Your thoughts on cat food

[edie]

Oh, and Science Diet is CRAP! I'm glad no one gave props to Science Diet, I have NO idea why vet offices love it The ingredients are no better and sometimes worse than Wal-Mart cat food. Don't waste your money on the stuff! My mom was until I told her about the ingredients

I know!! At the vet tech facility for my college the animals are fed Science Diet, all their poops are orange and either runny or soft, cats and dogs

[Jay_Bunny]

The best diet for a cat is a raw/whole prey diet. Cats are obligate carnivores and do not benefit from ANY plant material in their diet. I'm currently working with someone online to switch all three of my cats over to a raw/whole prey diet. Since my ferrets are on a raw/whole prey diet, I was upstairs feeding them and my cat, Ramman, basically sat in my lap and demanded pieces of raw chicken. You don't have to worry too much about bacteria as a cat's digestive system is short enough that they get rid of the bacteria before it has time to become dangerous. Raw meat, bones, and organs are the best possible diet. I've noticed a big difference in my cats' responses to food now that I am feeding them raw. Ramman will try anything once and he is hooked on raw. He won't leave me alone when I bring it upstairs for the ferrets. Tyran was hesitant at first, but between her and Ramman, they consumed an entire chicken wing and loved it. Miki, who normally turns her nose up at any new food and doesn't like taking food from you, reached over and took the wing from me in order to get a bite.

Kibble is terrible for cats as well as other obligate carnivores. Because it is a dry kibble, it does not clean the cat's teeth properly. Only the tips of the teeth are cleaned and that leads to gum disease. Ramman was on kibble when we got him and at 9 months old had already developed gingivitus(spelling), and we were told by the vet to brush his teeth. The reason kibble does not clean their teeth is because a cat's teeth are not designed to grind food, only to tear, shred, then gulp down. So when they bite into kibble, the kibble splits instead of crunches, which only scrapes at the tip of their tooth, not all the way to the gum line. When a cat bites into meat, it is moist and their teeth sink all the way into the meat, which cleans the tooth and stimulates the gums. Not to mention, meat provides them with 100% digestable matter which is packed with nutrition, nutrition they can absorb and use with ease since it is meat based. With dry kibble, the plant matter makes up the bulk of the pieces causing them to only absorb small amounts of nutrition from the kibble. With meat being readily digestible and usable by their bodies, they get all the nutrition they need and they end up eating less, letting them fall into a normal weight.

If you are able to feed a raw/whole prey diet, then I suggest going that route. Its not that hard and the kitties love it. Mine currently enjoy boneless beef, chicken wings, and turkey necks.

(Actually, all carnivorous animals in my house are going to switch to a raw/whole prey diet. )

[tweets_4611]

I had thought of the raw type of diet, and I'll have to look into it a bit more before making any decisions about it. I'm pretty squeamish around raw meat (what a wimp, eh? ) but I could deal with that if it seemed to be a plausibly route other than that.

I brought my new kitten home last night!! ^_^ He is such a sweetie. He was kinda the 'tough guy' of the litter, but he is really the only one that seemed active enough to keep up with my Little Bit. And the new baby (I think I may go with Lyle) is huge! He's only 10 weeks and almost as tall as 5 month old Lil Bit. He doesn't have the size otherwise, but he is very tall.

A problem though...I realized when I went to pick the new baby up that I haven't ever brought a new cat into the home of a cat that is already settled. Lil Bit won't quit growling/hissing/general puffing up at the new baby, and when given the chance, takes some pretty serious swipes at the little guy. The new guy is more brave than Lil Bit, and just ignores most of it, but when he gets swiped at, or hit, he does tend to hiss back. Last night and while I'm not home, the baby is in the bathroom with a small litter box (so I know it's him that is using it) and some soft food and water, while Lil Bit has run of the rest of the apt.

I guess I should be asking, is there an easier way to introduce the boys? I gave Lil Bit a flea bath just before I got the kitten, and had plans to give the baby a flea bath, to see if the similar smell on each of them would help ease the transition. But other than that, I don't have any idea what to do, other than just watch them, and don't let a full fight break out....

[Jay_Bunny]

When I brought my new kitten home a few years ago, I put the kitten in the bathroom and the settled in cat in the bedroom that was attached to the bathroom. This let the settled cat investigate at her own will. After she was comfortable with the kitten being in the bathroom, I let the kitten out for supervised interaction. As long as there was no fighting I kept the kitten out. At night, I would put the kitten back in the bathroom so there would be no unsupervised interaction. After about a week of this, the settled cat tolerated the kitten's presence and I was able to keep the kitten in the main house full time. After about 2-3 weeks they were grooming each other and sharing beds.

And you think I'm not squeamish about meat....I'm vegetarian slowly transitioning to vegan. I can't stand looking at the stuff, but its all over my hands by the time I'm done feeding everyone. Its gross, but its what is good for my babies.

[tweets_4611]

That is what I did last night and today while I was at class. The new baby was in the bathroom and my other kitten had run of the house. But when the baby is in the bathroom, my kitten pays no attention to him at all. The second I let him out, he puffs up and starts growling. I left them both out when I fell asleep earlier (who wants to do homework....) and they hadn't killed each other yet... They had started to "play" earlier. It was still pretty rough, but I was watching and there was no growling or anything. I guess I'm just going to put the baby up again for the next couple of nights and see how things go