# Looking for advice on a good cat food for my 8 year old Tabby



## Mac (Jan 10, 2012)

Hey guys! I've been on the site for a bit now and I love it.

Along with my golden retriever Mac, I have an American Bulldog/boxer mix.
And on the feline side, we have an 8.5 year old Tabby named Casey.

We adopted him from a Petsmart event that had shelter cats in the store.
He was up for adoption for over 6 months and no one wanted him because he was an older cat.

This was our first adopted animal and means a lot to us. 

Joining this website brought a side to pet nutrition that I was ignorant to prior to joining. I have recently switched the dogs from Purina One to Nutro Natural Choice and i am pleased with the results. I am looking to do the same with our Casey.

Essentially I learned I have been feeding them all cruddy food. I switched that right away but I really have NO IDEA what to get for the cat!

I can make an assumption that paying more means better quality. Should I just follow the same approach like its a dog?

I figure no corn products, fresher ingredients, meat as the main and first listed ingredient and something to improve his coat.

Does anyone have any suggestions for Casey? 

Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

These are all really good foods:

Adult Fit 32 Cat Food | Royal Canin

Adult cat dry food Canyon River Feline Formula - Taste of the Wild Pet Food

Meat- and Poultry-Based Pet Food ? Premium Dog Food, Cat Food, Ferret Food, Dog Treats ? EVO Pet Products

Natural Dog Food, Cat Food and Puppy Food for Pets With Food Sensitivity ? California Natural

Pet Products - Healthy Dog Food, Natural Cat Food, Gourmet Dog Biscuits ? Innova Holistic Pet Food


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I feed Wellness Core to my dogs and regular Wellness ( the blue bag, maybe Indoor ) for my cats. Only reason is because I know it is good for the dogs, so must be for the cats.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

The cat rescue I foster for prefers Wellness be feed. I feed my own cats and fosters Blue Buffalo indoor formula.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I have a friend who feeds Petcurean cat products and her cats are gorgeous. Their coats are so soft and shiny! I think it's the GO stuff she feeds, but I like this brand for dog food, too. 

http://www.petcurean.com/for-cats/


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

If he's 8 y.o. and you don't know what he's been fed, and it's probably not a high-end brand at the shelter, go slowly.

FWIW, my outdoor semi-ferel cat is 16 y.o. and has been fed grocery store brands his whole life, never been sick a day.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I fed Nip Meow mix for the first 10-11 years. She got sick one summer (with pneumonia) and she was vomiting up food. She refused to eat the same food so we got her Cat chow. She's not picky and does well on any food. She is going on 13 and is FIV+


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## Mac (Jan 10, 2012)

I went ahead and bought a bag of Blue Buffalo Mature Longevity.









Now I'll just put it out there that I didn't ease him into the food. I have never had to before and have switched his food before; But I think I need to.

We had switched cat foods, flavors and brands, before and he never had a problem with it. I am sure that he will eventually eat it because he will be hungry, but he did not take to it right away.

He walked up to the bowl and was intrigued by the smell. He began by eating some. I'd like to note that his older cat food has bigger pieces than this brand. These are like little pellets almost. He had a bit of trouble fumbling them around it was cute.

He ate a minimal amount of the food. Went back for another mouthful about 5 or 6 times but mind you they are tiny pieces. Then he walked away.

Now its dinner time and I gave him a fresh bowl of it with fresh water.
He did the same thing- took a little bit then stopped. By playing with him and sliding bits of it across the floor I was able to get him to eat several more individual pieces.

I know him, he will eventually eat the food if he gets hungry. He's a bigger boy and always finishes his bowls, although not always in one sitting.

I am going to wait it out until tomorrow night and if nothing gets better, i will buy another bag of his old food and gradually introduce it.

I had never had to do this before with Casey but the foods I did feed him were lower tier. Although he still eats tuna like nobody's business. We give him a bit when we make sandwiches which is very rare. Need to have a taste for tuna ya know...


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## VickiR (Jun 16, 2011)

Since cats don't drink as much as dogs, I am a firm believer in feeding wet food. I lost a cat years ago to renal failure and learned a lesson.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

VickiR said:


> Since cats don't drink as much as dogs, I am a firm believer in feeding wet food. I lost a cat years ago to renal failure and learned a lesson.


