Which can food is the healthiest?

[buddy5000]

I had a hard time replying to my thread. So excuse me for the new thread. How many ounces of can food and which brand is the healthiest. How many times a day? Also never leave out dry food in case he is hungry?

 

[denice]

You didn't say if your kitty is an adult or a kitten.  For an adult cat 20 calories per pound of their ideal weight is sufficient.  For the average kitty with many of the foods 1 six ounce can of food spread over 2 or 3 meals a day is sufficient.  Many foods have their calorie counts on the can, if not it is available on the food's website.   http://www.catinfo.org/  has a lot of good info in it and includes a chart of commercial foods with their protein, fat, and carb percentages.  You want high protein low carb food.  There is no need to leave out kibble for an adult cat.

Kittens actually need more food than adult cats.  Especially once they are about 4 months old they will eat 1 1/2 to 2 times what an adult would.  The same things apply for a good wet food.  Many people do leave a bit of kibble out for kittens to nibble on between meals.  At least 3 and if possible 4 meals a day is good for a kitten.  Basically it's fine to give a kitten as much food as he will eat.

 

[buddy5000]

He was born around July 2012 so he is almost 2yrs of age.

 

[marc999]

Try to feed around ~ 200 calories of wet food per day. This assumes an average weight of a 10 pound boy, eating 20 calories per pound, per day.

Read the labels on the canned food. It should tell you the calories. Generally speaking, you'll do fine feeding a 5.5 - 6 oz. can per day. Split up that can between 2-3 meals. throughout the day. There isn't a canned food brand that is 'healthiest'.   I have a stockpile of most of the following brands and most available proteins.

There are many good choices - Fancy Feast classic pates, Friskies pates, Grreat Choice (Poultry platter, Mixed Grill, Country Dinner), Simply Nourish. Wellness, Innova Evo, Hound & Gatos, Wild Calling, Chicken Soup, Weruva, Tiki Cat, Nature's Variety - Instinct. The list goes on.  

This is going to depend on your own pet food budget. 

I'm just starting off myself, but I'm trying to follow some rules:

(1) rotate proteins & brands of food - i.e. chicken, turkey, duck,lamb,beef,rabbit,pheasant,venison,pork.  Do a few anyway - the idea being the cat has a lesser chance of developing a food allergy if you rotate proteins.  

(2) add a couple tablespoons of water to the wet food.  Microwave for ~ 20 seconds, then stir it up, if your cat doesn't like cold food (mine eats it at any temperature).

I still give dry food, but more as a treat.  For example, as a treat for letting me give him ear drops medicine. 

When I have to leave for a couple nights - I will portion out the dry food and try to find a reliable automatic feeder.  Otherwise I'll just free-feed for the weekend. I give Orijen and/or Acana for dry food.  He likes drinking from a water fountain too, so that can be a good investment if your cat doesn't drink from a bowl.

 

[buddy5000]

Good information.  I never knew fish was bad for cats?  Wow, that was a shocker.  Thanks for all the info too.  Can food it is.  Now I know I will give him the variety of poultry etc.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

You might find this article interesting:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/what-makes-the-best-canned-cat-food

As to how much to feed, all cats are different.  If your cat is  lazy and doesn't get much exercise, then he won't need as much as a cat that runs around like crazy.  I have a 9 lb cat that eats a lot more than my 13 lb cat, simply

because the smaller cat is a maniac and the larger one is very layed back

 

[buddy5000]

Thank you,  we went to the store and bought a variety of can food and stopped the dry for now.  He liked can anyway so we have a very happy kitty on our hands.  He is very content.  The only problem shopping a Walmart mainly we only found chicken and liver and beef.  So I will have to go to the expensive pet shops to get the rabbit, duck, lamb, venison etc.  They are not at Walmart

 

[marc999]

Yeah, the proteins you just mentioned are what they call novel proteins, or unique. 

Walmart won't carry those.  PetSmart though, may have one of their house brands 'Simply Nourish'.  There's a Lamb&Duck one I think. 

Otherwise you're right, you'll have to scout out some pet stores that specialize in dog/cat foods. 

Basically, don't always feed chicken - toss in turkey, beef, duck etc. now and then to lessen the chances of an allergy happening to one particular protein.  Alternate weeks or a month etc. between protein switching, your call. 

You don't have to completely rule out dry - afterall, what happens when you're away for a couple days.  Cat has to eat. I wouldn't stress over those times, but your call. 

 

[buddy5000]

So when you give other types of protein you said alternate weeks or a month.  So which way is best just alternate one week chicken one week turkey one week beef one week rabbit one week duck or just one day chicken, one day beef, one day duck one day rabbit.  or one month beef??

 

[marc999]

I asked the same question here and there's no hard and fast answer.  Just try your best to remember to do it.

That could be mighty expensive to go weeks or months at a time on rabbit, venison, or duck etc., so just even breaking it up for a day or two with those pricier proteins should help - nobody really knows.  Some here go for a month or two with chicken, then change to turkey, then maybe lamb or beef another month.   

This assumes your cat will even like it, that's the trial and error process.

So far with my cat - he's eaten every single protein I've tossed his way - including chicken, turkey, lamb&duck, just duck, beef.   You'll have to check out the brands available to you to determine the most cost effective way of buying a particular protein. Sometimes a 12 to 13.2 oz. can will be more cost effective considering you have at least 2 days worth of food there, but not always - it's brand dependent.  I measure the ounces out based on the calorie count on the side of the can, with a kitchen digital weigh scale and divide it up accordingly into portions for the larger cans such as Wellness, EVO, Felidae etc.   Again, not necessary but I enjoy doing a little calorie math

A routine for me might be, chicken, beef, turkey - for a few days each, or a week at a time.  Once in awhile, break it up with a can or two of  rabbit, venison, buffalo, lamb, duck, pheasant - whatever you can find.   That's just what I might do - it might change.  As long as you don't constantly offer chicken or turkey for months or years on end, I think you'll be fine.