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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / September 2004Is this cat food okay?
Hi, Have two cats. One is way overweight, the other fine. They've been free-feeding their whole lives--in recent years, dry weight-management kibble. Decided to feed less.. feed only a couple times a day and use canned wet food. Picked up an assortment of the high-end cans from PetSmart. Problem. Buck, the fat cat who is always hungry won't eat any of it. Curly, the skinny kitty loves it all. Kept trying new types. Bingo! Just found one that Buck loves, too! It's Purina's Pro Plan, which I expected to be less healthy than Science Diet, Nutro, etc. Opened the can expecting to find not-so-healthy mush highly prefumed to appeal to cats. Wrong. I liked what I saw. Lots of chunks of small fish, very much like chopped sardines in a geletine. Talk about giving them the long-chain Omega-3 that's missing in their diet! Okay, it's obvious I'm pleased to find a food Buck digs, and it's obvious that I'm impressed with the food so far. My questions are.. Is feeding just this particular cat food any worse than feeding solely the same dry kibble they were eating (dry Purina One weight-management)? Has there been any negative info on Purina Pro Plan canned food? How much should I feed these cats? Any tips on how to switch them over and how to structure their feeding schedule? Thanks very much for you insights and suggestions! Jeff Jeff Harper Tampa, FL It's better than a lot of them while not the highest quality and I firmly believe that wet food is a HUGELY better weight loss tool for cats than low cal dry (I know many others believe this too). Trying to lose weight on a dry food diet is probably like us trying to loose weight by only eating sandwiches. There are better out there but there are certainly worse. Karen > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > Jeff Harper > Tampa, FL > Hi, > > Have two cats. One is way overweight, the other fine. Me too! > They've been free-feeding their whole lives--in recent years, dry > weight-management kibble. My fat cat was on this. > Decided to feed less.. feed only a couple times a day and use canned wet > food. This is what I decided to do with my fat cat. But I put down half a cup of dry, and then give her only half a three-oz can in the morning and half at night. Here is what happened: whereas she used to gobble all the dry and beg for more, now she kind of rations the dry out over the day so it never runs out. She hangs out in the kitchen because she loves the canned food so much, as does the skinny girl, and it has created a better bond between them. AND: she lost 3.5 lbs over about a year. She was 16.5 lbs, and then 13.5. Also, both cats' coats are healthier and they just look better and act like they feel better. > Picked up an assortment of the high-end cans from PetSmart. Me too, just the other day! Here is the funny thing: All of the above results were achieved by feeding the stinkiest, grossest kitty junk food ever: Fancy Feast Chopped Grill! It was the only kind they would both eat every bit of. At PetSmart I got MaxCat, Science Diet, and Nutro. The fat cat will eat them all as long as I mash up the little chunks with a fork. She doesn't want any steeeenking chunks in her food! ;) The skinny one will now NOT eat anything but the FF. Since she has allergies that happened to clear up while I was giving her the FF, I am leaving her on it, for now. > Problem. Buck, the fat cat who is always hungry won't eat any of it. > Curly, the skinny kitty loves it all. I think this is less of a problem than if Buck loved it all and Curly would not eat it! Albeit it is always bad for a cat to stop eating for even a few days. I feed mine on different floors--fatty downstairs and skinny upstairs. (I fix it in the kitchen and carry skinny's on up.) > Kept trying new types. > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Okay, it's obvious I'm pleased to find a food Buck digs, and it's obvious > that I'm impressed with the food so far. People have lots of different opinions about the quality of different brands. If Buck loves it and it looks good to you, it's fine! If you want to reassure yourself, there areweb sites where you can look at the nutritional values--hopefully someone will post them here as I have not bookmarked them. > My questions are.. > > Is feeding just this particular cat food any worse than feeding solely the > same dry kibble they were eating (dry Purina One weight-management)? No, and there is evidence that canned food is actually better for them, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it gets more water into them and it usually contains less carbohydrates, which most carnivores do not need. I was told not to feed wet food because it tends to cause more dental problems years ago. I don;t know if it is true. Do you get Buck regular dental exams? If so, there goes