HELP MEEEEE please i am getting a cat soon, but...... is it ok to feed them canned foods what ever they sell in grocery stores? i mean... i saw some disturbing stuff online, like, they chop/grind the dead bodys of animals into the pet food they sell outside? They say that it will cause them to develop kidney problems! What should i do? should i home cook it for my future cat? Anyone know a good recipe? HELP MEEEEEE

I've had 4 cats in my life, and every one of them had been fed a combo of canned food and crunchies. Not one of them had a problem with their health. All but one died of old age. And that one that didn't...is still alive. By old age, I mean one was 12, one was 15 and one was 18.

I don't know anything about the contents of the canned food, but if you are skeptical, you could always buy organic from a place like Whole Foods or something.

I've shared my life with many cats. My family has always been 'cat people.' Throughout my time of cat ownership (meaning *I* was "owned" by them!), I've only had one cat (out of six) that had problems with Feline Urological Syndrome, otherwise known as FUS. This is a problem with male cats primarily, where there is a build-up of crystals in the cat's bladder to the point where they stop urinating (for more info, I would Google the term). This is prevented by special food that has the right balance of minerals to prevent the condition. It's expensive, but well worth it if you want to keep the kitty that has this problem.

That said, the rest of my cats (and my family's), survived quite nicely on a good quality food like Iams. Hills pet food is also quite good, as well there are other, premium brands that one could buy. Frankly, my mom's cats (all five at the moment) live it up on Fancy Feast, and she's never had any trouble either. All of our cats are fairly long-lived, averaging around 14-16 when they finally cross the rainbow bridge.

Hope this helps!

~~Wiccan~~
PS - A mix of dry and canned cat food would probably be your cat's best bet. Mine get only dry food, since I'm concerned about my kitteh's weight.

I've had more cats in my life than I can count and we've never had any problem, though they usually tend to eat dry food as it's easier to buy in bulk. We never have just one cat, I'm currently catsitting my SIL's two, and they are on complete dry as well. She's trying to watch their weight.

If you are adopting your future cat, try asking the shelter you are adopting her/him from what would be the best food. When I adopted Sherlock, my rabbit, the SPCA told me not only what food and how much he needed, but also the brands to stay away from.

If you're not adopting, try stopping by the local pet food stop, someone there might know the ins and outs of local cat food.

I know some people who feed their cats only raw meat. (which is fine) That can be very expensive though.

From personal experience, 9 Lives, Alley Cats, or any cheaper shelf brand for that matter... kills male cats because it causes UTI's (Urinary Tract Infections, see Wiccan's post)

I currently have a male cat that is on Prescription Science Diet (It is Hill's Brand) to keep form having repeat UTIs. I also have a little girl cat that was dumped in my lap years ago. She has been on Iams for... I dunno. Going on 14 years now and she has never had a lick of trouble.

You have to be careful with male cats and with what you feed them. If you can afford it, raw meat diets are what is best for them because in the wild it is all they'd eat. Cats are not meant to ingest (and for that matter have a hard time digesting) things like corn meal fillers and whatnot. Also, be wary of any brand that lists Ash in their food.

I am a huge opposer of canned cat food, UNLESS the cat is sick. (I was giving my male kitty prescription canned cat food when he had his UTI so he would get more water into his system.) It has too much fat in it, and prolonged eating of it (and not enough crunchies) causes rapid tooth decay. My cats only eat hard food, and on occasion if I am cutting up raw meat for dinner, I will share a little of it with them. However, that is just my opinion on it.

The best advice you can get is from your vet, especially if you are starting out. I fumbled into cat care. If I knew ten years ago what I know now, I'd have saved myself a ton of money in vet bills and a ton of heartache.

I'm curious but where did you read that information at?

I would research most common name brands of food and see what they have in them. You want the first ingredient to be meat, or meat by products but the more natural meat, the better.

Our cat has only eaten Purina food her whole life. She is now almost 17 years old, and still as active as when she was a kitten. Her coat is very soft and she is able to put a 60 pound lab/boxer mix in its place(laughs) so I would suggest Purina. They are good priced and you can get a bag of food that will last a long time.

I'd also suggest looking into the 'science diet' food. This food is pretty expensive, and I didn't try it with any of my animals until recently(for my puppy) and I was amazed at the change of her in only a few days of eating the food. Her coat became healthier(softer) and her eyes changed too, they were less watery. She was also more active and just healthier. She is also growing at a good pace ^^

We do feed her(our cat) canned food once every other day, or every day as a treat. Lately we have been feeding her meow mix. Which seems pretty good, but for the most part she only licks up the liquid and then one of our dogs end up eating the rest of it.

