# What to feed cats ?



## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

So I find myself left with three very finicky cats. I never paid any attention as to what my wife was feeding them - other than the purple large bag of dried cat food from Costco which they seem to like ok but I don't think they are eating enough. I have tried frozen shrimp, and corned beef from Costco as well. I've tried orange melon. Also canned (and raw) tuna. 

Sometimes they will eat the barbequed chicken from costco with me.

Any new ideas appreciated. - (or do they simply realize that their world has changed - as has mine ?)


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

Hola y Buenos noches . . . I have my two ( 5 year old siblings) Siberian Forest Cats living with me in Chiapas. I have always used the "continuous feeder" dry food dispenser, same with the water. I don't go for the BIG bag approach, I buy a variety of el pollo, carne y pescado 1 to 1.5 kg bags, different brands ( watching "the kids" behavior - do they like the dried food? ) if not I stop buying that brand. AND as what has become todos los dias, I open a can of tuna or salmon as a treat each evening ( I only spoon out about 1/3 of the can each night. ) That is their regular diet en mi casa. 
NOW for the alternatives, when I buy fresh chicken for me, I cut up some chicken in a tupperware container ( 1 maybe 2 meals worth only ); and now get this, when I am washing vegetables, "pequena nina" loves green beans - the whole bean!!! Also cantelope seeds are popular - all while I am doing the washing or cutting up for my salads. 
"the kids" are healthy, they see a vet once a year in the states ( during my return, before we return back here ). They are not fat or lazy because of my approach to their meals . . . that is just my experience. con una sonrisa


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## evalogan (Dec 17, 2021)

feed them with milk. milk is their favored food


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

evalogan said:


> feed them with milk. milk is their favored food


 . . . I do not agree about the milk beyond kitty age . . . speaking for my Siberians, their digestive system cannot tolerate. There are articles written about this . . . NOT just my experience. Con una sonrisa


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

totally agree with you Chiapas.. milk is not good for anyone including humans after the infant stage. Yes they love cream or milk but that is not a reason to give it to them. I give my cats dry food and as I have 2 I spilt a small can of the wet food which they love and seem to open their apetite.
Cats can be difficult one of my cat in the past would only eat whiskers.. One of mine now who is part wild (jaguarundi9 loves dry food and likes the wet food but can do without it. The othe cats demands wet food and tolerate dry food.. cats are funny that way so see what catfood your cats go for and stay with it. They do not seem to get bored with the same cat food every day..


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## Rammstein (Jun 18, 2016)

MangoTango said:


> So I find myself left with three very finicky cats. I never paid any attention as to what my wife was feeding them - other than the purple large bag of dried cat food from Costco which they seem to like ok but I don't think they are eating enough. I have tried frozen shrimp, and corned beef from Costco as well. I've tried orange melon. Also canned (and raw) tuna.
> 
> Sometimes they will eat the barbequed chicken from costco with me.
> 
> Any new ideas appreciated. - (or do they simply realize that their world has changed - as has mine ?)


I'm taking care of about 30 cats and kittens, all were ferals till they found me. I feed them a variety of food including sardines, shredded chicken, shredded beef, canned salmon, tuna along with commercial foods like Fancy Feast, Felix cans and pouches, Whiskas cans and pouches, and Friskies that I buy from Amazon when the price is right. The dry food they like is Minino Plus.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Milk gives our cats diarrhea.
I think part of my problem with my cats is they are going through depression.

They are also getting a little picky with the freshness. I put out three bowls of fry food and I can get away with topping them off one day - then they want fresh.
They are getting old (maybe one is 10+ and the other two are 8). Used to be that whatever we put out was gone in morning,

But there litter has never been cleaner (I change it every day) and they seem to be popping quite a bit. One cat insists on using the bathroom sink. have been using rabbit pellets of little for a few years now. It is put out by Purina. It is like a 40 kg bag and costs upwards of 500 pesos now.

