cat's eating

A

aseay

Cathlete
my cat only eats dry food. she will not eat tuna or salmon out of the can. recently, she has started liking the Board's Head lunchmeat i get which has been plain chicken. is that ok for her? i was wondering, does browned chicken or ham meen it has extra flavoring, sugar,or spices?

laura
 
My vet recommended only dry food as the soft can food can rot their teeth. Matter of preference for the owner. I give my cat Iams and she loves it. She does sometimes get a treat of tuna, but we try very hard NOT to her table food as it is not good for cats at all. Their food has nutrients they need not found in other foods.

Ask your vet.
 
thanks for the info! next time she jumps on the counter for my lunch meat i won't give her any.

laura
 
Huh? Soft food can rot their teeth????? So all animals that are living in the wild, that are carnivores and eat "regular" food instead of dry food have their teeth falling out at a young age? I would dare to speculate that it is the other way around.
The problem with most commercial pet food is that some manufacturers use inferior ingredients and add corn syrup and other sweeteners to make it more palatable, andthat's what makes their teeth rot.

I wouldn't feed your cat lunch meat because of the spices. I do feed them raw and cooked chicken (no spices, no oil though) as well as any other ground meat and chicken liver every once in a while. My cat won't eat any tuna or salmon either. He lets me know that he is very displeased if I even try :)

Have a great evening!

Carola
 
I have had cats most of my adult life...big ones, little ones, you get the point. I think a lot of what you feed your animals is your preference and your cat's preference. I currently have an older Siamese and he prefers the dry food. He never liked the wet food, so I didn't buy it for him. I do not give him treats from the table because I didn't want to start a bad habit (hate animals begging). He gets pet treats every other day and that seems to satisfy him.
 
Regarding the "no soft food" recommendation, my vet actually recommended feeding quality wet food only to my cat to help get and keep his weight down (he was a pretty pudgy cat). The rational being that many dry pet foods contain a lot of fillers that are just empty calories, therefore the cat needs to eat more to feel full.

Chance has been on wet food only, with a treat once a day, for several years now and has had little trouble with tartar.

As for feeding luchmeat, those usually contain a lot of salt, so I'd limit it.
 
>My vet recommended only dry food as the soft can food can rot
>their teeth. Matter of preference for the owner. I give my
>cat Iams and she loves it.

FYI: visit www.iamscruelty.org . It may make you change your mind about supporting IAM's.
 
I give my cats lunch meat turkey once in a while, per the doctor's recommendation. My older cat is starting to have some kidney issues and I was told to give him more protein. The doctor's highly recommended protein sources (scrambled eggs, cooked chicken and cottage cheese) were shunned by my cat. Out of the two treats my cat likes (shrimp and lunch meat turkey), the vet said to go with the turkey). I make sure not to get smoked turkey, or any flavored turkey, just the basic kind.

Shelbygirl
 
As a veterinarian, here are my standard recommendations for feeding cats:

1. All cats should be offered some canned food as kittens, so that they will not be totally averse to eating it as adult/older cats - reason? A very common disease in older cats is kidney failure. Cats in kidney failure need as much moisture in their diet as possible. Dry food lacks moisture, canned/pouch food provides moisture. If an older cat has never eaten canned food, he/she may not start eating it as an adult cat. Cats develop very strong preferences for "substrate" of food (ie canned vs dry) when they are kittens. Also, cats with urinary tract disease tend to have very concentrated urine. (cats are VERY efficient at conserving water, so they produce very concentrated urine) This super concentrated urine (some people call it "strong" urine) can actually be more damaging to a bladder that already has problems!

2. Cats by nature are carnivores. They prefer protein. Dry food is mostly fiber, canned food is more protein and fat. Obese cats often benefit from switching to canned food to lose weight. (sort of the Atkins diet for kitties!) A lot of food allergies that cats get are caused by wheat and corn. These can be eliminated by feeding canned food.

3. Canned food does not cause dental disease, nor does dry food eliminate formation of dental disease. Many cats with severe periodontal disease have a genetic predisposition or are Felv/FIV positive. There are some dry foods that are formulated specifically to help with prevention of dental disease (Hill's t/d is my choice), but not all dry food will help with bad teeth.

4. Treats/pepple food are fine for cats that are fussy eaters, or that are sick and will only eat people food (chicken, etc). Cooked chicken without spices, etc is actually very good for cats. Be careful of anything that might have onions or onion powder in it, as onions are toxic to cats.

