People Who Feed Fancy Feast Classic Chicken....

[Chuckington]

....are ya'll worried about the fish content in it?

Long story short - I'm trying to rehab my somewhat picky fish and dry food addict and I'm trying to figure out if this will be an okay flavor to feed him or if I should be avoiding it.
His name is Chucky and he's 10 years old.

I offered him a sample of FF Classic Chicken Feast today and he was on it like a little piggy at a trough.
So then I tried mixing it with the TikiCat that he had been nibbling and picking at all morning and he devoured the whole thing.
At first, I was super excited because I'd been trying premium brands with with varying success, and I was happy that he would be so happy with something that was cheaper.

But then I checked the ingredients and saw Fish right freaking there. Like fifth on the list! Just Fish, not even like any fish in particular lol.
I dont know why I didn't think to check before I bought it. It just didn't occur to me that they would put fish in chicken food.

For my next experiment, I definitely want to try fish-free varieties of FF and see if he likes it as much.
But with FF being an often-recommended brand here and the common advice being to keep fish meals as occasional treats, I wanted to see if anyone had experience or issues with the fish content here.
Or is it too negligible to worry about and I'm overthinking?

And to be clear, he doesn't have fish allergies or anything like that. This is just me wanting to minimize his fish intake so he will happily eat other stuff.
I fed him fish two days in a row before I was aware of his proclivities, and he literally went on a hunger strike against chicken for days afterwards so yeah.

Thanks!!

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Fish is a poorly regulated industry. I worked at the cow and pig factory many years ago and have seen things you wouldn't believe but at least you know what they've eaten and what drugs they've been given. Our oceans are a mess and anything from the ocean floor is an accident waiting to happen. Fish is also getting expensive so whatever is in cat food has fallen off the conveyor belt. Yes I feed fish flavor to cats that need something stinky to trigger a hunger response, I just don't like doing it.

not even like any fish in particular

That says it all right there. Thanks for the hot dog dad, what's in it? The label says "mystery meat and some other crap".

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

There is a concern that cats fed a fish only diet would be lacking in B vitamins. Some fish, not all, contain something called thiaminase that destroys thiamine or B1 vitamins, causing a deficiency. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/thiaminase.htm

Rather than feed my cats an entirely fish based diet, I use it sparingly as a snack or topper to their usual raw meat diet. Weruva makes many fish based foods that are mixed with other meats like turkey, chicken, duck, lamb, beef, etc., and I leave a small snack of it overnight in an autofeeder when I know the food will be sitting out for hours and it's safer to do this with cooked food rather than raw. I also use it as a topper whenever any of my cats are less interested in eating because of nausea--the smell of the fish always brings them running. As long as you're not feeding fish exclusively, I think you're fine with feeding the Fancy Feast long term as long as fish is not the only ingredient in the food.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Thank you for that, if I sounded like a cat food snob that was not my intent. Pulling the lid on a can of FF has a distinct sound that gets two of ours running into the kitchen, both gets their meds in FF and are none the wiser. I also eat meat so my cow remarks were not a judgment.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Thank you for that, if I sounded like a cat food snob that was not my intent. Pulling the lid on a can of FF has a distinct sound that gets two of ours running into the kitchen, both gets their meds in FF and are none the wiser. I also eat meat so my cow remarks were not a judgment.

If there's anything to be a snob about, cat food is a good target!

 

[Mocha's_mom]

Fish is a poorly regulated industry. I worked at the cow and pig factory many years ago and have seen things you wouldn't believe but at least you know what they've eaten and what drugs they've been given. Our oceans are a mess and anything from the ocean floor is an accident waiting to happen. Fish is also getting expensive so whatever is in cat food has fallen off the conveyor belt. Yes I feed fish flavor to cats that need something stinky to trigger a hunger response, I just don't like doing it.

That says it all right there. Thanks for the hot dog dad, what's in it? The label says "mystery meat and some other crap".

I made the mistake of watching that show called "How it's made" about hot dogs. I knew it was bad.....but that was just beyond!

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

I watched a movie called "Pet Fooled." It's why I feed my cats a homemade raw diet. It's immoral what pet food manufacturers get away with. I also subscribe to Susan Thixton's Truth About Pet Food newsletter. All very eye opening.

 

[Chuckington]

Fish is a poorly regulated industry. I worked at the cow and pig factory many years ago and have seen things you wouldn't believe but at least you know what they've eaten and what drugs they've been given. Our oceans are a mess and anything from the ocean floor is an accident waiting to happen. Fish is also getting expensive so whatever is in cat food has fallen off the conveyor belt. Yes I feed fish flavor to cats that need something stinky to trigger a hunger response, I just don't like doing it.

