Blue Buffalo for cats

I bought a small bag of the Blue Buffalo dried food "Indoor Health". I noticed there seemed to be quite a few here feeding it and were happy with the results.

When I first opened the bag they seemed excited and I added it to their existing food. Maybe I switched them too fast, but they do not seem very thrilled about it now. Mama is constantly meowing at me when I walk by the food bowls. I keep telling her that is all there is, the old food is gone. :D

This morning I added a little to each dry food bowl. She sniffed it and I don't think she took any.

I was thinking maybe they eat less on this food because it is so nutritious? I am hoping so. Mama and Tink really need to slim down.

Anyone that is feeding this please comment.

Thanks.

I've tried the Blue Buffalo with Cali and Diego to no avail. They will not touch it, neither the dry nor the canned.

That's the thing I like about Blue Buffalo and Blue Wilderness. They don't eat as much, because there are no fillers or by-products in it. I've had my cats on this stuff for over 5 years now and their coats are very soft and shiny. It can be more pricey than other cat foods. But you get what you pay for, and my cats have never had UTI's on this stuff. My male cats had issues with crystals when they were on the cheaper stuff.

Cats can be finicky. But they will not go hungry, believe me. If that's all you have out, they'll eat it if they're hungry enough.

I think I switched them over too fast. I just found on their website that you should gradually switch them over a period of 14 days. I did it in less than a week. I actually know better than this but I ran out of the others.

As Donna said, they won't starve themselves. When they find that is all there is available, they will nibble.

Pinot was switched over to Blue about nine months ago (I think). It was gradual; I put in very little, then worked up to the whole amount. Pinot was a LITTLE hesitant, but not for long. She has been eating less of this food as well; we've reduced to almost half the amount she used to get (which isn't a problem, she had gotten up to 11 lbs on her rather petite frame).

You're correct in the thought process that the food is more nutrient-dense, so they don't need to eat as much of it. HOWEVER, because there aren't as many fillers, they may not feel as full. It's kind of hit or miss. I know with dogs when owners switch over to a more nutrient-dense food, they need to feed less than their previous food, so the dog thinks its starving. Cats are usually more meticulous eaters, though. If yours are usually pretty good self-regulators, then they're probably eating less because they don't need to eat more, not because they don't like it. Give it a little bit of time and see, but be careful if they AREN'T eating, though. Cats can develop whats called "Fatty liver" when they stop eating and it can be a life-threatening condition.

Unlike dogs, cats WILL starve themselves if they don't like a change or are stressed (any change - moving, new pets in the household, new food, etc) so this is important to remember and identify early. I'm not trying to be "Worse case scenario" here, but my sister lost her cat because of fatty liver (and she was not an overweight cat) and I want to make sure more people are aware of it and what causes it. This is what I was taught in school and echoed through vets I've worked with.

I've been feeding my cats BB Wilderness dry for several years, mainly as a treat, and they do eat less of it than they did the other brands of dry I used to feed. Only one of my cats cries for more whenever I go into the kitchen. I have never tried the canned because of cost, and they are happy with Fancy Feast Gourmet wet food. Please go to www.catinfo.org because this vet's website warns of the perils of feeding dry food exclusively. She is my Bible for cat care! :love:
If anyone needs BB coupons (cat or dog, canned or dry, litter) I have extras and they are good only until 6/30/12 and I can't use them all. Just PM your address and I will gladly send.:)

My guys LOVE BB, but there are only certain flavours that they will eat (go figure) :rolleyes:. Usually the turkey is a hit, but anything other than that is a little more hit and miss. But you are right, they will eat a lot less on BB than other types of food.

Think of it this way, when you eat lots of rice (i.e. filler) when you have Chinese food, you are hungry again in a few hours. Cats are like that with some brands of dry cat food because there is lots of corn (i.e. filler) and when we free feed them, they just go back again when they are hungry...

Check on the bag for feeding amounts. It may be that the amounts are much less than you are used to.

Perhaps you could get a small bag of the old food and mix a bit in with the BB?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AvaJoy

Please go to www.catinfo.org because this vet's website warns of the perils of feeding dry food exclusively. She is my Bible for cat care! :love:
If anyone needs BB coupons (cat or dog, canned or dry, litter) I have extras and they are good only until 6/30/12 and I can't use them all. Just PM your address and I will gladly send.:)

---

Pinot does not have BB Wilderness just dry. As I've posted several other places - she's a little picky with the formula of her food. There is the measure of dry, a spoonful of BB Spa Select canned (only seafood flavors, and only Spa Select, thank you very much), mixed with water to make gravy. ;) Don't mess with the formula!!

