Hi guys,
I just joined this forum today - I've found it helpful in the past for general questions, and I realized I should probably join to ask my own questions.
I have a little cat, Lucia, who is seven months old and was spayed this weekend. I'm hoping she'll start to gain weight because she's always been really skinny - she's just not a cat who is that interested in food. She eats but she never eats more than her fill and she's not that interested in treats, either (vast contrast to my cats at my parents' house who will hear a packet of crisps opening three houses down and come running).
Anyway, my problem is that my local supermarkets keep changing the brands of cat food they sell. I live in la Condesa, Mexico City, which is a VERY dog friendly neighbourhood. People hate cats and LOVE dogs. So the supermarkets have an entire aisle of dog food, and a tiny corner for cat food.
When she was very young, I gave her Whiskas kitten pouches, but the supermarket discontinued them a couple of months ago and I haven't been able to find them anywhere else (trust me, I've looked). I was giving her Fancy Feast for a couple of weeks, because that was the only wet cat food that said it was suitable for adult and growing cats. Then they started selling Felix (which also said suitable for growing and adult cats, unlike Whiskas adult pouches, which was the only other wet food they had and said it was only suitable for adults). So I stocked up on Felix and it seemed like they were going to start stocking Felix permanently, so I started feeding Lucia only that. She wasn't a huge fan of Felix but it was that or Fancy Feast, and Felix was a better deal and I've read good reviews. But now the past week, they've stopped selling Felix. I cleared them out of Fancy Feast the other day (and they only had tuna fillets, which is her favourite, but I don't want to get her hooked on it).
I have also always left out dry food for her to graze on when I'm at work...at first Whiskas kitten, and now Purina kitten (because they stopped selling Whiskas).
The supermarkets in my neighbourhood only have Whiskas adult dry and wet (regular and gourmet), a selection of Purina dry food, sometimes Felix, and usually Fancy Feast. I tried her on Science Diet kitten I found in a pet shop but she hated it and wouldn't eat it. There's a high end "cat boutique" relatively nearby (but not that close if you don't have a car, like me) and they sell Royal Canin dry food (and I guess wet food but I haven't seen it).
I know cats have delicate digestive systems and it's not good to keep changing the food, but I don't have a choice if the supermarkets keep changing what they stock. Pet stores have even worse selections.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I right to be concerned or am I just being neurotic? What can I do to keep her diet constant? Start just giving her plain meat from the butcher? I know a dry food only diet isn't ideal either...
Thanks for your help in advance...she's my little baby who I bottle-fed several times a day when she was a tiny orphan, I just want the best for her!
I just joined this forum today - I've found it helpful in the past for general questions, and I realized I should probably join to ask my own questions.
I have a little cat, Lucia, who is seven months old and was spayed this weekend. I'm hoping she'll start to gain weight because she's always been really skinny - she's just not a cat who is that interested in food. She eats but she never eats more than her fill and she's not that interested in treats, either (vast contrast to my cats at my parents' house who will hear a packet of crisps opening three houses down and come running).
Anyway, my problem is that my local supermarkets keep changing the brands of cat food they sell. I live in la Condesa, Mexico City, which is a VERY dog friendly neighbourhood. People hate cats and LOVE dogs. So the supermarkets have an entire aisle of dog food, and a tiny corner for cat food.
When she was very young, I gave her Whiskas kitten pouches, but the supermarket discontinued them a couple of months ago and I haven't been able to find them anywhere else (trust me, I've looked). I was giving her Fancy Feast for a couple of weeks, because that was the only wet cat food that said it was suitable for adult and growing cats. Then they started selling Felix (which also said suitable for growing and adult cats, unlike Whiskas adult pouches, which was the only other wet food they had and said it was only suitable for adults). So I stocked up on Felix and it seemed like they were going to start stocking Felix permanently, so I started feeding Lucia only that. She wasn't a huge fan of Felix but it was that or Fancy Feast, and Felix was a better deal and I've read good reviews. But now the past week, they've stopped selling Felix. I cleared them out of Fancy Feast the other day (and they only had tuna fillets, which is her favourite, but I don't want to get her hooked on it).
I have also always left out dry food for her to graze on when I'm at work...at first Whiskas kitten, and now Purina kitten (because they stopped selling Whiskas).
The supermarkets in my neighbourhood only have Whiskas adult dry and wet (regular and gourmet), a selection of Purina dry food, sometimes Felix, and usually Fancy Feast. I tried her on Science Diet kitten I found in a pet shop but she hated it and wouldn't eat it. There's a high end "cat boutique" relatively nearby (but not that close if you don't have a car, like me) and they sell Royal Canin dry food (and I guess wet food but I haven't seen it).
I know cats have delicate digestive systems and it's not good to keep changing the food, but I don't have a choice if the supermarkets keep changing what they stock. Pet stores have even worse selections.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I right to be concerned or am I just being neurotic? What can I do to keep her diet constant? Start just giving her plain meat from the butcher? I know a dry food only diet isn't ideal either...
Thanks for your help in advance...she's my little baby who I bottle-fed several times a day when she was a tiny orphan, I just want the best for her!