How bad is Fancy Feast?

[Miss Peregrine]

*sigh* A few months ago I started giving my 9 yo male cat wet food to help with urinary stuff. I settled on Wellness. I've spent a buttload of money and he turns has nose up at every flavor.

 

We ran our last month (our kitten is eating it) so I grabbed some Fancy Feast while at Costco. He scarfs it down. Of course.

 

DD says it's sad and she doesn't want me to buy it. Any other suggestions for high-quality food that he might actually eat?

[Katy]

No advice, but our cat was the same way.  He'd only eat cheap food. He lived to be 19 until we had to put him down.

[Carrie12345]

My cat gets Friskies because he and I have different opinions on proper diet, and my kids would hate me if I let him starve.  Which he would, because he is intent on making my life miserable.

[Pawz4me]

I agree that the cheapest canned is better than dry. Although one of my cats refuses to eat canned at all.

 

Keep in mind that nature designed cats to live on small rodents and birds, and a wild cat would generally consume almost all their prey, including the parts that we would deem worse than what gets labeled as "by products" in commercial canned cat food.

 

My other kitty who loves canned food eats Fancy Feast and Friskies. I've tried all the "better" brands but he won't eat them. FWIW, he had some urinary issues when he was younger and I kept him on prescription canned urinary food for a year or so and then I switched him over to Friskies urinary formulas (which sadly are no longer being produced) and gradually added in Fancy Feast. That was probably eight or nine years ago and he's never had another problem.

 

As far as lowest carb content you want to stick with the Fancy Feast Classic line for the most part. I don't know as far as urinary health, though.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Pawz4me

[trulycrabby]

Mine love the Meow Mix wet food, much, much more than the top quality canned foods that I order online at four times the price. I compromise by giving it to them every other feeding, otherwise there would be lots of complaining and whining.

[ktgrok]

LOL, it's called kitty crack for a reason! Addictive. And actually, it's not the bad, really. 

[magnificent_baby]

My cats love it, but certain flavors make one of them sick so we can't. My vet had no problem with it when I ran it by her prior to realizing that they couldn't tolerate it. 

[BarbecueMom]

We put my cat on Fancy Feast a couple years ago after some dental problems. I do put a small bowl of the Wellness dry food out for times when I can't get to her food at meal time. She won't eat anything else but those two.

 

She also hates seafood flavors, so we have to buy the "meat" packs. I accidentally gave her one of the fish flavors. She tipped the bowl over and tried to kill DH in his sleep that night.

 

Other than fish induced homicidal rage, she's a happy, healthy, friendly Fancy Feast-eating kitty.

[mschickie]

When our cat came down with kidney problems our Vet actually recommend Fancy Feast.  He said it had a higher protein  content and was better for the cats than many of the more expensive wet cat foods.  He also said not to use Friskies because it is not good enough for cats with kidney problems.

[Lady Florida.]

Ours eats Fancy Feast but it's because we needed to go to small cans after our other cat died (at 17yrs.). When we buy the regular size cans it goes bad before she finishes it all. We tried a few different brands that come in the smaller sizes and she turned her nose up at most of them. She loves Fancy Feast.

 

She is on a combination of wet and dry. She snacks on dry throughout the day and eats canned food twice a day. No, she's not a fat cat. All my cats have eaten that way and all lived to be at least 15 yrs., except one outdoor cat who years ago who disappeared (maybe he lived a long live too but we'll never know). 

[zoobie]

We switched to Fancy Feast (the classic pack Costco carries) when we were trying to get my two older cats to eat something. They had only eaten high quality dry food (which was the theory at the time) and both developed insane hyperthyroid issues. We tried a raw diet. Eventually, we had their thyroids irradiated after the meds stopped working ($$$ and a PITB to manage with other animals and small children!). One lived to be 20 and one 19+ (avatar boy), the last 5 years on Fancy Feast. Our other two now only eat that. We gave up on the dry food trying to get one to lose weight, which worked. They're doing great so far. Anyway, we spend stupid money overall on animals and feed them that. They're happy, the vet is happy, and it's not breaking the bank.

