about grain-free kibble (cross-posted from Pets)

[Bertha Venation]

Do you feed your pets grain-free kibble?

I have a serious feeding problem in my house. Ten cats, and one is obese. We started her on a diet but the only way to do so is to feed the other kids the same. Just a few days later and we realize it's not working -- they're all hungry, not just O'Malley.

Someone suggested grain-free kibble as a way to get her to lose weight (because she compulsively eats kibble; that's why she's so big). And if we free-feed it the other kids won't be hungry.

Do you feed grain-free kibble? What is your pet's/pets' experience with it?

Thanks.

[Bertha Venation]

16. I was free-feeding kibble and feeding canned food once a day

She got fat from compulsively eating the kibble -- that's what I think, anyway.

You have a very complicated problem. Is it hard to feed everyone according to their needs without them getting into each other's food?

[fleur-de-lisa]

31. It is complicated.

It helps that my skinny little old man and the diarrhea-prone kitten both prefer canned food to kibble. Fat cat eats very little canned food and stuffs her face with kibble.

The other kitten eats about half dry and half canned. She is the only easy one in the house . . . no weight problems or tummy issues.

Fat cat sometimes stuffs herself with kibble to the point of vomiting. At least once a week she pukes (of course it's always on the carpet and never on the hardwood floor). The vet says there is absolutely nothing wrong with her that could cause the vomiting, it's just compulsive overeating.

Makes you wonder why some cats have this tendency to overeat, doesn't it?

[Bertha Venation]

33. Yes, it is curious.

I learned, because some of my cats barf right after they eat, that there's a difference in cats between vomiting and regurgitating. When they barf after eating, it's usually just regurgitation.

No matter -- it's still disgusting and we still have to clean it up.

[fleur-de-lisa]

34. Ha . . . I didn't know that.

Regurgitating . . . it DOES sound better. Wish it smelled better and was easier to clean!

[Bertha Venation]

35. Yeah, the smell gets me too.

The smell of canned cat food is almost as bad as the smell of "used" cat food . . .

[NV Whino]

2. I feed my cats Trader Joes wet food, including tuna

The kibble is Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, adult light. No corn, no meat byproducts.

My two males are lean. My female is a bit tubby, but leaner than she once was. My recently adopted male has lost a couple of pounds since I got him, and he looks great.

[Bertha Venation]

15. Yay! You adopted!

Was he a pound kitty?

(I love the names of Trader Joe's products. I wish there were a TJ's nearer to me; it's an hour away. I miss their cheeses.)

[NV Whino]

25. All my kitties are adopted

Grayson and Millie, as kittens, came from Whiskers and Tails, an organization that captures, spays, releases and adopts out kittens. Beau was the product of a divorce. They are all seven or thereabouts. And they are all grey stripey.

[Bertha Venation]

28. Grey stripey

How is it that all of these adoptees turned out to be grey stripey? Wow.

The kitteh love of my life was grey stripey. His name was Harry Truman and he died two and a half years ago at the age of sixteen and a half. I think about him every day.









Harry le Roi

[NV Whino]

29. One of my favorite cats of all time was a silver stripey

When I wanted a couple of kittens I went looking for a silver stripey and ended up wih Millie, grey with brown under tones, and Grayson, grey with faint strips and white socks and bib. Then seven years later, a friend hooked me up with Beau, a silver stripey. Couldn't resist.

[fleur-de-lisa]

32. What a beauty! - n/t

[KamaAina]

42. Stop off on the way back from work?

[EdwardSmith74]

3. Try the "indoor formula". My huge one is back to a reasonable weight after the switch.

It doesn't seem to bother the other cats. Regardless of the brand, they're all fully balanced nutritionally. There's just less fat and carbs.

[In_The_Wind]

4. Hi EdwardSmith74. How many cats do you have?

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[EdwardSmith74]

8. It depends. At the moment 3 permanent, one refugee, and two off-site with kids.

The refugee will be moving to her new home soon. The original owner was going to put her down for inappropriate elimination, but we haven't had any litter box transgressions. We found a permanent home for her but there are transportation issues involved.

