Good high fiber food for cats?

Question

My 17 year old needs a lot more fiber in his diet. He loves fish and chicken flavored anything, but won't eat much else. The vet tried to put him on Science Diet, but the cat wouldn't eat it. Is there a good dry food or wet even that is high in fiber?

Current diet: Friskies Seafood sensations and friskies wet food, mainly chopped or sliced.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I can understand your cats hesitance with the Science Diet--it has alot less salt in it than the diets you are feeding now.  Which is a good thing, as high sodium diets have been linked to kidney deterioration and older animals have their share of issues already :-).  Was it a Prescription Diet or could you get it from a pet store?  I ask because there is a Prescription Diet w/d Chicken Flavor available in a canned formula that cats like.  You will still have to do a gradual change--mixing new and old food in gradually increased increments (1/4 new food with 3/4 old food for 3 days, 1/2 and 1/2 for 3 days, then 1/4 old food and 3/4 new food) as you don't want to cause stomach upset.  Plus, cats can be pretty resistant to changes as they age and the last thing you want is a cat that won't eat.

Give it another try.  I definitely recommend avoiding grocery pet foods (as they are typically high in sodium and minerals that can be detrimental to the urinary tract and skin), and avoid any foods that don't specifically say they have been fed in feeding trials.  Check the AAFCO guidelines on the side of the bag (usually near the guaranteed analysis).  If the statement says "this food has been formulated", avoid it like the plague.  It hasn't ever been fed to an animal, thus hasn't been proven to be beneficial for them.  This also means that the food could actually be harmful if it is fed long term.  Since there is no clinical data collected on it, you have nothing to go on.

I do pet food label comparisons at the veterinary hospital where I work, and this is the information I give our clients.  Foods that have been researched and fed in feeding trials are your best bet.  They have been proven.

Answer 2

Whatever the vet says, your statement is an oxymoron and is just plain wrong. Cats are carnivores and do not need high fiuiber oets regardless of the problem. WD imo shouldn't exist. it is a horrible horrible food

You do NOT want to feed dry food. many problems are caused by the lack of moisture in dry food as most of it is zapped out in the processing. Your cat is suppose to get it's mositure needs from the foods an cannot possible drink enough to make up for the loss of water in dry foods

I would recommend at this stage you go to a quality canned food like merrick or wellness. These should help with your problems.

This is in general but I believe especially applies to your cat





Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Answer 3

when my cat needed high fiber, my vet told me to feed her pumpkin pie filling.  from a can at the grocery store.  My cat will eat anything, so she ate it up.  It sounds like you may have a more picky eater on your hands, but maybe the allure of people food would be enough.

Good luck!

Answer 4

i have just changed my cats on to burgess dry cat and they get whiskas or applaws. cats do not need fibre in their diet as this come from carbohydrates which cats would not eat in the wild appart from grass when they have upset tummies or hair balls. give a good quality meat meal applaws is one of the better one (brought some today as my queen is a fuss pot and her tin was fish and prawns with no c**p added) it is not cheap and i am also trying burgess dry as one of my cats get cystitis and it was the best i could afford.

Answer 5

I recommend raw... as it clears up most all digestive issues instantly. I guess your cat accepting it would depend on how much effort you are willint to make to make him eat what he needs to stay well. His digestive issues likely came from eating a low quality, creap food, so feeding him the high quality diet nature intended him to eat since birth will likely cure him.

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It's completely species inappropriate.

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild, desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They do not have a thirst mechanism because they don't need it when eating a species appropriate diet. They get all they need from what they eat. Additionally water was usually not available to them in their desert climate. So they do not often drink water. Regular ol' house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats.

So in a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl.

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones, chronic constipation,  urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals, run rampant these days. Cats are not taking in enough water to stave them off. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Overall,  wet is all around better for any cats diet, be it canned or Raw and they should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs. Kibble meets our needs… not our cats.

I personally feed a ground Raw Meat, Bones and Organ based diet to my cats and they are incredibly healthy on it. I HIGHLY recommend it. While scary at first, once I got the hang of it and felt comfortable with it it's a snap to prepare.

Cats are obligate carnivores after all and must derive ALL their nutrients from meat based sources. They are unable to absorb them from any other source. Despite thousands of years of domestication they remain strictly carnivorous. True and honest meat eaters and that is what they need most. Protein from meat!

If you are interested in feeding a raw diet some great places to start learning are http://www.catinfo.org/  , http://www.catnutrition.org/  , and http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/  .

If you would like to try raw with your cats and don’t want to get all technical about it but want to try a trusted, time tested and balanced raw diet you can order from http://www.felinespride.com/products/cat...  . I purchased this myself when I first started and my cats loved it!

Another premade Raw you can try is Natures Varity. I personally have never used this but know many people that do and it’s pretty easy to find http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.la...

Here's a bunch of websites to help you learn what you need to know.

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.catnutrition.org/

http://www.rawfedcats.org/

http://www.felinespride.com/

http://www.felinefuture.com/

http://www.felineinstincts.com/index.htm...

http://www.raisingcatsnaturally.com/

http://www.blakkatz.com/index.html

http://www.holisticat.com/

http://goldcoastragdolls.com/MyOwnCatFoo...

http://www.mypetcarnivore.com/rawfeeding...

Or, I recommend varying the diet with a constant rotation of accepted canned foods that your cat enjoys. If you do this, and allow your cat the same assortment they would have in nature when eating mice, bugs, birds and rabbits, your cats’ digestive system won't be so sensitive and you won't have to run around looking for a specific brand when your store is out. You will have a nice variety to choose from instead.

Canned foods I recommend for your rotation:

Nature's Variety - http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.la...

Wellness Grain Free Formula’s - http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_welln...

By Nature Organics - http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/productp...

Organix -  http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/store/org...

Evanger's Holistic Pheasant - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/20089...

Evanger's Organic Braised Chicken - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50103...

Evanger's Turkey & Butternut Squash - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50111...

PetGuard Organics - http://www.petguard.com/cat-products/can...

Felidae - http://www.canidae.com/cats/cat_and_kitt...

EVO 95% Meats - http://www.evopet.com/products/default.a...

California Natural - http://www.californianaturalpet.com/

Merrick Canned - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/cann...

Merrick Before Grain - http://www.beforegrain.com

Natural Balance - http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/catform...

Eagle Pack - http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_CanCat...

Newmans Own Organics - http://www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/ho...

Answer 6

don't do Science Diet, it is not a good cat food.

I use Innova, it is one of the best dry cat foods.