Best food for male kitty

"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

"AlisonT" wrote in message
...
After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. I would like to switch him to a
better
diet. I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is
the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not
sure
I can face Petsmart right now. Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? I'm confused by all
the
different types out there. I'd like to free feed him a dry type
and
give him some canned every day. What is the best to get?

I cannot advise you about brands in the USA. Dry foods are bad for
boys as they seem to cause blocked urinary tracts.
Boyfie was obviously raised on dry before he got himself lost
through his hormones, because given the chance it would be all he
would eat.
He now has to tolerate wet food twice a day and a sprinkling of dry
on his evening meal because I know he likes it.

I do not believe that dry food given to cats or dogs is a good idea.
It may contain all they need, I do not deny that, but if they were
wild they'd be eating wild food which is wet.
Dry food often contains so much protein that it's bad for the
kidneys.
KFC has lived so long, I believe, because dry food has never touched
her lips. Yes, she now has kidney failure, but it's not because of
her diet. It's because she's 25 years old. Something will have to
cause her demise unless she's up for the oldest cat in the world/.

She was missing when I came home. She climbed up on the wire again
to get herself some sunshine. If you asked me if she could do it,
I'd have to say no.
I underestimate her.

Tweed


Made me smile and brought tears to my eyes at the same time. Good for
you KFC. Jake and Molly purr all the time for you to find warm
patches of sun and the wherewithal to enjoy them.
Jo

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"AlisonT" wrote in message
...
After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. I would like to switch him to a better
diet. I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not sure
I can face Petsmart right now. Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? I'm confused by all the
different types out there. I'd like to free feed him a dry type and
give him some canned every day. What is the best to get?

I cannot advise you about brands in the USA. Dry foods are bad for boys
as they seem to cause blocked urinary tracts.
Boyfie was obviously raised on dry before he got himself lost through his
hormones, because given the chance it would be all he would eat.
He now has to tolerate wet food twice a day and a sprinkling of dry on his
evening meal because I know he likes it.

I do not believe that dry food given to cats or dogs is a good idea. It
may contain all they need, I do not deny that, but if they were wild
they'd be eating wild food which is wet.
Dry food often contains so much protein that it's bad for the kidneys.
KFC has lived so long, I believe, because dry food has never touched her
lips. Yes, she now has kidney failure, but it's not because of her diet.
It's because she's 25 years old. Something will have to cause her demise
unless she's up for the oldest cat in the world/.

She was missing when I came home. She climbed up on the wire again to get
herself some sunshine. If you asked me if she could do it, I'd have to
say no.
I underestimate her.

Tweed

I think she's probably that fit at this advanced age because she was on her
own and had to work for her living most of her life. My grandmother lived
to be 104 and walked five miles a day until a few months before she died -
simply because she walked at least that far every day of her life. I think
as long as you "use it" you won't "lose it"! ;

Hugs,

CN

The wet vrs dry will go on forever. We usually feed them what they will
eat, or what we can afford. Even as kittens, none of my three would eat wet
food and believe me, I spent enough money trying to find something they
liked.

I have finally decided that since all three of mine were "rescued", Willow
came from someone I knew but still needed a home. Anyway, as long as they
are not needing something specific for a problem, they are still eating
better than if they were in the wild. You do the best for them you can so,
don't always try to give an answer to everything. Mine won't touch meow mix
but will eat special kitty....who knows.

"cl" wrote in message
...
AlisonT wrote:
After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. I would like to switch him to a better
diet. I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not sure
I can face Petsmart right now. Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? I'm confused by all the
different types out there. I'd like to free feed him a dry type and
give him some canned every day. What is the best to get?

Considering what the grocery stores stock here I would suggest Purina One
or Iams as a second choice. As they are likely to carry a formula for how
old Tank is - kitten, adult, senior or as the case may be. Whenever you
should be ready for Petsmart I would suggest Nutro Natural Choice, or
Science Diet as a second choice. Since he is a male cat I would suggest
about 50-60% canned food, and the rest dry. Free feeding should be ok
dependant on Tank's weight.

cl

On Mar 18, 3:39*pm, AlisonT wrote:
After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. *It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. *I would like to switch him to a better
diet. *I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. *I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not sure
I can face Petsmart right now. *Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? *I'm confused by all the
different types out there. *I'd like to free feed him a dry type and
give him some canned every day. *What is the best to get?

