what to feed?

[bella]

After lots of research, i thought i finally found a high quality canned food.  My cats been eating kibble for two years and been gaining weight due to high calorie count in high protien kibbles.(core,wellnes,wysong) Anyhow, i've been very concern about high carb/high weight/diabetes in her future so have tried to find a wet food without grains,and veggies.  She loves it!  It's intinctive choice and i just found out it's made by menu.  Now what?  Any idea's???

[Bonkers]

  Hello bella and welcome to the Pet Food List Forums! Many members here use various canned foods that are made by Menu as the manufacturers that make canned pet foods are limited to only a few.  There are experiences on various foods that have been posted by members under the Board "Specific Brands of Wet and Dry Foods".  May I inquire as to why you are looking for a food without veggies?

[bella]

thanks for the input.  several sources have me thinking it's not a great idea to feed cats fruits and veggie's due to there high carb/sugar content.  (Elizabeth M. Hodgkins,D.V.M.,Esq., two local holistics vets, as well as a seminar on feline nutrition. )  Seems like there's alot of conflicting opinions out there; I'm sure small amount isn't as bad as so many other things in cat food.  Just trying to give her the best i can.  Grew up with an outdoor cat who ate grocery store wet and lived to be 20.  You never know!

[Bonkers]

  You are correct about the various opinions where carbs are concerned, but there are many vegetables that can be beneficial to cats. Although potatoes and peas are probably the two veggies that have the highest carb content, others like sweet potatoes can be a great source of fiber. Some companies opt to use blueberries or cranberries as a natural acidifier instead of adding methionine to the food. Yes, it seems some pets lived healthier and longer lives years ago, but that was before the PFI realized they could add more junk to the food to make it less costly for them to manufacture.

[GreyGhost]

There are many grain free canned foods out there as you know. I myself feed raw but I do give Misty (my dog) some canned. I use Instinct by natures Variety. I know several people that use Wellness. Most of the canned is made by Menu. I'm confident in my choice and have never had a problem. I am very close to the Rep here and talk to her alot. She feeds it also so I feel good about it. I think if you stick with a good quality canned that's the best we can do. There will always be the risk but if we pay attention and watch closely I think we should all do well by our animals.

[bella]

Thankyou both for your insight.  I too used Wellness, but she didn't like it so much.(though she LOVED the wellness dry and it's Core brand!).  Happy to say she's no longer a dry carboholic, and she is losing a little weight.  I think i'll continue to use the instinctive choice unless i find any thing negative.  It's very low carb and i like that. Also, not to much fish which i also like. First ingredient is organic chicken, but no where can i find where these meats are from.  Maybe i over analyze???  We all want what's best for our pets, and the pet food industry makes it diffuclt at best! Generalization , but still...

[GreyGhost]

Your welcome. I would do exactly what you are doing. Stay with what is good and works and just keep an eye out. We all have to do that with any food these days.

[Bonkers]

  I agree with GreyGhost that if the food is tolerated well by your kitty I would continue to use it. As far as the organic chicken is concerned, none of the other meats in this food is organic. Unless the all the protein sources are organic it kinda defeats the whole purpose of using organic chicken. You can find some good info on organic products here if you would like to know more.  http://thepetfoodlist.com/forums/index.php?topic=845.0   &  http://thepetfoodlist.com/forums/index.php?topic=887.0

[Perseus]

I think if she's eating the wet food it's still a much better food than the dry food is for her.  The big challange here was just to get her off the dry food, which you should be congratulated for that.  I had to transition several kitties off the additive dry food and it wasn't easy.  I'm a raw feeder now using Felines Pride and Aunt Jeni with a little daily Wellness canned grain free.  I also like to follow Dr. Hodgkins as well, and I first read about Felines Pride in her book.  Still, I watch the food I feed them like a hawk to make sure nothing weird is going on with it first, and then watch them eat it before and after to make sure they don't get sick.  Yes, it's called over analyzing aka paranoid over what the pet food industry is doing to their food.

I'm also glad to hear she's losing weight if she needs to.  Good luck!

[bella]

Thanks all!  I really appreciate all the useful information. I also tried raw, a couple of different times and brands, with no luck. Now that she's at least eating wet, after some time I'll try to transition to raw again. Glad there's a place to get help/advise from other concerned "parents"!  Have a great day!

[Bonkers]

  Bella, How are things going with you and your kitty?

[bella]

thanks for asking!  she is doing great-  still eating instinctive choice wet food and doing very well on it.  She's losing weight at a safe rate, which i'm really pleased with.  When she previously ate dry food- she'd practically inhale it!  Always acted  starved!  I had water glasses all over the house for her.  Now that she's getting most 'of her moisture from her food, she hardly ever takes a drink from her waterbowl.  She never acts "starved" anymore. She gets several very small meals in the am, and again at night. (between 5-6 ounces per day)  She's a very happy girl!

[Bonkers]

   That is great to hear that you have found a food that works well for her! And that she is no longer a kibble addict.  Wish I could say the same for 2 of my crew.    But I guess a diet of half wet and half dry is better than no wet food at all. 

[bella]

I ag ree!  I was kind of lucky in her transition.  I started mixing a little wet with her kibble, and eventually there was less and less kibble, till none!  But we all know how very stubborn  our furry feline friends can be!  Mine was willing-eventually!