Which food is better? ETA...I am an IDIOT!!

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Gwen and Morris

Gwen and Morris

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I have been trying to figure this out for some time now & it continues to frustrate me! If all canned food was the same price, which would be the best food for our diabetic friends? Keeping in mind that I live in Canada & therefore my options are a bit more limited than what you guys have to choose from in the US!

The food I feed most often to Morris are Friskies Chef Dinner & Chicken Dinner. I have, however, been looking into some of the Fancy Feast varieties as well (although in Canada, we don't have nearly as many flavors to choose from!). If I am understanding Janet's lists, because everything other than caleries per can is based on a percentage, it is just like comparing apples to apples. Correct? I would just have to multiply the calories in the Fancy Feast cans by 2 since they are half the size of the Friskies cans.

Friskies Chef Dinner: protein 33, fat 65, carbs 2, fibre 0.4, phos 233, calories 195
Friskies Chicken Dinner: protein 35, fat 63, carbs 3, fibre 0.5, phos 306, calories 184
Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblets Feast: protein 39, fat 58, carbs 3, fibre 0.4, phos 396, calories 97(x2=194)
Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Feast: protein 49, fat 48, carbs 3, fibre 0.6, phos 350, calories 87.6(x2=175.2)
Fancy Feast Beef & Liver Feast: protein 37, fat 61, carbs 2, fibre 0.3, phos 253, calories 93.6(x2=187.2)
Fancy Feast Cod, Sole & Shrimp Feast: protein 52, fat 46, carbs 2, fibre 0.4, phos 374, calories 84.2(x2=168.4)
Fancy Feast Savory Salmon Feast: protein 46, fat 51, carbs 3, fibre 0.6, phos 401, calories 86.7(x2=173.4)
Fancy Feast Seafood Feast: protein 50, fat 48, carbs 3, fibre 0.6, phos 348, calories 88.5(x2=177)
Fancy Feast Tender Beef Feast: protein 42, fat 56, carbs 3, fibre 0.4, phos 287, calories 94.4(x2=188.8)


Any thoughts?
 
Re: Which food is better?

First, I would take the fish flavours out of the equation. They should not be fed more than 20% of the diet. So, as a treat or as an appetite stimulant they are great.

Then, though lost of people feed beef flavours, many cats, including Sundance have developed allergies to beef. So, again, I would limit that flavour unless you know Morris is ok with beef. Doesn't leave much, does it?

We have a lot of other FF flavours over here - like the liver and chicken and the turkey and giblets. If you need some, I'd be happy to bring some over. My fiance and I go to Nanaimo for the day quite often. I'll sent you a PM when next we go in case you need anything. I buy all my FF at London Drugs.

Lately, I've not seen a lot of FF selection at London Drugs and I rarely get to a pet store that carries cat food as I buy raw cat food from a dog store - go figure. So when I run out of raw and need a can or two of cat food to tide us over, I've been feeding the Friskies that you mention. Chicken mostly.
 
Re: Which food is better?

Here in Nova Scotia, we have a lot of the FF flavours! I can't think of any that we don't have, except the beef ones now (they aren't allowed across the border...) We also have access to President's Choice (SuperStore), Special Kitty (WalMart), and Compliments (Sobeys) foods (all available in FF size cans as well as Friskies size). They have flavours like duck and trout, as well as the beef ones. I really like the PC ones.

You can also go "upscale" and buy Felidae, GO!, NOW, Wellness and Evo - all canned, good quality protein, low in fillers. If all prices were the same, those would be among the top choices. Assuming, of course, that my cats liked them!

Oh - the FF cans are a bit more than half the size of Friskies cans. (FF is 85g, while Friskies is 156g.)
 
Re: Which food is better?

So, it looks like I am great big IDIOT!!! angry(2)_cat

While doing research last evening about drooler food, I accidently discovered that a smaller pet food chain (that has 2 locations in my town - 1 near my work & 1 near my home!) carries a bunch of brands that I haven't seen in the big chain stores. I had thought that brands like EVO, Wellness, etc were not available in Canada!!! It turns out, that this store carries those brands & a whole bunch more!!!! I will be making a trip there this afternoon on my lunch break.....will compare prices & pick up a couple cans of food for not only Morris to try but for my drooler as well!

