Question about Fancy Feast Classic

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SaraMV

SaraMV

Member Since 2022
I've noticed twice now that Taz drinks more often when he eats Fancy Feast. He doesn't drink tons of water (no noticeable difference in the potty box) but he definately goes to the water bowl more (several times an hour).

Has anyone else noticed increased thirst when feeding it?
 
Is that a trick question? I've had cats for 45 years and slowly went from Safeway Pig-Slop to something better, then some holistic mumbo-jumbo. Going to FF seemed like a big step backwards, I used to get sneered at by cashiers "I would never feed my cat that!" When I found myself on my hands and knees begging my cats to eat after their shot FF works. Whatever is in FF isn't top of the line but it works, it just isn't the absolute best food out there and the cans are so small. That's why they seem to gobble it up like savages.
We have one non diabetic cat now that is seriously addicted to FF. Thinking of sending him to rehab. He hears that distinctive snap of the lid and goes nuts.
 
He does enjoy eating it. It just doesn't seem to sit well with him. Within 24 hours of eating even the smallest amount, he will constantly start going back to his water bowl. :(
 
I wondered about this same thing. I switched all my cats to FF when Kahlua moved in. Mouse, my civvie was drinking tons of water. She has been sick since January with all manner of stuff. Currently, she's being treated for yet another uti and IBD. She's been on so many different foods because she's incredibly fussy. But...she's not drinking a ton of water anymore. I just assumed it was the uti. But maybe it was the FF.
 
My cats have been sick for months as well. They've been eating FF since October of last year. They don't drink water but very rarely. Right now they are both on mirataz appetite stimulant & Cerenia for nausea. I've tried switching them to weruva. My sugar boy snubbs it once it's just weruva. He will eat it half & half but not any other way. My other boy not diabetic loves it.
 
Oh gosh, I wonder if it really might be more than just Taz having a reaction to it. His is subtle, where I wouldn't even notice if I wasn't watching him so much. I did a little research today and it said that high phosphorus, which FF is pretty high in, can mess with electrolytes. I'm not saying that's the case with Taz because he only gets a small amount as a snack, but I was thinking it might be higher in salt or something.
 
SaraMV said:
Oh gosh, I wonder if it really might be more than just Taz having a reaction to it. His is subtle, where I wouldn't even notice if I wasn't watching him so much. I did a little research today and it said that high phosphorus, which FF is pretty high in, can mess with electrolytes. I'm not saying that's the case with Taz because he only gets a small amount as a snack, but I was thinking it might be higher in salt or something.
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I've seen quite a bit about FF not only on here but the FB group as well. Stuff from damaged cans that the seal is broken & cats getting sick. I don't know about the sodium in it, but is way high in phosphorus. Both of my kitty's have high kidney levels. Not enough to say they are CKD but there close. I wish my sugar boy wasn't so picky & would eat the weruva but he's a brat. My other boy loves it.
 
I started feeding both my cats FF when my Kitty was first diagnosed. It was within my budget and I read a lot of members here use it so that's why I went with it. I didn't notice any increased water intake since I started feeding it. In fact, I fill up both my cats' water dishes twice every day with fresh water for absolutely no reason, neither of them have touched their water bowl in months since I started feeding strictly wet food. I simply give them fresh water so I can say that I gave it to them, in the rare event that they do want some it will be there.

However, Kitty used to occasionally experience "scarf and barf" with the FF. I switched to Sheba pate as a trial and she no longer has any "scarf and barf".
 
Corey & Kitty said:
I started feeding both my cats FF when my Kitty was first diagnosed. It was within my budget and I read a lot of members here use it so that's why I went with it. I didn't notice any increased water intake since I started feeding it. In fact, I fill up both my cats' water dishes twice every day with fresh water for absolutely no reason, neither of them have touched their water bowl in months since I started feeding strictly wet food. I simply give them fresh water so I can say that I gave it to them, in the rare event that they do want some it will be there.

However, Kitty used to occasionally experience "scarf and barf" with the FF. I switched to Sheba pate as a trial and she no longer has any "scarf and barf".
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Do you still feed Sheba? I've been trying to switch to something with lower phosphorus but I'm getting mixed reviews about Sheba pate.I currently feed FF & mix it with weruva 2xs a day. I was trying to switch over to weruva because FF is high in phosphorus but my sugar boy isn't having it.
 
Chrispooky12 said:
Do you still feed Sheba? I've been trying to switch to something with lower phosphorus but I'm getting mixed reviews about Sheba pate.I currently feed FF & mix it with weruva 2xs a day. I was trying to switch over to weruva because FF is high in phosphorus but my sugar boy isn't having it.
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Yes, I'm still feeding Sheba. My cat's seem to enjoy it. They always had an issue with the thickness of FF, it is really thick and they had trouble licking it up out of their bowls. The Sheba seems to be a slightly softer and lighter texture (especially the beef and the seafood varieties). My cat's seem to have an easier time eating Sheba. I will say that Sheba seems to smell slightly worse than FF, although neither smell good to me, but it doesn't seem to bother the cats. Sheba's plastic containers with the peel off lids are slightly annoying and can be a pain to open, but I've figured out a good method and it's no longer a problem.

Regarding phosphorus levels, I've recently contacted both Purina and Mars regarding FF and Sheba nutritional values. I shared the information for FF here and the info for Sheba is here. According to CatInfo.org, when contacting pet food manufacturers: "Many companies will give you the phosphorus value in terms of dry matter percentage and will not provide the mg/100 kcal value. As a point of reference, a value below 1% dry matter is favorably low".

According to the information I gathered, FF tends to fall in the 1.8% to 2% range, while Sheba tends to average in the 1.5% range, with the exception of the whitefish and tuna at 2%. So while neither is under 1%, the Sheba pates seem to be slightly lower in phosphorus.
 
similar story here, we never fed FF until Hen's FD Dx, and then fed a lot of it over the past six months as we switched our entire 6-cat household to canned or rehydrated freeze-dried raw only, no more kibble. On wet food, I have never ever EVER actually seen a single one of them drink water from the multiple fountains and waterers we have. And that is with feeding a lot of FF

now that we have started to look into lower phosphorous options the FF is all but out. I can only find two classic pates that are even under 300 -- the Savory Salmon and the Turkey and Giblets. None under 200. And the Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw is high too, like 1.5% (not sure how that translates to the 'under 200' metric)

My wife found a variety of Weruva called Truluxe, several low-carb and lower phosphorous options and so far so good they like it! Tiki pates are not popular. Doesnt matter the flavor, only like 2 of them will eat it well. The others will eventually eat it if left in their Surefeed and they get hungry enough. But if we put down some Tiki pate next to another option, the other option is eaten and the Tiki Pate is left behind until they are like "ok fine guess I'm not getting anything else, I'll grudgingly eat this...."
 
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