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Old March 6th, 2009, 11:40 AM
maigrey maigrey is offline
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Food recommendations for cheap food loving cats...

My parents have been feeding their cats crappy grocery store/wal-mart brand cat foods for a long time. I've tried to change them to something better but they actually refuse to eat orijen when compared to Iams and whiskas or other 2 dollar/bag foods. They also eat a little Hills T/D but mostly their diet is the cheap stuff. It's driving me up the wall. I bought them two bags of orijen but they just ignore it, in fact the only way to get them to eat it is if it's mixed into their normal bad foods.

I tried merril's cans on them a while back too, like the small ones of every flavor and one cat ignore them completely and the other cat half-heartedly picked at it.

Today I bought some Nutro since it was recommended by one of my friends with cats but the pet store salesperson mentioned something in passing that made wary. I came home and let them try a couple pieces each (complete care weight management) and they both seemed to like it. But now after reading some terrifying stuff on Nutro I'm leaning towards throwing the whole bag out.

But that still brings me to this problem of getting something good for them that they'll eat. I think they're just attached to the corn/rice Wal-mart stuff the same way I'm quite fond of 50c Mr. Noodles. They're both getting older, 7-8 years old and slightly overweight just due to the lack of activity and that my parents have been overfeeding them for a while.

I've put a stop to the overfeeding but something for weight management would be nice while I'm bring them down again. If there's nothing like that, I'd be okay with giving them smaller amounts of a dependable food that appeals to their low-standard tastes.

Any recommendations or ideas or maybe foods your cats switched successfully from Nutro to. I'm on a food hunt and I'll try anything decent cause it's all better than what they're eating now.

Thanks for any help you can give!
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Old March 6th, 2009, 12:44 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Cats get addicted to crappy kibble because pet food companies coat it with taste enhancers in order to ensure they'll eat ingredients they normally wouldn't (and shouldn't). As well, cats tend to have their taste preferences set early in life (to protect them from eating something "toxic"), but that doesn't mean either of these issues can't be overcome. It can take a great deal of patience and perseverence, requiring considerably more effort than just putting down a new food once and giving up if they don't dive right in. Gradually mixing it in with the old food is a good start. They need to become accustomed to the new smells and textures before it can become their primary diet.

Much better than any dry food would be to try some other canned flavours. You could even start with Fancy Feast, which lots of cats like, and gradually move up to higher quality brands like Wellness as they go along. Here is a great site with info on what cats should be eating (NO DRY), and also with tips on how to transition kibble addicts over to wet food: www.catinfo.org
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Old March 7th, 2009, 02:00 AM
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growler~GateKeeper growler~GateKeeper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maigrey View Post
I bought them two bags of orijen but they just ignore it, in fact the only way to get them to eat it is if it's mixed into their normal bad foods.
When mixed are they actually eating the Orijen in the dish? I've had some who would eat around something they didn't want
Most cats do require a gradual switch to different foods, if you must feed dry: mix the Orijen in with the current food. Start about 1/4 Orijen 3/4 other - feed that for about 4-7 days, then 1/2 Orijen 1/2 other - feed that for about 4-7, then 3/4 Orijen 1/4 other feed that for about 4-7 days. By this time you should be able to make a full switch to Orijen.

The same principle applies to a canned food switch though usually it needs to be done in smaller more gradual quantities.

If they are eating a sufficient amount of canned food (crappy or not) every day and little dry, you could stop the dryfood all together and feed smaller portions of canned throughout the day or leave some canned out for free feeding if they are grazers.

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Originally Posted by maigrey View Post
But now after reading some terrifying stuff on Nutro I'm leaning towards throwing the whole bag out.
No need to have wasted the money, return it back to the store tell them the cats wouldn't eat it, use that money towards something better
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Old March 8th, 2009, 06:38 PM
maigrey maigrey is offline
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It's hard to say. My parents have been exhibiting extremely bad feeding habits which is basically leave food around the whole day so they've been gorging for a while. Now that they only get small meals, they'd eat the orijen but it'd be the last stuff to go, their noses are searching for the other stuff. I think they eat it if they're still hungry but not exactly willingly. I'm considering moving them completely to orijen the way you suggested and then switching to some kind of canned food. Or directly to canned food like sugarcatmom suggested. They'll eat the crappy kind of those too - friskies and stuff. I haven't had much luck with things like wellness or merrils.

I hope the transition isn't the hard on them. They've been on the crappy stuff for a looooong time. Will there be any nutritional shocks from eating something of value? How long do I want to make the transition to something better take?

Thanks for the tip about returning the bag =).
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Old March 8th, 2009, 06:59 PM
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It took several months to switch Puddles from a crappy food to Wellness. I ended up sprinkling some freeze dried "Real Food Toppers" on top for her. I was also getting her from a fish flavoured diet to chicken and beef.
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Old March 15th, 2009, 01:55 PM
maigrey maigrey is offline
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food toppers? can you elaborate?

They seem to be willing to eat orijen five fish, though they do leave some on the plate.

I bought some eagle pack holistic select and some almo nature and some nature's variety instinct cans for them to try, focusing on fish since Mitzie seems to prefer it.

I tried the almo nature atlantic tuna yesterday and they seemed to love it, although it's just normal tuna basically and the can said it should only be given as a treat.

So today I tried the Eagle Pack Ocean Fish and Tuna. They won't touch it. It's exactly like when I tried to give them Merrick's. I would love to switch to wet food or at least majority wet food but they're not biting. I'll pick up a few fancy feast on the way home today and see if that'll work at all. Urgh.
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Old March 15th, 2009, 02:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maigrey View Post
food toppers? can you elaborate?
Real Food Toppers or Halo Liv-a-Littles are freeze-dried 100% meat treats that lots of cats love. Can be crumbled on top of a new food to entice a cat into eating it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by maigrey View Post
They seem to be willing to eat orijen five fish, though they do leave some on the plate.
While a fishy food might be okay for trying to transition cats to a better diet, too much fish (like more than once or twice a week) is actually not a good idea. Here is some info on why:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...ngerousforcats
http://catnutrition.wordpress.com/20...ding-for-cats/

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Originally Posted by maigrey View Post
I would love to switch to wet food or at least majority wet food but they're not biting.
Try leaving some wet out for them on a plate and picking up all dry during the day (feed the kibble only at set meal times so they aren't snacking, which prevents them from getting hungry enough to try something new). You could also pulverize some of their favourite dry and sprinkle it on top of the wet to give it some familiarity. Did you read the link I gave you on how to transition kibble addicts to canned? It has lots of advice.
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