Great point! An ideal diet for a cat is 80% wet and 20% dry. Also, cats don't have as many taste buds as dogs do or even how many we do. So, they go by smell, shape and texture. The smellier the food, the more likely they'll eat it.


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## Mac (Jan 10, 2012)

I am sorry to hear of the loss of your cat.

I don't fear my cat not getting enough water. In fact, he has access to his own water bowl, two water bowls, and he hangs out in the tub that is constantly leaking. ( Ya we need a plumber :bowl: ) We constantly walk into the bathroom only to find he is drinking water. 

As for the wet food. 80% wet? Really?
I had no idea. I thought it was like dogs- one or the other.

Maybe I should purchase some wet food for him. 

When you do wet and dry do you just buy the exact same food but wet?


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I've never fed any of our cats wet food. Didn't know about the 80% wet but I can't change him now. Our friends gave their cats wet food with dry along side to munch on.
I must admit I don't really know much about cat nutrition.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I only give wet food as a treat to mine. Better for their teeth that way I think. Mine drink water without hesitation especially if it was just changed.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

My cats free feed. They eat a little throughout the day. Food is always available to them.


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## Nyahsmommy (Jul 23, 2011)

I feed both of mine wellness core dry and a variety of wet. I feed both wet and dry everyday. On most cat websites they recommend a wet only diet but really per serving its waaay to costly. I go with a wide variety of brands/flavours so they don't get bored.


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## Mac (Jan 10, 2012)

Nyahsmommy said:


> I feed both of mine wellness core dry and a variety of wet. I feed both wet and dry everyday. On most cat websites they recommend a wet only diet but really per serving its waaay to costly. I go with a wide variety of brands/flavours so they don't get bored.



well I have had Casey on his new food for about a week and a half.
I am having mixed reviews.

As expected he will eat the food when he's hungry, he's an eater. 

However he won't eat the amount I am attempting to feed him.
The instructions say to feed him one cup a day. So .5 in the am and .5 at night.

However he will not finish his dishes. He will come and pick at it and eat it when he pleases but he hasn't taken to it how I intended.

He is a weird eater- he won't eat his food if it is in the bowl for x amount of time. lol. In other words, in the a.m he could have 1/4 of his serving dish full of perfectly good food but he won't eat it until he sees/hears you pouring new food into the bowl. He has always been like this.

To fight this, I pour back the food into the big bag of cat food and shake it up. Mixing new and old food together so when I pour it I don't waste it and it has a bigger smell of fresh food.

I have noticed his coat is much softer and feels less "dirty" or coarse.
His colors look like they're popping more like when he was younger. That may be a mind trick I'm playing on myself but I swear it looks brighter!

His energy is higher than before and he is more friendly than usual.

I'm happy with the results so far but worried he's not eating enough.

I'm thinking of either adding wet food or changing flavors


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

We recently switched our barn kitty from 'whatever was on sale' to Premium Edge food. He has lost some weight and is looking great! He loves the food. We feed a hairball forumula because he supplements his diet with fresh, furry kills. 

Premium Edge Pet Food | Products | Cats | Dry Food


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## Mac (Jan 10, 2012)

Quick update.. after getting paid this week I strolled right into the pet store. LOL
my cat has been eating enough foodto get by but not enough. My plan was to buy some wet food to get him getting eating again.

Unfortunately they don't have a wet good to pair with the food I bought him last week so I made another executive decision and bought a new flavor.

I bought Blue Buffalo Wilderness weight control in Chicken. This allowed me to couple the dry and wet food of similar flavor.

I bought the bag and 3 cans for around 10. It was the small bag.

I tried out the mixture for him and he loved it. Ate it all up. 

I suppose the high quality fish variety didn't please him.. but he tore this bowl up!

This morning he made sure to wake me up to feed him. 
I just need to measure it all out correctly to male sure I'm not overfeeding


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## Elysia (Feb 3, 2012)

I've been feeding my indoor tabby girls a Petsmart brand named Authority for 8 years now and they refuse to eat anything else. It's very affordable and I've tried to introduce some wet food into their diet as kittens but they just refused to touch it or picked out the dry food I mixed in. They're doing perfectly and my vet says they're as healthy as cats half their age.


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