Cat Nutrition Time

With our dogs settled into their eating routine (and it is nice of it to now feel routine), it is time to turn attention to cats.  I have made a stab at feeding them a homemade diet, but there is a reason why Morris the cat became an American icon for the 'finicky eater.'

While a dog can survive on cat food, a cat cannot survive on dog food.  If one is interested in feeding a cat a homemade diet, it is worth noting the basics.  I gain refer you to the science site of Dr. Strombeck.  Real harm get be done with cats if certain basics are not attended to.

That being said, while I've not given up on a homemade, I have had to switch my food offerings. As I have for all these many, many years, I have been feeding, and my cats have been enjoying, Purina foods.  However, recently, Wyatt has been refusing his food.  I'm embarrassed to say that I was chalking it up to his natural pickiness.

In our weigh-in, I was appalled to see how little Wyatt weighed....about 7 lbs against Minnah's 8 1/2 lbs.  He should weight at least 10lbs.  That means he has to gain half more of his weight.  I went to PetSmart in search of food.  There is a dizzying array of foods of available.  My goal is not to find the BEST food, as I still think the best food is a balanced homemade.  My goal was simply to find something that they will eat while we make the switch.

I opted to buy Authority Brand dry + wet.  Anything that I purchase over and above Purina's offerings is a relative win--and given the uncertainty of acceptance, it was best not to go too high up the food chain.  Here's the difference in ingredients.

Purina Ingredients:  Corn meal, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, soy flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, powdered cellulose, animal liver flavor, soybean hulls, calcium carbonate, phosphoric acid, salt, natural flavor,

Authority Ingredients:  Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Ground Corn, Corn Protein Concentrate, Poultry Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Natural Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product, Rice Flour,

I am happy to report that my cats ravaged the Authority dry and wet food. Of course, one feeding does not a habit make when it comes to cats. This p.m. we could be looking at a refusal.  I will still work toward RAW feeding for them.  For now...we'll take one step at a time.