cat food

[derby]

We rescued three abandoned kittens in our barn. Mom was a stray feral that lived in the meadow across the street, but she disappeared about a month ago. Anyway - I know squat about cats. The kittens are now about 10 weeks old and have graduated to dry food. Is there any reason to feed them canned food? We are willing to keep them as outdoor barn cats, but they have to stay outside. Will canned food help them stay warm this winter? Or is canned food just a matter of preference? And yes - they have had their first round of shots and I'm talking to a rescue group about helping to fund getting them fixed.

Derby

 

[sdshoars]

canned food is actually not as good for them as dry, it can amke them have the runs, and it can make their teeth rot. good dry food is best!

 

[cluckychick]

I have never supplied canned cat food for my cats. I have two cats presently that are 13 and 12 yrs old. It won't hurt them but benefit wise I think you can get everything they need from dry food plus it helps their teeth.

 

[Judymae]

I totally agree.....dry food actually cleans the cat's teeth as they eat it. It scrapes off the tarter buildup. Canned food will make their potty runny and smell HORRIBLE!!! I've only fed canned food to sick or older cats.

 

[monarc23]

actually it's a misconception that all canned cat food gives them the runs. High quality (extreemly expensive IMO) cat food is great for cats, gives them solid healthy poos, and has a lot of great benifits (esp the grain free kind). I had to feed this to my one cat for months because she was really ill...it really hurt the pocket book but we were willing to do anything to keep her okay, once she regained her strength and showed an interest back into kibble we gradually switched her back to kibble. Canned cat food that you buy in the grocery store, oh boy oh boy yes will that make for one stinky litter, esp if you have long haired cats i do not reccomend it. The down side to any canned cat food however is the obvious, theres no teeth cleaning action...kibble really helps deal with that issue. Anyone feeding canned food to their pets andnot brushing their teeth is a disaster waiting to happen. *rotten teeth etc*

With winter coming up, dry kibble will be better for htem as the canned will jsut freeze up and then your cats will be left trying to pick ax their way to eat

. Dont want that ofcourse ha ha!

 

[derby]

Thanks, everyone! We started them on canned as we were transitioning from KMR to kibble. Now that they are satisfied with kibble, we'll just leave them on that. They'll just have to supplement with mousies.

Derby

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
by the way outdoor cats on wet canned food is completley different as you mention about mice, cats actually clean their teeth by chewing on mice and other raw meats that they take...the chewing action on bone naturally cleans their teeth. So as long as outdoor cats are hunting wet canned food is fine (no matter the type as long as it agrees with their tummy). Iknow you're feeding kibble now but just wanted to mention that fact incase you want to feed wet canned food as a treat or something in the warmer months you surely can.

 

[Livinzoo]

Now if you have a cat get blocked (usually it is the neutered boys) it is beneficial to feed at least some canned food. Cats do you have a big thirst drive. So many of them are in a state of constant dehydration. This makes the urine more concentrated and more likely to form crystals and become blocked.

After my favorite cat got blocked I did a lot of researching and decided to feed raw. I would never want to switch back.

 

[Rosalind]

We give our three housetigers 1 can in the morning and anti-urinary-stone kibble the rest of the day. And they are fabulous mousers despite being pudgy little things. Mousing is an instinct, they will do it whether they are hungry or not. If they aren't hungry they will bring you the mouse as a gift.

Even girl cats can get kidney and urinary problems, it's important to feed something low ash for this reason--Wellness makes a good urinary health kibble. With respect to price, the good stuff out here is only about $0.25/can more than the cheap roadkill-in-a-can, and I think it's worth it to avoid the horrible vet bills. You do NOT want the vet bills that come from a cat with chronic urinary stones or chronic infections. Nor do you want to have to get a pill down kitty's throat every day. It's not like dogs where you can hide it in the food, the cats will know and lick the peanut butter off, hide the pill in their cheek, then spit the pill out on the floor. And that's after they have thoughtfully turned your arm into steak tartare.

The other downside to dry food is that they tend not to eat it all in one sitting. So you'll have dry cat food crumbs lying around all day for possums, raccoons, rats etc. to nosh on. Canned food, they will eat almost all of it in 15-20 minutes and often lick the bowl clean. I would rather give canned food just so it doesn't attract critters, you know?

 

[tygab]

oh man I am sorry I missed this earlier. I do not agree that most dry food is better for cats than canned. It may have a place as a supplement, and some dry foods MAY be appropriate for cats. Basic problem is most dry foods have way too many carbs, and not enough protein out of whack for what a cat would eat preferentially. I do leave my cats some dry as supplemental and to simulate that bone crunchyness of a mouse or baby bunny.

Please read any of these links for more information. I have typed a lot about it elsewhere, as have others.

My own ramblings:

http://www.43things.com/entries/view/585582

See section called Binky's food charts for information on carbs to protein ratios in commercial foods:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm

Here is another good link
http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php

Feel free to ask questions, I'll try to answer as best I can.