Suggestions for a good wet canned rotation?

[rivertherb]

I currently feed my 10 month old female a mainly wet canned food diet but I want to get a good rotation going. Tiki cat is her favorite and what I mainly feed, occasionally Weruva. Can anyone suggest a good rotation for her wet food? She is allergic to beef and I don't like her to have much fish, if any. She is a huge fan of chicken.

 

[lokhismom]

I don't know if you're trying to keep away from certain ingredients but a few of my kitties favorites are 

Natural Choice chunky chicken, turkey

Merrick duck pate 

Earthborn chicken (very similar to Weruva but has careeganan which many here don't want to feed. I feed it in rotation so feel better about feeding it)

Natures Variety Rabbit

 

[pushylady]

I try to avoid grain, but otherwise like to get as much variety as possible. Currently I have Merrick, Blue Buffalo, Hound & Gatos, Nature's Variety, Max Cat, Go! and Almo on the shelf. I also buy Tiki, Wild Calling, Ziwipeak, and *gasp* will also feed Friskies on occasion.

 

[rivertherb]

I also have to feed completely grain free, she has a sensitive tummy. I also try to stay away from carrageenan. I have been very interested in trying hound & gatos but I have not yet found it at any of my local natural pet food stores ): I also want to try some Natures Variety with her.

 

[bonepicker]

Revert herb, nutro natural choice chunky chicken loaf (Pate is popular). Fussie cat chicken And veg is good also red barn chicken stew and pride rockstar rabbit.

 

[felineempathy]

I've been using this one - all of them except Wellness don't have carrageanan:

Nutro Natural Choice

First Mate

Tiki

Weruva

Lotus

Ziwipeak

Natural Planet Orgnaics

Wellness

I also tried Nature's Variety but it's pretty expensive and I don't think the quality is very good.  My cat doesn't really like the "soft loaf" texture of the food either.  I also noticed that there's just as much fat as there is protein in each can which is a little suspicious.  It's also worth noting that it doesn't have any gums in it and has purifying clay with a wide variety of non-fish meats, so it might be worth it if you want to spend that much.

In my opinion, Nutro is a very good food for a good price, my cat loves it.  Also when you look at canned foods, check the guaranteed analysis, you can tell how good the meat is in it by the protein to fat %.  I also don't feed any fish to my cats either due to mercury and toxins.

Also looking to test dehydrated foods (foods you add water to):

Honest Kitchen

Stella & Chewy's

 

[rivertherb]

For anyone who does food rotations, how exactly do you have it set up? Do you do a different protein each meal? Each day? Stick with one protein for a week and then rotate?

 

[denice]

For anyone who does food rotations, how exactly do you have it set up? Do you do a different protein each meal? Each day? Stick with one protein for a week and then rotate?

If your kitty doesn't have any chronic digestive issues you can really set it up however you want to.  It's good to get as many proteins as possible in the mix but of course what kitty will eat has the most to do with it.  Feeding many different proteins will help to avoid kitty developing a food allergy.  Since most kitties eat a 5.5 ounce can of food a day, more or less depending on kitty and calories in food but that is a rough rule of thumb, you will probably be feeding a protein each day.

 

[bonepicker]

I have two cats so they split 5.5 ounce can am and pm or 3 oz can each am and pm. I have 10 to 12 rotation foods. I feed one in am and different one pm then two different ones next day etc

 

[rivertherb]

River will eat just about anything I put in front of her thankfully, I just have to make sure it is grain-free and carrageenan free. I also like to keep any fish VERY limited, if any. She also can't have anything with liver chunks in it, she vomits immediately after if she does. I have had good results with Stella & Chewy's, Primal freeze dried raw, tiki cat, the honest kitchen, Weruva, and hound & gatos. Does anyone have any other suggestions of high quality food I could add to the mix that may have a different protein I could add into the mix? bonepicker you have a 10-12 rotation, what all do you have in that rotation?