[catz]

Following.  One of our cats had to be put down this week for kidney problems.  He was only 13 which is not old enough IMO!  :(  Seriously, I'm a mess.

 

On that note, we still have 3 kitties left.  The kitty we lost was always weird about food.  I was feeding random canned and science diet dry (every time I tried to switch this over the years the kitty we lost would start barfing).  We tried a kidney food he rejected.  I've tried so much different stuff in the past 6 weeks.  So right now my other 3 kitties are eating down the random stuff we have.

 

I'd love to move my remaining 3 cats now to a more consistent high quality diet.  I just went to a higher end pet store yesterday and got some stuff to experiment with.  I'd like them at least nibbling on and having access to some dry because we travel sometimes and it's just not realistic that we're going to get a cat sitter in our house 2X a day (or really even 1X a day) on those occasions.  We did have our last cat sitter open a couple cans of food every time she came (which was Mon-Fri, she works near our house). 

 

I've read lots of places to avoid fish flavors especially in the cheaper foods that may not use wild caught fish or test consistently for quality because of mercury.  I do worry that my kitty we lost might have had issues with the canned food.  He had barfing issues a year ago and we took him to the emergency vet when he was really sick one day.  All his blood work was normal.  So we moved him to canned food which he did better on.  But then this year, kidney disease.  I regret not researching more when switching his diet.  He was always a barfy cat, so really he might have just done better on a higher quality diet from the get go.  RIP sweet orange kitty.  :crying:

Edited August 4, 2016 by WoolySocks

[SparklyUnicorn]

I've only ever fed my cats regular ole grocery store cat foods.  Never had issues. 

 

Cats can definitely be weird about food.  If you seriously want to encourage your cat to eat something else you can try mixing the Fancy Feast with the food you want him to eat and gradually reduce the amount of Fancy Feast to other cat food.  No guarantee that will work, but it's worth a shot. 

 

 

[mom2scouts]

I've always fed my cats regular grocery store food and mostly dry food at that. My last two cats died peacefully at home at the age of 19. I have two other cats right now that I've had since they were kittens who are 13 and 14 and fairly healthy. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I've always fed my cats regular grocery store food and mostly dry food at that. My last two cats died peacefully at home at the age of 19. I have two other cats right now that I've had since they were kittens who are 13 and 14 and fairly healthy. 

 

Yep, I only feed them dry.  I suppose I'd switch to wet if it were needed, but that stuff makes me want to gag.

[stephanier.1765]

RIP sweet orange kitty.  :crying:

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

Edited August 4, 2016 by slr1765

[Jennay]

My 16 year old cat eats Fancy Feast. I tried "healthier" versions a few years ago and she stopped eating. Better to feed Fancy Feast rather than have a starving cat. She is skinny as a rail due to thyroid issues (takes meds) so I'm just happy that she is eating.

[Closeacademy]

I used Science Diet dry food for my cats since they were kittens but when the oldest was 9, the throwing up got worse and she was loosing weight rapidly and hair in more spots (her stomach never really had hair grow back after her surgery).  She weighed less than 5 pounds last June.  Then we had finance issues and couldn't afford Science Diet anymore so we fed them some cheap stuff we'd bought for some stray cats.  She started putting on weight again.  It's been about a year since then and I mainly feed her Kit 'n Kaboodle dry and she is plump again and her fun has grown back on her paws and belly.  Not all the way yet but it's getting there and they throw up so much less.

 

Now, after reading all this I'm rethinking the wet food.  I'd used it in the past with our cats as bedtime treats but maybe it's something we should look at since we do have digestive issues at least.  

[hornblower]

I ditto that ANY canned or pouched food is better than dry. 