So, what do I feed my own cats? A free-choice mixture of Science diet adult maintenance and t/d (the tartar diet) and a can of Fancy feast per day (all 3 cats share the canned food). Occasionally I will offer them some canned tuna or chicken if I'm feeling generous! My cats are all fairly young and still very healthy and are very good eaters!
 
ok so I just took my cat to the dematologist because of ear issues and he said that my cat could have a food allergy so he gave me this rabbit and green pea formula and it's so dry and crunchy that my cat is really not eating it. SO, i put a little hot water on it to make it soft. Maybe he's not eating it because he doesn't like the taste, but then maybe I should get him some canned from the dermatologist. He can't have anything other than this formula for 6 weeks to see if it helps his ears, I don't know, what does that sound like to anyone? And what about softening the food up, how do y'all feel about that. I don't want him to go hungry and he was eating dry cat food and canned before this.

Jen
 
Thanks for your expertise....our vet here specializes in large animals and I have not been able to get much advice in the kitty department. He actually suggested that I put our big kitty on dry food to lose weight...hmmmm. Now I am thinking that maybe I need to begin to introduce the wet stuff.

Thanks again!
 
Interesting!

Edie- thanks for the information! Now, I have another question. I have 3 cats, 2 of which are on the larger end of average and 1 that is a super heavy weight. I have been feeding them Science Diet light for years, trouble it, Ambush eats it all! I have tried putting only 1/3 cup of food in each bowl in the morning and at night, like I said, Ambush eats the lion's share of it. I have recently starting giving them 3 oz cans of wet food, and again, Ambush eats is all! I have no idea where this driving need to eat all the food comes from! If DH and I let the food bowls get empty between feedings, then when we fill them, Ambush eats so fast that she throws up! It's not like we are trying to starve them, and we have had all 3 from kittens! The other 2 seem to have a very healthy relationship with food, unlike Ambush! I don't know what to do next? (Sorry to ambush the highjack the thread....)
 
Edie,
Thanks for the information. I think I need to find a new vet! They had me scared to give my cat canned food! Now my cat won't eat it....:(
 
So you feed your cats dry and canned food? my cat,5 yrs, is at a healthy weight,i think. i feed her Purina ONE dry food. i will try giving her canned food but she may not eat it since she does not like canned tuna or salmon.

laura
 
>Interesting!
>
>Edie- thanks for the information! Now, I have another
>question. I have 3 cats, 2 of which are on the larger end of
>average and 1 that is a super heavy weight. I have been
>feeding them Science Diet light for years, trouble it, Ambush
>eats it all! I have tried putting only 1/3 cup of food in
>each bowl in the morning and at night, like I said, Ambush
>eats the lion's share of it. I have recently starting giving
>them 3 oz cans of wet food, and again, Ambush eats is all! I
>have no idea where this driving need to eat all the food comes
>from! If DH and I let the food bowls get empty between
>feedings, then when we fill them, Ambush eats so fast that she
>throws up! It's not like we are trying to starve them, and we
>have had all 3 from kittens! The other 2 seem to have a very
>healthy relationship with food, unlike Ambush! I don't know
>what to do next? (Sorry to ambush the highjack the
>thread....)


Amy,

Will the other 2 cats eat on demand or not? (meaning will they eat if the food is placed in front of them, or are they "grazers"?) You might have to lock Ambush out of the room and allow the other 2 to eat. Then keep the dishes up unless it's feeding time. Ambush will have to learn that she can only eat twice a day and not eat all the food in the house! Sounds like she needs a diet anyway! You might consider Hill's m/d (not to sound like a salesperson for Hills), it is a "metabolic diet" meaning that in a dry food form, it is higher protein, reduced carb. A lot of cats that have had trouble losing weight on traditional diet foods (light and less-active formulas) will often lose weight with m/d. Hope this helps!
 
>So you feed your cats dry and canned food? my cat,5 yrs, is
>at a healthy weight,i think. i feed her Purina ONE dry food. i
>will try giving her canned food but she may not eat it since
>she does not like canned tuna or salmon.
>
>laura

Laura,

I feed my cats 1 small can of food split between all 3 cats, so they each get maybe 2 tablespoons per day. There are so many different varieties of canned food these days. Some cats will eat one variety, (for example shredded, or chunky), but not others. Try different formulas and maybe only feed her a small amount per day. Some have more gravy/juice that cats will lick. I think the pouch foods might have more gravy than some of the canned foods. Of course it's not imperative that all cats eat some canned food, just makes feeding them easier as they get older and if they get sick.
 
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