Oakley is your cat exhibiting itchy ears? Long haired? I ask because itchy ears can be a grain allergy. Long hair can be a problem passing long hair. And....then there's eating too fast, swallowing air....needing to burp. ???

Our oldest DD and her DH are both veterinarians and have convinced me to stick with Purina after they've treated too many dogs and cats for food issues -some deadly. Our SIL even toured Purina's manufacturing facility and was incredibly impressed with their QC. He explained to me that there are many pet foods offered today which have great intentions, start with great ingredients, etc. but because they have relatively small, low investment manufacturing, they just cannot afford the ultra high tech monitoring and tracking that catches and addresses potential problems efficiently.

Sorry not much help as both my cats eat prescription food. When I used to buy OTC I bought either Royal Canin or Hills.

Alternate between Purina and Hill's Science Diet, just in case one of the companies gets a poor batch of micronutrients, and to keep kitties on a varied diet to prevent excessively finicky tastes.

Also toured Purina's facility, very impressive.

I'm interested in alternative cat foods too. My 18-year-old cat has always eaten FF but it seems they are discontinuing most of her favorites. I have been trying a few different varieties of FF as well as other brands but none have been to her liking.

Can emotional stress cause the problem? Nicole, she's a medium haired cat and no scratching. I did forget that she is extremely jealous of the mama cat outside. Raven's allowed to play outside in the daytime while coming inside for a nap and staying in all night. Yesterday I caught her up in the rafters keeping an evil eye on Mama. Had to take a broom to her I did, to get her down and inside. lol Inside she's chomping at the bit to go back out there. Not gonna happen until Mama leaves. It seems to have begun after Mama arrived.

Funny you mention Purina. All these years I've given my cats Purina Cat Chow dry. It was early last year when their chow was hard to find on Amazon, or it cost a fortune so I bought different brands, and eh, no go. Last week Amz had 15lbs of P. cat chow for $22.50. TODAY the same bag cost $34.00! I ordered from Amz last week and the cats were thrilled to have their cat chow back. lol

Fancy Feast is Purina. So is Friskies wet and they loathed that. Other than what mentioned, what is as tasty as a mouse?

Purina wet cat food

We feed our two Wellness, both wet and dry. For the wet, we feed the Pâté style chicken, and for dry, their Grain Free Indoor chicken. There’s also a Healthy Weight Indoor dry and the one that isnt designated as Indoor, supposedly is suited for inroor/outdoor, more active cats.

*You can sign up for Wellness coupons ($3 coupon link emailed monthly). Also, if you sign up for Petco Rewards, as a member, you pay member pricing on food, litter, etc—in-store prices usuallynlower than online, though if you call, they'll often apply a discount to match in-store prices. You also earn points towards rewards ($5 for ex) that you can use towards food or other purchases. Petsmart also has free membership and you earn points there, too. They also email various coupons. But I've found Petco to be better stocked, and have better prices (they’ll both price match though, FYI).

@Oakley She is probably is not only after the mama kitty, but might kill the babies. It is not uncommon for animals to do this. We had to move our horses after our mare foaled.

Allison, I had no idea horses might kill a foal. I finished reading about it. News to me!

I wondered if other cats would eat kittens. Mama cat saw Raven and hissed like crazy. That's when I got R. down. She does love baby rabbits, mice, and birds. :(

Huge cold front came in over night, snow and sleet tomorrow, so I'm glad Mama is going to a nice warm house.

Our girls get Performatrin cat food from Pet Supermarket which is made in Toronto and contains a good amount of protein for cats...it's not overloaded with carbohydrates as many other cat foods are. I can't find the article now by the vet who talks about carb content in cat foods....rice, peas, pumpkin, etc.....vs the amount of protein cats need. But I did come across this calculator where you can plug in the numbers and see how much carbs are in the food: http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html Of course manufacturers prefer to put a lot of plant product in the food as it's much cheaper. If I find the other article, I'll post a link.

Oh found it! https://catinfo.org/commercial-cat-foods/

wondered if other cats would eat kittens.

Not so much eat them as kill them, unless they are starving. Is Raven a male or female? Males are more likely too. Either way, I would keep them separate. If the mother feels they are in danger and cannot hde, she can not keep them safe, she may even turn on them.

Kit & Kaboodle is made by Purina. Masterfully minced is grain free, they like it too. Review I found:

Is Kit and Kaboodle good food?

5.0 out of 5 stars The food is excellent! I can assure anyone that this product is about as good as cat food gets. I am a vet and have seen cats that are fed other types and kinds of expensive cat food. Take my word Purina Kit and Kaboodle is the most value for your money and best for your healthy cat.

Another wellness fan. my cats eat the wet and dry.

My friend recently had vet bills paid by Purina, when her cat developed a serious gastric problem. They admitted to having a bad batch.