I actually think many of the Fancy Feast canned & pouch recipes are good.  The key is to look for one with as little grains/veg/fruit as possible. Cats really just need meat & organs.  Many of the FF recipes include wheat & corn but the amounts seem fairly low as they're down in the ingredients list. 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I used Science Diet dry food for my cats since they were kittens but when the oldest was 9, the throwing up got worse and she was loosing weight rapidly and hair in more spots (her stomach never really had hair grow back after her surgery).  She weighed less than 5 pounds last June.  Then we had finance issues and couldn't afford Science Diet anymore so we fed them some cheap stuff we'd bought for some stray cats.  She started putting on weight again.  It's been about a year since then and I mainly feed her Kit 'n Kaboodle dry and she is plump again and her fun has grown back on her paws and belly.  Not all the way yet but it's getting there and they throw up so much less.

 

Now, after reading all this I'm rethinking the wet food.  I'd used it in the past with our cats as bedtime treats but maybe it's something we should look at since we do have digestive issues at least.  

 

That's what the shelter gave me when I got one of my cats.  Science Diet.  They gave me a big bag and coupons for more free food.  I ended up switching because I don't really know what is so special about it except for the extra special high price of it.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Once in awhile I get free cans of wet food (with coupons).  My cats lick the juice and won't touch it after that.

 

 

[Miss Peregrine]

Following. One of our cats had to be put down this week for kidney problems. He was only 13 which is not old enough IMO! :( Seriously, I'm a mess.

 

On that note, we still have 3 kitties left. The kitty we lost was always weird about food. I was feeding random canned and science diet dry (every time I tried to switch this over the years the kitty we lost would start barfing). We tried a kidney food he rejected. I've tried so much different stuff in the past 6 weeks. So right now my other 3 kitties are eating down the random stuff we have.

 

I'd love to move my remaining 3 cats now to a more consistent high quality diet. I just went to a higher end pet store yesterday and got some stuff to experiment with. I'd like them at least nibbling on and having access to some dry because we travel sometimes and it's just not realistic that we're going to get a cat sitter in our house 2X a day (or really even 1X a day) on those occasions. We did have our last cat sitter open a couple cans of food every time she came (which was Mon-Fri, she works near our house).

 

I've read lots of places to avoid fish flavors especially in the cheaper foods that may not use wild caught fish or test consistently for quality because of mercury. I do worry that my kitty we lost might have had issues with the canned food. He had barfing issues a year ago and we took him to the emergency vet when he was really sick one day. All his blood work was normal. So we moved him to canned food which he did better on. But then this year, kidney disease. I regret not researching more when switching his diet. He was always a barfy cat, so really he might have just done better on a higher quality diet from the get go. RIP sweet orange kitty. :crying:

I'm sorry. :(

[Pegasus]

I've settled on ordering the Foster-Smith brand canned cat food online as the best quality/cost combination for my two remaining cats.  It's regularly on sale for $17.50 for 24 cans.

 

I had one cat that lived to 23 on a mostly cheap supermarket dry food diet but then lost the next two in their early teens to probably preventable diseases. That was when I actually started reading up on cat nutrition and made the decision to feed the highest quality can food I could afford. 

 

 

[mamakelly]

Is dry food really that bad for them? I thought it was better than cheap wet food...

[fraidycat]

Following. One of our cats had to be put down this week for kidney problems. He was only 13 which is not old enough IMO! :( Seriously, I'm a mess.

 

On that note, we still have 3 kitties left. The kitty we lost was always weird about food. I was feeding random canned and science diet dry (every time I tried to switch this over the years the kitty we lost would start barfing). We tried a kidney food he rejected. I've tried so much different stuff in the past 6 weeks. So right now my other 3 kitties are eating down the random stuff we have.

