Cat Food.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:24 pm

My kitty eats that, but I only have one cat. He doesn't have a problem with that, jus the usual.

*eghads, now I'm thinking of that kitty litter cake*

:p

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:35 pm

Well, I hate to say it, but I would stay away from Purina products.

I know, they've been around for years, but they really just are like junk

food.

Some good ones are:

Bil-Jac (They've been around since I think 1849, sorry don't have the bag

handy!)

Flint River Ranch

Natural Balance

Eagle-Pack

They will seem a lot more expensive to you at first, but you will end up

feeding less because the animal's system processes more of it, hence

less poop.

Good for you for having one box per kitty.

You can try getting one of those cat box covers that has the charcoal

filters in the top. There are other products out, but I'm not familiar with

them.

:-6

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:17 pm

Valerie's got a point there. I'm in dog rescue and we can definitely tell when the shelter's feeding "Ol' Roy" as opposed to something like "Pedigree." Ol Roy is full of corn and just goes right through the dogs. I imagine cats would be the same. I don't know offhand what is the first few ingredients in Purina Indoor but if it's corn or wheat, that might be the trouble. Litter, we use Fresh Step or one of the multiple cat formulas. Avoid those cedar shaving litters, they're soggy and gross.

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:42 pm

Now that you know about the food, let's talk litter: Have you ever used the Arm & Hammer deodorizer? That's my favorite along with Tidy Cats scoopable for multiple cats. Also good for you for cleaning out all 3 boxes every day. A cat can use the litter box an average of 5 times a day. That's a bunch of poop!!

tedhutchinson · Post by **tedhutchinson** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:55 am

Healthy eating for cats

http://www.touchmoon.com/dotters/raw/kitties.html and

dogs

http://www.touchmoon.com/dotters/raw/index.shtml

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:02 am

One other thing I thought I should mention (along with the baking soda

but BR covered that!!

) is feeding your cats at set mealtimes rather

than free-feeding. Are the kitties a little on the heavy side? If they are,

and you free-feed, you might want to think about cutting them back.

That could be what's going in the litter box! And you're paying for it!

Check the bag for amounts to feed. It's surprisingly small, depending on

the cat's age and activity level.

:-6

minks · Post by **minks** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:39 am

Interesting, I feed stoner cat Iams cat food I would guess it is good stuff it costs $11.00 a bag and that ain't a huge bag let me tell ya. But stoner cat fills the litter box every other day. He is very poopie. I also suspect he suppliments his diet with dogberts food. As I have caught dogbert growling over his food when stoner cat approaches.

Stoner cat is feed small bowl at breaky time, and one at night.

LilacDragon · Post by **LilacDragon** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:44 am

As careful as I am with my dog, I must admit that my cat is a whole other story.

He eats Meow Mix and the bowl is filled as needed. This means that my cat is HUGE!!!

I did try to feed him good food, but he didn't eat for days. (Which would probably be a good thing, judging by his weight.)

My next cat (if there ever is another one) will get the good stuff as a kitten.

Nermal · Post by **Nermal** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:24 am

After reading about and researching what went into commercial cat food I decided to ban the cans altogether after the 2007 pet food recall. I now source all my own food for our two cats and prepare it myself. I reckon I save money (some of the food is FREE! Yes seriously, my local fish shop gives me great quality fish trimmings that make loads of free meals - this every week) and the bonus is that I now waste very little. After just a small amount of trial and error, I hit on the food they really go crazy for.

I came across a website, on cat food recipes and downloaded their cat food recipe book. Its great value and one of the free bonus books that come with it is called, "Vital Secrets You must know to protect your cat" from Anne Martin's amazing and horrifying book, "Food pets die for."

Although I had read extracts from it I had no idea just what did go into our pet's food, its a bit stomach churning but I reckon every pet owner should read it.

It may sound a lot of work but preparing my own cat food turned out to be easy and surprisingly enjoyable! I make a good sized batch then put it in small plastic boxes in the freezer. Once you have the system up and running it really is simple.

The bonus for me is watching our cats devouring the food with relish plus I no longer go to the pets store and lift those heavy cartons about. I reckon there is a special bond between my cats and me now that was not there before just due to the special effort I make on their behalf.

Both cats are now leaner and much more active so I guess I've proved a point to myself. Its amazing just what is available out there once you start looking and asking after making the decision to ban canned food.

I asked my vet first and got his total approval. There must be others who have gone down this road too.