Possible alternative wet food choices

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Anne & Zener GA

Anne & Zener GA

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Zener is eating mostly Blue Buffalo tuna entree and on occasion Fancy Feast chicken classic. I've tried to get him to eat others - Merrick, Wellness, Evo - and he isn't interested, and I know it isn't good to have fish all the time. I just got him transitioned to wet food right about the time we switched to Lantus. We had to use cypro shortly after his diagnosis to stimulate his appetite as he lost almost 2 lbs. At present I use fortiflora to stimulate his appetite when needed. Any suggestions are welcome!
 
I thought I'd have an easy time with this answer, then I looked at binky's list only to find that the two you mention are not specifically shown on the list! I was going to say "look for anything on the list with a lower carbs number". Stay away from anything that says shredded, morsels, gravy, tender cuts, etc. You're looking for the paté sytles. I have had lots of luck recently with Fancy Feast Classics, particularly beef, chicken, and/or turkey flavors. Friskies also has some flavors that have carb values in the 5-8 range. Ideally, you'd want even lower values than that, but from what I've seen, that limits you pretty much to seafood flavors, mostly tuna. When Bob started, the vet prescribed Hill's Precription M/D wet and dry. Once I saw Binky's list and brought it to the next Vet visit, I switched to Friskees, 9-Lives, and Fancy Feast (although I was using almost nothing but the tunas until a couple weeks ago since some of them had really high protein and really low carb) cans. I fed the Hill's dry to the local raccoons. The Hill's canned had a carb # of 14, so I figured anything lower than 10 had to be a big improvement.
After about a month almost of almost just tuna and seafood, Bob was actually getting burned out on it, and when I offered him other meats, he was a happier kitty, and ate better too.

Carl in SC
 
Thanks Carl, you mentioned some foods I did not see on the list. I thought I had looked at it closely, but there is so much all at once, I must have missed them! Thanks again!
 
Oh sorry, Fancy Feast Classics are not on the list. Their "Elegant Medleys" are however. And I have used some of those too. Last week I posted the same sort of question you posted today, and the "Classics" were recommended by several people on the board. So I went with their suggestions. Bob's loved them so far, and his numbers are staying low or dropping over the past 5-6 days.

Carl
 
carlinsc said:
Oh sorry, Fancy Feast Classics are not on the list. Their "Elegant Medleys" are however.
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There are two canned food chart, an "old" one and a "new" one http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

The regular Fancy Feast is on the "old" chart. The Elegant Medley ones are on the "new" chart. Most of the Elegant Medleys are just over the ideal 10% carbs for diabetics.

Use both charts to find a suitable food for your diabetic. have you tried sprinkling low carb treats on top of the canned to make it more appealing? Maybe tuna juice (the tuna in water kind)? Some cats like slightly warmed up food.
 
Thank you all for all information! I had not seen all of these on the board. I have lots more reading to do! So far, of the many I have tried, Zener only will eat the fancy feast and the blue buffalo. He loves the Blue Buffalo food but I haven't seen it on a list yet, will keep reading! I was so happy to be able to get him from dry to wet food at first that I haven't cared too much what he was eating!

I have sprinkled the Halo liv-a-little freeze dried chicken on his food, as well as given that to him as a post injection treat. Somewhere on the list I read it referred to as "kitty crack" and it works often. I also have started using the probiotic Floriflora with some success. Thank again!
 
I may not be the only one, but I think I am the one who uses the phrase "kitty crack".... :lol:
And I am referring to the freeze dried salmon treats. Same as the chicken, only salmon, and my Callie Mae goes absolutely NUTS over them. I'm talking nuts.
I should get her on video some time.

Also, and In may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that the Blue Buffalo has grains or something like that in it. I really can't say for sure though, as I have read sooooooo much it's hard to keep it all together.
 
Ah, now I know who it was! :o

We have not tried the salmon yet. I'm not able to get Zener to eat canned salmon, the cat food variety of canned salmon or even fresh salmon, wonder if the freeze dried salmon would work? He does like the chicken ones, but sprinkling the powdered up ones on top of wet food doesn't do much for him. We are still struggling a bit to get his appetite up and find the right wet food now that we have transitioned to that. Thanks for the info!
 
We started with Fancy Feast (specifically Turkey and Giblets, Chicken, and Beef and Chicken but my cats will eat any of them). We have slowly transitioned to 75% Evo and 25% Fancy Feast (for variety). I'm not sure what varieties of Evo you have tried but I feed primarily 95% Chicken and Turkey (with various foods mixed in to give some variety). The only caution is, it is a tad bit on the fatty side, the calorie content is higher, and it can be a bit "rich" for some cats. If you would want, I could give you a can so you can see if Zener will eat it. We special order it from Olsen's Grain near 4th street. They only carry the beef variety.

They also carry http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/ which is a new thing. Some of the varieties have starches (potato/tapioca), veggies, and are heavy on the fish so some cats may have a BG reaction to that but my gut is saying that is probably something to worry about later, after Zener has made a transition to wet.
Gt
I'm not sure what formulas of Merricks you've fed but a lot of cats like "Cowboy Cookout." Merricks also makes "Before Grain" which a number of folks here use. (I haven't seen it at the feed store, so I haven't tried it with my guys yet).