 

I'd love to move my remaining 3 cats now to a more consistent high quality diet. I just went to a higher end pet store yesterday and got some stuff to experiment with. I'd like them at least nibbling on and having access to some dry because we travel sometimes and it's just not realistic that we're going to get a cat sitter in our house 2X a day (or really even 1X a day) on those occasions. We did have our last cat sitter open a couple cans of food every time she came (which was Mon-Fri, she works near our house).

 

I've read lots of places to avoid fish flavors especially in the cheaper foods that may not use wild caught fish or test consistently for quality because of mercury. I do worry that my kitty we lost might have had issues with the canned food. He had barfing issues a year ago and we took him to the emergency vet when he was really sick one day. All his blood work was normal. So we moved him to canned food which he did better on. But then this year, kidney disease. I regret not researching more when switching his diet. He was always a barfy cat, so really he might have just done better on a higher quality diet from the get go. RIP sweet orange kitty. :crying:

There are five cats at my parents right now. All are on the same high-quality/grain free/wet and dry food. It costs a fortune. Three of them have been on the "best" food since their first taste of food as they were bottle-fed/handraised, two from birth, one from approx 3 weeks of age and they are the youngest - so benefit from better info re:pet food than the older ones.

 

Two of the females are massively overweight since they got fixed. The two males are just normal-large males, not fat. The 5th is old and in her own league. Lol

 

With the wet foods: One barfs up beef food. Another pukes on chicken. And yet another on seafood. It's fun trying to keep all the cats food issues straight along with the human dietary restrictions!

 

All this to say, I think it's really just a crap-shoot when it comes to food and health. My one regret is fixing the females so early (they're "my" cats) because it did adversely affect their weight pretty much immediately following the procedure. They get the same amount and quality food as the 3 normal sized cats. One of the huge ones (my avatar) is the only one of the 5 that goes outside and gets a little more exercise than the rest, but she's still one of the most rotund.

 

You did the best you could for your kitty. Don't beat yourself up about it. :grouphug:

[hornblower]

Is dry food really that bad for them? I thought it was better than cheap wet food...

 

 

dry food is horrible for them. It's directly linked to the explosion in feline diabetes & also implicated in renal failure, bladder stones etc. 

 

"The three key negative issues associated with dry food are:

1) water content is too low

2) carbohydrate load is too high

3) type of protein - too high in plant-based versus animal-based proteins"

 

 

http://www.catinfo.org/

[Shellydon]

Fancy Feast is supposed to be the best cheaper cat food, especially the classic chicken variety.  I would not hesitate to feed it to my cat(s).

[MistyMountain]

The only wet food my cat will eat is fancy feast and friskies and not enough to cut out the grocery store dry food that has too much carbs. I tried all the good natural brands wet food brands with no grains and he did not touch them. I was a bad cat owner and got him dried food not knowing wet food was much better. Then he got sick with fatty liver disease and would not eat for a few months. I tried really hard to get him on quality food but in the end I was glad he was eating again and enthusiastic about eating after having to syringe feed him for so long. So he is eating poor quality food. Fancy feast actually is not bad since it is a wet food and has one of the better contents of the popular name brand wet foods. My cat actually has a new lease on life, is healthy and is more energetic and spunky now despite his diet. He wants to go outside and has caught a mouse recently after a lifetime about being useless about catching mice.

Edited August 4, 2016 by MistyMountain

[Catalytic]

I firmly believe everything Dr. Lisa Pierson says about cat health.  (Seriously, since I found her site in late 2012, started my cats on wet after attempting to switch to her raw recipe, we have seen amazing changes in our cats.)  I tried and tried to switch them (carefully, weighing each of them twice a day) to raw, and finally said to hell with it, and started buying the Friskies Pate she mentions on her site.  We have 4 cats, I pay 90¢ a can for the 15 ounce cans.  Yes my cat food budget went up, and my vet bills went down.  When I can't get the Friskies, I buy the Walmart brand pate.  No regrets whatsoever about the Friskies or Walmart, and I see no need to go with any of the more expensive brands.  My cats are thriving on Friskies.  (Their ages range from 13 to 8, and my 13 year old could barely walk at 10ish when we switched to canned food, he's lost about 6 pounds, and jumps and plays like a kitten now.)

