My cat is often referred to as Her Royal Little Pickiness because she’s incredibly picky about cat food sometimes turning her nose up halfway through the bag. And I know her pickiness isn’t unusual, so Your cat might not even eat what you buy for her.
It can take some experimentation. Luckily, most animal shelters will take partial bags of dry food or unopened cans of wet food, so it doesn’t have to go to waste. Our vet will take these items and deliver them to shelters.
Funny thing, once my cats went onto 100% wet food and are no longer free feeding from unlimited food all pickiness went out the window. They’re lined up by their bowls at feeding times and they eat every crumb with a quickness. They may like certain flavors more than others but they sure as hell don’t turn their noses up at ANYTHING. They’ve both learned to take food from my hand, which is something they never did before, and one of them will actively try to take my food off my plate if I don’t watch him. Unlimited free feeding is what makes cats picky, IMO.
Most of my cats have gotten to between 16 and 20. They get Science Diet, both canned and dry, and a variety of other stuff, also both canned and dry. I don’t want them to get in the habit of eating only one thing, in case I’m unable to get it or they change the formula. IME cats who get a varied diet prefer it that way; they’ll sometimes refuse a canned food they think they’re getting too often, but eat it again with enthusiasm after a few days of eating something else. I think there are a lot of brands that are probably fine; but I try to avoid bargain-basement foods.
Mine all get free choice dry food available almost all the time (sometimes the dish runs out in the middle of the night) plus of course water; and, theoretically, canned food only once in the morning and again once in the evening, but for the last year or so I’ve been trying to get extra calories into a 16 year old who’s too thin (yes, she’s been to the vet, and is on thyroid meds), so she gets extra canned food whenever she asks for it; and the others have a very great tendency to show up and manage to snarf some also. IME very few if any cats who get enough exercise will get extremely fat; but cats who’ve been near starvation at some point in their lives will often get noticeably plump. Doesn’t seem to slow them down or shorten life span, though – but mine get to go outside as well as in, and have each other to play with. I’ve known a couple of indoor-only cats with insufficient playmates, in other households, who’ve gotten fat enough to cause them problems.
IME most cats prefer canned food to dry food. Also IME the gravy versions are a waste of money because the cats will eat the gravy portion and leave the rest on the plate; while they’ll generally clean up paté.
One of my cats is an orange cat. Well, the vet calls him dilute orange tabby; the Dumb Friends League called him a buff tabby. But whatever–the vet said that orange cats are for some reason more prone to develop diabetes.
And he is a big cat. (They are both big cats. One 14 lbs. and one 16 lbs., but the buff guy looks a lot bigger even, because he has a bigger head and a neck ruff–although they are littermates.)
We did try them on wet food and they weren’t big fans. But they also have a carb addiction, which I have only ever seen in one cat before, and not my cat. These cats will try to steal my donuts. And yes, I should not be eating donuts. So what I’m gathering is that dry food might be feeding their carb addiction, somehow. Maybe?
Anyway, thanks!
Re. “grain-free” dry cat food: you have to look at the ingredients list on the bag. One bag says it’s 80% meat, 20% “vegetables and fruits”. Other bags say 90% or even 95% meat (there is still a little tomato, flaxseed, whey protein, etc.)
Now, a friend of mine has a big-ass dog. He buys crates of what resembles frozen raw meat (I assume it, as well as the cat-food version, have vitamin/other supplements mixed in as appropriate). I asked one veterinarian how it compares to dry and canned food, but did not get an unequivocal answer nor a recommended brand.
When I first met my husband, he was buying his cat raw meat and grinding it, then freezing it himself. “Cats are obligate carnivores,” he’d say, “This is what they’d eat in the wild. Processed cat foods with all their additives are bad, bad, BAD!”
The problem was that Noir Kitty wasn’t particularly fond of plain raw meat. It would sit on his plate until he grew too hungry to pass it up. Even then, a lot of it went to waste.
I started sneaking Noir some kitty treats and then some canned food. Hubby caught on pretty quickly and reluctantly relented, with dire warnings of, “It’ll kill him!” Long story short, Noir hasn’t seen any raw food for two or three years now. He is much happier these days and, believe it or not, shows no signs of imminent death.
