#1
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Looking for new food
Hi,
Like many others I'm trying to find a new food for our 3 cats which is not connected to Menu Foods in any way, shape, or form. About a year ago, one of our cats - Zotz - was constantly getting diarrhea and vomiting, and after alot of experimentation and no helplful answers from the vet I managed to narrow down the cause to wheat gluten (this was long before the recall). She would have these problems with any food containing it, without exception. I never thought it was anything to do with the companies etc - a (human) friend of mine once had a medical condition which rendering him allergic to wheat gluten and yeasts, and I figured Zotz somehow had the same problem. Now I'm thinking it was something else ... It may well have saved her life and her two brothers, though. Anyway, we need something new to feed them now. They've been on Iams dry and Hill's wet (prescription w/d) and both these companies have been affected by the recalls. Thankfully not the products we've been using, and all our cats are doing really well right now. We haven't got alot of money. It would be alot easier if we did! I need something comparable in price to Iams for the dry kibble - around $6-7/kg at most. The wet food is not as much of a problem, they don't eat that much (just a spoonful at 6pm ... sharp!) Any suggestions? |
#2
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Well, I went and got a bag of Felidae today. They dived for it, but then ... now they seem disinterested. They go around to the dish but aren't touching it.
The feeding guidelines seem to indicate this is far more filling and rich than the Iams they were getting. I think they may just be going around the food dish out of habit and then thinking "hmm, you know, I'm not really that hungry!" It's hard to tell what they are thinking ... how do you tell if they like it or not when they're supposed to be eating less of it anyway? |
#3
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Wait until the next time the dry dish is empty, and see if they dive in again? I understand your frustration. I've been feeding my cat Felidae for some time now, and she got really finicky at the end of the last bag, but dove in again for the new bag-but is back to being fussy about it. I'm just not sure if she doesn't like it or only likes it when the bag is fresh (even though I keep it in an airtight container).
As for wet, I was feeding her Go! Natural canned and she loves it, but they use Menu foods to produce their canned stuff but in a different facility and there's no wheat in it...but I just don't feel right about buying it now. So, back to Felidae canned, even if it's her 2nd choice, lol!
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The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.~Joseph Campbell~ "You can't have a good day in bad underwear"- Fruit of the Loom ad |
#4
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Re freshness of the food from the bag - my cats are so darn picky about how fresh the kibble is, that I have to empty the bag into an airtight container, regardless of brand or bag size. Even then, when they see a new bag, they start milling around, their eyes light up and they all have "Gimme" written on their foreheads. The wet food change we made a long time ago, though it seems they're due for another change. They were eating bad, bad stuff (Friskies I think) because they didn't like anything else. We managed to get them on Hill's prescription diet with a trick, we'd mix it with some of the Friskies at first and then later we just pretended to mix it, and they ate it. We still have to pretend to mix it - if we just plop it on the plate they turn up their noses. Pick the plate back up, swish it around with a butterknife, and voila, they eat - purely psychological. But Hill's now seems suspect too (can't even trust the vet suppliers anymore) so we're looking into something else soon. Last edited by Edgewaters; March 31st, 2007 at 08:23 PM. |
#5
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OK, another question.
What is the ... erm ... "ideal" poop? My own experience only really tells me that dry is good (not too dry just not spongy wet). Other than that I have no idea. Should they float or sink in water? Are darker colours or lighter colours more preferable? Are, erm, "nuggets" that are all detached and apart better than ones that are all stuck together in a, ah ... "log"? So far - it's only been 24 hours since switching but there are changes already. Felidae is making much darker stool, more of it floats in water, it is a bit dryer, much less pungent, and the little nuggets are much more separated and never stuck together. Most of that is good I think ... but I'm concerned about the darker colour. Last edited by Edgewaters; April 1st, 2007 at 11:39 AM. |
#6
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I dont think I've ever tested to see if stool floated lol
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Please please please give Maggie the steak! Its not too big for her little mouth! Their impression of power is remarkable. They give one the feeling of immense reserves of energy, of great reservoirs of knowledge, of tolerance of disposition, obstinacy of purpose, and tenacity of principle. They are responsive, and they have a lot of quiet, good sense. -J. Wentworth Day, from The Dog in Sport, 1938 |
#7
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Together, they weigh about 16lbs, so according to the bag they should be eating about 3/4 cups combined per day. I would say they eat closer to 1/2 a cup. I'm pretty happy with that. They both still seem quite energetic and show no signs of being malnourished. I think it also helps that 3 times a week their diet gets supplemented with some wet food. They should probably be eating more wet food than that, but it does get a little expensive, and with all the recalls lately... Do your cats try to bury their food dish? Mine do, but I can't tell for what reason. I've read that their are two possible reasons... either they don't like the food, or they are trying to hide any unfinished portions (like they would do in the wild). I think the latter is true with their wet food, as it's pretty obvious that they are excited to get it and they enjoy it. With the dry kibble I'm not so sure... Personally I'm going to keep going with the Felidae for awhile and see how they do over a slightly longer term. |
#8
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I'd say you're right, it makes alot of sense that it's some sort of caching instinct. It's the same motion they use covering their elimination, which they are trying to bury, so I'd say they are trying to bury the food, too. |
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