the only negative I have heard about feeding canned food. Also: dry Purina One weight management food is EXACTLY what I was feeding my fat girl that she ate and ate and ate and GAINED weight on. One theory is that they will eat and eat and eat trying to get satisfied on that carby stuff, when if you give them just a bit of canned food, that satisfies. It is working for my fat cat. > Has there been any negative info on Purina Pro Plan canned food? Haven't heard any. > How much should I feed these cats? How big are they, and how old? How active? > Any tips on how to switch them over and how to structure their feeding > schedule? Most people say mix in the new food gradually; most also say to feed them every twelve hours. > Have two cats. One is way overweight, the other fine. *g* Sounds like mine. > Problem. Buck, the fat cat who is always hungry won't eat any of it.\ Well, that's only a little bit of a problem. j/k [pro plan canned] > My questions are.. > > Is feeding just this particular cat food any worse than feeding solely the > same dry kibble they were eating (dry Purina One weight-management)? It's better. Wet food is better than dry for cats because of their unique moisture needs. Cats often don't drink as much as they should, so when on a dry diet, they miss out on the much needed water. Wet food has almost all the water they need. They will drink much less water from a bowl as they eat more wet food. They should pee more, too, which is good, because boy kitties are prone to urinary problems if they don't pee enough. > Has there been any negative info on Purina Pro Plan canned food? Not that I know of. I feed it, among other things. I like to switch foods so my cats don't get either too bored or too picky (only eat one flavor of one brand type of thing that screws you if it gets discontinued). I always hear about not switching foods, but it seems to me that since I sure wouldn't like the exact same thing every day, my cats might not like that either. So I switch between various medium and high quality dry and wet foods. Possibly of note - my cats never get "sick" from new foods. Nor does my dog. They don't always love what I give them, but they get a good variety. Chicken Soup For The Cat Lover's Soul is a *huge* hit in my house. In fact, too much so. They overeat it, so they don't get it more than twice a week. Aaaaanyway... > How much should I feed these cats? Start with the serving recommended on the can. Increase/decrease as necessary over time to get the weight the cat should be. > Any tips on how to switch them over and how to structure their feeding > schedule? Just do it has always been my motto, but my kids are used to change. If yours rebel, start by giving the cans at the time you will give it to them normally, but leave dry down. Decrease the dry you leave down over a couple weeks until there isn't any. My 5 cents...  Signature-- ~kaeli~ Murphy's Law #2000: If enough data is collected, anything may be proven by statistical methods. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace One of the Purina Pro Plan products - Adult Fish & Crab entree contains a whopping 2.72% calcium and 2.07% phosphorus. The Adult Sardines & Tuna in Aspic contains 3.08% calcium and 2.18% phosphorus. Maximum levels of these two nutrients should be 1.0% calcium and 0.9% phosphorus. These products are nearly identical to the Purina Friskies versions of the same. > One of the Purina Pro Plan products - Adult Fish & Crab entree > contains a whopping 2.72% calcium and 2.07% phosphorus. The Adult > Sardines & Tuna in Aspic contains 3.08% calcium and 2.18% phosphorus. > Maximum levels of these two nutrients should be 1.0% calcium and 0.9% > phosphorus. These products are nearly identical to the Purina Friskies > versions of the same. Steve, I don't know anything about calcium and phosphorus yet. The cans they like are the Purina Pro Plan products - Adult Fish & Crab. Can you provide more info and maybe a link? Thanks for the input! Jeff >> "Jeff Harper" <tencigars@yahoo.com> wrote in message >news:<2omrpsFcd5dhU1@uni-berlin.de>... [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >Jeff Please be aware that while Mr. Crane's input may be very helpful and/or informative, he is a long-time employee of Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., and as such his views may be biased. eq >From: ">equalizer <> >>> One of the Purina Pro Plan products - Adult Fish & Crab entree >>> contains a whopping 2.72% calcium and 2.07% phosphorus. The Adult >>> Sardines & Tuna in Aspic contains 3.08% calcium and 2.18% phosphorus. >>> Maximum levels of these two nutrients should be 1.0% calcium and 0.9% >>> phosphorus. These products are nearly identical to the Purina Friskies >>> versions of the same. >Please be aware that while Mr. Crane's input may be very helpful and/or >informative, he is a long-time employee of Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., >and as