The store I am going to sells all these brands: http://www.bosleys.com/food_supplies_ca ... lness.aspx

IF cost were no object, which brand(s) would you choose??
 
HAhaahah.... I'm not a fan of Bosley's as a chain, but they do carry a good variety and decent prices. If money were no object and I was feeding canned all the time, I'd go for a mix of Evo and Wellness. More of the 95% meaty Evo. I did that with Sundance until she went off food completely. I picked the blueberries out of the Wellness though as they turned her off the food even when she was well.


By the way.... I did some searching last night for you and came across a blog in which the woman put down Fancy Feast... I wrote to her... So, indirectly, you helped spread the word about feline nutrition by this thread!! :cool:
 
Thanks Vic!

I agree.....1 of these days we will need to have coffee together. Either the next time you are heading to the island, or the next time I heading to the mainland, we need to PM each other & see if we can meet up!
 
I ran over to Bosleys on my lunch break. I bought a few of cans of EVO for Morris to try and had a lovely chat with the supervisor there. She seemed impressed with my knowledge of cat nutrition! I bought 1 can each of 3 different flavors & I will test each flavor with Morris slowly over the next while & see what he thinks. It is more per can than what I am currently spending, but if he likes it & his numbers show improvement, then I am willing to pay that extra! I will probably continue with the Friskies as well, but I don't see why he can't have a little variety in his diet! Cats seem to tolerate that a lot better than dogs do!

I explained to her how I came to their store today....about my diabetic cat.....about learning so much about cat nutrition recently.....my sick dog.....and my lack of knowledge on dog nutrition. We discussed how dog nutrition isn't too much different than cat nutrition, although dogs can tolerate carbs/grains better than cats can, and that dogs tend to need dry food in their diet (along with plenty of fresh water).

By the time we finnished our discussion about my dog & all of her 'issues', she recommended a Canadian made dog food to me (Go! Natural). I purchased a small bag of it & we will see what Tanzee thinks.
 
Certainly buying a premium brand and mixing it with the Friskies is a good idea... for his health and your budget. No need to have to choose one or the other. Maybe try the mixing in with the Friskies to start so that he doesn't get turned off from the health food...
 
Hadn't thought of mixing them together! LOL! I have, the past few weeks, been alternating him with Friskies & Fancy Feast.....just putting different brands in his feeder at different times.

We also discussed that for both cats & dogs, when you are feeding a premium food, you will be feeding less (therefore, off-setting the higher price a bit). I will have to read up tonight about the feeding guidelines on the EVO cans for Morris. For Tanzee, on the other hand, I will just start putting a few bites of the new food in her bowl for a bit since dogs don't take well to diet changes like cats do!
 
Gwen and Morris said:
Hadn't thought of mixing them together! LOL! I have, the past few weeks, been alternating him with Friskies & Fancy Feast.....just putting different brands in his feeder at different times.

We also discussed that for both cats & dogs, when you are feeding a premium food, you will be feeding less (therefore, off-setting the higher price a bit). I will have to read up tonight about the feeding guidelines on the EVO cans for Morris. For Tanzee, on the other hand, I will just start putting a few bites of the new food in her bowl for a bit since

dogs don't take well to diet changes like cats do!
Click to expand...
Uh??? Speak for your own kitties only please!!! ;-) ;-)
 
Gwen and Morris said:
I would just have to multiply the calories in the Fancy Feast cans by 2 since they are half the size of the Friskies cans.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I thought Fancy Feast = 3.0 oz.
and Friskies = 5.5 oz.

So your math is just a little bit off. If it matters... and it may not matter for your comparisons. :-D
Two cans of FF = 6.0 oz.
a can of Friskies = 5.5 oz
(sorry... a little bit of OCD on my part. hee, hee.) :roll:
 
Lisa and Merlyn (GA) said:
Vic hit the nail on the head, but what you said wasnt offensive just funny, hence the winking smiley...
Click to expand...


OK! Just making sure I hadn't upset you!

I didn't realize some cats are fussy. Thankfully, Morris never has been! When I was talking with the lady at the pet store today, I asked her if I needed to worry about switching cats foods slowly like I know dog foods are supposed to be. She said that the biggest thing for cats was switching from dry to canned & that since I had already switched Morris to an all canned diet, she said there should be no difficulties in switching brands/flavors!
 
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