Yeah, I would like, ideally to still feed them what I give them now, (Purina One for dry food and 9 Lives for wet) but also supplementing that a few days a week with a more raw or natural diet.
Actually, nix that. I don’t want to hijack this thread any further. If you want to discuss raw food, you’re absolutely welcome to email me, or start a thread on the subject 
I have three cats - one ~7 year old female Persian and two 2 year old male generic shorthairs, all indoor-only. Their weights vary but all of them fall into the normal range.
They have dry food available all of the time (Friskie’s Chef Blend), and receive one can of Fancy Feast wet food in the morning and one at night to split between them. None of them will touch cat treats or pet grass, though they’re not above trying to steal our food or drink out of our glasses once in awhile if we’re not keeping an eye on the table.
We’ve tried a number of times to switch them to premium (or at least higher quality) dry food. They’ll eat it for a couple of days (they especially like the new Fancy Feast dry food, which we keep getting free samples of) but will eventually insist on having their old brand back.
We feed only Meow Mix with hairball control. Only dry. Ever. We have four cats and even our Fat Boy (24 lbs a year ago) has begun to trim down).
My SIL has six cats. She feeds a mixture of mostly canned and dry. She spends around $150/mo to our $15/mo.
ugh, I have this terrible habit of starting threads right when I’m about to be bombarded by real life…
but this really is important to me, so thank you for your responses.
in future responses, I would also like to know along with the type of food you feed, what health issues did/does your cat have? yes, I consider obesity (or even just being a bit overweight) a health issue.
I’m pretty well convinced that (most) canned is superior to (most) dry at this point; a good reference on what I think about it is here. my main concern is that there really isn’t a sufficient amount of meat as opposed to grain/filler in most dry foods-- I’m totally psycho and will not feed my cat anything where any grain or filler is in the first three ingredients, and any dry food that meets that requirement is generally astronomically priced compared to canned.
however, I’m still a little up in the air about raw feeding. the Wikipedia article brings up an interesting point: “Unfortunately for the raw feeding controversy, pet feed manufacturers are the source and controllers of most major animal nutrition studies. It is therefore not yet possible to find credible large independent animal feeding studies on which to base diet advice and choice for pet owners.” it seems there have been a few small-scale studies done by individual vets and researchers, but the body of knowledge on the subject is really in my opinion sadly insufficient. Mixie, I’d be really interested in reading any articles you found helpful on the subject.
the thing is, everybody says “my vet this, my vet that”, and while I’ll admit they’re more qualified to have an opinion than your average schmoe, it’s not by much. most vets only have to take a few hours of animal nutrition, and there’s no way that could possibly cover any individual animal’s dietary needs in any significant detail. I’d imagine the average vet is about as educated on feline nutrition as the average general practice doctor is on human nutrition. add into that the factor of being a retailer who profits by selling certain foods, and well, you’ve got a pretty shaky source of information at best.
P.S., Mixie, hijack away! I want to hear what you have to say, and I’m too lazy to start a whole 'nother thread.
Chicken soup for the cat lovers soul. They love it!
If it makes any difference, all our kitties (and we’ve had quite a few) lived to the ripe old age of 18-24 years, with the exception of a cancer patient and a kidney patient. The cancer patient was 10 and the kidney patient was only ours for a short time. Slim and trim as can be.
I thought of feeding this to my cats, but decided not to for a couple of reasons:
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It’s only sold at Pet Food Express around me, which is much less convenient than Petco.
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I think the “Chicken Soup for the… Soul” books are glurge garbage. I’d be embarrassed going into Pet Food Express and asking for “Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul”, even though I know that, as cat food, it can’t possibly be glurge.
I agree with this statement.
Disagree here. The pet food manufacturers I deal with all have “suggested retail prices” that do not make up for the effort required to stock the food. At least for Hill’s Science and Prescription Diets, I would rather be able to send the client to a pet store.
One thing about cats, their so damn picky. My mom has a cat that turns his cute little nose up at any and all table food. He hates it. I even have trouble with the wet food I feed my cats. They’re all happy with the 9 Lives but they all don’t like the same flavors. So some days one or two won’t even eat the wet food because it’s not a flavor they like. But I mix it up enough through the week to keep the royal family happy.