Also, I would suggest you take her/him to the vet within 48 hours of getting her. This way you will know he/she is healthy right away, and not have to come across any major problems later.

Get him/her tested for feline leukemia.

Also, find out what she/he have been feed thus far, feed him/her that for a few weeks and slowly introduce the new food into their diet(mix the old food with the new food). Changing food suddenly can cause them to have some digestive problems(nothing serious, but it will be harder for them to digest or they make have diarrhea things like that)

My cat has FUS. Just like Wiccan says its primarily in male cats (mine is a boy) and it is easily managed with perscription diet food - they make soft food and hard food. HOWEVER if your cat is a little STINKER like MINE then it can be a little bit of a battle. We are going through a weird transition stage in our home right now... we have a 2.5 year old and a baby due in December, so the hubs and I have been a bit scatter brained trying to get ready for the new addition, and out tot is learning more independance with eating snack foods outside of her highchair - which means food finds its way to the floor all over our house. Our cat eats that food before we get to clean in up, and all that human food is REALLY not good for them. They should ONLY eat the diet food. One time the little stinker ACTUALLY got in to a BIG pot of ministrone soup I had made for freezing and storing. It had finished cooking so I put the pot lid on it and left it on a cool burner so the pot could cool down enough to put it in the fridge prior to breaking it down into serving sizes in the freezer. That cat jumped on the counter nocked off the pot lid, and burried his face in the soup. When I caught him he just looked at me like "what r u lookin' at?" I could have skinned him alive! Had to toss the entire pot, and on top of it, I've been worried about him having another flair up. FUS is serious, and shouldn't be taken lightly, but it IS something that is easily managed (for the most part)

MoxyMikki wrote:
n a cool burner so the pot could cool down enough to put it in the fridge prior to breaking it down into serving sizes in the freezer. That cat jumped on the counter nocked off the pot lid, and burried his face in the soup. When I caught him he just looked at me like "what r u lookin' at?"

I think our cats came from the same litter. My male cat is a butt head like that too.

I finished baking two pumpkin pies last week, and I left them on the counter to cool. They were burning hot, so I figured he wouldn't bother them. WRONG. I caught him with his face buried in one, and when he looked up he was all "WHAT'CHYA LOOKIN' AT WOMAN?"

He also has ruined a blueberry cobbler, several batches of cookies and a batch of cinnamon rolls. AND countless dinners. AND countless meats I have left to thaw in the sink. (Covered too. He has figured out the fine art of moving stuff.) Counter cats are the worst, and its a habit that cannot be broken. All the spray bottles in the world cannot stop his stubborness. The best thing I can do is make it to where he doesn't get a reward for getting on the counter... which is impossible to do because the husband hasn't grasped the idea yet. (He leaves dirty, unrinsed dishes on the counter. Thats a FEAST for my cat.)

Terri-tots wrote:
Counter cats are the worst, and its a habit that cannot be broken. All the spray bottles in the world cannot stop his stubborness. The best thing I can do is make it to where he doesn't get a reward for getting on the counter... which is impossible to do because the husband hasn't grasped the idea yet. (He leaves dirty, unrinsed dishes on the counter. Thats a FEAST for my cat.)

I agree, counter cats are kind of bad(especially if you cook a lot) Our cat has to eat her food on the counter, otherwise she won't get any of it because our oldest dog likes to eat her food. She shares the water with the dog(on the floor) but otherwise her food is on the counter to make sure she gets some of it. I just wash and sanitize the counter top about fifty times a day ^^;

Our cat(Sassy) likes to eat some human food, but she is extremely picky on what she eats. Her favorites are : String cheese and spaghetti.

She has loved these since she was little.

I had one cat though, who was a total butt munch, he would eat anything(maybe it's a male cat thing?) Like pizza. I remember this one time we had ordered pizza and it was on the counter while everyone was eating, and my cat jumped up on the counter and pushed the whole box of pizza off the counter so he and our dog could eat it >.>

he was a sneaky little brat(he also disliked my cousin and would chase him all around the house, it was great ha)But sadly he was an indoor/outdoor cat and one night my dad closed the door and didn't let him in, so he just left T.T, he was my cat so I was pretty heartbroken. I searched for months but could never find him(that was when I was 9/10 )

Also just curious but does anyone else here have extremely picky animals? One's that won't eat any off brand, or store brand food?

