# What kind of food do you feed you cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046 "2010-01-22T22:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/21 "2010-01-23T05:54:21Z")
I couldn’t vote either: we give them moderately priced dry **and** canned food. They get canned food at more or less set times of day, with a little Purina Kitten food out for them to graze on in between. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/22 "2010-01-23T06:45:46Z")
Every cat I’ve ever owned has eaten Purina in a free-feeder. I’ve never had a picky eater. Occasionally as a treat they get a pouch of Friskies, but we’re talking once a year. And sometimes, when there are sample cans of wet food in the catlitter, they get that. But the rest of the time…Purina all the way. We use the Indoor Formula right now, and it has really helped the elderly cat shed some pounds…she is back down to svelte now instead of pudgy…thought the youngest cat is still…extra fluffy. Once, when I was really broke, I tried that Dad’s brand from WalMart…never again. They threw it up more, their coats started looking horrible within a few days…it was a disaster. Back to Purina we went, and they soon returned to their sleek and shiny state of furriness. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/23 "2010-01-23T07:01:17Z")
They get dry crunchy stuff, but we’ve found that the very small servings of ‘wet’ food share out well between the two kitties for a ‘treat’ every couple of days. And I’ve noticed that, after they mow down the wet stuff, they invariably demolish the dry stuff at a much faster rate than normal, for some reason. Oh, and mom’s a sucker \ so they get small bits of bacon and chicken and fish and ham and whatever else they smell me cooking that makes them think they can get away with begging for. \ ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/24 "2010-01-23T08:30:28Z")
You didn’t have kangaroo mince listed. Like previous posters I wish there was more than one option. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/25 "2010-01-23T09:46:20Z")
Our 16yo is a spoiled puss. For om nom nom it’s the various Fancy Feast chicken, beef liver, or tuna varieties - anything else just sits. For treats, frequent but eensy bits of turkey, ham and her climb-right-up-on-the table favorite, barbecue pork. She even enjoys a lick or two of sweets, such as vanilla ice cream or bits of blueberry muffin. ---
**Author:** ![D.Fenestrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@D.Fenestrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.Fenestrator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/26 "2010-01-23T16:16:57Z")
Our cats get dry food, not the cheapest (it doesn’t stay down), but not the high-priced stuff from the vet, either. They are interested in what the humans are eating, but we don’t generally encourage them in this… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/27 "2010-01-23T16:36:02Z")
Max the Devil Cat gets Trader Joe’s brand cat food. He seems to like it well enough. Sometimes he gets it mixed up with wet food, which, of course, he adores. I’m a vegetarian, so he doesn’t get scraps of meat intended for human use, and he seems disinterested in my food. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/28 "2010-01-23T16:48:54Z")
Boris does not want people food. He will not eat ham, turkey or any people snacks. He gets a half can of canned food everyday. Usually Purina or 9 lives. Then he gets a bowl of dry to graze. It takes him all day to empty the dry. He can get picky. If I give him the same flaor of canned too many times in a row, he will let it rot. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/29 "2010-01-23T17:36:32Z")
For years we’ve fed our three Purina One, then Max got sick. Now we feed them all canned food. They hated the very expensive vet-recommended stuff, so now they get an all meat cheaper kind. There’s still some of the dry food in their cookie jar. It has become their treat food, one kibble at a time. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/30 "2010-01-23T17:43:38Z")
I used to feed mostly Friskies, Purina, etc. dry food for my tribe. Then [Eddy](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2665499320000735275Fhtpyb) developed irritable bowel disease. I researched cat nutrition online and, with my vet’s encouragement, completely altered their diet. Now all nine get grainfree high-quality wet food primarily, in three servings per day. I do feed grainfree high-quality dry food once or occasionally twice per day. Eddy’s IBD is much improved and everyone is looking healthier and sleeker, also the fatties appear to be gradually shedding some of their bloat. Brands include Wellness, Orijen, Blue Buffalo, Natural Balance, Felidae, Nature’s Variety, EVO, Innova, Taste of the Wild, Merrick – I feed a variety so they don’t get fixated on just one, plus some of them are pickier than others. Sometimes I feed raw ground chicken and turkey with a powdered supplement mixed in. ETA: Wysong doesn’t appeal to them, why, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/31 "2010-01-23T17:47:15Z")
Forgot to add: Since changing their diet I’ve noticed that they produce less fecal output and it doesn’t smell as bad as when they were on commercial kibble bulked out with grain. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/32 "2010-01-23T18:02:05Z")
Our big male kitty got a UT obstruction and has to eat nothing but prescription food forever. We try to feed the others Eukanuba but they all prefer his prescription food. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/33 "2010-01-23T19:01:04Z")
We have no choice but to buy $43/bag Royal Canin hypoallergenic dry food for our cat. She apparently developed a gluten allergy, so grains in food make her barf. ---
**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/34 "2010-01-23T19:48:08Z")
I researched pet foods and decided the best quality for price around was Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul dry. The name has got to go, but the ingredients are very good, there’s no corn in it, and the price is 10 bucks for a 6 pound bag. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/35 "2010-01-23T20:49:50Z")
Dry food, usually 9-Lives or Friskies, in a gravity feeder for them to nosh on during the day. Twice a day a can of either 9-Lives or Friskies divided among three bowls so they each get their own. What I buy depends on what I can get on sale; I try to rotate different flavors of dry, which I generally buy in 3-pound bags. They prefer canned food in shredded and chunks to ground, and Friskies to 9-Lives. I recently splurged (because I can some coupons) on some Friskies Select, but they didn’t seem to care for it that much, judging from how slowly they ate it. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/36 "2010-01-23T20:57:44Z")
Different sorts of Purina. My kitty simply eats because there is a biological need, not because she likes it, so she completely turns her nose up at any and all canned food, plus anything more exotic than just the most bland same-old-same-old. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/37 "2010-01-23T23:22:17Z")
Iams Hairball control. Otherwise, it’s a minefield around here. If we feed them pate-style wet food, they ignore it. If we feed them chunks-in-gravy-style wet food, they lick up the gravy and leave the chunks. So we don’t bother with it anymore. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/38 "2010-01-23T23:28:40Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > So we did a thread on feeding you dog, now let’s let the kitties get in on the fun! > > I have two kittens and they eat Purina Kitten Chow exclusively, well except for when they get a nibble from someone’s tuna sandwich. > > What about you? Same here and have for decades. Now that they have both the kitten chow and chow for geriatric cats I use those when called for. Very few of my cats have cared much to eat anything else, including “people food.” They do a little supplementing on their own in their outdoor prowling. Mostly mouse brains, I notice. Yum. I have owned many cats which have lived to nearly two decades so I can’t see any reason to change. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/39 "2010-01-23T23:34:01Z")
Iams Hairball here too. Rick will be 18 in April and Mick is 15 (maybe 16, I’m not sure). Nothing else, except what they might find on the kitchen counter if I’m not paying attention, and the juice from tuna cans. Rick is thin, Mick is fat, and it might be that they’d do better if their diets were more individual, but there’s no way to do it without separating them and their food dishes. Mick’s dropped a few pounds since we got the puppy – he’s getting lots more exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-food-do-you-feed-you-cat/526046/40 "2010-01-24T00:24:09Z")
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