I don’t have a problem with weight, I don’t know if their diet is the reason or if it’s just because none of them overeat and they play alot. Also, their safe zone (away from the dogs) is in the basement so they have to trot up and down stairs.
My one year old kitty makes sure his three year old sisters get off their butts since he’s the designated tormenter. 
My first cat was a big old guy who lived to 17 on just storebought dry food, mid-priced.
He was very healthy right up until kidney failure, which came up fast and took him in 6 weeks.
He was an outside cat who ate a lot of mice and a few birds.
Present cats are indoor kitties: 20 years and 10 months.
For many years, my old kitty just ate dry, but she’s been living with kidney failure for several years now (is otherwise healthy). Old kitty was always long and lean, a very rangy cat, but she was getting very skinny in her old age. The vet suggested Hill’s canned.
I used it for awhile, then quit.
I knew she needed something, so the past 5 years or so I’ve supplemented with canned cat food, also babyfood: Gerber’sTurkey or Lamb.
They eat both Felidae or Purina One kibble,available 24/7, as well as Pet’s Promise or Fancy Feast canned (they split one can every night).
I’ll also feed them the occasional turkey, chicken, salmon or other seafood leftover from dinner.
Our two middle-aged, healthy girl cats get dry food and very small amounts of meat table scraps (a half teaspoon of tuna or chicken about twice a week). We feed them Medi-cal, but I’m re-thinking that because although it is supposed to be a very high-quality food, it does not have meat as the first ingredient (brewer’s rice is first, with chicken meal second, for min. 30% protein). They seem to be doing quite well on it, though, and it even smells good to me when I open a bag. I do know that they won’t be getting cheap, Wal*Mart food - I consider that the feline equivalent of McDonalds - it wouldn’t kill them, but it wouldn’t supply all their nutritional needs, either.
What the older one would like for us to feed her is hairball food. We tried mixing it in because the younger one is bad for hairballs, and the older one would just eat the hairball food and leave the rest (and of course, she doesn’t have a problem with hairballs).
One thing you have to remember with cats is that they aren’t like humans - they are more comfortable with routine than with variety. I don’t believe it is recommended to change their food very often.
I have a 5yo indoor almost always cat (ventures out on a leash for a few minutes every once in a while) who is chronically just a leetle bit overweight at 8 pounds. She gets 1/4 cup of Iams indoor weight and hairball control in the morning and another in the evening. If she does not finish breakfast, she gets less dinner so the total volume is 1/4 cup not an additional 1/4 cup. She rarely gets a little bit of yogurt, tuna, and coffeewhen she begs. She has some bad teeth, but she was a stray kitten and had nutritional deficiencies when she was rescued and was about half as big as she should have been when got her so her adult teeth formed poorly. I am a firm believer in kibble for dogs and cats with the diet tailored to you animal’s needs. Prescription diets are good for pets with medical problems. I used to work at a vet clinic and have witnessed first-hand medical problems dissappear with a change in diet.
With my cat, I fed Iams Kitten until she was 1 year old and I switched to Iams Adult. When she started getting a little pudgy, I switched to Weight Control. Then she yaked up her first hairball (at the ripe old age of 4, and it looked like she had been working on it since birth) and my vet recommended the hairball control with a Vasilene suppliment. I have cleaned up cat yak exactly twice in 4.5 years with this cat. Her stool is reasonably unstinky and firm, about 3 inches per day. I’ve always been told that frequent switching can lead to food allergies, which requires expensive special diets…but I cannot vouch for that.
She also ate part of a Twizzler last night…but I can’t recommend that as a dietary suppliment.