All of my animals can only eat brand food, they won't touch store or off brand food. I mean they will seriously go on a hunger strike until they get brand food.

My cat has FUS and has to eat prescription food as well. It's kind of expensive, but I'm determined not to allow him to have another outbreak. Terri and several other knowledgable cat owners on Dokuga helped me figure out what his problem was, and I'm really greatful. I do believe that the reason none of the other cats I've taken care of over the years (as opposed to owned) have had a problem with this is that they were outside cats that lived mostly by hunting. They were prone to tapeworms and ear mites (they get them from the rodents they hunt), but never FUS. The kitty I adopted would not be able to survive on his own the way the barn and semi-feral cats I am used to could, so I have accepted the wisdom that meat is important to ward off this illness, and it is also important for the cat to remain hydrated, so as with any other pet, very clean fresh water should always be readily available.

PRVN wrote:

Also just curious but does anyone else here have extremely picky animals? One's that won't eat any off brand, or store brand food?

All of my animals can only eat brand food, they won't touch store or off brand food. I mean they will seriously go on a hunger strike until they get brand food.

My mother claims that her cats won't eat unless it's Fancy Feast, and specific flavors for specific cats. Frankly, my FUS male cat and his sister tried that trick when we had to switch to the prescription cat food, but it didn't work.

Any animal will eat when it gets hungry enough. If that's all there is to eat, it will eventually eat it. Srsly. Taste buds aside, they won't starve themselves.

~~Wiccan~~

WiccanMethuselah wrote:


My mother claims that her cats won't eat unless it's Fancy Feast, and specific flavors for specific cats. Frankly, my FUS male cat and his sister tried that trick when we had to switch to the prescription cat food, but it didn't work.

Any animal will eat when it gets hungry enough. If that's all there is to eat, it will eventually eat it. Srsly. Taste buds aside, they won't starve themselves.

~~Wiccan~~

Haha, Yeah. They just give one glares while eating it

We usually only get them different food when we are low on funds and cant afford their actual food, after a few days they will eventually eat it, but at least for my cats, they let it be known that they don't like it.

My ferrets did that to me recently, I bought them a same brand food, it was just a different type. They wouldn't even touch it, but after a few days they eventually ate it.

But that didn't stop me from worrying because I was stressing that they weren't eating.

WiccanMethuselah wrote:
PRVN wrote:

Also just curious but does anyone else here have extremely picky animals? One's that won't eat any off brand, or store brand food?

All of my animals can only eat brand food, they won't touch store or off brand food. I mean they will seriously go on a hunger strike until they get brand food.

My mother claims that her cats won't eat unless it's Fancy Feast, and specific flavors for specific cats. Frankly, my FUS male cat and his sister tried that trick when we had to switch to the prescription cat food, but it didn't work.

Any animal will eat when it gets hungry enough. If that's all there is to eat, it will eventually eat it. Srsly. Taste buds aside, they won't starve themselves.

~~Wiccan~~


Yeah Wiccan I have that problem here.

My cats will not eat anything unless it is Whiskas, and their treats have to be Whiskas too. (Though they will eat any moist treats by any company it seems.) It goes for wet food too. I fed all my cats wet canned food since they were kittens and though I have tried to buy the more expensive stuff, because one of my cats is suffering from seizures and is losing weight, they wouldn't eat it.

I remember a cat of mine that died of cancer wouldn't eat anything but Special Kitty. And before you worry the cancer she was born with so it wasn't caused by the food. But near the end she ate only wet food and lived two years eating that with nothing happening to her kidneys. In fact the vet told us to feed her the can food if that was what she wanted to eat.

Angelic Memories wrote:

Yeah Wiccan I have that problem here.

My cats will not eat anything unless it is Whiskas, and their treats have to be Whiskas too. (Though they will eat any moist treats by any company it seems.) It goes for wet food too. I fed all my cats wet canned food since they were kittens and though I have tried to buy the more expensive stuff, because one of my cats is suffering from seizures and is losing weight, they wouldn't eat it.

I remember a cat of mine that died of cancer wouldn't eat anything but Special Kitty. And before you worry the cancer she was born with so it wasn't caused by the food. But near the end she ate only wet food and lived two years eating that with nothing happening to her kidneys. In fact the vet told us to feed her the can food if that was what she wanted to eat.