Oh, and I will PM you - thanks! I'm about to need to stock up! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AvaJoy

I've been feeding my cats BB Wilderness dry for several years, mainly as a treat, and they do eat less of it than they did the other brands of dry I used to feed. Only one of my cats cries for more whenever I go into the kitchen. I have never tried the canned because of cost, and they are happy with Fancy Feast Gourmet wet food. Please go to www.catinfo.org because this vet's website warns of the perils of feeding dry food exclusively. She is my Bible for cat care! :love:
If anyone needs BB coupons (cat or dog, canned or dry, litter) I have extras and they are good only until 6/30/12 and I can't use them all. Just PM your address and I will gladly send.:)

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pinot's Mom

Pinot does not have BB Wilderness just dry. As I've posted several other places - she's a little picky with the formula of her food. There is the measure of dry, a spoonful of BB Spa Select canned (only seafood flavors, and only Spa Select, thank you very much), mixed with water to make gravy. ;) Don't mess with the formula!!

Oh, and I will PM you - thanks! I'm about to need to stock up! :)

---

I emailed them and found out I did it completely wrong. Luckily I got a small bag of their old food yesterday just in case there was a problem. I do the free feeding thing and they say not to do it. My cats are nibblers so I don't quite know how to handle this.

Oh my goodness, and, yes, they get their wet food at dinner time. There is never enough gravy for them though. They pretty much lick the gravy off and leave the mystery meat behind.

I feed mine the Blue Wilderness Duck (they love)
and blue indoor health.(they like)
I also tried the chicken they will eat it but not everyday.
so Ill give it to them once a week.
They like the Salmon, Tuna & Turkey wet

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by maid25cats

I feed mine the Blue Wilderness Duck (they love)
and blue indoor health.(they like)
I also tried the chicken they will eat it but not everyday.
so Ill give it to them once a week.
They like the Salmon, Tuna & Turkey wet

---

I want to switch them off of the Friskies gravy pouches and onto the Blue cans. It is a waste of money because they don't even eat the myster meat in the Friskies. I need to find a recipe for cat gravy. Wait that didn't sound right. Gravy for cats. :D

Mine have been on BB Duck dry for about 2 or 3 years now. They all love it! I feed the Blue Longevity to my two older cats and they like it just fine. None of my cats will touch the wet, though, so I generally feed them Wellness wet, any flavor, which they adore!

I feed BB to my dogs and reading through this thread I started thinking about switching my cats over to it. I feed Purina One dry and Friskies wet (1/8 of a can each weekday morning). I know that's not the best food. But then I saw that you aren't supposed to free feed BB. Is that what I understand?? Cuz my kitties have dry available to them at all times (they are both at good weights).
And I got some coupons from AvaJoy that I could use too if I switch. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

I feed BB to my dogs and reading through this thread I started thinking about switching my cats over to it. I feed Purina One dry and Friskies wet (1/8 of a can each weekday morning). I know that's not the best food. But then I saw that you aren't supposed to free feed BB. Is that what I understand?? Cuz my kitties have dry available to them at all times (they are both at good weights).
And I got some coupons from AvaJoy that I could use too if I switch. :)

---

Here is the email I received from the company when I inquired about it:

"Thank you for taking your time to contact BLUE.

Because BLUE is so rich in nutrients, we recommend 3-4 weeks of transitioning. This allows enough time for the digestive system to adjust to the new food without causing a sensitive stomach. Signs of a sensitive stomach are soft to loose stools, gas, and sometimes even diarrhea or vomiting. You should start off with 25% BLUE to 75% old food for one full week. In the second week increase to 50/50 for another full week and so on. By the fourth week, you should be able to use 100% BLUE. At any time you increase the amount of BLUE and notice a change in stools or gas occurs, lessen the amount of BLUE and slow down the transition a bit. Every pet is different. Some may take to the food right away and others will take longer. Age, breed, exercise and what they were eating previously can all play a role in how long it may take for their system to adjust.

A pet's system will eventually work itself out however this could take as long as a few months if not done slow enough. Not often, but in some cases the food may be too rich for your pet. This usually happens when they have any intolerance to an ingredient in the food. If you feel that maybe your pet may need a proper transition, it is never too late to do that. Also, make sure to follow the feeding guidelines on the side of the bag as overfeeding can cause digestive issues. You will notice that we may require a less amount a day than other foods. Make sure not to free feed our food. There are only natural preservatives in our formulas so once exposed to the air it will not stay as fresh. Stay away from canned foods while you are trying to transition as this may only add to the sensitivity of your pet's stomach. I hope this helps. "

That is interesting. So I guess I won't feed the cats BB. :( They are used to having food available at all times. I couldn't free feed Taz back in the day, but I only put a tiny bit in his bowl twice a day (or when he "asked" me to).
Maybe I can find another better (than Purina and Friskies) food that is okay to free feed.