[Tanaqui]

The brand your cat is willing to eat is infinitely better than the brands your cat will reject. If your daughter thinks that isn't good enough, you can tell her she can spend her allowance shopping around. Promise you'll consider changing if she finds one he enjoys.

[ktgrok]

If you google fancy feast and diabetic cats you'll find a ton of info out there about how fancy feast is actually a really good brand. The pate or "classic" styles are all grain free, low carb. Perfect for cats. Friskies and Walmart Brand pate are also very good, but do have some rice. 

 

I've been trying to get my cats onto a healthier dry, but have decided to just try to get them eating more wet instead, and use fancy feast, sheba, friskies, etc. 

[Jenn121]

So do your cats( on wet food) only eat once a day? I have 4 cats, 3 of whom are 4 month old kittens. How many cans would that be for them all? I currently have them on a grain free dry food from Costco. I am not opposed to wet food but since they are eating the dry I just have not bothered.

 

 

[hornblower]

So do your cats( on wet food) only eat once a day? I have 4 cats, 3 of whom are 4 month old kittens. How many cans would that be for them all? I currently have them on a grain free dry food from Costco. I am not opposed to wet food but since they are eating the dry I just have not bothered.

 

My cat died a while ago but we fed twice a day for most of her life. 3+ once she was elderly and ill and needed coaxing. 

 

Canned food feeding does discourage free feeding which I think is a good thing. When you  put down food for your cats & watch how much they're eating, you can see who is doing well, & notice the first signs of if someone is off their food. You put the food down for 30 min & see what's left. Some people with multiple cats will feed at the same time but in separate rooms or areas so that there's no squabbling or stealing & again, you can see who's eating. 

[ktgrok]

Cats naturally eat several times a day, but that's hard to do with canned. They eat small prey frequently, like lizards and mice, unlike wolves who might eat once a day or once every few days. 

 

At least twice a day would be needed. Some then leave a bit of dry for in between munching. 

[Pawz4me]

I only have one who eats canned food. I used to feed him three smallish meals a day and if any food was left after 15 minutes or so (a rare event!) I'd throw it out or maybe refrigerate it until his next meal time. As he's aged that hasn't worked so well and on my vet's advice I now leave a small amount of canned food out for him all the time. My vet says as long as I'm not leaving the same food out for days that it's fine. He says nothing is going to happen to canned food in six or eight hours that a cat's digestive system can't easily handle.

[littlebug42]

Our vet recommended a combo of wet and dry food.  He said that in his experience almost all cats on an all dry diet are overweight.  We have two cats and give each of them one can of fancy feast in the morning and then we put out about 1/2 cup of dry food that they share later in the day.  So far they are both healthy and have maintained a healthy weight. 

 

Sorry about your kitty, Wooly Socks.  We used to have our own sweet orange kitty and he was plagued with sensitive stomach issues his whole life.  He finally settled on Fancy Feast and even at the end, it was the only food he could keep down consistently.  We just continued that trend with our new kitties.  

[Alicia64]

*sigh* A few months ago I started giving my 9 yo male cat wet food to help with urinary stuff. I settled on Wellness. I've spent a buttload of money and he turns has nose up at every flavor.

 

We ran our last month (our kitten is eating it) so I grabbed some Fancy Feast while at Costco. He scarfs it down. Of course.

 

DD says it's sad and she doesn't want me to buy it. Any other suggestions for high-quality food that he might actually eat?

 

We had terrible, very expensive problems with my young male cat. It took us a year, but we finally hit on the right food combo.

Here's the trick. Buy the best urinary wet food -- usually you need to get a prescription from your vet. Royal Canin c/d or Hills Prescription c/d.

