Feeding directions sound ABSURD!

[vix506]

So I'm randomly reading the back of a pouch of Whiskas and it says to feed an adult cat 1 pouch (3oz) per 5lbs of body weight 3 times a day! Lucky is almost 10 lbs now so that would be 6 pouches (18oz) a day :eek: ....Am I supposed to be doing this???? That seems like an awful huge amount of food to me! I give him 1/3 of either a 3 oz pouch or a 3 oz can of 'wet' food in the morning and evening, mixed with a little dry. Then he has a small bowl of dry left thru the day and night. I usually put about 1/3-1/2 cup of dry in the bowl and if he finishes that I'll throw another handful in. When am I feed him in the morning and night, if he walks away from his bowl, I know he's had enough, if not, I'll put another tablespoon of wet in.
How much do you feed your kitties?

[tiffers]

NO! Don't do that! That's way tooo much! We had a client come in the other day, said he was feeding like the package said...3 cans a day, and his cat was grossely obese. I believe it's Friskies Canned that he was feeding. Some of the feeding instructions...man, it's madness!

I guess, that's why I've always free-fed my animals. They eat what they want, when they want...and I've never had a problem with fatties. Except, Chica...but that's because she's stinkin' lazy! We've started running every night though...she'll be a sexy little muttly in no time!

Catillac has dry food available at all times. She then gets 2/3 can of Friskies Canned-Sliced which she eats all day long. Chica gets the other 1/3. :)

[vix506]

Yeah I thought that sounded rediculous! I think what I'm doing is just peachy! If he was starving his bowl would always be empty!

[tiffers]

What you're doing is fine. I think it's really great to give them both, wet and dry, for hydration purposes. Especially in males. Eating wet food alone doesn't get them the water intake they need, but when you feed dry it helps them drink more.

[Darksong17]

The reason for this is because Friskies and Whiskas are horrible foods with little actual nutritional content, thus more is needed to achieve proper nutrition. With the more high quality foods you tend to need to feed much less because the animals are actually getting what they need from the food.

Whiskas: Choice Cuts With Poached Salmon In Sauce

Ingredients
Sufficient Water For Processing, Chicken, Meat By-Products, Wheat Flour, Salmon, Wheat Gluten, Starch, Salt, Natural Flavors, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Caramel Coloring, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Dl-Methionine, Vitamin E & D3 Supplements, Iron Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity).


Right off the bat we have some not so great ingredients. Ingredients are listed in order of how much is in the actual food, so the first ingredients are the one's the food is mostly made up of and such.

Meat By-Products: This isn't even telling you what KIND of meat. Wouldn't you like to know what the heck your feeding your cat? Besides that by-product means that it is not fit for human consumption.

Wheat gluton: "AAFCO: The tough, viscid nitrogenous substance remaining when wheat is washed to remove the starch.

An inexpensive byproduct of human food processing with almost no nutritional value left, serves mostly as a binder."

Quoted from here: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients (It's for dogs but the same/similar rules apply for cat foods.)



Friskies: Turkey & Giblets Dinner

Meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, poultry by-products, turkey, poultry giblets, fish, brewers rice, natural and artificial flavors, salt, guar gum, tricalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, titanium dioxide color, carrageenan, taurine, Vitamin E supplement, dicalcium phosphate, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, cobalt carbonate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, potassium iodide, biotin. B-5201


Meat by-products: Again meat by-products. No word on what the heck it is still!

Poultry by-products: Okay so we know it's poultry. But it's still parts of poultry that isn't fit for human consumption.

Brewers rice: Putting aside the fact that cats are obligate carnivores and don't even need grains in their diet (filler crap really), this isn't even a high quality grain product.

"AAFCO: The small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice.

A processed rice product that is missing many of the nutrients contained in whole ground rice and brown rice. Contrary to what many pet food companies want to make you believe, this is not a high quality ingredient, just much cheaper than whole grain rice."

Quoted again from: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

[tiffers]

...you've quoted only two flavors of cat food using an ingredient listing from a DOG website. Dogs and cats have totally different systems, yeah...some of that crap is crap. Agreed. However they are not "horrible" foods.

