New Cat Food

Yesterday I purchased some frozen raw Nature’s Variety, chicken formula. The ingredients are:

Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseed, Chicken Eggs, Broccoli, Lettuce, Spinach, Dried Kelp, Apple Cider Vinegar, Parsley, Honey, Salmon Oil, Olive Oil, Blueberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Persimmons, Duck Eggs, Pheasant Eggs, Quail Eggs, Inulin, Rosemary, Sage, Clove. Copyright © 2009 Nature’s Variety

I gave my cats this for dinner late yesterday evening. I gave them each one medallion. Each medallion weighs about 1 ounce. They ate some of it (…very, very little) — they were in the kitchen with the food for a few minutes and I saw one of them licking his lips later — but they still have to get used to it. I have been feeding them dry Iams and Science Diet for years, so they are used to the “carb rush” and the texture of the dry food. Following Dr. Lisa Pierson’s advice, I am starting to feed the cats two or three times a day, and not free feed. I gave them dry food this morning and afternoon (left food out for about 30 minutes each time) — I didn’t get the good Nature’s Variety stuff until after those feeding times, and the good stuff had to defrost, anyway. But yesterday evening, while out at Kroger’s, I found some good canned food: Brandon Farms. I bought, in the Organics line, the Chicken & Chicken Liver, and, in the Naturals line, the 95% Turkey & Turkey Liver, the 95% Chicken & Chicken Liver, and the 95% Beef & Liver. We’ll see how my cats like it in the next few days. The ingredients in the Organics Chicken & Chicken Liver are:

Organic Chicken, Natural Well Water, Organic Chicken Liver, Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Organic Guar Gum, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Vitamin Supplements (E, A, Riboflavin, D3, B12), Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine ononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.

This morning I gave my cats some of the 95% Beef & Liver (1/4 of a 6.5 ounce can to each cat). They went after it right away — but only licking it; eating very little. They ate maybe an eighth or so. I threw away the rest. I’ll give them dry food for “lunch,” then lay out the rest of the 95% Beef & Liver in the evening. Update (12:15 PM): The process of transition is still going slow. For “lunch” I — change of plans! — put down some dry food mixed in with the 95% Beef & Liver (again, 1/4 can to each cat), but my cats were not too interested. They might have eaten some; I did not stick around for the whole half hour I left the food down. Since they didn’t eat much, I put down some dry for twenty minutes or so. The canned food and the dry mixed in with it got trashed. I’ll feed again this evening. I have some raw Nature’s Variety defrosting in the refrigerator. I’ll leave it down for half hour, to see what my cats do, then give them some dry to make sure they are eating. Update (12:30 PM) Added information in this post as to how much I fed each cat: how much raw and how much canned. My cats have been more eager to eat at meal time. I noticed the eagerness this morning and at “lunch.” Update (9:00 PM):  Well, the Nature’s Variety raw got thrown away. One cat (Kaitlyn) licked the medallion I put down for her, and she ate a tiny bit; the other cat might have eaten some, but I did not see. After half hour, I threw the raw out and put down some dry. Kaitlyn ate some dry; I don’t know if Tobi did or not. Tomorrow morning I’ll try some canned Brandon Farms. I might have to swing by Kroger this weekend to get more. The transition continues…