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Old March 9th, 2006, 07:22 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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Cat food change

I just adopted a kitten ( ) and am going to be changing her food. I have a some of the food she was on so can do it gradually but she eats mostly canned food though and was wondering how I should go about gradually introducing a new canned food to her? It seems a little more tricky with wet food as I don't want to have to have more than two cans open in the fridge at once as they dont stay fresh long, but if I do the same method as with dry food (gradually mixing the two together over a couple weeks) it seems like I have no choice? Does changing canned food have to happen as gradually as dry food?

Also, what is a good brand of food for cats? Is it the same brands as with dogs (ie. Wellness, Solid Gold, etc)? Also, my dog is on Kirkland food because after trying her on various holistic foods it is the only one she doesn't get runny stools on. I noticed on the Costco web site they also make a Newman's Own Organics cat food and was wondering if this is comparable to other holistic cat foods? Here is an example of the ingredients for one of the flavours:

Chicken & Salmon:

Organic Chicken, Sufficient Water for Processing, Salmon, Ocean Whitefish, Brown Rice, Oat Bran, Flaxseed, Guar Gum, Dried Kelp, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Sea Salt, Carrageenan, Minerals (Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Aicd Chelate, Copper Amino Aicd Chelate, Manganese Amino Aicd Chelate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide), Vitamins (Vitamin E, A, D3, B12 Supplements, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Bitoin), Taurine, Choline Chloride.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:

Crude Protein................10.0% (min)
Crude Fat.......................6.0% (min)
Crude Fiber....................1.0% (max)
Moisture........................78.0% (max)
Ash...............................2.0% (max)
Magnesium.....................0.025% (max)
Taurine..........................0.06% (min)


Right now she would need to stay on kitten food but is this a good food I could switch her to when she's an adult? Any advice on cat food very much appreciated... Any "Prins" of cat foods around here?
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  #2  
Old March 9th, 2006, 07:31 AM
Kerrye Kerrye is offline
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Hi
I have two resuce kitties - one is part maine coon and the other is a little fuzzy unknown. I feed both of them Royal Canin dry. My vet said it is a good quality food and my two thrive on it. They are also both fussy eaters. I mix two kinds together - Royal Canin sensitve skin and Royal Canin Maine Coon.
You could try and switch your kitty over to Royal Canin - I'm sure they have a kitten food.
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Old March 9th, 2006, 07:33 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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Also, I just noticed that the Guaranteed Analysis between dry and canned food is quite different. For example, the Newman's Own dry food is:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:

Crude Protein................30.0% (min)
Crude Fat......................11.0% (min)
Crude Fiber.....................4.5% (max)
Moisture........................10.0% (max)
Ash................................6.5% (max)
Taurine..........................0.20% (min)


I checked the Wellness web site and it was about the same difference. Is this just because of the higher water content of canned food or do they get more protein eating dry food? I was also reading that canned food is best for neutered males because of the high water content, is this the same for spayed females?
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Old March 9th, 2006, 07:39 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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Thanks Kerrye. I just looked up the Royal Canin ingredients and the first four are: Chicken meal, rice, corn gluten meal, corn. I know with dogs you are supposed to avoid corn, is this the same as with cats?
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Old March 9th, 2006, 07:44 AM
Kerrye Kerrye is offline
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I don't know about corn with cats? The reason I started using Royal Canin was because my vet said it was a good product. I had been using different cat foods that I was purchasing from the vet but they would'nt eat it. They are both very healthy and have excellent coats. You do however need to keep plenty of fresh water available.
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Old March 9th, 2006, 08:18 AM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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Kayla,IMO you need to feed your cat/kitten a balanced diet of canned and dry food.
I would not make dry food their only food,but that is my view,having experienced UTI(not me,my cats ).
My 3 cats free-feed on good quality dry,snacking,but twice a day eat their main meals canned.
Most vets are not knowledgable about nutrition.
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Old March 9th, 2006, 08:35 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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Ya that's what I was thinking too (canned twice a day and free feed the dry food). I know what you mean about vets and nutrition, especially those who only endorse whatever food they happen to be paid to sell in their office! Do you know of any good brands Chico? I know Medi-cal has a UTI preventative food which I have considered but wasn't sure if it was only necessary more for neutered males..?
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Old March 9th, 2006, 08:44 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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Also, does anyone know of a large pet supply superstore in Montreal? There are so many in Ontario and BC but the only big store I know of in Mtl is Safari and I don't like shopping there because they always have about 20 dogs in tiny cages which makes me so sad. I have a few smaller stores I usually go to for Kayla's stuff but I would like to browse my options for more expensive things like cat houses in a bigger store. Any suggestions?
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Old March 9th, 2006, 08:49 AM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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Kayla,I was given a 2kilo bag of Medical-Dental from my vet,when Vinnie had his teeth cleaned,they hate it!!
I've tried many canned foods,Wellness,Nutro,Mother Hubbards most more than $1 a small can,the price would not matter too much,but it matters if they don't eat it.
My cats will only eat Fancy Feast:sad: about a tablespoon each twice daily.
With dry food,try to get sample-packages before you buy a big bag.
My cats prefer Chicken-Soup-for-the catlovers-soul and Nutro Natural Choice Complete care,small kibbles,but all cats are different.
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Old March 9th, 2006, 08:56 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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I had a foster cat a while back who refused anything but Fancy Feast as well, much to my dismay! She now gets fed all sorts of fresh cooked fish and meat though from my mom, who adopted her from me, so she is pretty happy:queen: My kitten is quite young though so hopefully I can manipulate her taste buds before she gets too picky
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Old March 9th, 2006, 09:28 AM
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les les is offline
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I feed my kitty Solid Gold (Katz-n-Flocken) dry food. She loves it! And it's the only food she doesn't throw up on a regular basis Here are the ingredients from it:

Lamb | Chicken Meal | Millet | Brown Rice | Menhaden Fish Meal | Cracked Pearled Barley | Canola Oil | Flaxseed Oil | Amaranth | Blueberries | Dried Chicory Root | Taurine | Carotene | Choline Chloride | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Zinc Proteinate | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Copper Proteinate | Manganese Proteinate | Potassium Iodide | Thiamine Mononitrate | Ascorbic Acid | Vitamin A Supplement | Biotin | Calcium Panthothenate | Sodium Selenite | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Vitamin B12 Supplement | Riboflavin | Vitamin D Supplement | Folic Acid |

For wet food I feed her Merrick, Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance, Solid Gold etc. Mine is really picky with wet food and she gets tired of the same ones so I'm always switching it up
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Old March 9th, 2006, 01:27 PM
kayla kayla is offline
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I wish I knew what all the weird chemical names meant! I'm sure most are just fancy names for such and such vitamin, even the holistic blends have strange chemicals in them, but how does one know?
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Old March 9th, 2006, 03:04 PM
kayla kayla is offline
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Well I went to the pet health food store and the only one they had in a specific kitten formula was Wellness, so that settled that! She loves it though so that's good news!
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Old March 10th, 2006, 07:30 AM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
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Kayla, Did you adopt the orange cat with the blue eyes?
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Old March 10th, 2006, 08:10 AM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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I was wondering that too,but was afraid to ask....:sad:
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Old March 10th, 2006, 09:19 AM
kayla kayla is offline
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No, I guess I felt quite discouraged after Chaplin. I grew quite attached to him and it turned out he was somebody elses cat. And Chaplin had a collar on with my phone number and I let him go outside every day yet nobody called for two weeks! Chaplin seemed the most in need of a home too as he was the one meowing at my window for so long in the middle of the night (I think I made a post way back in December about him, although at that time I assumed he was a she in heat because he was meowing so loud!) Anyways the orange one is not usually around during the night like Chaplin was, so I think he has shelter somewhere. I guess I just felt kinda stupid after Chaplin, finding out he had a home after neutering and caring for him for a few weeks. I was thinking of adopting the orange one but have was quite hesitant given my previous experience.. I came to the conclusion I would probably just be "adopting" someone else's cat again.

Then I house sat for one of the rescuers last week and she had a kitten who somebody had put in a box and thrown out in the trash. I fell in love with her and decided to adopt her as I have made space in my home and heart for a cat, I just had no cat! Anyways, I have to admit I feel a little guilty about not being able to do more for the strays, but I also felt bad taking in and neutering a cat that had a home and I just didn't want to go through that again. Now I have a cat I can love and not wonder when she will go back home, because she is home! That being said I still feed the strays, and have built a shelter of Kayla's crate and some blankets for them. Chaplin still comes around for a visit too since I guess his owners have started letting him outside again. Soon I will be out of this aweful neighborhood and all the poor "stray" cats. It's hard feeling like there just isn't really anything I can do about it :sad:

Last edited by kayla; March 10th, 2006 at 09:21 AM.
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