Home Forums Cats Nutritional advice?

Nutritional advice?

Published on: September 29, 2021 • By: KTKin6 · In Forum: Cats
Author
Topic
KTKin6
Participant
September 29, 2021 at 09:49pm
Hello! I'm seeking nutritional advice today. One of my three cats is a very picky eater and gets dangerously constipated when on dry food so I've been looking around for a wet food that she likes, that also has good quality ingredients, but that I can also afford cause with the other two also having specific dietary needs I find myself a bit strapped at times. I have so far found two foods she likes consistently. One is much more expensive (1.69 a can) and the other is in a price range I'm comfortable with (89C a can, RedBarn chicken pate, the other, more expensive one is Weruva: Cats in the kitchen, fowl ball flavor) so my basic question is is the redbarn a good food to be feeding her? It seems to have quality ingredients to my eye but I'm confused why it's still so cheap. The ingredients are more or less the same as the Weruva food minus some things that don't make sense to me to read. Hoping for some more insight. Thank you very much for your time! PXL_20210917_044402720
Report
Author
Replies
Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
September 30, 2021 at 12:49am
Hello!  It's good to know that you want to take a closer look at the actual contents of your cats' meals.  We would advise doing so with your vet, for various reasons. Food is a tricky subject and I do not understand how anyone can look at this label and know whether the ingredients are of good quality or not.  It simply doesn't mention the quality of the ingredients and I wonder if there is an objective, scientific definition of the word 'quality ingredients' to make a judgement on in any case.  Exactly what do you want to know?  Perhaps, is this food appropriate for a kitten to thrive?  Or whether the chicken are factory farmed / fed antibiotics?  None of this information is readily available from the ingredients list. I'm afraid that because of the way we are funded, we try not to comment on particular brands.  Do you know which brand your vet would recommend?  Presumably, a nutritionally researched science based brand with studies behind it?  Such manufacturers are often well represented by sales reps;  I would ask your vet or nurse or approach the brand's nutrition scientists to explain what it is that you would be paying the extra for. Usually good quality kitten foods are more energy / protein dense than cat foods (cats get energy from protein), given that a kitten has a lot of growing to do (like, quadrupling in size in six months, or whatever) and cats have a lower metabolism and are often prone to obesity.  Some manufacturers simply multiply up or down from the same adult cat mix to get the kitten 'dose' and in some cases this can imply that either the cat might have a relatively empty belly or the kitten might be over-faced by volume to get the required portion for growth, for example. Our advice for choosing a kitten food would therefore be to ask your veterinary team.  This way, you are likely to get a food that has scientific studies behind it, showing its suitability and therefore, you can rest easy. Inevitably, I'm afraid that this is unlikely to be the cheapest option.
Report
Author
Replies
Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
September 30, 2021 at 12:52am
Please bear in mind that I have not, I'm answering this question, analysed or commented on the food.
Report
Author
Replies
KTKin6
Participant
October 01, 2021 at 03:21am
@Liz Buchanan. Thanks for your response, I'm mainly looking into things that can be considered "holistic" and fresh ingredients, ingredients that if were described to me as ingredients to make a meal for myself, I wouldn't be tempted to throw up. I don't want to give her foods that are made from fillers, lab made ingredients (aside necessary vitamin supplements), heavy preservatives and based on scraps of otherwise unusable meat from random butchers.
Report
Author
Replies
Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
October 01, 2021 at 11:39am
Hello!  Literally speaking, I'm not sure that there are any cat-foods I would personally want to eat without throwing up, and quite right too because cats and humans have completely different dietary needs. In the wild, cats have evolved to eat a largely raw-meat based diet and there are now vets who suggest that feeding the diet that a pet has evolved to eat has great advantages.  However, there are risks associated with this too, ( https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2018/11/09/raw-food-potential-health-issues/ ) so precautions would need to be taken.  There are companies and vets who are devoted to supporting raw diets and go out of their way to ensure that owners are educated and can minimize the safety risks - we would not advise owners to attempt to supply raw diets without their vets' back-up. So that's one option, but I hear what you say about tendencies to vomit, so more to follow........
Report
Author
Replies
Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
October 01, 2021 at 11:47am
Luckily, there are also nutrition-focused companies who try to put cats' direct nutritional needs into an easy-to-feed package.  It is likely that at least one of these companies works with your vet, supplying them with evidence-based information to back up their claims.  We would therefore advise asking your vet for information about such companies - they will often be able to provide quite detailed nutritional information.  
Report
Author
Replies
Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
October 01, 2021 at 11:54am
....some of these foods will be in a wet form. Finally, it is natural and healthy for a cat to eat the amount of food that they need and then to stop eating.  When cats consistently finish their plate e.g. with a lot of commercial, non-nutrition-based pet-foods, it is sometimes because the plate contains a lot of fat or sugar to tempt the cat to eat beyond their fill.  Therefore be aware that if cats only pick at food throughout the day, this is sometimes a healthy sign, close to their natural pattern of eating (a mouse or half a mouse at a time) and not necessarily a sign that they don't like a food.  Unless a cat is eating so little that they are actually losing weight, I wouldn't necessarily see it as a problem. I hope that at least some of this helps a little.
Report
Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

You must be logged in to create new threads, or access some of the forums

Log In
Register

Registration confirmation will be emailed to you

By joining the Forum, I agree that I am aged over 18 and that I will abide by the Community Guidelines and the Terms

Or

Report a Thread or Reply

Thank you for your help. A member of our team will investigate this further.

Back to forum