That says it all right there. Thanks for the hot dog dad, what's in it? The label says "mystery meat and some other crap".

You're right about that.
I used to work in livestock welfare and it can be very wild to see what goes into food. I still eat meat, but I'm mindful of where it comes from and I try to buy from local farms when I can. It costs more, but I think it tastes better too.
What is funny is that I hate seafood and never eat it, so I've never really bothered to educate myself about fish or seafood.
I just know that farm-raised is bad and wild-caught is good and cats get farm-raised unless stated otherwise.
I'm happy to feed him fish maybe once a week or once every two weeks, and on vet days. Life is short and it makes him happy. The one time I fed him fish two days in a row, I was out of everything else and too lazy to go to the store. Won't make that mistake again tho lol.

And yes, I couldn't believe my eyes.
Like fish?
What fish. Sunfish? Starfish? What fish?
I really do imagine that they just take whatever is left from their actual fish food production, grind it all up, and then use it to fill out this flavor.
It's a gross mental image but I guess it's what he wants to eat.

His favorite food that I've fed him so far is the Tiki Cats Lobster and Sardine, which is also a pate texture.
So I also wonder if he's responding to the texture of this and prefers pate vs. shredded meat.
I wish these cats could talk so we could just sit down and negotiate as gentlepeople.

There is a concern that cats fed a fish only diet would be lacking in B vitamins. Some fish, not all, contain something called thiaminase that destroys thiamine or B1 vitamins, causing a deficiency. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/thiaminase.htm

Rather than feed my cats an entirely fish based diet, I use it sparingly as a snack or topper to their usual raw meat diet. Weruva makes many fish based foods that are mixed with other meats like turkey, chicken, duck, lamb, beef, etc., and I leave a small snack of it overnight in an autofeeder when I know the food will be sitting out for hours and it's safer to do this with cooked food rather than raw. I also use it as a topper whenever any of my cats are less interested in eating because of nausea--the smell of the fish always brings them running. As long as you're not feeding fish exclusively, I think you're fine with feeding the Fancy Feast long term as long as fish is not the only ingredient in the food.

Thank you!
I tried one Weruva chicken flavor and he hated it.
He didn't even sniff or taste it, he just looked down it for a minute and turned to stare at me like I had done something to offend him.
I was so embarrassed lol.
I did buy some of their fishy mixes, so I'll try those in the future and see what he thinks.
But question on the fishy mixes, do you treat them the same as the purely fish flavors - i.e. feed sparingly?
Or can they be incorporated more frequently because of the additional protein source?
In my mind, they are the same as the purely fish flavors, but I'm curious to hear how other people feed them.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Do not ever search the words "chicken rapid decompression". It's a trade secret and I know why it's done, it's revolting.
In the late 70's I worked across the street from the Edmonton SPCA, even found an Abyssinian male that someone surrendered. It got out that they were using a decomp chamber and that was the end of them. Now I've elevated this thread into something beyond creepy but this stuff still happens and we can't pretend it doesn't.

Life is short and it makes him happy

Sometimes that's all that matters. Give them five minutes of wonderful.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

I tried one Weruva chicken flavor and he hated it.
He didn't even sniff or taste it, he just looked down it for a minute and turned to stare at me like I had done something to offend him.
I was so embarrassed lol.
I did buy some of their fishy mixes, so I'll try those in the future and see what he thinks.
But question on the fishy mixes, do you treat them the same as the purely fish flavors - i.e. feed sparingly?
Or can they be incorporated more frequently because of the additional protein source?
In my mind, they are the same as the purely fish flavors, but I'm curious to hear how other people feed them.

Lots of people on the message board feed Weruva foods because there are many varieties of it that are both low carb and low phosphorus, which is good for kitties who are diabetic and have kidney disease. The chicken flavors are not that popular--there's something about the way that Weruva processes it that leaves something to be desired. We have to give the cats what they want to eat, so if there's some fish in it, so be it, but I would try to avoid an entirely fish based diet.

 

[Panic]

What fish. Sunfish? Starfish? What fish?

Did some research on this recently, "fish" in cat food is usually salmon, tuna, or tilefish (ocean whitefish).

Honestly though, if you go to the pet food aisle at a store and pick up chicken or beef flavors, a huge majority of them will say "fish" somewhere further down the ingredients label. Go figure.