 

[bonepicker]

River will eat just about anything I put in front of her thankfully, I just have to make sure it is grain-free and carrageenan free. I also like to keep any fish VERY limited, if any. She also can't have anything with liver chunks in it, she vomits immediately after if she does. I have had good results with Stella & Chewy's, Primal freeze dried raw, tiki cat, the honest kitchen, Weruva, and hound & gatos. Does anyone have any other suggestions of high quality food I could add to the mix that may have a different protein I could add into the mix? bonepicker you have a 10-12 rotation, what all do you have in that rotation? I had a cat that used to vomit but no longer does since grain and dry food was removed, I mention this because 2 of my selections have carageenan in them. The cats digest them with no tummy issuesand no vomiting at all. They are Merrick duck Pate and Merrick chicken Pate, they do have carageenan but no other junk. I feel it is a good small company with decent prices. I also feed Pride by Instinct rockstar rabbit, daredevil duck and lucky lamb. I feed tiki cat puka puka luau chicken. I feed Nutro natural choice chunky chicken loaf (a favorite). Natural balance catatouille stew.(chicken). Pro plan chicken and liver. Wellness Devine duo chicken/duck. And also occasionally a classic fancy feast, I feed chopped grill and liver and chicken since they have no fish. I feel by products are not an issue to feed occasionally. I order from chewy.com by the case after trying a solo can sample or purchase from pet store. One of my cats is super fussy, so SHE calls the shots.

 

[lisahe]

For anyone who does food rotations, how exactly do you have it set up? Do you do a different protein each meal? Each day? Stick with one protein for a week and then rotate?

I think there'd be a full-scale rebellion here if we were to try to limit to one protein a week! Our rotation is set up for variety, so the cats don't get bored. We feed a lot of the same foods as you, with no carrageenan, and our cats are also big chicken fans. One can't tolerate potato so that's out, too, and we don't feed much fish other than occasional salmon and the small amounts in Primal. Our cats have sensitive stomachs as well and seem to do best on a lot of small meals so it's a good thing we work at home. Here's how Cat Catering feeds them: 

Breakfast: Melange of Primal freeze-dried flavors with a Stella & Chewy's garnish

Morning Snack: Can of the Day (Rotation is: Tiki Hawaiian chicken flavors//Cats in the Kitchen's Double Dip, Chicken Frick a Zee, and Fowl Ball//Tiki Gourmet Carnivore)

Afternoon Snack: RadCat (turkey or chicken) or, occasionally, Stella & Chewy's frozen morsels

Dinner: Melange of Primal freeze-dried flavors with a Stella & Chew's Garnish (a slightly different blend from breakfast)

Bedtime Snack: Nutro Natural Choice (Rotation is: minced chicken//turkey slices//chicken chunky loaf)

The cats seem to do well on these foods but I, too, would love to add a few more, if only as occasional variety meals... it's hard, though, to find more shreds and shapes (they have been rejecting pates lately) that don't have grains, potato, high carbs, and/or carrageenan. I'd been feeding them occasional Soulistic pouches of chicken and pumpkin -- they love it, even though I drain most of the starchy tapioca sauce -- but they just raised they price to $1.69, which is outrageous! Ounce-for-ounce, that costs the same (or even more!) than RadCat, which is more meat for the weight.

 

[felineempathy]

I honestly go about my rotation in a more random fashion.  I usually just go to Mud Bay (pet supply store in this neck of the woods), buy 3-4 of those brands I listed of a certain number that'll last like 2 weeks (about 28 cans), and mix them up for feeding time.  I usually give my cat 2 3oz cans a day so I'll make sure each day has two different brands that are two different kinds of meat.  Each time I go to the store and buy food, it'll basically be different brands every other 2 weeks.  The only brand I keep on hand all the time is Nutro since my cat loves it a lot but I still have to keep variety.

And then at some point in the middle of the day and before I go to bed, I give her treats.

But you should do whatever you think is good.