That is the biggest problem... people are worried about their animals starving or harming themselves by not eating. And, believe me, a stubborn, otherwise well-fed, and determined cat can go QUITE a while without eating much.

We made sure that they had fresh water constantly, zealously guarded anything that had to be left on a counter, cleaned the dishes immediately, and the cats eventually had to give up. It's just a matter of time, but they can act sooooo very pathetic until they capitulate. Cats are good that way, y'know?

~~Wiccan~~
PS - Obviously, if the cat is ill from something other than its diet, you would cater to the cat's wants. When they have illnesses like cancer and the like, that's all you can do to make them comfortable. When it's a diet-related problem, though, you have to do the "tough love" thing.

when I got my cat from the humane society they told me not to feed a full grown cat anything soft as it is not good for their teeth. They said the only normal food that was even remotely good for them was Purina.

My friend, Amanda has three cats and she said "9 Lives" is great...has stuff in it to prevent crystals in their urinal tract

One of the cats we're watching, Schtroumpfette or Smurfette in English, is unfortunately a counter cat. Thankfully she hasn't gone anywhere near any food we leave up there like my latest batch of banana nut bread, but she goes on the other side of the counter and gets fur all over my clean dishes and I have to rewash them.

Sherlock can be a bit of a picky eater, and yes I know he's not a cat but he tries to eat cat food so it counts , but he only likes his Alfalfa hay. Which comes in the pink bag, one day hubby bought the one in the green, forgot the name but it is the same company, and he was not happy lol. His favorite thing to get into, that he's not supposed to, is the cat food. And of course Sandra, the other cat, likes to play with her food, batting the pieces around the house and losing them, so Sherlock can come along later and find them.

We've had cats my whole life, however they've only been girls. Our last cat just showed up one day and we took her in and had her for 17 years before we had to put her down due to her kidneys outright failing. Our current kitty, who is also a girl, was adopted from the humane society and had been abused and abandoned. We don't have a lot of experience with male cats. Our vet told us that the cats should be given canned food because typically they don't drink enough water and that they can get their water from canned food.

Our problem is that my cat doesn't like anything other than Hills Science Diet dry food because that's what they gave her at the shelter. Even when I give her canned food, she waits until it drys out and then crunches her way through it. It's baffling. If you are concerned about what's in the canned food, you can go organic as was suggested. I would suggest getting one can of several brands of food and trying it out. It might go well for you.

As for my kitty, the only canned food she'll even nibble at is Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish flavor. It's baffling...

I too am a cat person. I have 9 in my house. (Big house and not all are mine) I have always been a sucker for a stray animal. Especially if it is starving. That's how I ended up with most of my cats.

My baby died a few months ago. I got him from HART (Humane Animal Rescue Team). My son had a cat, so I wasn't looking for any more animals. We went to Petsmart one Saturday to get his cat a toy. That's when the shelters set up for adoptions. I always have to look at the animals. I was in the little room checking out the kitties. In one of the top cages was a gray tabby laying there looking like, 'I'm so bored. Can I leave now?' I stuck my fingers through the bars and talked to him. He got up and rubbed up against the bars. When I tried to go to the next cage and its occupant, he stuck a paw through the cage and tried to pull me back while meowing at me. That was it. I was done. I forked over the 75 dollar adoption fee and took Nelson home.

A more spoiled cat you will never meet. I took him to the vet at HART's instruction and expense for the first visit as his shot series was not complete. I asked the question about food and the vet told me that practically anything was fine, but I had to read the label and make sure it contained ash. Male cats require ash. That is why they end up with FUS on certain foods. I was surprised by the number of brand name foods that do not contain ash. Almost all canned foods do. But a good number of dry foods don't.

I feed my cats Purina indoor formula. I give them canned food as special treats. The sliced turkey in gravy is a must for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Special days for me should be special days for them too. They get human food occasionally too. My husband is bad about sharing whatever meat he is eating with his cat which is half Maine Coon. We grilled steaks one day. He fed about half of his to the cat. Maine Coons are big. Huge. They are the largest domestic cats in the world. That cat was so stuffed he lazed around and wouldn't hardly move for two days. All of our cats are fat n sassy. And healthy according to our vet. They get their exercise chasing our German Shepherd and Basset Hound.

My baby was a spoiled lap kitty until the day he died in my arms. I'm not sure how old he was. He was an adult cat when I got him, and I had him for 15 years. Whenever I would go into to my library to get on my computer, he would sit outside my door and meow at me until I let him in. My sons said his meow when he did this sounded like he was saying 'Mama'. Needless to say, he didn't sit outside my door for long.