Any of the pate styles are generally ok in brands like Friskies, Special Kitty, etc. I would double check the carb contents with the spreadsheet but for some reason all kitties seem to go crazy for those brands! :lol:

There's always the option of going raw if that is something you're interested in. There are several brands and a number of resources to do it at home. Some cats take to it easily and if you're doing it at home it tends to be a bit cheaper. A number of people here feed raw and could help you with resources so you can make an informed choice, if you're interested.

Finally, some people have luck adding FortiFlora, Parmesan Cheese (the Kraft kind), Chicken/Salmon Dust, mixing the wet food in with the dry (in increasing amounts) or crushed dry food/treat crumbs on top of the food to encourage the cat to eat.

This site http://www.catinfo.org/ has a lot of useful tips for transitioning.
 
Stephanie&Willy said:
We started with Fancy Feast (specifically Turkey and Giblets, Chicken, and Beef and Chicken but my cats will eat any of them). We have slowly transitioned to 75% Evo and 25% Fancy Feast (for variety). I'm not sure what varieties of Evo you have tried but I feed primarily 95% Chicken and Turkey (with various foods mixed in to give some variety). The only caution is, it is a tad bit on the fatty side, the calorie content is higher, and it can be a bit "rich" for some cats. If you would want, I could give you a can so you can see if Zener will eat it. We special order it from Olsen's Grain near 4th street. They only carry the beef variety.
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My Zener has been a dry food cruncher his entire life, until two months ago. And he liked the Wellness variety of dry food and nothing else. Funny, how some cats can be like that. Our other cat will eat anything, so why we've tried all these wet foods and he turns up his nose, she loves them all. He lost weight and we are working hard to maintain it, and she has gained weight! He will eat the FF chicken on occasion, and the FF chicken florentine with greens (which I know isn't the best). He eats the Blue Buffalo tuna the most consistently and up until now, I've just been trying to get him to wet food.

I can't remember the exact flavor of Evo that I tried, but it was about a month ago, and he is eating a bit better now that he is on Lantus. He is more likely to eat something with chicken or turkey, so I would love to try a can! Do you want to try to meet somewhere in town? You can send me a PM and perhaps we can meet. I special order things from Olsen's all the time and like to give business locally, if I can. I will be in town this week, then leaving Wed - Tues to travel to Missouri to visit elderly family. My vet tech is staying here with Zener (when she isn't working) and will do his BG tests in the AM and PM, also at +6, but she won't be posting to the message board! I am feeling quite nervous about leaving now that we seem to be making progress!

Stephanie&Willy said:
They also carry http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/ which is a new thing. Some of the varieties have starches (potato/tapioca), veggies, and are heavy on the fish so some cats may have a BG reaction to that but my gut is saying that is probably something to worry about later, after Zener has made a transition to wet.
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I haven't tried that, but other foods we have tried with veggies, he will not eat. And you make a good point, probably time later to worry about some of these things when he has made the transition to wet! :smile:


Stephanie&Willy said:
I'm not sure what formulas of Merricks you've fed but a lot of cats like "Cowboy Cookout." Merricks also makes "Before Grain" which a number of folks here use. (I haven't seen it at the feed store, so I haven't tried it with my guys yet).
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I tried Cowboy Cookout and it was a nose up. Even Tillie didn't like that one. I haven't had much luck with any beef products with him.

Stephanie&Willy said:
Any of the pate styles are generally ok in brands like Friskies, Special Kitty, etc. I would double check the carb contents with the spreadsheet but for some reason all kitties seem to go crazy for those brands! :lol:
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I hadn't even thought of Friskies, thanks for the tip! I can get that most anywhere!

Stephanie&Willy said:
There's always the option of going raw if that is something you're interested in.
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Not yet, I'm still struggling with food where I can just open the can! I hardly will cook for myself! :lol:

Stephanie&Willy said:
Finally, some people have luck adding FortiFlora, Parmesan Cheese (the Kraft kind), Chicken/Salmon Dust, mixing the wet food in with the dry (in increasing amounts) or crushed dry food/treat crumbs on top of the food to encourage the cat to eat.
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I got the FortiFlora after a tip on the FDMB and it works pretty well. Parmesan Cheese was a no go. I have not tried crushing up dry food on top, so I'll try that too!

Stephanie&Willy said:
This site http://www.catinfo.org/ has a lot of useful tips for transitioning.
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I've been reading things on this site as I have time and energy. There is so much information!!!

Thanks so much, I feel much better knowing that there are some people on FDMB right here where we live!
 
If it helps all 12 of mine are crazy for any pate flavor of both Friskies or 9-Lives, and they turned thei noses up at a lot of the "better" canned foods...cats sheesh who can figure them out, they will eat the same dry food every day of their lives, but nw that they are on wet if I serve the same flavor two days in a row they look at me like I have two heads..lol

Mel, Maxwell, Musette and the Fur Gang
 
Maybe that's the trick! It's like choosing macaroni and cheese over New York strip! Thanks for the tips. I'll be food shopping again tomorrow!
:mrgreen:
 
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