Alison, I fed Cherokee Meow Mix exclusively. He died in 2000 at the
age of 17.
We didn't know much about cat food back in the 80's. I'm sure now it
wasn't
the best thing, but the cats survived on it. What disturbs me now is I
remember
how, if he ever vomited, it left a bright orange stain -- it must have
had a lot of
weird dyes in it.
You'll get as many opinions as there are cat lovers with your
question! Purina One
is available at the grocery, and IMO is better than Meow MIx. Purina
has a new line
called "Healthful Life" that I buy when I can't make it to Petsmart --
the cats love it and
(digestively) do well on it in a pinch. (unfortunately, it also looks
like it has dye in it). Their
normal diet is a mix of non-fish Fancy Feast and Pro Plan dry.
In the end, don't blame yourself for losing Tigger. Just do some
research, and make a
decision based on what you learn and can afford. Just one word though
-- if you do
switch brands, do it gradually so you can tell how well they tolerate
the new food.
Best of luck.
Sherry

sort of like my first dog guide, the only food he would touch is of all
thing bow wow, no canned was liked, he would eat people food occasionally
but was always healthy and stayed in the same 3 pound weight for his entire
life, and if he wasn't hungry he would not even eat steak or treats, odd for
a dog, Lee
"Granby" wrote in message
...
The wet vrs dry will go on forever. We usually feed them what they will
eat, or what we can afford. Even as kittens, none of my three would eat
wet food and believe me, I spent enough money trying to find something
they liked.

I have finally decided that since all three of mine were "rescued", Willow
came from someone I knew but still needed a home. Anyway, as long as they
are not needing something specific for a problem, they are still eating
better than if they were in the wild. You do the best for them you can
so, don't always try to give an answer to everything. Mine won't touch
meow mix but will eat special kitty....who knows.

"cl" wrote in message
...
AlisonT wrote:
After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. I would like to switch him to a better
diet. I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not sure
I can face Petsmart right now. Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? I'm confused by all the
different types out there. I'd like to free feed him a dry type and
give him some canned every day. What is the best to get?

Considering what the grocery stores stock here I would suggest Purina One
or Iams as a second choice. As they are likely to carry a formula for how
old Tank is - kitten, adult, senior or as the case may be. Whenever you
should be ready for Petsmart I would suggest Nutro Natural Choice, or
Science Diet as a second choice. Since he is a male cat I would suggest
about 50-60% canned food, and the rest dry. Free feeding should be ok
dependant on Tank's weight.

cl

On Mar 19, 12:13*pm, "CN" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Mar 18, 3:39 pm, AlisonT wrote:

After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. I would like to switch him to a better
diet. I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not sure
I can face Petsmart right now. Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? I'm confused by all the
different types out there. I'd like to free feed him a dry type and
give him some canned every day. What is the best to get?

The best option for any cat is to feed them like the carnivores they
are. That means meal feeding rather than free feeding as meal feeding
is closer to what they would do in a natural state and will also
decrease the chance of your cat becoming obese. Since they don't yet
make mice in a can, the best you can do is to get as close to that as
you can, which means a good quality canned meat diet with NO grains. A
couple of brands that fit the bill are the *grain free* canned flavors
of Wellness and Innova EVO. There is also a pre-made frozen raw diet
made by Nature's Variety that is excellent, but does require a little
more care and sanitary practice when feeding (it's not a big deal- I
use it for my cats.) Making sure your cat gets a diet appropriate for
a carnivore is going to give your cat the best chance to stay healthy
and result in fewer crisis vet visits. Please take the time to read
the following articles (written by well-respected veterinarians) as
they are very educational and address not just proper nutrition, but
also explain why dry food diets are bad for cats and create a lot of
the health problems (diabetes, IBD, Kidney problems, urinary tract
problems, etc.) that we see today:

http://www.catinfo.orghttp://www.cat...g/diabetes.php

=================

What does the vet you work for recommend?

Hugs,

CN

Every cat owner that comes in gets a nutritional consult that pretty
much parallels the links I provided. We do not sell any dry food for
cats, and interestingly, we do not use prescription diets and have
been successful in finding great alternatives that can be purchased
over the counter. The main brands we carry and recommend are as listed
above- Wellness (only the grain free varieties), Innova EVO, and
Nature's Variety. Unfortunately, there is not a lot out there just
yet, however it is clear that the tide is turning and more and more
people are becoming aware of just how important *correct* nutrition is
to the health and wellbeing of their cats.

Yes, I have a lot of orange stains on the carpet. Whatever possesed
me to get light grey carpet? I do find that Resolve works well on
it. Tank went to TED today for his semi-annual checkup and he
suggested some Royal Canin (sp). It is for nuetered cats younger than
7 years which fits Tank to a t. We'll see how that goes because I'm
not having a lot of luck with the canned. I fed him some Sheba
yesterday that looked good enough for me to eat, he completely ignored
it. He will eat about 1/4 of a small can of Iams so I'll keep giving
him that as a special treat in the morning. Maybe he will come to
like it.