The bit about the research is absolutely true. Hills (Science Diet) and Nestle (Alpo) fund the vast majority of small animal nutrition research in the country. Nestle recently built a whole new building on the UC Davis campus. While it’s great that they’re funding research toward improving their product (or whatever point of view you want to take on the matter) it means that there’s not much hope for a really conclusive study on raw feeding. For one, there’s no profit in a “real food” diet. For another, as I said before, there are as many different “diets” as there are people feeding raw. I feed largely according to what’s available and reasonably priced within the appropriate parameters, which is going to be different than someone living near a major city, or on a goat farm. There is also a huge spectrum in the veggie debate. Some feed a strictly prey model diet which includes nearly no veggie matter at all, while some feed a Billinghurst style B.A.R.F. diet which includes something like 50% veggie blend. One of the studies on cats and raw food scrutinizes a diet of 100% whole ground rabbit. Who feeds nothing but ground rabbit?
[rambling]
As far as I’m aware, many vets are leery of raw diets because a) they see lots of problems by people feeding a grossly inadequate diet and b) they’re not educated on the topic. Personally, I have very mixed feelings about veterinary medicine in general. Like anything, it’s a for-profit industry, and having worked in the pet industry for years I have something of a jaded view there. I don’t in any way mean to give the impression that vets are all creepy bastards out to pick your pockets at every possible opportunity, but I do think that vets’ basic nutrition education is extremely limited in coursework, and is heavily funded and subsidized by both Hills and Nestle. Vet students get free or nearly free Science Diet for their pets. SD was one of (if not the) first premium dog foods, and they’re a multi-billion dollar a year industry that markets themselves exclusively to and through veterinarians. Vets love the stuff. I’m not saying it’s necessarily bad food and certainly not going to decry the Rx diets, but I have never, ever been impressed by the ingredients list, and if I were to feed a dry food again, Hills would be one of the last of the “premium” foods I’d look at. I do have my pets to the doctor (PapaArmadillo DVM when we’re in the same state) yearly for check-ups, and have annual bloodwork done to keep an eye on things. They’re always spot on in terms of blood values. I deeply respect my vets for their knowledge of animal medicine, but I do not consider them the final word on diets and nutrition.
[/rambling]
Keep in mind that the following is only my opinion based on the research I’ve done on the matter, for better or worse. I am not an expert on the matter, and I am not a veterinarian. I am not infallible and I am not always right. I am always, always interested in gathering more information on the matter and deeply appreciate respectful discussion, but I absolutely will not get involved in an argument or flame-fest on the subject. I’ve argued this topic ad-nauseum, and am well aware there are many folks who (for whatever reason) get very hostile and angry in opposition to raw food diets for pets. To date I’ve never heard a compelling reason not to feed raw. You’re not going to change my mind. I’m not going to change yours. Please don’t waste time and energy, mine or yours. Discussion is good, flames and anger are bad. There’s the disclaimer
Dogs and cats are carnivores. There’s some debate in dogs, but show me a wolf who eats a large amount of vegetative matter as a matter of course when hunting is good, and I’ll think more on the matter. Wolves do not eat corn, rice, or peanut hulls(!) and thus I choose not to feed them to my dog. Stomach contents of prey animals don’t count. They don’t eat them if they can possibly avoid it.
Cats are even easier. They’re obligate carnivores, no debate there. While I don’t feed a diet consisting entirely of rodents, small birds, and insects, I do aim for a general ratio of meat :: bones :: organ meats that approximates the makeup of these prey animals. Although I can never perfectly emulate the ideal, prototypical canine or feline diet, I am very comfy with the idea that a diet of [a variety of whole meats + bones + organ meats] > [massive portions of grains + heavily processed single meat source + flavorants and supplements]. That’s the grossly-oversimplified-gist of it, really. I strongly caution people not to just go out and buy a pound of hamburger and imagine they’re doing anything remotely good for their pets. You can and will do a serious lot of damage to your pets by feeding them an inadequate home prepared diet, so I urge you to do a whole lot of thought and planning on the matter before jumping into it.