[In_The_Wind]

10. How far does the cat need to be moved ?

You sound like a wonderful person. IMO: The way we treat our pets shows a lot about who we are.

[EdwardSmith74]

18. Over 100 miles. My daughter will make the drive.

[Bertha Venation]

14. that's the one I chose

Crossing my fingers.

[Flaxbee]

5. lol - after the diet began at our house, Ivan went on a mouse-killing rampage.

Ivan isn't even on the diet! But he likes to sleep downstairs with Novi and MinPie, who are both rotund. So, I don't leave kibble out at night anymore for them, and Ivan has apparently noticed the difference.

The upstairs sleepers get kibble, but Ivan, if left upstairs at night, would yowl like a banshee starting at sunrise, which is usually only about 3 hours after we've gone to bed.

There is no easy solution when you have a multiple cat household.

I did buy two bags of no/low grain food this weekend, as well as low/no grain canned. It's definitely more $$, but I'm hoping they'll all eat less since it's more filling (less crap filler).

I'm trying to give more moist so Novi and MinPie feel satisfied, but they both looooove their crunchies.

[EdwardSmith74]

9. Canned food is bad for their teeth and often gives them the "toots".

No fart is good, but a cat fart is pretty much an atomic bomb.

[MiddleFingerMom]

19. A MiddleFingerMom fart is biological warfare.

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"Huh?"
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"Have you ever hear of a Dutch Oven?"
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Shortly, much physical violence ensues about MFM's head and shoulders.
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[EdwardSmith74]

20. I don't get the partner joke. Dutch Oven?

[MiddleFingerMom]

27. 'Scuse me while I whip this out.

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[fleur-de-lisa]

22. I've never heard that before. Is that info from a veterinarian, or your experience with your cat?

My old male cat prefers canned food . . . that's mostly what he eats. He has been diagnosed with kitteh irritable bowel syndrome and an allergy to corn and its byproducts. He is on medication for the the IBS. None of my cats has ever had the 'toots'.

The vet always tells me canned food is far healthier than kibble. What does your vet say?

[EdwardSmith74]

23. He goes with the crunchies because they clean their teeth.

Nutritionally there's really no difference. And yes, the experience is with cats I've owned. Three o'clock in the morning is their favorite time to drop an a-bomb - especially when you're presented with the less attractive end of the cat.

[fleur-de-lisa]

24. Oh, my . . . you have my sympathy!

And I thought my cat waking me up throughout the night while trying to get under the blanket with me was bad!

[EdwardSmith74]

26. I've had a lot of cats throughout my life. They all seem to know the fart trick.

[Bertha Venation]

13. eating less -- that's what I'm hoping

Hoping they'll need less of the high-protein food.

Are you well?

[EdwardSmith74]

21. Gradually decrease the amount. If they walk away from the bowl, put it back in the bag.

Am I well? Other than a case of the toots, I suppose so.

[madinmaryland]

41. BTW, Sonia has been packing on the pounds, or at least the ounces recently. She and Panda

have been snarfing down the kitten's food. She's not exactly fat, but she is now very solid!!

[distantearlywarning]

6. We had a more minor version of this problem too

One overly-easygoing and lazy tubby boy who likes to eat any kind of kibble, so long as its full of carbs, and who likes to nap all day with no exercise.

One hypersensitive drama queen skinny boy who is an incredibly picky eater and who sulks angrily and refuses to participate in dinner if you can't psychically determine what precise flavor of canned food he wants to eat today.

The vet told us that the corn-based kibble is what makes cats fat, and that if you just put all the kitties on an all-canned meat diet with no reduction in calories a lot of times the tubby cat will lose weight while not starving out the skinny cat. She also said it was better for them in general and would prevent diseases like diabetes down the line. Cats aren't supposed to eat corn all day. They are high-protein predators.