I've tried buying like 4 slices of assorted meats from the grocery store (ham, pavo etc). Sometimes they eat it, sometimes not.
They really don't touch the fancy feast or felix in the pouches. 

I do give them a little catnip every now and then....


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

MangoTango said:


> put out three bowls of fry food and I can get away with topping them off one day - then they want fresh.


Oh, cats are real prima donnas that way. Better to just put out very small portions a few times a day.

A friend of mine just puts the cat food bowl on the counter when there's already food in it but the cat is demanding more. She pretends she's putting fresh in, makes a big show of stirring it around, puts the exact same food back on the floor and the cat then eats it.

My cat prefers dog food to cat food, so that's what I give her. She's an outside cat and quite the hunter, so I figure if she needs more protein or whatever than she gets from the dog food, she's got plenty of wild food to catch and eat. Found a couple of bat wings the other day, left neatly on the front door mat. Not sure how she managed to nab a bat, but she's a consumate little hunter.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I'm not a cat person, but had this advice for dry dog food: put a small amount (just a splash!) of quite hot water on it. It stirs up the smell. You don't want to make it soggy, but the hotter the better as it warms up the food. 

So I dont know if that will help, but it's free and easy to try.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

skip feefing the cats one day and they will have more apetite the next day. I think some of them suffer from boredom when they are inside cats. My cats come and go and if they do not eat well I delay the feeding until they ask for it. SOmetimes it works.. Cats are cats who knows what motivates these guys, everyone is a little differnt.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

MangoTango said:


> I don't think they are eating enough


Is there anything in particular that leads you to think they aren't eating enough? Are they getting skinny or what? You said your wife was the one who always fed them before. Maybe you have a misconception about how much they were fed? And are actually trying to overfeed them?

If animals are hungry, they will eat. It's called survival instinct. I can assure you the cats are not going to turn their nose up at food until they become ill or starve to death.
Stop pampering them- they'll eat if they need to.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

You are probably right. One of the last instructions was - stick to the dry food - they have stopped eating the wet stuff.

At this moment; the (large) dining room table has 2 bowls of water, 2 plates of orange melon, 3 bowls of different dry food, 2 bowls of corned beef and 2 bowls of canned tuna. Maybe I am overdoing it a little.

When they start following me around and talking to me I figure they are hungry. I just had orange melon myself and one cat was licking it off my plate...

One interesting thing - they are not throwing up lately - not even hairballs. And there are poops in the litter box in the morning. 

Maybe if I get them back to dry food (and water) I can set out enough that I can get away for a couple days


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

Haha- it sounds like you are running a 5 star gourmet buffet restaurant for cats.

Stop leaving full bowls of 5 different food choices out. Feed the cats a couple times a day, only set out what they will consume in one session. It isn't natural for animals to have a constant food supply. Predators, which cats biologically are, catch something, kill it, and eat it. Then they don't eat again until they are hungry again.

You are creating a food-neurotic situation with these cats yourself. They are confused.


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

MangoTango said:


> You are probably right. One of the last instructions was - stick to the dry food - they have stopped eating the wet stuff.
> 
> At this moment; the (large) dining room table has 2 bowls of water, 2 plates of orange melon, 3 bowls of different dry food, 2 bowls of corned beef and 2 bowls of canned tuna. Maybe I am overdoing it a little.
> 
> ...


 . . . now it sounds like you've been ignoring them, they love attention, and then they'll walk away . . . and to lighten up on this post, just moments ago I learned my Siberians like avocados 🥑 🥑 🥑 . . . yep, that's a cat for you . . .


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

The biggest cat just crawled into my lap on the recliner. That is a first...


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Have you considered that the cats may miss someone, and need something more than food?


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

RVGRINGO said:


> Have you considered that the cats may miss someone, and need something more than food?