 

Our vet also told us to sprinkle 1/2 of a capsule of Dasuquin onto the wet food and stir it in so the powder melts in. (I resisted this big time, but it really works. You can buy it from Amazon and it's $24 for a bottle of capsules that last.)

 

And here's the trick: buy a bottle of Krill oil tablets. Cut one in half and sprinkle even a drop or two onto the food. (I sprinkle the rest into the can to "marinate" the rest of the food in krill.)

 

He will go crazy for it. Cats love Krill oil. (I tried to give my cat fish oil but he only wanted krill.)

 

I hope you'll give this a shot -- I spent a fortune at the vet getting the above plan.

 

Alley

[Guest]

 

Yep, I only feed them dry.  I suppose I'd switch to wet if it were needed, but that stuff makes me want to gag.

 

 

That's why our little guy gets Fancy Feast. I'd rather pay more and just pop a can and go in another room than have to deal with leftovers in the fridge with people food and washing cat food off spoons.

 

He doesn't always finish the can but I toss it after a reasonable amount of time to avoid food poisoning and keep kibble available for between meal snacks.

 

He gets Tiki Cat for Thanksgiving and Christmas or just when I can afford something better for a little while.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Guest

[hornblower]

Have to say I find the disgust of wet cat food a bit surprising. I've been veg*n pretty much all my adult life and I still fed my cat wet food. The stuff looks and smells like canned meat pate, very similar to what the European delis sell for humans.

[Mom-ninja.]

We had terrible, very expensive problems with my young male cat. It took us a year, but we finally hit on the right food combo.

Here's the trick. Buy the best urinary wet food -- usually you need to get a prescription from your vet. Royal Canin c/d or Hills Prescription c/d.

 

Our vet also told us to sprinkle 1/2 of a capsule of Dasuquin onto the wet food and stir it in so the powder melts in. (I resisted this big time, but it really works. You can buy it from Amazon and it's $24 for a bottle of capsules that last.)

 

 

My cat currently is having another bout of bladder stones. This is what my vet recommended.  

 

 

ETA: Actually I just looked at the bottle. My vet gave me zylkene

Edited August 6, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[ktgrok]

Have to say I find the disgust of wet cat food a bit surprising. I've been veg*n pretty much all my adult life and I still fed my cat wet food. The stuff looks and smells like canned meat pate, very similar to what the European delis sell for humans.

 

Yes, but some of us are grossed out by pate too, or at least the smell, lol. 

 

I admit I won't buy the fish flavored food for my cats, because I can't handle the smell of it. 

[Anne in CA]

No advice, but our cat was the same way.  He'd only eat cheap food. He lived to be 19 until we had to put him down.

Our cat is 15 and she's this way. Just yesterday she was skipping around the house with great delight that a cool breeze had cooled off our living quarters. Every July/ August she starts to look skeletal, lays around looking like she is about to pass away at any moment, and then perks right up with cooler weather. She has always refused healthy, high dollar cat food. She will eat Costco cat food, but prefers Meow Mix or Purina Kitten Chow. Other than that she simply won't eat at all, other than stolen bites of people food.

[Denisemomof4]

I have started my new cats on Honest Kitchen turkey formula. I add a can of Fancy Feast to it. ALL my cats converted easily, even my 13 yo. My dogs absolutely GOBBLE it up.

[Denisemomof4]

I have started my new cats on Honest Kitchen turkey formula. I add a can of Fancy Feast to it. ALL my cats converted easily, even my 13 yo. My dogs absolutely GOBBLE it up.

[Denisemomof4]

My dogs get raw meat in the base mix. I wish they made a base mix for cats.

[Catalytic]

So do your cats( on wet food) only eat once a day? I have 4 cats, 3 of whom are 4 month old kittens. How many cans would that be for them all? I currently have them on a grain free dry food from Costco. I am not opposed to wet food but since they are eating the dry I just have not bothered.