 

[Gracie85]

The "flavor" on the label has NOTHING to do with the composition of the food, and this goes for most foods.
I have one cat who cannot have chicken. Gets stinky diarrhea immediately (and she's a fluffy, long-haired cat. not good. we have had to shave her butt at times, omg what fun.)
MOST cat foods have chicken in them, no matter what the label calls the flavor.
I have another cat who now cannot eat fish. Gets diarrhea, and he's a white, fluffy, longhaired cat. such fun.
Fish is now creeping into 'flavors' it did not used to.
If it doesn't bother him, and it's the fifth ingredient down the list, I wouldn't worry too much about the fish content. Especially if it gets them eating, and especially if you are mixing it with a fish-free food, therefore reducing the fish content even more.

I am at least lucky that we have a third cat who can and will eat anything. ANYTHING. So at least every time we realize some dang manufacturer has changed their formulation, and we are washing or shaving fluffy butts again, we don't have to waste the food, we can feed it to our big ol' tiger-striped food disposal.

 

[Pattylynne and Tigger]

You guys are making happy I'm a vegan. It's been hard on me switching Tigger from a life time of dry kibble to really stinky fish/beef/chicken..... He loves it and is still mad that he had to eat dry kibble for 12 years, I guess we're both paying the price for that now. Karma

 

[Chuckington]

The "flavor" on the label has NOTHING to do with the composition of the food, and this goes for most foods.
I have one cat who cannot have chicken. Gets stinky diarrhea immediately (and she's a fluffy, long-haired cat. not good. we have had to shave her butt at times, omg what fun.)
MOST cat foods have chicken in them, no matter what the label calls the flavor.
I have another cat who now cannot eat fish. Gets diarrhea, and he's a white, fluffy, longhaired cat. such fun.
Fish is now creeping into 'flavors' it did not used to.
If it doesn't bother him, and it's the fifth ingredient down the list, I wouldn't worry too much about the fish content. Especially if it gets them eating, and especially if you are mixing it with a fish-free food, therefore reducing the fish content even more.

I am at least lucky that we have a third cat who can and will eat anything. ANYTHING. So at least every time we realize some dang manufacturer has changed their formulation, and we are washing or shaving fluffy butts again, we don't have to waste the food, we can feed it to our big ol' tiger-striped food disposal.

Oh man, that sounds rough.
The things we do for love lol.

The bolded is so true.
Those days when he was barely eating anything, I was reading all these articles about fatty liver disease and was so scared and stressed to death. Literally sitting on the floor, crying and begging him to eat. I almost gave in and fed him the fish he was campaigning for lol.
So compared with that, this is 100% better.
I did pick up a few fish free pate options to try with him, but if they don't work out, we'll be sticking with the Tiki Cat and FF blend and moving on with life lol.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I'm a vegan

Good for you. My wife is a vegetarian and I'm 90% there, I make a killer pasta sauce and more than once people have told me it's the best they have ever had not knowing what was in it. Being a vegetarian is easy, going vegan and cutting out milk, eggs, butter and even honey for the rest of your life is a big commitment. Cynthia became a vegetarian when she was 14 in a small town where there were no options for her mother to cook. One day she figured out where meat came from and that was that. When I told my sister's kids bacon was a pig's bum they started crying and my sister was steaming mad at me. Tough luck.
Most people have no idea how many meat byproducts they eat without knowing it. Get a box of stuffing at Thanksgiving and read the label, chicken broth. Cook Thai noodles but throw away the sauce packet, Anchovy paste.
The grossest thing is Gelatin or what I call "meat glue". Gelatin is a disgusting goop in marshmallows, jello and even probiotic yogurt.
The following is a direct quote from Google.
Gelatin is made from decaying animal hides, boiled crushed bones, and the connective tissues of cattle and pigs. I love a big juicy burger but I have my limits and I won't starve my cats because of some personal belief. They evolved to eat meat, not grain and crap.