[Darksong17]

...you've quoted only two flavors of cat food using an ingredient listing from a DOG website. Dogs and cats have totally different systems, yeah...some of that crap is crap. Agreed. However they are not "horrible" foods.


Um. The bad ingredients are the same for cats for the most part aside from the fact that they are obligate carnivores and really shouldn't have anything but meat in their diets while dogs are a little looser on those terms (healthy vegetables and such are okay). Yes, I only quoted one formula from each food (sorry, if you expect for me to do a write up on each of their diets you'll have to be disappointed =/). Yes some of their formulas and diets are better than the others. But for the most part they are all crap.

Here's something more directed to cats if that suits your fancy more: http://www.homevet.com/petcare/feedingyourcat.html

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a cat food website on par with the dog food one I've quoted from.

[tiffers]

No need to be rude. But, as I said...they are not "horrible" foods...and I find it strange that all your posts have been nothing but food bashing.

[Julia423]

Charlie is a good self-feeder...so he nibbles dry food all day. The other guys' food measurements were suggested by their vet...what he felt was a healthy amount for each of them.

[ferJenna]

Those directions are ridiculous!

I only have the dogs on a free feed routine, if I did it with my cats they would all be obese!

[xpalaboyx]

You dont have to follow those directions especially if you feel that it's not good for your pet's health. If you are so worried about your pet's diet, consulting a vet that specializes in pet's diet will be a big help.

[Darksong17]

No need to be rude. But, as I said...they are not "horrible" foods...and I find it strange that all your posts have been nothing but food bashing.

I don't think I was rude really. At least I wasn't trying to be. The reason all my posts have been "food bashing" is because I am new here and haven't had the chance to answer much else quite yet. I do intend to answer more questions (especially in the small animal section).

[vix506]

You dont have to follow those directions especially if you feel that it's not good for your pet's health. If you are so worried about your pet's diet, consulting a vet that specializes in pet's diet will be a big help.

Thank you for the input. I posted my feeding routine. I don't follow the directions on the packets. I was just making an observation. My cat was a rescue and weighed at best 6 pounds when I found him and he was estimated to be close to 3 years old. He weighs 10 pounds now and thats where I will keep him.

As far as what I feed him, I know I don't feed him the most expensive cat food in the world or the "best" (everyone has their opinions what is best), but I don't feed him the worst either. We are doing quite alright.

[tiffers]

As far as what I feed him, I know I don't feed him the most expensive cat food in the world or the "best" (everyone has their opinions what is best), but I don't feed him the worst either. We are doing quite alright.

I agree, you and I have almost the same routine. There's nothing wrong with it. Of course, there's always room for improvement, but what we're doing is perfectly fine.

[NewfieGrl]

The moist and canned foods have a much higher water content which is why the "suggested" feeding requirements are so much higher. The nutritional value per pouch or can is not as high as the dry foods. A good regimen, if your cat will eat dry, would be to feed wet for one meal and dry for the other meal. Also, cats never drink enough water, which is why feeding wet food can be very important. I also add a teaspoon of water to my cats wet food.
Good luck.
Michele
owned by 2 Newfies, a cocker spaniel and 3 cats
RIP Bootsie-March ? 1988-April 22, 2007

[krazy4birds]

I agree with most of everything that has been said here but I also agree with Darksong about the ingrediants in the cat food. It is hard to find a good solid diet for your cat, believe me I have tried. Read those ingredients he listed and they are on about 75% of the cat foods out there. A person just has to use good common sense and keep the food rotated (wet/dry) as mentioned. It really is a shame that it is that way but what do you do? It really is a problem.

[nanamouse]

This may be slightly off topic, but I've noticed that the availiability of water seems to be of huge importance to the ferals I've taken in. Archie was almost obsessed with the water bowl his first few weeks here, even guarded it! Of course, when they were wild behind the resteraunt, their water supply this hot dry summer was the condensation that dripped off the roof from the refrigeration units- yuck.