I'm having difficulties maintaining proper nutrition for my cat.
Whithout prior knowledge that Fancy Feast is not healthy for cats, I
started feeding her this and she became addicted. What's worse, she
became addicted to fish (tuna) variety of it. Now it is impossible to
make her eat any canned food that is pasty, not in form of real food
chunks. Even so, I tried feeding her Merrick Company beef, chicken and
duck, and she will not eat any of them. I am feeding her Merrick Ocean
Breeze and New England Boil canned food, both with similar ingredients
of: White Fish, Lobster, Crab, Shrimp and Sardines, and dry food -
Blue Buffalo Company, BLUE Spa Select - Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe
for Indoor Cats. Can you please let me know of any possible ways of
making her switch to beef or chicken, and if I fail, is her current
diet sufficient/insufficient diet for a cat.

Hello posportoo~

You're not the only cat owner who's grabbed something that looked
appealing to you off the supermarket shelf and given it to your
cat...not realizing it might not be the healthiest thing for her. Many
cat foods out there aren't all that healthy; but here are some tips on
turning all that around.

It really doesn't matter if your cat doesn't like the taste of chicken
or beef cat food--as long as the food you're giving her is labeled
"nutritionally balanced." Most canned cat food is *not* nutritionally
balanced, but that which is will be labeled accordingly.

Also read the cat food label. It should list meats as the first
ingredient. For example, the label should read "chicken" as the first
ingredient, not "chicken by-products." Also note that grains should be
very minimally used in a cat's diet. If grains are listed, they should
not be among the first three or four ingredients.

Do also make sure that your cat has access to lots of fresh water.
*Always* have it available for your cat.

As it turns out, some vets believe dry food isn't very healthy for
cats. And, if you think about it, cats in the wild don't eat anything
like dry cat food. They eat primarily fresh meat. So it makes sense
that a good quality canned cat food is better for your cat than dry
food.

If you want to transition your cat to another type of cat food, you
need to go slowly. Give your cat a food she loves, mixed with a *very
small* amount of something new. Once a week, add just a little bit
more of the alternative food, until you no longer need to give her the
food she originally loved. Slowness is key here.

If your cat won't eat the food as offered, don't worry. Let her get a
little hungry! Then she'll be more likely to eat whatever is in front
of her.

For more tips about choosing cat food, and for transitioning cats to
healthier food, see "FEEDING YOUR CAT: KNOW THE BASICS OF FELINE
NUTRITION:" http://www.catinfo.org/

You might also find "Feed Your Cat Like a Cat" helpful:
http://www.delmars.com/kitcats/catsfeed.htm

Kind regards,
Kriswrite

RESEARCH STRATEGY:
Feline diet

---

Request for Answer Clarification by posportoo-ga on 02 Oct 2006 09:54 PDT

Thank you very much for your answer. I looked at the label, and the
food is nutiritionally balanced. However, I've heard numerous times
that feeding your cat mainly sea food will result in kidney problems.
Also, I did try mixing, and she notices the scent of other flavor and
will absolutely not eat it. I kept her hungry for a while, and still
the same problem. The cat just gets very upset, loses energy, and acts
as if this is punishment. I will try mixing again, and hope this will
work. Can you please comment though on feeding seafood variety canned
food and chicken variety dry food daily acceptable? Thank you.

---

Clarification of Answer by kriswrite-ga on 02 Oct 2006 11:55 PDT

If the cat food is marked "nutritionally balanced," your cat's diet is
fine. Remember that cat foods that are marked as any particular flavor
are not made 100% of that meat (or seafood). In the case of
nutritionally balanced cat foods, the main flavor is *just a portion*
of the actual food, and other nutrients are added in order to keep the
cat healthy.

It *is* true that giving your cat 100% seafood is a bad thing. It can
lead to "steatitis" (caused by a vitamin E deficiency). This is why
it's important not to give cats human food (like canned tuna); they
should always be given food specially made for felines.

For more information, please see this Google Answer ("Foods That Are
Harmful for Cats:" http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=450509
) and "Steatitis: Yellow Fat Disease:"
http://www.cat-world.com.au/FeedingFish.htm )

Kind regards,
Kriswrite

feel free to ignore this if it seems too heartless.  but it's much
easier, and it works, and after a few days of having your pet angry
with you, it's over:

no animal is going to starve with food available, whether they like
the food or not.  you just have to have a stronger will than they do. 
decide what type/brand you want to give them, based on nutrition and
price.  then, cold turkey, give them that and only that.  they'll
refuse for a couple of days, but unless they're sick, a few days
without food isn't going to do any harm.  eventually, they'll get
hungry and eat it.  i suspect cats will hold out longer than dogs, but
they'll come around before any harm is done.  soon, they'll forget
there was ever anything else.

it's like a bandaid; better to rip it off fast than slow.

-cab

We have a big old bloke cat called Bruce and he is addicted to a
similar canned fish variety. It's a nightmare because in addition to
this *one* variety of canned food, he'll only eat one variety of dry
food. Funnily enough, it's always the variety that the supermarket
sells most of, (and they always run out of it) so I'm with you and
also wondering if the manufacturers are putting something in it that
results in our poor pussycats becoming addicted.

And for the record, barneca, I've tried, many, many times to wean
Bruce off these two irrestistable foods and we have both held out for
up to a week, with him ulitmately beating me into submission. We have
two other cats (who eat anything) and two dogs (who love catfood more
than anything else in the whole world!) and Bruce got so stroppy and
cross and pouty and horrible with them and me and the rest of the
family that he made everyone's life a misery. Once he got his "fix" he
was all love and light again.

stressedmum,

see if you have a local chapter of cat anon.  :)

-cab

Stressedmum...

That is too funny...

I too have a fat cat with an attidude. He only likes one brand of
kibbles mixed with 1/2 wet catfood.... He raises a real ruckus if I
ever try to feed him anything else....

Also note, the kind he loves is the most $$$$$

Go figure :(

Steph53