 

We have 4 cats, 3 of them eat twice a day, one of them is 3 times a day.  We have moved multiple times since switching to wet (4 houses, 2 separate stretches in our travel trailer) and it takes the cats all of a day or two to learn their new "spot" for meals.  They each have an assigned room/area for mealtimes and as soon as we have the bowls ready, they start running to their spots.  Our female gets 3 meals a day because the vet thinks she could stand to gain some weight.  Our boys get 2.5oz Friskies pate twice a day, the female gets 1.5-2oz three times a day (she'd get 2.5 but she will not eat that much in a sitting)  I think my son says we go through 1.5 cans a day (we use the large 15oz(?) cans whenever possible, as they cost less per ounce than the small cans.)  On Dr. Pierson's site, or maybe on the can, you can find out how much to feed.  Mostly we eyeball it now, but we do use a scale sometimes, too.  We used the scale for every meal for about the first year or so.

 

My cat died a while ago but we fed twice a day for most of her life. 3+ once she was elderly and ill and needed coaxing. 

 

Canned food feeding does discourage free feeding which I think is a good thing. When you  put down food for your cats & watch how much they're eating, you can see who is doing well, & notice the first signs of if someone is off their food. You put the food down for 30 min & see what's left. Some people with multiple cats will feed at the same time but in separate rooms or areas so that there's no squabbling or stealing & again, you can see who's eating. 

 

Yes, we are able to keep track of exactly who eats how much.

 

My dogs get raw meat in the base mix. I wish they made a base mix for cats.

 

Neither my cats nor my dog (raw fed her whole life) would touch Honest Kitchen.  If you are interested in trying HK, I highly recommend buying the sample sizes first.

[StaceyinLA]

Well y'all have me feeling guilty because I've never fed anything but dry food to my cats. We have always had so many cats (we are in the boonies and get lots of drop-offs). I have just never thought I could afford to do wet food.

 

None of my cats have a weight problem or anything, but now y'all have me wondering if I should switch. I have 4 adults cats and one, recently adopted because it was dumped at our vet's office, kitten.

[ktgrok]

Well y'all have me feeling guilty because I've never fed anything but dry food to my cats. We have always had so many cats (we are in the boonies and get lots of drop-offs). I have just never thought I could afford to do wet food.

 

None of my cats have a weight problem or anything, but now y'all have me wondering if I should switch. I have 4 adults cats and one, recently adopted because it was dumped at our vet's office, kitten.

 

For preventing urinary issues and diabetes, canned food is much much better. You can always do both,w which many people do. Canned in the morning, dry in the evening, or whatever. The big, generic walmart brand cans are about the same quality as the better cans, and still better than dry, so you can minimize expense that way. 

[heartlikealion]

My cat is the same!! We tried samples of a few "healthy" brands. She'd turn her nose up. I found a reasonably priced cat food that seemed healthy but she didn't care for it, either. It's called 4Health, but I can only find it in the dry variety or else I'd try the wet.

 

Basically my cat just likes the gravy in wet food, so if it's not packed in a lot of gravy, she won't touch much of it. Some wet food is pureed and some is not, which I found out the hard way.

 

Mine actually didn't finish her Fancy Feast cans when I did buy it. She'd eat a little bit, lick the gravy, and be done. If any food is not cut into the tiniest pieces she won't even try to eat it. She's such a princess.

 

I think Purina Pro Plan was suggested for wet. It's supposed to be of the better quality in their line. Of course my cat just wants to eat the lower quality stuff.

[stephanier.1765]

After reading this thread, I thought I'd give Fancy Feast a try since my kitties are on a all dry food diet. While the boys loved it, my girl cat absolutely turned her nose up. The first try was at dinner time last night so I thought maybe she just wasn't hungry enough so I tried again first thing this morning and it was still a big, fat no. She kept walking by the food bowls until I finally put some dry food in. Darn, finicky cat.