A cat food question

[cassiesmom]

another cat food question --- Moosmom mentioned in another thread that one of her cats likes Chobani yogurt, but has lactose intolerance. Cassie likes yogurt. I only give her plain or the top of "fruit on the bottom" yogurt. I haven't watched the litter pan enough to know if it's causing a problem, because I only give her maybe half a teaspoonful at a time. She has no problem with milk -- so, can I keep on giving her the yogurt? Should I keep a closer eye on what she puts in the litter pan? When she hears me pull off the foil lid, she's there. She likes yogurt a lot. Silly kitty.

I had a sandwich from Arby's for lunch yesterday between church and bell choir -- you'd think she was starving, the way she was waiting for me to give her some of the beef! I cut it up very small and put it in a dish for her. No sauce or anything, just the meat. She did fine with it.

Another PT kitty gets half and half-- please don't tell Cassie, or she will want that too!

[Freedom]

Cats are lactose intolerant.

If Cassie is OK w/ half a teaspoon of yogurt, keep it up!

We (Dad and I) are also lactose intolerant, so the only milk I ever buy is Lactaid. That is fine for the cats and dogs too.

[mrspunkysmom]

I finally went to the pet food rating site for cat foods. Most of the food ratings were about where I thought they would be. The site doesn't address Blue for cats, though. And just because a company makes good dog food, doesn't mean it make good cat food.

I do read ingredients and Blue is a good food.

I haven't tried mine with yogurt.

[maerlyn]

Right off, let me say that I had been feeding Purina O.N.E. and my cats were doing fine on it - no medical problems. However, reading forums, it seemed to me that grain-free was the way to go; however, on a very limited income (SS and investments - no pension), switching to a higher-end food seemed impossible. I did, however, find Taste of the Wild to be approximately the same price as the Purina, so I switched to it a couple of years ago. I've since found that buying it in the 15-pound bag makes it cheaper than Purina from the grocery store. What I've noticed is that 16-pound, almost-10-year-old Mordred seems to me to be more active than previously. I can't imagine that being caused by his aging! So I guess it was the change to grain-free. He didn't lose any weight on it, though.

Wanting to add some canned food at least occasionally, I was again stumped: I simply can't afford the high-end cans when feeding three. However, on another forum, someone mentioned Dave's Pet Food. I checked it out: good ingredients, no gluten, no grain - and surprisingly affordable. My three now get some of Dave's canned each evening.

On the other hand, years ago, before premium food was ever dreamt of, I fed grocery store food because that's all there was. Cassandra lived to almost 17, and Kalli made it to almost 20 on that food. Kalli would get seriously sick every few years, although the most serious - myocarditis - had nothing to do with food. Cassandra was never ill; I had her sent to the Bridge when she threw a clot. So, feeding grocery store food will not kill your cat; as long as it has the AAFCO seal, it has all the proper nutrients - although the sources of those nutrients may not be the best or most efficient.

I do have one "pet peeve" that I didn't see here but will throw it out there anyway: some people simply do not have the finances to buy the premium foods; they do the best they can and feed grocery store food because *that* is the best they can do. If they come to a forum where that food is called "junk," "crap," or "garbage," - as I've seen on another forum - they're made to feel inadequate, unworthy pet parents. I know that's how I felt when I was feeding Purina; to call the food I was feeding by derogatory names is to berate *me*, not just the food. The compassion we extend to our furchildren should teach us to extend it to others who may be less financially secure.

[cheche]

Many years back I had a cat that I only bought grocery store brands and never read the ingredients. This cat also like some of our foods, especially veggies. Then we hit a road block and she started having digestive problems. She was about 16 years old at this time. I switched her over to Fancy Feast (consider premium at this time) and saw a marked improvement. The next problem showed up when we gave her corn and then the problem with dry cat food. I started reading the ingredients and much to my dismay almost every brand had corn gluten. I went to every specialty pet store trying to find something without it. At that time (about 12 years ago) I found Sensible Choice. I switched my cat over to it and she did well. She lived to be 20 1/2.

Since that time I've tried to go with corn free cat food. It's been a challenge. Brands that didn't use it, started to. It's a cheap filler. Right now I feed my kitties Costco's "Maintenance Cat". It's a premium food(chicken based) with no corn gluten and actually it's inexpensive and my kitties love it.

