Fancy Feast?

[cindiincincy]

We're just about at wits' end trying to find a food that our kitties will eat and that won't poison them. We pulled them off the Nutro cuts-and-gravy style cans thfat they loved after the first recall (no signs of problems, thank God), and haven't found anything else they like as well.

They barely tolerate Evangers but pretty much turned their noses up at: Natural Balance, Spa Select, Spots Stew, Solid Gold, Felidae, Prairie, Fromm, Merrick, Eagle Pack ... I've tried everything I could find.

So yesterday I got a couple of Fancy Feast varieties without gluten, and they love it!

My question: I know it has byproducts, but how big a problem is that nutritionally? Our cats also eat a high-quality dry -- Felidae and Katz-N-Flocken -- but I really think they do better when they get wet food, too. Is Fancy Feast better than nothing?

Thanks.

[TAZ]

Is Fancy Feast better than nothing?

There is (in my opinion) what appears to an excellent website that has feline diabetes as its focus. I'll point you to it, and let you be the judge.

Of Fancy Feast, they have this to say:

cats...generally should have high protein, low carbohydrate diets. Prescription and specialty foods tend to be very expensive, so many people feed Fancy Feast (without wheat gluten) as an alternative.

That page: http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm
Homepage: http://www.felinediabetes.com

The problem is, we all want EASY answers....we probably need to start by considering what a natural diet is (a mouse is 3 percent carbohydrate, 40 percent protein, and 50 percent fat http://www.catnutrition.org/catkins.html ), and then do our homework.

[Cindy Nevarez]

That's it....you hit the nail on the head.

[Shulie]

While transitioning from Rx food to a more balanced and healthy (ABSOLUTELY NO DRY, CANNED ONLY) diet, I found some Fancy Feast varieties that aren't so bad (no wheat gluten, less than 10% carbs, no fruits/veggies). The problem now is that my cat seems addicted to it, turning up his nose at more wholesome food w/ organic ingredients...I REALLY WANT TO AVOID BY-PRODUCTS, Fancy Feast was not supposed to be the one and only source of nutrition for my indoor 9 y o slightly overweight recovering from struvite crystals furbaby!!

ANY FEEDBACK WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!

[TAZ]

The problem now is that my cat seems addicted to it, turning up his nose at more wholesome food w/ organic ingredients...I REALLY WANT TO AVOID BY-PRODUCTS, Fancy Feast was not supposed to be the one and only source of nutrition for my indoor 9 y o slightly overweight recovering from struvite crystals furbaby!!

WELL! FF has another in its clutches!
I well understand your plight....my 5 are in the process of "withdrawal" from FF and it isn't/won't be an easy go.

This is the experience of many and has been discussed much - esp on Itchmo. I'm sure all the other pet food manufacturers are analyzing FF, trying to figure out just what's in there that's sooooooo addictive!

First, relax and take a breath. Where I started was to, again, slowly, switch from the FF varieties with "gravy" (wheat gluten). There are a number of the others (here's a list http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm )

While FF doesn't contain the very best ingredients and, while many people will severely bash it, the plain fact is that many, many cats do well on it - and - (as obviously you have noticed) are quite happily doing so.

Once I switched to the non-gravied varieties, I started (partially) mixing in a little of a better food. I tried Wellness, Merrick and, finally, Felidae. Felidae ended up being the best-tolerated. Now I'm at the point where an entire meal will be Felidae...but that's once in about three days. I'm making progress, kitties are happy....I'm satisfied it will work out.

I've noticed many people describing how their cats despised the better foods....I don't know if they tried the transitioning thing - or, just switched instantly. That latter approach hardly ever works with any food (except, of course, the nefarious FF!).

If you try that approach, keep posting so we can see how it works (hopefully) for you. I, for one, will be watching with baited breath.

[batgrrly]

My cat, I have been trying to get him to eat the better foods with organics in them too. He has turned his nose up at so many of them, sadly he loves most of the highly commercial ones. He doesn't like fancy feast much. Do you find a difference with the chunky styles or the loaf styles? I find anything that is in loaf /pate form he will eat.

[Shulie]

My Samson loves ALL FF gluten-free flavors; he doesn't dislike healthier varieties like By Nature, Avoderm or Newman's Own, but so far he refuses to eat them separately: I must add a little bit of FF, especially Tender Beef, to make sure he actually eats the organic food (3 times out of 5 I do find some organic leftovers, but absolutely NO trace of his favorite FF...). We're just beginning to mix FF w/ some healthier stuff: let's see what happens, keeping our fingers crossed...

IF ONLY FF manufacturer substituted those dreaded by-products w/ SOME REAL MEAT instead!!

[strayp]

I have been trying Fancy Feast varieties. My cat seems to like the grilled  flavors and the best of these is the Beef Feast in Gravy. It looks like chipped beef in natural gravy. I know from the ingredient list that it is artifical but the cat does like it.

[TAZ]

I have been trying Fancy Feast varieties. My cat seems to like the grilled  flavors and the best of these is the Beef Feast in Gravy. It looks like chipped beef in natural gravy. I know from the ingredient list that it is artifical but the cat does like it.

Before your cat gets hooked - seriously! - on those "gravied" varieties, SWITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having said that, Welcome here!

Seriously, first, the healthyist of the FF varieties are those without the gravy. Those types contain wheat gluten. Wheat is a grain...cats do not naturally eat grains, their digestive systems unable to process them, unlike dogs and humans.

There are several varieties of FF without this ingredient http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm
These are still tasty and very popular with cats.

Now, while the FF looks like good food, the ingredients are not as good as some others. The meat is not real meat, it is "formed meat". Once you start reading around, you will find many people bashing FF. Some have gone further, blaming it for illness. I have not yet seen any verifyable evidence of any illness relating to the FF without gravy. Many, many cats do very well on this food, enjoy it, and pet parents have a reasonably-priced product.

Oh, it's the grain-based or heavily grain-weighted foods, wet and dry, that WILL HARM YOUR CATS HEALTH in the long run.

[Shulie]

HONESTLY: feeding a 9 y o indoor slightly overweight cat FF ONLY (no wheat gluten varieties) is going to be dangerous in the long run? Because FF wouldn't be that bad, if they only substituted those dreadful by-products with healthier stuff (I was thinking of starting a petition to demand a change in ingredients...).

Naive question, concerned about the fact that furbaby throws up organic food...!!

[Bonkers]

  Funny thing about Fancy Feast is once you feed it to your cats for any length of time most have a problem getting the cat to eat any other canned food. I personally refer to it as Kitty Krack.