Thank you for the explanation! :D

I have free fed BB for years and my kitties have had no ill effects. You just don't put as much in the bowls. Believe me, it doesn't stay in the bowls long at my house!:D

I've never tried BB but I do find it interesting that they say not to free feed your cats with it. I couldn't free feed my 8 cats even if I wanted to because some of them would eat all of the food so the others would never get anything. I do understand about slowly transitioning a cats food but I've run into the problem of my cats loving the new food so much that they only eat that and then leave their old food. For some odd reason my cats now refuse to eat Wellness Core dry so now I've switched again to Merrick's Before Grain Chicken dry. They all seem to really love it but in the beginning some of my cats did tend to have looser stools and they will also sometimes have some gas. Alani & Blaze are now also on this food because they weren't doing well on the Chicken Soup For The Cat Lovers Soul Light dry formula. They both have very sensitive stomachs so they'll always have some loose stools every now and then. I'm just glad that I can now buy only one kind of dry food that everyone loves to eat.:) I buy it at Pet Club and right now they're having a sale on it for only $17.99 a bag so I bought 3 bags. Normally it's $22.99 but Petco and some other pet stores sell it for an even higher price. They didn't like the Before Grain canned so I'm sticking with Wellness canned. Good luck with the new food transition.:)

What we go through in multi-cat households to find a food everyone will eat! Mine love the Wellness wet, but not the dry and will turn their noses up at BB canned, but love the dry. Oh well.:rolleyes:

Everyone PLEASE, for the health of your cats, go to www.catinfo.org and read what this vet has to say about feeding dry food. It was designed for the convenience of humans and is NOT in the best interest of what cats should eat. She even has an essay on how to wean your die-hard-dry-food-insistant cats OFF of it. Very entertaining . . . she says if they cry and beg and you can't take it anymore, leave the house for awhile! :cool: Do not give in to their demands. Cats need their hydration WITH their meal. Ideally, cats should ingest what a mouse is . . . fat, protein and fluid. Cats don't go stalking, hunting or chasing after "crackers" in the wild which is what dry food is, essentially. If you eliminate dry food from their diets there is an extremely good chance that they won't come down with renal issues, diabetes, and other conditions that commonly afflict cats as they age. I only wish I discovered her website years ago, for the health of my many cats. She has it all logically and sensibly figured out, so please visit her site and you will glean much knowledge!:)

But doesn't feeding only wet food make for teeth issues? I've always heard dry is better for their teeth.
I should be fine since I feed mine both wet and dry.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AvaJoy

Everyone PLEASE, for the health of your cats, go to www.catinfo.org and read what this vet has to say about feeding dry food. It was designed for the convenience of humans and is NOT in the best interest of what cats should eat. She even has an essay on how to wean your die-hard-dry-food-insistant cats OFF of it. Very entertaining . . . she says if they cry and beg and you can't take it anymore, leave the house for awhile! :cool: Do not give in to their demands. Cats need their hydration WITH their meal. Ideally, cats should ingest what a mouse is . . . fat, protein and fluid. Cats don't go stalking, hunting or chasing after "crackers" in the wild which is what dry food is, essentially. If you eliminate dry food from their diets there is an extremely good chance that they won't come down with renal issues, diabetes, and other conditions that commonly afflict cats as they age. I only wish I discovered her website years ago, for the health of my many cats. She has it all logically and sensibly figured out, so please visit her site and you will glean much knowledge!:)

---

Thanks for posting about this.:) I actually already know about this website because the lady from Finnegan's rescue group e-mailed me this info. She also told me that we should feed cats mainly all canned and only feed them a small amount of dry. She said to treat the dry like potato chips. All of my cats do love canned food so this isn't an issue. Unfortunately both Alani & Blaze always get diarrhea after eating canned food.:( They love it but it doesn't love them. I do give them some nonfat chicken broth every night so they can get more moisture in their diet. I also feed my other 6 cats both canned and dry. They get fed 4 small meals a day and get canned & dry for 2 of the meals and only dry for the other 2. I like feeding grain free dry and canned but I can't afford to feed them only canned. If I only had 1 or 2 cats then I could but not with 6. I have noticed that when Storm & Ziggy did eat more canned that they had more teeth and gum problems whereas Pearl & Sky who used to eat mainly dry didn't. I know that some breeds do have bad genes for teeth and gums but it seemed like when Storm used to eat mainly dry a long time ago that his teeth and gums were healthier. I've heard from some that dry hurts their teeth and from some that canned hurts their teeth so who knows.:confused:

Dr. Pierson (www.catinfo.org) states that even the cheapest generic canned food is healthier than the most expensive, high end dry food. As for dry food cleaning teeth this seems to be a falacy. Cats usually just swallow the kibble whole anyway without much crunching. Ideally we should be brushing our cats' teeth to prevent decay. I haven't tackled that yet, but have thought about needing to try it.

After two of my cats had dental surgery, there was an information session with the tech, which is great. Each time I got a small bag with a cat toothbrush and paste. Two of my cats were adult rescues who had never seen a toothbrush, and I adopted another from the HS who was 10 years old. I think the tech saw my unintended expression of total skepticism. ;)

She did ask if I used an additive in their drinking water. I do. It's called Biotene and I get it from my vet. I add it to the fountain whenever I add/change water.

They are on mostly dry with wet added in the morning...they all eat the Urinary diet as Oscar needs to be on it. I'll go look at the website and get more info. I am sure my kitties would LOVE wet food all the time! :D