Cat food questions like mixing, senior foods, etc.

[BusterKitty]

So my friend got her cat about 5 months ago and I've been trying to help her decide on stuff by researching and going to reception desks and asking about stuff. There's one question that I forgot to ask and it's been stuck in the back of my head for a long time(question will make sense easier if I typed it in situation form):

So Fluffy() is overweight and coughs up a lot of hairballs. Many brands have foods for these problems. Would it be safe to mix the "Weight loss forrmula", "Hairball control formula", and normal "adult" food from the same brand altogether or would that be dangerous for the cat?


Also, when should a cat be switched to senior food(or should it be switched)? My friend says at around 7 years old.

Last one x): Which brand is better: Wellness or Royal Canin?
I'm hoping to get a cat in a few years and I'm going to try and get one from the Toronto Humane Society. I know that they feed their animals Royal Canin foods but my friend's cat is fed with Wellness and it just seems so much better to feed it Wellness since I already know about it. Hopefully, somebody might suggest something even better that's available at most Pet Valu stores across Canada. I will ignore any suggestions of brands that contain wheat gluten or ones that have had ANY products recalled(Iams, Nutro, etc.).

Thank you! ^^

[sugarcatmom]

Hi, and welcome to pets.ca!

First of all, I'm going to assume you're talking about dry food. Which means my next suggestion is going to be not to feed dry food . Sounds like your friend's cat is overweight, and the best remedy for that would be to cut out the kibble and feed a good low-carb canned food. All of these diet, light, weightloss, hairball, and senior formulas are completely inappropriate foods for a carnivore (way too many carbohydrates - which is what makes cats fat in the first place). I suggest reading this website for more info on feline nutrition: http://www.catinfo.org/

Oh, and Wellness is definitely better than Royal Canin, but most canned foods are better than even the best dry food.

[beckiandthetrio]

hmmm...good questions!!! I know Wellness is a good brand...thats what I feed my cats but Royal Canin Ive never heard of?? Im sure some of the other girls here have. the question about feeding several different types Im not positive about either but I know ive heard from other people that the whole "hairball control" "weightloss" etc. are kinda bull. Just marketing terms and really arent different from the other kinds. Good luck and im interested to see what others have to say

Becki

[BusterKitty]

@sugarcatmom:Well, her vet told her to use more of Wellness wet foods and she has but the cat's previous owner only used it as treats and not regularly. Yup, when running, the fat hangs down his sides and he doesn't look right...I thought these diets were specially formulated to tackle the problemsI'd better tell that to her tomorrow. Thanks for the website! I'll make sure that my friend checks it out as well! Thank you for the advice! ^^



@beckiandthetrio: Yes, I've checked it out thoroughly but Royal Canin doesn't seem to have much info about itself and seems to be unclear. Well, that question's been confusing me forever since pet foods are advertising ALL their different formulas. Yeah, I can see why people would say that. Some brands make breed specific formulas but I don't see why it's so different. Thanks, and I've seen your topic about your cat being allergic to protein. Hope you figure that out!

I've read some other topics and found out that senior diets contain more calories and stuff like that so I'm going to advise my friend to not use that since there's already so much fat hanging around her cat.

[BusterKitty]

Let's reveal her cat's name now!Buster doesn't like his carrier very much(he dashed out of it and went under the couch on the very first day of arrival) and to lure him in, my friend had to use treats. He whined all the way to the vet clinic the first time she took him but once he got out, everything was fine. So is placing treats into the carrier a good way or is there a better and easier way? I know that kittens should have been trained at an early age to be used to it's carrier but Buster's 5 years old and my friend's only had him for 5 months. Another good way(that I've learned from my research) is to get your cat into the carrier a few times a month and drive around the neighbourhood and come back so the cat doesn't think that every time he's in the carrier, it isn't a vet appointment. Buster is fine with the vet by the way and none of us know why. He is very nervous around strangers who come to his house but he let the vet clip his nails easily. His flea medicine(the fleas were from his old house) was applied very quickly by the vet but Buster tried to avoid the medicine when my friend put it on. He was staring at her like she was going to kill him!Is there a reason why Buster is fine with the vet and not with others? Could it be that the clinic has animal scents and he's comfortable because we don't know if he's ever encountered another house pet before.