such his views may be biased. How exactly does that change the factual information he gave? >>From: ">equalizer <> > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >How exactly does that change the factual information he gave? Where precisely did I state that it did? eq >>>From: ">equalizer <> >> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >eq I didn't think so..... eq >>>From: ">equalizer <> >> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >eq Wize choice....... eq > >From: ">equalizer <> > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > How exactly does that change the factual information he gave? For some reason equalizer's message does not appear on my list of messages. Perhaps being restricted to using Google causes this as I notice that there are a number of messages that simply are not visible to me. Direcway satellite internet does not host the NG's, thus you have to use Google. Equalizer is correct, I have been teaching small animal clinical nutrition to vets and their staff members for over 20 years. Presently my task with Hill's is to manage our technical nutritional databases, review research, obtain additional esoteric data for our research personnel. I have no problem with equalizers message - as long as you don't "shoot the messenger", just because you don't like the message. If my facts are incorrect - I'm more than willing to debate the issue. Prove my facts wrong rather than trying to win the argument by character assasination and impugning my reputation just because of who I work for. Legalese While I have been an employee of Hill's Pet Nutrition for over 20 years, NOTHING I say here should EVER be construed as coming from, derived from, subject to, or having any connection whatsoever with the company I work for. Everything I say here is my personal thinking and opinions alone. >From: eodemolay@cox.net (Steve Crane) >While I have been an employee of Hill's Pet Nutrition for over 20 >years, NOTHING I say here should EVER be construed as coming from, >derived from, subject to, or having any connection whatsoever with the >company I work for. Everything I say here is my personal thinking and >opinions alone. Horseshit ________ See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm >From: darnit7@aol.comnolitter (PawsForThought) >Date: 8/30/04 9:52 AM Pacific Daylight Time [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Horseshit I see you're back to trolling Mr. Crane's posts! Don't you ever have anything nice to say, Lauren? <sarcasm intended> I didn't think so! > >From: eodemolay@cox.net (Steve Crane) > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Horseshit Thanks very much for the perfect example. This is quite typical of the name calling and character assasination I described above. As I indicated in the begining, try to prove my facts wrong, rather than sinking to name calling responses. When the only argument presented by an opponent in any debate is to sink to name calling - you can figure the debate has been won, the facts have prevailed, and the opposition has nothing constructive to add. I couldn't have provided a better example if I tried. >From: eodemolay@cox.net (Steve Crane) >> >From: eodemolay@cox.net (Steve Crane) >> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >has nothing constructive to add. I couldn't have provided a better >example if I tried. LOL, well gee, Steve, I didn't call you horsehit, only what you were saying. Would "bullshit" have been better, and perhaps more accurate? I'll just say you're not being honest here, especially with yourself, if you think you have no bias when it comes to other cat food companies than Hill's. That would be like someone working for Ford Motor Company posting on a car newsgroup and saying they have no bias when it comes to Chevrolet or GM. Surely you're not so dense as to not see this. Don't feel embarrassed though. It's only natural for people to have biases in the industries within which they work. However, I think you need to reword your legalese to be more forthcoming and accurate. Lauren ________ See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm >From: darnit7@aol.comnolitter (PawsForThought) >>> Horseshit >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >>has nothing constructive to add. I couldn't have provided a better >>example if I tried. >LOL, well gee, Steve, I didn't call you horsehit, only what you were saying. >Would "bullshit" have been better, and perhaps more accurate? I'll just say [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >I >think you need to reword your legalese to be more forthcoming and accurate. Let's put it this way, Lauren.....unless you have something constructive to add or some facts to bring to the table that refute what Steve says, you're only going to continue to embarrass yourself------as you've done here! (how's that for a run-on sentence?) ;) <SNIP> >Let's put it this way, Lauren.....unless you