He gets Fancy Feast with the occasional can of Friskies. I give it to him straight during the day and Hubby adds a bit of canned pumpkin at night to keep Noir from getting constipated. He also gets dry food, which he actually prefers. We buy Pure Vita, which is a little more spendy than average but doesn’t have grains and some other additives that Hubby still believes are bad, bad, BAD!
What cats would eat in the wild is almost the entire mouse/rabbit/bird etc., including almost all of the organs and gut contents.
Feeding them muscle meat alone is AIUI a very bad idea.
As others have said wet food seems best for low-carb and high hydration. I give them a small amount of dry kibble as a form of teeth brushing since kibbles are abrasive.
A water fountain may also be a good idea since it gets them to drink more. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/Catit-Flower-Water-Fountain-Blue/dp/B07KYXFJQ2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=catit+water+fountain&qid=1577934395&sr=8-3
I had a spayed female cat live to 17 - she ate dry Science Diet food about half her life, then veterinarian C/D dry. Added wet when she started showing severe signs of aging and liver failure.
My current cat is a neutered male. He’ll be 18 this spring and is showing virtually no signs of aging. Seriously, I know a cat that is 14 and looks far older than Skittles does. I have high hopes he still has a number of years left, as loosing him will be heart-breaking. He eats IAMS or Purina dry food - whatever tends to be cheapest when I get it. He occasionally gets wet food as a treat, and to get more water in his system.
I hope Skittles has many more years of life and love ahead. The thing about cats aging is they don’t do it the way humans do, gradually and steadily. Cats tend to live their adult lives at the same level of apparent fitness until just about the last six months of their lifespan. Then “the string breaks”, as I call it. They appear to age very quickly over those last six months, going into their final old age and debility. It’s painful to watch, but probably better than a long, slow decline for years.
The record appears to be 38, and at least two cats seem to have made it that far.
I’ve known at least two who made it into their early 20’s (exact age unknown, but certainly 20 and probably 22 or older) – despite having spent a portion of their lives as barn cats, yet (not the latter portion; but at least several years.)
I’d somewhat disagree with that relatively sudden six months decline. Some cats may do that;but I’ve had several cats who developed what I call ‘the old cat look’ who lived two years or so beyond that point. [ETA: and seemed comfortable for all or nearly that whole time, if less active than they used to be.] – If you have an older or even early teens cat who’s eating and acting well but losing significant weight: get to the vet. Hyperthyroidism is very common in older cats and is often easily treatable with a very small (and not very expensive) pill twice a day. If neglected, it’s deadly.
Is there anything that can help prevent hyperthyroidism before it appears?
Generally, are there ways of preventing the most common causes of early aging or mortality?
Re the first: my vet. doesn’t know of any.
I think there may have been some recent work done trying to figure out if some of it has an environmental cause and if so what that is; but I don’t believe there are any conclusions yet.
As far as early aging: I don’t think there are any. As far as early mortality: sure. Keep the cat’s vaccinations current for everything prevalent in your area (the vet. should know what’s in the area), even if you don’t intend to let the cat out. Take to vet. if not eating for more than a day, or if losing significant weight, or if otherwise obviously sick. Feed decent quality food, though I think there’s a good bit of leeway in what exactly; but not too heavy on table scraps, and if you want to make your own cat food learn what you’re doing first. Depending on where you live (and yes I know that clause is controversial, but all my 17 -to - 22 year olds have been indoor/outdoor cats), you may need to keep the cats inside; but provide exercise opportunities if so.
A propos, I know someone who had a black female cat make it to age 30 (according to his reckoning; I cannot corroborate) who is not on that list, so you must not take it as comprehensive. I wanted to run a simple statistical analysis once to estimate how likely that is, but did not have access to enough raw data.
Some feral/barn cats will make it into their early 20’s (not probable but it happens) while some cats get sick much earlier despite devoted care. If, for instance, a cat has kidney problems, then an appropriate diet may buy her an extra few years; obviously it’s worth a try. Metabolic issues can be diagnosed through laboratory testing (i.e., a blood sample).
Sassy and Shamus lived to be 17 and 15. For most of their lives they had Friskies or 9 Lives wet food, and their dry food was either Purina Beyond grain-free or Purina kitten chow which they enjoyed a lot more than dry food meant for adults. They liked Greenies for treats.
We also feed the Purina kitten chow to our ferrets, and the vet commented that those two were the oldest ferrets she’d ever treated, so I think it’s pretty good stuff.