 

[Pattylynne and Tigger]

Guess I'm like 99.9 vegan, was at suggestion of Cardiologist. Tried to eat a bite of BBQ last month at a place I loved for years, couldn't do it. I don't stress if there is an a little cheese, egg, butter, honey in something at a friends or restaurant. Have eaten shrimp maybe 4 times in18 months. In past never liked the idea of eating animals but finally went with it, truly happy with the decision .
There are so many good replacements now, almond milk, a killer macadamia butter, eggs are a hard one for me, haven't found a good substitute. Send me your pasta sauce recipe? Always enjoy your post.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

your pasta sauce recipe

The sauce is something different every time, I make it up as I go. Lots of tomato chunks, veggy ground round, onions, baby carrots etc. It's thick, like "throw a blob on the ceiling and see how long it sticks" thick.
forgot this, sundried tomatoes add a real zing without making it too spicy for 95 year old MIL.
The animals I won't eat. I stopped eating Tuna as a kid when I realized they weren't some tiny fish. Pigs are intelligent social animals. Cows are almost as close to us on the genetic tree as primates. Sometimes I rationalize my choices by brain size, my excuse for chickens and salmon.
Horse racing here is slowly being replaced by casinos inside the grandstands. Horses are expensive to maintain so.... there's a high end restaurant in Toronto that serves horse meat and won't apologize for it. That's sick.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

This thread keeps getting dragged in two different directions and I'm partially to blame, sorry.
That job I had at the pig & cow factory was in 1976 and the starting wage was over $11 per hour!!! I had two choices when I signed up, guts or the freezers. The cafeteria at lunch was quite a sight, everyone laughed at us dressed for a polar expedition in the middle of summer. We were in our gleaming white coveralls and sat in one corner while 500 slobs sat way over there, splattered in God knows what eating pig's knuckles. Just thought you should know I wasn't part of the carnage.

 

[Acadaca]

Guess I'm like 99.9 vegan, was at suggestion of Cardiologist. Tried to eat a bite of BBQ last month at a place I loved for years, couldn't do it. I don't stress if there is an a little cheese, egg, butter, honey in something at a friends or restaurant. Have eaten shrimp maybe 4 times in18 months. In past never liked the idea of eating animals but finally went with it, truly happy with the decision .
There are so many good replacements now, almond milk, a killer macadamia butter, eggs are a hard one for me, haven't found a good substitute. Send me your pasta sauce recipe? Always enjoy your post.

There's an okay scrambled egg replacement as well as a folded egg that can go in the toaster. That one is pretty new. I've not had eggs in so long though that I can't really weigh in on how comparable it is.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I always thought a chicken in a natural environment laid eggs without undue stress or pain. I need to get educated.

 

[Acadaca]

I don't know if it's true or if I'm just justifying things to myself, but I figure the fact that I've been a vegan for so long and a vegetarian for most of my life before that means I don't have to learn about stuff like that. I don't think I could stand watching any of the documentaries on the meat/dairy industry.

 

[Chuckington]

This thread keeps getting dragged in two different directions and I'm partially to blame, sorry.
That job I had at the pig & cow factory was in 1976 and the starting wage was over $11 per hour!!! I had two choices when I signed up, guts or the freezers. The cafeteria at lunch was quite a sight, everyone laughed at us dressed for a polar expedition in the middle of summer. We were in our gleaming white coveralls and sat in one corner while 500 slobs sat way over there, splattered in God knows what eating pig's knuckles. Just thought you should know I wasn't part of the carnage.

LOL No worries.

I did want to report back that I tried the FF Beef and Chicken with the Chuckmeister today. There's no fish in it, but I think he actually likes it better than the chicken flavor!
I put it in his dish next to some dry food, and he ate the FF first, which was a pleasant surprise and renewed my hope of getting him fully transitioned to wet food.
And it makes me feel more confident that feeding him the chicken flavor or other flavors with fish as a filler ingredient won't trigger his addiction lol.
I'm gonna test some better quality brands of fish-free pate with him this week and see how he takes them, but I'm glad that we seem to be coming down the home stretch on figuring out his wet food situation.

I always thought a chicken in a natural environment laid eggs without undue stress or pain. I need to get educated.

They do. Chickens always lay eggs as long as the sun shines. Whether or not they become chicks depends on if there's a rooster around to fertilize them, but they just pop them out anyway.
As long as you keep taking them away, they will keep popping them out.
But unless you're raising your own chickens or getting eggs from a farm where you're aware of the conditions, you can be sure that the eggs that we get from the grocery store are not naturally produced.
They press the chickens pretty hard to get them to lay an insane number of eggs, and then the living conditions for the poor things are not good, even when the eggs are labeled free-range or pasture-raised or whatever.
It's an unfortunate truth.
But I do love eggs.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I don't think I could stand watching any of the documentaries