I like sour cream and onion potato chips. I dropped one once and he ate it. Then begged for more. I never gave him more than one or two. I just couldn't resist the begging. The vet said it wouldn't hurt him as long as it was just the one or two once in a while. He was probably craving the salt or something else in them that he needed. Kind of like women and our chocolate once a month magnesium thing. But it was strange, he refused any other kind. My sons thought it was funny and would try to feed him a potato chip. He wouldn't eat any flavor but sour cream and onion. I thought it might be because he wouldn't take it from them, but no, he wouldn't eat any other flavor from me either. I put a plain one down and he came running as usual, sniffed it, and then sat up and looked at me like, 'You know what I want and this isn't it'.

Over the years I have had many cats as members of the family and only one was ever really sick. She got a cold (at least it was the symptoms of a cold). She got over the cold within a few days, but I had to force feed her for about three days. I learned that cats associate food solely with scent. If the cat can't smell it, the cat won't eat it. Even if it is the same food it normally eats and is in the same bowl. It won't eat. Period. So while she had a stuffed up nose from the cold and couldn't smell, I had to force feed her to keep her from starving. She got over it and lived a very long life.

I have graduated by the way. My sons tell me my years of practice have paid off. I am now, according to them, officially the crazy old cat lady. lol

Time on my hands wrote:
I too am a cat person. I have 9 in my house. (Big house and not all are mine) I have always been a sucker for a stray animal. Especially if it is starving. That's how I ended up with most of my cats.

My baby died a few months ago.

Almost all our animals have been rescues or strays (except for 1 dog and the horses). We lost our Manx a few months ago too, so you have my deepest sympathy for your loss. It still hurts to see the places where he used to hang out empty, so I know. I keep forgetting we don't have two cats anymore, and it's been since July... and the girl-child is agitating for a new one already, lol!

*sigh* Someday soon, we'll find that cat (or it'll find us) that says "You can't live without me." The hubby will pitch a fit again, but he'll live, right?

~~Wiccan~~

Terri-tots wrote:
I know some people who feed their cats only raw meat. (which is fine) That can be very expensive though.

...

If you can afford it, raw meat diets are what is best for them because in the wild it is all they'd eat.

I would advise caution in attempting an all-raw diet and wouldn't really recommend it; if you do, you should be careful about it. Not just because of the risk of contaminated foods but because of the specific dietary requirements of cats. Most mammals can synthesize the amino acid taurine, but cats cannot; therefore it is ESSENTIAL cats get lots and lots of taurine in their diet. Taurine is fortunately naturally found in meat, but, processing causes degredation of taurine so if your cat is fed entirely ground meat they can suffer from taurine deficiency which causes blindness and heart problems. (cats have evolved to eat raw meat, but from fresh kills, not factories ). Supplementing the meat with taurine can correct this, and un-ground very fresh meat will retain more of the natural taurine.

This is why ALL commercially available cat foods add taurine to the food, and why a cat cannot live off of dogfood long-term (dog food does not have taurine added because dogs can make their own. dog food is heavily processed so the taurine in the meat has degraded).

Of course, needless to say, an all-meat diet is infinately better for a cat than an all-veggie one!

Hey all, thx for the advise =D shall follow them =D THANKS!

As someone with an felv cat I did the oh no what do I feed my son (he's my cat but he my world so I see him as my baby) and as vet assistant I say hills science diet all the way make sure you follow every bit of instructions the bag says now you don't have to do that alllll the time but please don't make the mistake most cat owners do by switching the dry cat food up. If your going too feed your baby hills then you gotta Stick to that unless you need to get a cheaper brand but if you switch you have to alteast stick to what you already switched to. Also your kitty must have wet food atleast 2 times a week it helps there poo system a bunch lol . Also one more thing before I forget if the babys under 4 months you have to mix a little water in the food and keep anything chew and breakable away from em. Tigger ate prices of my toy rubber mouse once and let's just say if I didn't notic him chocking before my vet program I would have lost my son. I really hope you read this and I hope this helps you and don't forget shot they must be provided for the cats safty you need all 3 round of shots. Cheak for felv and fiv if your cat has felv send me a message right away and we will talk more about that becouse depending onthe age there are ALOT of things that can go horably wrong and posibly deathly. Other then that enjoy your new addition to the family and play lots if anything get em a farret I k ow tigger loves waldo there like brothers. Hope I helped