As far as sources go, there are some really good collections of information out there. Here is a hefty collection of articles which run a spectrum from extremely helpful to totally tinfoil hat nutty. The rawfeeding group message archives at yahoogroups is also extremely informative, keeping the fanatics in mind with several grains of salt. There are people there who have been raw feeding their kennels for multiple decades. Dr. Jean Dodds has all kinds of good stuff on her website. I am hesitant to give too much an opinion on various individual raw sources, because I am very clearly biased towards a prey model diet, and plenty of people froth at the mouth over their favorite versions of the raw thing. I do have a series of articles I wrote for my national breed parent club’s newsletter, but it’s practically a novel, and I’m not sure the DACA would appreciate the public showing.
I can blab about this for days, so in order to avoid seeming a little nutty on the matter, I’ll pretty much leave it at that.
If anyone has any specific questions, I’m happy to answer them to the best of my ability, or direct you to folks more knowledgeable than myself.
I feel like I should clarify this. I’ve never heard a personally compelling reason not to feed raw. There are plenty of reasons not to do it: convenience, cost, time, vegetarianism, personal ick factor, and so on. None of these are issues that particularly bother me. I mean, rooting around elbow deep in a half-thawed turkey isn’t my idea of a spankin’ good time, but I’m willing to do it in order to feed the animals that are in my care. I also have a separate chest freezer which allows me to buy in bulk (pain) spend time buying weird cuts of meat (I have no shame. “I’ll take the green tripe and all the pancreas you have in stock, thanks”*), and am a complete dog geek. It works for me, but I’m well aware it’s not a charming idea to most folks.
*No, you can’t actually buy green tripe or pancreas at Safeway. Yes, I do feed both of these things to my pets.
For the sake of balance, I feel compelled to point out that while Dr Dodds’ work in the field of hematology is recognized as first rate, her thoughts IRT nutrition and autoimmune disorders are pretty far from center.
Did I say that with enough diplomacy?
You did, thank you very much ;).
I always find it frustrating that there’s not more “center” in the arena of raw diets for pets. There are a lot of people that feed their pets raw, but not a lot of professionals willing to put their name to the cause, and no one willing or able to cough up the vast sums of money it takes to get some real research and hard data on the subject, so… it takes a lot of mental sifting of wheat and chaff to extract the parts that make sense. I’m not a raw food fanatic in the way that I necessarily believe that All Kibble Is Evil or that a rabies vaccine is going to turn my dog into a maniac. I just feel that a diet of fresh, whole foods has got to be better than a diet of heavily processed, prepackaged food, and that’s all it comes down to.
I agree. I don’t feed my cats raw (yet ), and I try to follow this way of eating with my own diet. I know how much better I feel when I eat whole, fresh foods and stay away from processed crap. I just came off a road trip where I basically ate processed convenience food (not exclusively, but more of it than I would normally eat) and my face is all broken out and I have been very tired lately. I know it is from the food I ate.
This is something I can say for a more meat-centered diet for cats. One of mine, rescued as a stray from a life on the street, has FIV, and suffered horribly from megacolon, food allergies, and silt in his urine. The guy’s a mess, and about 5 years ago I thought I was going to lose him because I couldn’t get his bowels or UT under control. I switched his food to Royal Canin Innovative Veterinary Diet venison and green pea formula, dry in the morning and wet in the evening. The idea of this food is to give my cat a novel protein (one that he can’t be allergic to) with a minimum of ingredients (basically, venison, green peas, and vitamins).
This diet has changed, probably saved, his life. His health, which was failing, has made a total reversal. It’s hard to tell he’s ill at all; he’s active, happy, and enjoying life. I have no doubt that this is due to his diet, which seems to have been a magic bullet for the megacolon and UT problem. However, it’s by prescription only and is very expensive, but if your cat is ill, I’d definitely try it.
Mine (well, my most compelling one) is that I keep kosher. The cost of feeding kosher meat to my cats would be astronomical, not to mention that I wouldn’t feel comfortable making them dishes that included both milk or milk products and meat. If I wanted to feed them non-kosher meat, I’d have to be comfortable with bringing non-kosher meat into the house (I’m not), and would have to have a whole separate set of utensils, bowls, et cetera for preparing it.
There’s also the fact that I have had many nights where I wished there was people chow, so I didn’t have to think about what I’m going to eat or cook it.