There are a few that won't make you puke or trigger anyone's PTSD and one that will.
I did the swim with the dolphins thing in the Florida Keys at the only facility in North America qualified to do it, it was one of the highlights of my life.
The dolphins are in the ocean, not in a bathtub. Yes there's a shark net but they could easily jump it and the net is lowered during hurricanes. Yes the dolphins are enticed with food. You're warned that if the dolphins don't like you you're out, no refund. I had no problems with the ethical side.
Do not ever watch 'The Cove'.
Showing a child Free Willy is like telling them bacon grows on trees. Sad to say my mom just wouldn't shut up and nagged me for days to drag the kids to SeaWorld in Victoria BC. It was filthy and the first bathtub where Tilikum drowned one of his trainers. Next stop was SeaWorld in Orlando where things got worse if that's possible.
Blackfish is a documentary about that particular disaster and how the industry changed forever after that. Nothing overly graphic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfish_(film)
Tilikum's trainer was Dawn Brancheau. She knew it was wrong but also knew if she quit it would get much worse so she stayed and it cost her her life.
Rest in peace Dawn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_Brancheau
Pedigree Dogs Exposed is a British documentary about over bred dogs and the stupid people who keep the industry going. No photos of puppy mills or dogs suffering, just the facts. I love German Shepherds but I'd like mine to walk like a dog and not a painful orthopedic nightmare.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigree_Dogs_Exposed
There's one anyone can watch. I saw Animal Odd Couples on PBS; the dog that lives with a Cheetah, the goat that loves the blind horse, the rescue Lion bonded to a Coyote. It's all real and totally inoffensive. There are bits of the show on YouTube but not the entire one hour.
I'm off to get this laptop fixed, see you soon.

 

[Acadaca]

Thanks, I will check some of those out.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

You guys are making me happy I'm a vegan

Vegetarians and vegans can connect with this. "Does this restaurant have vegetarian options?" Yes, a big blob of pasta that's been in our freezer for a year. It's happened to my wife many times. My sister was quite the entertainer and was good at it but disliked Cynthia for some reason. Cynthia got a tiny salad and the proverbial blob of something while the rest of us wore bibs and ate ribs. There's something primal about ribs not everyone is into, I didn't doubt my sister did that just to annoy her.
Dearest Mother didn't understand this either and once asked me if it might be funny to sneak some meat into Cynthia's meal. "She would never speak to you again and I wouldn't talk to you for a year" got the point across.

 

[Pattylynne and Tigger]

It can be hard going to a restaurant. Salad and FF again. You cope. Ex-MIL fixed meatloaf years ago (still carnivore at that time) Ate it, thought this is a little off, not her best effort. Late she "I got you, that was ground venison" I was just too polite to say I wondered what was wrong with your cooking. As I said do on rare occasion eat seafood, won't die if I have "real" mayo made with eggs, a spot of real cheese on something. Just prefer to eat vegan 99% for my health and that of the planet.
Would be really mad if someone thought to trick me into eating meat, my choice not theirs.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

In Canada it's illegal to label something as mayonnaise if it doesn't have eggs. It sits next to mayo on the shelf, just called Sandwich Spread. No big deal.
Cynthia is not a food Nazi about my meat. Whether it's the toaster oven or the big one meat goes on the right, tofu on the left. I make a little tin foil tent so it doesn't splatter on her food. We have a member who went to a Thanksgiving dinner with Vegan Nazis who wouldn't shut up about "options" for his diabetic cats. What part of carnivore don't you understand? I eat turkey twice a year because it's hardwired into me but I apologize to the turkey repeatedly.
It's not meat but Nutella is another scam worse than pretend Mayo. The commercials show a happy and healthy family spreading it on everything from toast to pancakes. Nutella has more sugar than cake frosting.
I completely get hunting and venison if you're not doing it to put a head on the wall. If I was an animal I'd rather take my chances in the forest. My idiot nephew would just not shut up about the bear he ate and finally at a family dinner with Cynthia I told him "Tell that story again and Cynthia will puke all over this $300 table cloth".

 

[Pattylynne and Tigger]

The puking will usually shut them up

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

My idiot nephew also chased two cats around the house with a Nerf gun. That's not torture but can be a red flag for future wife beaters and maybe even a psychopath. I told my sister who just shrugged it off, after all he is the smartest kid on the planet and all her kids were Star Children.
It's okay to live at home in your 30's if you're a student or have had some bad luck. His parents bought the little brat a condo but he was too stupid and or lazy to find any job and the concept of paying for utilities and property tax eluded him. He's now living at their cottage watching mold grow in the dishwasher eating corndogs and watching porn. Every parents dream come true. His 'career' in the military didn't last long either, what a shock!