FYI I saw a show awhile back that compared a three different brands. Iams came out on the bottom. Turns out it has the highest filler content. Sorry but I don't remember what the other brands were.

[cassiesmom]

Cats are lactose intolerant.

If Cassie is OK w/ half a teaspoon of yogurt, keep it up!

We (Dad and I) are also lactose intolerant, so the only milk I ever buy is Lactaid. That is fine for the cats and dogs too.

Dear Auntie Freedom -- Thank you for telling meowmie I may have yogurt! Could you please tell her to keep up the tuna, too? I am VERY okay with that!

Purrs, meows and head bumpies,
Cassie

p.s. from Cassie's food lady: She would be content if I served her tuna, pureed baby food meat, a bit of deli turkey, milk and cut-up chicken white meat on a regular basis I keep telling her that I need to give her a balanced diet (veterinarian's orders), but she just looks at me and meows.

[cassiesmom]

I'm back to this thread again. The feed store near my house has a special on Merrick cat food - 79 cents. They also carry the "Chicken Soup" dry cat food and Taste of the Wild. I see on the pet food rating Web site that Merrick's Before Grain line got 5 out of 5 stars. The varieties also have cute names like California Roll and Grammy's Pot Pie. Like Mr. Spunky, Cassie is eating more now that the weather is getting cooler -- so I'm going to try offering her the Merrick. I'm already paying 59 cents a can to feed her 1-star Friskies so as long as it's on sale I might as well see how she does.

[jennielynn1970]

I'm actually afraid to feed my guys canned food. They have a hard time with dry, getting diarhhea, I'd hate to see what happens with wet food. I'd buy it if I knew it wouldn't cause it cause I know they'd love it. Honeybun, RIP, loved his home made chicken babyfood, and it did give him the runs, but I just chalked it up to what he was going through, cleaned him and it up, and kept on giving it to him. He gained 2lbs on it!! It's just too expensive to do for the whole gang, and not all of them liked it.


With dry, I'm trying what I can afford at the moment. It may mean I eat less of what I can afford, but I do it for them. I hate to think they have sensitive tummies and have pain that I can't help if it's the food. So, I'm feeding Simply Nourish (which is a limited ingredient food... I thought a good thing, just like California Natural, without the corn), and mixing in Avoderm. Just to see what happens. Of course I didn't get to do it gradually. I was totally out of food and had actually prepared Tilapia for the cats to eat cause that's all I had for the night and next day. They snubbed it, of course!! So now, I have Boris barfing, which should level off shortly, but the rest seem find. No others barfing. I am hoping for firmer stools with Calloway/Laslo, my newest guy. His is just like soup. If it doesn't clear up, a vet visit will be in order. I thought maybe the Blue Buffalo was too rich for him maybe. But maybe he has something in his digestive tract that is making his poos the way they are. I never asked the shelter I adopted him from when I got him if they tested him for coccidia or anything else poo related. I of course asked about FIV/FeLV, and he is FIV+ which is why I took him. He's a big hunk of a guy, you'd never know he's FIV+ (and no one else in the household does either). I want him treated equally. He never fights, always backs down, he is just the sweetest boy. I just didn't want my boyfriend to yell and say why take in another FIV boy... well, because of Honeybun, that's why. And they never get adopted, and he looks as healthy as a horse.

Anyway back to the food. I'll let you all know how it goes with the Avoderm and the Simply Nourish. I'm just trying to give them the best I can with what I can afford. If that would have to be Purina One, I'd go there too, but I'm fortunate that I can afford a better quality food for them, while I may not eat the best of quality, I eat about the same standard of food that they do in people food. I just try to buy it cheaper, lol.

[cassiesmom]

Bumping up this old thread because I was looking for this table again... so I'm going to put it here where I can find it if I need it in the future.
http://www.petfoodratings.org/quick-...ference-table/

[moosmom]

I work at Pet Supplies Plus. I have been feeding them Blue Buffalo for a few years now. I USED to feed them IAMS. But I spent two hours one day at the store reading labels. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!

It's $32.99 for a large bag. But...they don't eat as much and their coats are soft and shiny. I'll never go back to (what we call at the store) grocery store food, which is garbage. And...I've never had issues with crystals in the urine. I do feed them canned food in the morning only. 4 cans split between 8 cats.