My cats’ favorite canned food is the cheap Aldi, but it is getting more and more sporadic in availability. They are healthy, so I fill in with whatever I can get, but seem to have more digestive upset when they eat Friskies that is pink (salmon?).

I had a cat who developed an allergy to her favorite food. We went through all kinds of things, but it was label reading and eventually realizing soy oil was listed in one and not the others. I Her ears, neck and chest cleared up once we got away from that food. It was years ago -- I don't remember if we were seeing stomach upset as well.

Allison, Raven's a girl but acts like a boy. She's inside until mom leaves this evening, and it's way too cold for her to go out.

Lots of good recommendations.

Probably best article I've read about feline nutrition.🐱🐈

http://www.catnutrition.org/uploads/6/4/4/5/6445971/zorans_article.pdf

Mdln, I have learned so much from that site over time. Also catinfo.org

Reading the article about cats being carnivors, no wonder Raven still zips around the yard and up the top of trees in seconds. Baby rabbits are her favorite.

When we first moved here our first cat was Ayla, an indoor cat. When she had kittens in my closet I moved them all to the garage in an old plastic wading pool. We'd check on her often and I swear there were piles of mice tails. She caught them and gave them to her growing kitties.

There's no Kit & Kaboodle wet. Any more Purina brands you guys can suggest for wet food?

I ordered I & love & you canned food, and minimum was two cartons. They had best like it. lol

Kit & Kaboodle dry will be next.

I hope the I&Love&You works out Oakley.

Kit & Kaboodle is made by Purina. Masterfully minced is grain free, they like it too. Review I found:

Is Kit and Kaboodle good food?

5.0 out of 5 stars The food is excellent! I can assure anyone that this product is about as good as cat food gets. I am a vet and have seen cats that are fed other types and kinds of expensive cat food. Take my word Purina Kit and Kaboodle is the most value for your money and best for your healthy cat.

Ingredients Kit and Kaboodle

Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Meat And Bone Meal, Animal Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Chicken By-Product Meal, Animal Liver Flavor, Phosphoric Acid, Salt, Choline Chloride, Turkey By-Product Meal, Ocean Fish Meal, Taurine, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, MINERALS [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], VITAMINS [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], DL-Methionine, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2. J451320

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I don't think so.

In addition to @graywings123 comment, here is a third party review on Kit & Kaboodle. Horrible food, if you can even call it that.

Another third party review on the Top 8 Cat Food Brands You Should Avoid. K&K is #2.

The Feline Diabetes Message Board and its website is also a good source of info on canned cat food, even if your cat is not diabetic.

My adopted older cats (Siberian) will only eat Fancy Feast. We adopted from our vet and they could not get them to eat healthy food.

They are now about 12

Anne, I have the same problem with my 18 year old cat. She has been with me for only a year and is a picky eater. I would buy her the best food out there. If only she would eat it.

Bless you all who took in older cats. Hugs.

Uh oh, I'll find another dry food. The four cats are 7-12,

Oakley, this is the dry food my kitties get. https://www.chewy.com/earthborn-holistic-wild-sea-catch/dp/36428?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12791446238&utm_content=Earthborn%20Holistic&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA09eQBhCxARIsAAYRiylVQSHLp0SfIAghUQrcaFAYjFCIuYFo-vC8PfRYh7n3u3qQnseQS58aAqjEEALw_wcB

Thanks for the link. The thing about finicky cats is at times we have no choice but to buy the worst cat food ever, just so they'll eat! lol

I do remember years ago my Vet insisted I feed my cats Hills/Science (because he was selling it) and they wouldn't touch it.

Funny story, when money was tight and DH was in law school, we had two big dogs (of course) instead of buying their name brand dry dog food which they loved, I bought a bag of Ol Roy. They wouldn't touch it. I left the bowl of food out for 24 hours and they still wouldn't tourch it.

So don't buy Ol Roy.

Iams dry is what they are eating now. I leave a full bowl of dry out, so they can free-feed. Masterfully Minced is what we just stocked up on. $1.19 for a 5oz can. Petco sells it here. It says grain-free on the can. We're still feeding Fancy Feast Perfect Portions as a before bed snack. Neither of our cats has a grain allergy. Both cats are young, very active....zoomie runs through the house.....shiny full coats of fur.

Purina....well....I'm sure if it doesn't say grain free....it isn't. It's just one of many wet foods were feeding. We found cups of chicken for cats. It looks like small chunks of meat you'd mix up in your kitchen. Rachael Ray brand.... if you want to try it. We usually spend top dollar for pet food....and low-dust scent free litter. ♥ ♥ ♥ Weight activated heating pads for the cat trees.....Platinum water fountain. Remember that old saying...You get what you pay for.

Trader Joe's ocean fish canned cat food is the staple of my picky allergic cat's diet. It isn't grain free, but it only has rice, no wheat, corn, or soy. My boy will get sick over most things, but he tolerate's TJ's, and it's very affordable. They also have a turkey flavor, but he's not a fan (though it doesn't make him sick).