but they want to eat more so they dive into the good stuff most of the time.

The newest brands that are semi hits include Lotus Just Juicy Pork Stew. The only sound was the sound of kitty lips smacking.  Second time was less enthusiastic. 

Nutrisource and Pure Vita is hit or miss.

Nutrisource chicken and rice was a mild paw up.
Pure Vita stews (which really are pates) was not a big hit tonight. Left on everyone's plate.

Boo gets the freeze dried raw and gets tired of the rotation very quickly. He doesn't like canned food much but has a soft spot for Friskies Pate (what I give to the regular stray cat). He's pretty young still probably nearly 5 years old now.  The others are senior cats and my oldest Scoo Baby who is 16  likes the freeze dried but I worry about the phosphorus because they grind up bones for the calcium. He's slightly hyper thyroid with okay kidney function so I don't like to test it.

As a result of the hyperthyroid and my recently departed great cat Etta (who had very high thyroid) I try to steer clear of fish (which is a sneaky ingredient in Fancy Feast flavors and some Wellness flavors) .

They like Wellness okay. They will not eat even one bite of Weruva anything. Weirdos.

Yes I understand, Merrick, Whole Earth and Soulistic pate was as fancy as mine would go, they will eat the ferals friskies pate if I let them. The top of line foods got snubbed.

 

[hamhoos]

I've spent days researching cat food and the only universal truth that I've been able to find was this: there is no perfect commercial cat food, every cat food has its negatives. But by alternating between brands I'm hoping to provide more well rounded nutrition for my cats. 

I personally will give them two different wet foods each day, from different brands (and I'll usually choose different protein sources). 

These are the brands & flavours I use currently:

Holistic Select - Turkey, Chicken, Chicken & liver

First mate - Chicken, Turkey, Turkey/Tuna, Tuna

Weruva - paw lickin chicken

NVI - Chicken, rabbit

NVI (LID) - lamb, turkey

And occasionally I might throw in foods from other brands like the Fancy Feast pates, usually once or twice a week.

So on the daily, if I fed them NVI turkey in the morning then I'd switch to Holistic select Chicken for their next meal. 

This helps them from getting bored of food easily too. 

I'm planning on switching over to raw when I have the time to do all the prep and source all my ingredients. 

 

[thegreystalker]

Rotating her menu has proved to be the best approach for my kitten.  She eats these grain-free wet recipes;

Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblets Classic

Fancy Feast Salmon Classic

Companion Wholesome Formula Beef & Chicken

Sheba Chicken Entree Pate

Sheba Turkey Entree Pate

Pro Plan True Nature Turkey Classic

Purina Beyond Turkey

Natural Value Sardine & Shrimp

Under the Sun Lamb Formula

Whole Earth Farms Duck

DVP Natural Balance Venison

And I toss in a couple of grain-free Friskies recipies; Poultry Platter and Cat Concoctions Salmon.  They are a better value than Fancy Feast.