Of course. They have had a very tough year. They lost a sister earlier in the summer as well. Life is very different for them. Thanks for all your comments. I'll let it be at this point.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

[email protected] said:


> just moments ago I learned my Siberians like avocados


Most dogs love avocados, too. They're oily and high protein.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

The cats got quiet all of a sudden so I went to see what they were up to.
Turns out they had an alacran trapped under a file cabinet.


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## Bobbyb (Mar 9, 2014)

Cats love canned pumpkin. It is also a very good cat food. Have you tried the canned food with gravy?


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

I've never seen canned pumpkin - but I am going shopping this morning and I look for it.

Here, the canned food with gravy is now in pouches and all they do is lick the gravy.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

put them on a scale and see if they are losing weight, if they are not forget about it, give them cat food and quit pampering them, they ar predators not babies.. put a mouse in a room with them and they will have their life back or let them go out and come back so they hunt lizards and birds.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

I've probably lost 5-10 lbs in the last two month  
We have all lived very pampered lives.
None of our cats have ever been outside cats. In Florida we did have a cat that managed to get outside the screened in pool area - we spent a couple days trying to find it but eventually it returned on its own.
By keeping the cats inside it has allowed us to handle their medical care a little bit differently.

I couldn't find canned pumpkin (although it looks like Amazon Mexico has it). What I did pick up at Costco today was cheaper canned tuna (in water) and canned chicken breast.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

My cats come and go butwe keep the dry food inside so they can come and get it and the wet food , we only give in the morning and there are inside like clockwork to eat so I take care of piññs of whatever at that time.. If I am not there by the time they decide is the time, we hear the bitching clear to the other side of the house although they have dry food.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

I found some catnip in a closet today and gave the three cats perhaps 1/2 teaspoon each. 
It was gone in a heartbeat. 
Today I have only set out three small bowls of different dry food.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

MangoTango said:


> By keeping the cats inside it has allowed us to handle their medical care a little bit differently.


Not sure what that means. I'm not really a cat person, but have always seemed to have a cat show up whether I wanted it or not. 
All my cats have been outdoor cats. That didn't ever result in them requiring medical care. In fact, cats that never go outside are likely to develop more medical issues than those who do. How do you think your health would be if you never went out in the fresh air and sunshine?

People keeping cats inside, never allowing them to see or experience the outdoors and doing what cats naturally do, has always seemed so bizarre to me. Not to mention having to deal with those disgusting litter boxes.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Purely for information purposes, no judgement is intended:

https://www.wintuaudubon.org › feral-cats-drive-songbird-decline
Feral Cats Drive Songbird Decline | Wintu Audubon Society
With the exception of habitat loss, this number dwarfs all other current human-caused *bird* mortality combined. Many of the studies are small, but they reveal a grim pattern. *Cats* kill nearly 50% of suburban *songbird* fledglings. Pet *cats* average one wildlife kill per fifty-six hours outdoors.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

I've never been a cook. When I was younger I lived on Chef-Boy-R-Dee canned ravioli, grilled cheese, cereal and canned tuna. But I found a bag of snapper (from Costco) in the freezer today, threw some butter in a pan and cooked up some of the fish. Gave it to the cats and all three of them had their plates cleared in moments. (The dry food also seems to slowly be disappearing as well).


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## Trad+Cath+2022 (Jan 2, 2022)

MangoTango said:


> So I find myself left with three very finicky cats. I never paid any attention as to what my wife was feeding them - other than the purple large bag of dried cat food from Costco which they seem to like ok but I don't think they are eating enough. I have tried frozen shrimp, and corned beef from Costco as well. I've tried orange melon. Also canned (and raw) tuna.
> 
> Sometimes they will eat the barbequed chicken from costco with me.
> 
> Any new ideas appreciated. - (or do they simply realize that their world has changed - as has mine ?)


I kick my two tomcats outside most of the time so that they do their job -- kill rats and mice (and eat them).


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Trad+Cath+2022 said:


> I kick my two tomcats outside most of the time so that they do their job -- kill rats and mice (and eat them).


and birds.


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