What do you feed your cat?

[bdogsmom]

I'm pretty sure my cat is protein deficient, she eats far too much and over the past winter has gained a lot of weight. Shes an older cat, maybe 10 or more but we've only had her for a couple of years.

I have 2 cats and right now i feed them no name dry food and over the last week have been giving them raw salmon filets and they are responding well to that, their coats are shinier, they have more energy and they aren't eating as much of the dry food.

So i need to supplement their diet with a protein rich wet food. What brand do YOU recommend? Which brand gives out the most coupons? Where do i find coupons for wet food? Who sells it for less?

Same questions for the dry foods, im going to switch that to a higher quality as well.

Thanx for any input

bdogsmom

[Natalka]

Gee, I know older cats need special food, and am not sure what that is, sorry... other than sometimes it's called 'senior formula'.

Our cats get Whiskas dry food daily, and once a week wet food - sometimes Whiskas pouches or, more recently, Friskies cans because SDM has them on sale recently. They love anything with a gravy/sauce like base. Some 'table food' when we have chicken/fish, but just nibbles.
Taffy, our almost-five year old, is about eight pounds, and Pepsi the one year old is heavier and bigger, so he's probably closer to 10. We've never had overweight cats - so I can't help there, either.

[maddie2008]

I advise feeding WERUVA canned food. This company ONLY makes wet food, and its made out of human grade products, NOT by-products, simply TRUE all natural food.
www.weruva.com
I don't see SK on the list for where it is sold, but if you have a PetValu there, check there, cause 90% of the PetValu stores carry it as of 2010.
When you open a can of this food, it looks and smells just like home cooked food. It has really made a difference in my cats health.

[matrix82]

Be careful feeding cats fish, the fish lacks some of the vitamins etc that they need.

What about trying to find a food that is very high protein. Try looking at some of the weight control formula's. Most dry cat foods are high in gluten which causes cats to gain weight. Wet food is better for weight control (but wet food is a bit more costly).

[Mrsb07]

We buy only dry food for our cats. They eat either Origen or Blue Wilderness. Unfortunately both are expensive and I've never seen a coupon for either. But our cats have special needs. 1 boy cat had gotten crystals in his pee from cheap food and 1 older girl is diabetic so we had no choice but to change to better food. They've been on these foods for a couple years now and are all doing great. Also saw an improvement in their fur quality almost right away, so much softer and shinier. Signs of diabetes in a cat are eating more often, always hungry, drinking lots, weight gain. Signs of pee crystals are squatting to pee everywhere with no results or just a dribble, get to the vet fast!!!

[FallenPixels]

I would advise against feeding No Name, wet food, even the cheaper stuff, is better than dry food so if they are protein deficient, feed a higher quality wet with more protein (No Name is full of fillers) and an ok wet since all wet food will have more protein

We feed Orijen dry and many different wet foods, one only likes the Market Select cups so she gets those, the others get whatever I think is interesting in the pet store

Any of the 'better' foods do not have coupons, they may send you samples or a one time coupon if you contact them explaining you would like to try their food, the only ones with regular coupons are Wellness and Halo that i can think of

[lekate]

I feed my munchkins Perf Ultra dry (mixed with Go! right now, before it was mixed with BG Tuna). As far as Wet goes, they get Weruva (and love it!) and Perf Ultra wet formulas.

Think of it this way if you eat cheap processed foods day in day out, your body doesn't feel very well, right? That's what's happening to pets who're fed "low quality" cat food, sure it all meets the AAFCO guidelines, but when cheap foods rely on corn#2 for the majority of protein (hi Whiskas!), then it's not really meeting the MEAT protein needs of your carnivore OBLIGATE cat.

Most diet cat foods aren't worth it, filling up on "fiber" is a flawed approach to losing weight. So don't bother with that. If she eats too much, limit what she eats.

So, as far as dry foods go, find one that's "corn" free, has meat meal as one of the first two ingredients. If you're concerned about weight, find a fish based dry food, leaner proteins help lose weight. As far as wet is concerned, stay away from those with added things like wheat gluten and corn.

If you have a pet valu, I'd try and go to one of their stores, they know what they're talking about.

[lekate]

We buy only dry food for our cats. They eat either Origen or Blue Wilderness. Unfortunately both are expensive and I've never seen a coupon for either. But our cats have special needs. 1 boy cat had gotten crystals in his pee from cheap food and 1 older girl is diabetic so we had no choice but to change to better food. They've been on these foods for a couple years now and are all doing great. Also saw an improvement in their fur quality almost right away, so much softer and shinier. Signs of diabetes in a cat are eating more often, always hungry, drinking lots, weight gain. Signs of pee crystals are squatting to pee everywhere with no results or just a dribble, get to the vet fast!!!

I'm glad you're not using prescription vet food, the products are no better than commercial pet foods, and primarily treat the symptoms not the whole body...

[Loner]

I feed my cat seniors med cal from my vets office and "Now" senior cat food from pet store, it is pricey... but you get what you pay for! both are dry food, which I mix in a bowl.

[nadiabreckon]

Our cats gets whatever is on sale, and whatever we have a coupon for!

We have never had issues with our pets needing special diets (except when we had our dog, she was almost 13 and we had her on a senior dry food, never wet). Our cat never gets wet food....it more often than none leads to his poop being runny and stinkier than usual, so we keep him away from it! He gets fresh water each and every day, but would rather drink out of the freshly flushed toilet...lol

[lekate]

Our cats gets whatever is on sale, and whatever we have a coupon for!

We have never had issues with our pets needing special diets (except when we had our dog, she was almost 13 and we had her on a senior dry food, never wet). Our cat never gets wet food....it more often than none leads to his poop being runny and stinkier than usual, so we keep him away from it! He gets fresh water each and every day, but would rather drink out of the freshly flushed toilet...lol

Cats prefer running water, that's probably why! They also like their water source to "move". Natural instinct from the wild that hasn't yet translated well into a household (FUTI is common because many cats just don't drink enough water, some dry foods can cause or exacerbate these things though...)

[glenglen]

we feed our 3 indoor cats what's on sale [ dry brand name food] and wet brand named food, we switch as they get fussy we buy the 18 KG bags and they share 1 can a day of wet food,they drink from the taps and the water bowl they basically rule the roost for sure.

[KK7]

you could try ProPlan for your cat there is a 5.00 coupon on save.ca and is very high on Protein I know they have a weight one I am sure a Senior one but not 100% sure

[ninna]

My one cat eats what we eat. lol. She gets all the leftover chicken, beef, fish or whatever we've had for supper in terms of meat. I did not realize that dry cat food is very high in grains...which cats in the wild would not eat. They are carnivores by nature. Seems so simple, really when you think about it. Our senior cat has diabetes and part of the treatment is eating lots of protein and fewer carbs.

I used to think canned food was a pain in the butt. But having to puree fresh meat at 6:30am in the morning when cat is screaming hungry and I haven't had my coffee is a total nuisance. lol. Senior cat also has lost some teeth which is why we have to puree the food. It's like having a baby all over again.

[FallenPixels]

Haha ninna, my oldest has lost a few teeth and can still crunch up food or manage bits of meat

Proplan has a senior variety that is still higher in protein but without the high fat etc many of the higher protein have so may be better for your cat