have something constructive to add >or some facts to bring to the table that refute what Steve says, you're only >going to continue to embarrass yourself------as you've done here! (how's that >for a run-on sentence?) ;) Wow, Lauren! You sure gave this guy a world-class public spanking at some point, eh? What's it been -- about 2 years or so now, and he's still obsessed with gaining ANY little bit of ground over you that he can! Talk about deep-seated wounds that extend right into real life. LOL! eq >>Let's put it this way, Lauren.....unless you have something constructive to >add [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >eq Don't you have a Laura R to impersonate? I see that you, too, don't have anything of substance to add, btw. Lauren is a world-class liar and likes to pretend otherwise. >>>Let's put it this way, Lauren.....unless you have something constructive to >>add [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >I see that you, too, don't have anything of substance to add, btw. Lauren is a >world-class liar and likes to pretend otherwise. OOooh! I Rubbed some salt in there, eh? Direct hit noted. eq >From: ">equalizer <> >>>>Let's put it this way, Lauren.....unless you have something constructive >to [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > >eq LMAO!!!!! Good one, EQ! Lauren ________ See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm (...) > For some reason equalizer's message does not appear on my list of > messages. Perhaps being restricted to using Google causes this as I > notice that there are a number of messages that simply are not visible > to me. If a poster has set X-no-archive to 'yes', then their messages are not archived (natch) by Google. Steve. > (...) > > For some reason equalizer's message does not appear on my list of [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Steve. Thanks, I alway wondered why I missed a large number of messages. I could find threads after the fact, but not the original message. Is there some advantage to sending messages this way? I assume it means that no record of the message is retained? (...) > Thanks, > I alway wondered why I missed a large number of messages. I could > find threads after the fact, but not the original message. Is there > some advantage to sending messages this way? I assume it means that no > record of the message is retained? That's the advantage! Steve. > For some reason equalizer's message does not appear on my list of > messages. Perhaps being restricted to using Google causes this as I > notice that there are a number of messages that simply are not visible > to me. Direcway satellite internet does not host the NG's, thus you > have to use Google. Get a free account from the free German server at http://news.individual.net to use with any news application, such as Gravity or Agent/FreeAgent (or Outlook, if you must). I guarantee you'll be happier than using Google. A lot of people whose ISPs have lousy news-servers are very happy with their service. If you have interest in occasional use of binary groups as well as text groups, a Basic account from Newsguy.com is only $40/year. I've been very happy with their service for the past 4 or 5 years (of dial-up and cable ISPs with crappy news-servers). They use very good spam filtering on news, so you don't see much spam, and the account comes with a couple of free email accounts, with excellent options for spam-filtering that you can configure. (They have their own optional web-based news reader and mail reader, but I've never used them). They have a free trial for a couple of days, IIRC. If anyone should happen sign up with Newsguy on my recommendation, I'd appreciate you listing the referral from "jamiemck@newsguy.com". They reward referrals by extending the expiration date of the subscription a couple of weeks. Signaturejamie (jamiemck@newsguy.com) "There's a seeker born every minute." > > "Jeff Harper" <tencigars@yahoo.com> wrote in message > news:<2omrpsFcd5dhU1@uni-berlin.de>... [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Jeff Jeff, Purina does not provide this info on thier web site. It is possible you could send them an email asking for the data. The data I have comes from thier 2004 Purina Veterinary Diets, Veterinary Product Guide VET0806. Additional info on the Fish & Crab provided by Purina's Veterinary Guide (All on a Dry Matter Basis) Protein 71.80% (KNF Levels 30-45%) fat 20.20% (KNF Levels 10-30%) fiber 0.90% (KNF Levels <5%) ash 11.70% calcium 2.72% (KNF Levels 0.5-1.0%) phosphorus 2.07% (KNF Levels 0.05-0.9%) sodium 0.42% (KNF Levels 0.2-0.6%) Potassium 1.13% (KNF Levels 0.6-1.0%) Magnesium _not_ provided ???? (KNF Levels 0.04-0.1%) Metabolizable Energy 77 kcal/can 901 kcals/kg KNF Levels are the Key Nutritional Factors levels as described on page 309 Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4th Edition 2000 |
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