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AnonymousNarcotics posted:Here's the info they sent me. It's anecdotal, but growing up I had a male cat who lived to 19 on mostly the cheapest supermarket dry food. To be fair, he did supplement his diet with a lot of mice when he was young. When he got into his teens and I was old enough to make decisions about it I tried switching to better quality food and more canned food. Even once he'd lost half his teeth he wouldn't go completely to canned food, he'd cry if there wasn't a bowl of kibble somewhere for him to gum.  The plural of anecdote is not data, but I wouldn't expect any cats to live for several years on an exclusively kibble diet if kibble was poison. It's probably a thing where they take some facts and then extrapolate to absurdity. Like I wouldn't be surprised if some study found cats on an exclusive kibble diet don't live as long cats on an exclusive canned food diet, simply because people who can afford to feed canned food could also be more likely to afford regular vet care. Or fish might be bad because canned tuna can be high in mercury, and if humans should avoid eating canned tuna more than twice a week then maybe cats should avoid eating canned 'tuna' more than twice a week too. Stuff that starts going around in pet blogs as "just to be safe maybe avoid this thing" and after a few rounds of telephone becomes "you're a monster if you don't avoid this thing".
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Jun 25, 2020 07:31
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bloody ghost titty posted:So the missus asked me to look into the farmers dog to add/transition out of the existing kibble, and looking at the price tag and being more than competent with a kitchen knife and scale, I was wondering if it wouldn’t be prudent to follow their recipes at home, or if there are some resources for people who want to feed small dogs well without being absolutely crazy pants about it. Dogs are omnivores who live on scraps and literal trash through most of our history together, so it shouldn't be much harder to feed a dog from scratch than to feed a human child. But on the other hand you are not a dog nutritionist and you don't want to soylent your dog, and it can take years to realize you've hosed up and turned your dogs bones to jelly. I might try something like 1/2 or 2/3 good quality kibble and the remainder a healthy homemade whole food slurry. Potentially get the best of both worlds a baseline nutrition plus the extra vitamins and trace minerals that maybe don't do so well going through the rendering plant and kibbilziation. You could keep a journal or database or whatever. Track the dog's weight, shape, coat condition, teeth, eyes and so on once a month. Taking a couple minutes to evaluate his condition every month will help you notice if he's getting fat, bony, or dandruff or other potential red flags before it becomes a big problem.
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Aug 16, 2020 05:28
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WombatCyborg posted:Hey, so I'm giving my cat exclusive wet right now, but I read the box and realized I'd been giving half what I was supposed to each day apparently. Is there a definitive answer as to how many calories per pound a cat needs? It's great wet food, all protein with no fillers, I just don't know how much is enough and if the box is potentially going to give instructions that lead to an overweight cat. There is no definitive answer to how many calories "a cat" needs, no. A maine coon can be like 18 pounds and not overweight, while some other cats top out at like 6 pounds as adults and are perfectly healthy. Some cats are crazy active, other cats snooze all day and can get by with fewer calories. You have go by results. If your cat is bony feed more, if your cat is chonky feed less. 
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Sep 15, 2020 04:55
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:yeah feed fancy feast or like, purina LOL I printed out the giant list of best/good/acceptable foods in the previous version of this thread and wandered the aisles of the pet store trying to find something affordable that my cat would eat. She's a trash cat and the more expensive the food the less she seems to like it. And now the thread is all gently caress it just get friskies or whatever it doesn't matter. 
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Oct 28, 2020 20:16
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Organza Quiz posted:The old wisdom was "more meat is better", the new wisdom (as far as I've been able to figure out anyway) is cat food is very badly regulated so just about any old joe can make a trendy meat-filled grain-free holistic all-natural food but it won't necessarily have the right nutrients, so stick to something well-established unless you're really sure there's enough science and testing involved. Yeah after years of fretting I arbitrarily settled on looking for kibble that was less than 40% carbs. Of course they don't actually tell you the carbs, so you have to add protein + fat + fiber and hope that adds up to at least 60%. It would be better to just feed canned food, but Pip wails endlessly if there isn't kibble regardless of how fresh and plentiful her canned food is. 
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Oct 29, 2020 23:19
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Irukandji Syndrome posted:Bad news: My dog (senior) refused this food. Zero interest. Cats can't survive on dog food alone, but you aren't suggesting that. Something like 2-4 kibbles a day, as a treat, seems fine unless it puts her off her food.
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Dec 3, 2020 02:25
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Freeze dried is going to kill any bacteria, parasites or eggs, probably. Not many things can survive being completely dehydrated. Raw and fresh refrigerated pet food is relying on the same sort food hygiene that makes it possible to eat steak tartar or sushi. People can eat their steak hella rare now because it is quite unlikely that you're going to catch a tapeworm from a modern feedlot farmed cow. If the meat was clean and healthy and it is stored properly the entire time, then raw meat can be safe. The difference is that if your food wasn't stored properly somewhere along the chain and has gone off you'll probably smell or at least taste that something is wrong with your food -- but you might not carefully sniff or taste your pet food, and your pet might not shun food that has gone off if they are hungry. I tried a fresh refrigerated food once. Cat didn't like eating cold food. I didn't like microwaving cat food to get it to an acceptable temperature. Didn't buy it again.
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May 26, 2021 00:27
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yellowyams posted:So is it bad for cats if I'm always feeding them something different every meal? Their foster mom was cycling through a few different wet foods because they get sick of the same thing quickly and stop eating and I didn't want to change their routine while they were transitioning to their new home, but when I tried switching them to something more consistent they did indeed start ignoring their food and gnawing on anything and everything that was not food when I wasn't around, mainly the underside of my bed. So I went back to getting them a few different wet foods to cycle through and just keeping them on the same dry food at night which they don't seem to mind as much. Am I damaging their digestive tract by doing this? Should I just switch to dry only since that's the only thing they'll consistently eat the same of? It's fine. It isn't like in the wild they would only eat shrews and turn their noses up at birds or bugs. A cat that is fed one thing all the time for years has their intestinal bacteria adjust to process that one thing, so when you change it their guts get mad and they get the runs. If that one food ever becomes unavailable you're gonna have a bad time. If they get a variety of foods their intestinal bacteria will prime for that and be fine. Some people think feeding multiple foods encourages an animal to be fussy. I guess I can see it. If you ate Bachelor Chow and nothing else your whole life you'd be fine with it, but once you had a taco you'd be reluctant to go back to it. But if the cat has already tried multiple foods that opportunity has passed and there's no reason not to continue what you're doing.
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Oct 9, 2022 20:44
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