On Mar 21, 6:10*pm, AlisonT wrote:
Yes, I have a lot of orange stains on the carpet. *Whatever possesed
me to get light grey carpet? *I do find that Resolve works well on
it. *Tank went to TED today for his semi-annual checkup and he
suggested some Royal Canin (sp). *It is for nuetered cats younger than
7 years which fits Tank to a t. *We'll see how that goes because I'm
not having a lot of luck with the canned. *I fed him some Sheba
yesterday that looked good enough for me to eat, he completely ignored
it. *He will eat about 1/4 of a small can of Iams so I'll keep giving
him that as a special treat in the morning. *Maybe he will come to
like it.

If you are leaving dry food out all day that will definitely interfere
with you transitioning your cat to canned food. When cats snack all
day (whicH is not natural) they never really work up an appetite, and
having a dry alternative available to them when you try to give canned
isn't going to help. The stuff they spray on dry food can be addicting
and is the only reason cats will eat it at all, so they won't really
bother with the canned when they have their version of junk food ready
and waiting (read the second link I posted for a detailed history of
dry food).

Try feeding you cat measured amounts of food on a schedule (every 12
hours with nothing out inbetween) and I think you'll find he'll be
much more open to canned food you offer. Also read this link which
gives tips on transitioning cats to canned food:
http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitionin...o_Canned_Food_
Any cat can be transitioned, but for some it just takes more time and
patience. I have one that would have rather starved before she would
eat canned food, but over a three month period I was able to convince
her otherwise. Now she will eat whatever I put I front of her.

wrote:
Making sure your cat gets a diet appropriate for
a carnivore is going to give your cat the best chance to stay healthy
and result in fewer crisis vet visits. Please take the time to read
the following articles (written by well-respected veterinarians) as
they are very educational and address not just proper nutrition, but
also explain why dry food diets are bad for cats and create a lot of
the health problems (diabetes, IBD, Kidney problems, urinary tract
problems, etc.) that we see today:

http://www.catinfo.org
http://www.catnutrition.org/diabetes.php



Thanks for these links. It's good to have some back-up when people
question the way I feed my cats (mostly only raw beef, with a nutrient
supplement).

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Our 4 cats, 2 boys, 2 girls, will ony eat Friskies tinned, in the beef
flavor in the morning and chicken flavor at night. We also leave Friskies
Indoor kibbles out for them.
Sometimes we get them Meow Mix indoor dry kibble, but they seem to like the
Friskies better.
Kyla

sort of like my first dog guide, the only food he would touch is of all
thing bow wow, no canned was liked, he would eat people food occasionally
but was always healthy and stayed in the same 3 pound weight for his
entire life, and if he wasn't hungry he would not even eat steak or
treats, odd for a dog, Lee
"Granby" The wet vrs dry will go on forever. We usually feed them what
they will
eat, or what we can afford. Even as kittens, none of my three would eat
wet food and believe me, I spent enough money trying to find something
they liked.

I have finally decided that since all three of mine were "rescued",
Willow came from someone I knew but still needed a home. Anyway, as long
as they are not needing something specific for a problem, they are still
eating better than if they were in the wild. You do the best for them
you can so, don't always try to give an answer to everything. Mine won't
touch meow mix but will eat special kitty....who knows.

"cl" wrote in message
...
AlisonT wrote:
After Tigger's untimely death I have wondered if possibly the fact
that she ate Meow Mix all her life might have contributed. It was
difficult to change Tigger's diet since she was very particular but
Tank will eat most anything. I would like to switch him to a better
diet. I've added in some canned food which he likes but what is the
best food to get for a male kitty in good helath. I don't want to
have to go to the vet's office everytime I need food and I'm not sure
I can face Petsmart right now. Is there a brand available in the
grocery store that is better than Meow mix? I'm confused by all the
different types out there. I'd like to free feed him a dry type and
give him some canned every day. What is the best to get?

Considering what the grocery stores stock here I would suggest Purina
One or Iams as a second choice. As they are likely to carry a formula
for how old Tank is - kitten, adult, senior or as the case may be.
Whenever you should be ready for Petsmart I would suggest Nutro Natural
Choice, or Science Diet as a second choice. Since he is a male cat I
would suggest about 50-60% canned food, and the rest dry. Free feeding
should be ok dependant on Tank's weight.

cl