So that's what we did - we just stopped the free feeding on kibble entirely, and upped their canned rations considerably so they wouldn't get hungry. And it worked. The fat kitty lost a couple of pounds, and the skinny kitty learned to like his canned food a little better when he realized it was the only option he was getting each day. The only bad thing that happened was that they started to get more vocal in the morning about breakfast, because they couldn't just eat kibble until the humans decided to get out of bed and feed them. And it was kind of expensive - corn is cheap. But that's ok. We can afford it, and I want them to be happy and healthy.

We have since finally found an entirely meat-based kibble with no corn fillers, and have started free-feeding them again on that. It seems to be going ok. Tubby cat hasn't gained back any weight that I can tell, although we haven't weighed them recently.

[Bertha Venation]

12. heh -- tubby cat

We call our big girl, whose name is O'Malley, Jabba the Catt.

Our skinny cats were getting starved out on the canned-only diet, but perhaps we weren't feeding them enough, or not frequently enough. I feel like a bad cat mom.

[truegrit44]

7. I have fed a meat diet raw for 14 yrs to my dogs.....

however, my daughter changed her dogs to it and she had a cat that had been on a special kibble diet because of kidney problems. She quit buying the high dollar kibble and changed him to the raw meat and he lost weight and never had any more kidney problems.

[Bertha Venation]

11. What kinds of meat?

And in what form? Ground up? Steaks? Chunks like for stew? Chicken, fish?

[truegrit44]

43. For my dogs the main things are

chicken necks that I order by the case thru my local grocer at .40 per pound. I then have a local locker plant ,who process the ranchers cattle, hogs, deer in season, to save me bone dust........which is the meat/bone that comes off the saws just like sawdust would come off a wood saw. This looks basically like finely ground hamburger and that I pay .30 per pound. Both these are fed raw. I can also feed chicken backs, wings or legs. The bone is no problem for them as long as it is raw. You will NEVER have a teeth cleaning problem with this type of feeding either and another great thing is very little "poops" that are not moist or stinky

I also feed yougart, eggs (I have my own chickens), liver and just about anything else that are leftovers.

My daughter who had the cat with the problem she just fed the chicken necks and sometimes bought canned tuna in water. Never a weight problem, clean bright teeth and very healthy dogs

[Bertha Venation]

17. UPDATE

Last night I brought home a bag of grain-free kibble. I put 1/2 cup into each of seven small bowls, and most of them tore into it. It wasn't all gone this morning, but I replenished their bowls.

I had been giving them canned food in the morning, so this is where the change begins. We also give them canned at 4:00. That will continue. But now I will add giving them more of this kibble when I get home from work around 7:00.

Cross your fingers . . .

[GoCubsGo]

30. My sister has this issue.

Three cats, one obese, one normal weight, and a second that is normal, but tends toward the thin side. She is giving them all weight control food, but the skinny one gets extra treats.

My cat was looking like a beach ball, but she has been losing weight. She has this tendency to get bored with her food , and doesn't eat much of it when it gets toward the bottom of the bag. Such is the case now. She has no problem eating treats, however. Been having to spike her kibble with them to get her to finish off the bag... I have fed her grain-free in the past--mostly Blue Buffalo brand. They have a weight control formula. She got tired of that, too. She does really well on that brand, regardless of which version she gets fed.

[LWolf]

36. I feed grain-free kibble to my cat and dog.

It's made a big difference for the dog. She's 10, and seemed to be slowing down some. Within a couple of months of no grain, she's back to her perky, energetic self.

The cat? She free-feeds it, and is quite fit and healthy. If she starts to gain weight, I'll quit free-feeding and portion it out to her.

It seems like it would cost a fortune to free-feed grain-free kibble to 10 cats, though.

[Bertha Venation]

38. "It seems like it would cost a fortune to free-feed grain-free kibble to 10 cats" -- yeah,

I re-thought that. In fact I can't believe I ever considered it. Pfft.

[MADem]

37. Is it possible to separate the animals so that they feed in different areas? Is the fat one unfit

as well?

If the chubbster can't, say, jump up on the counter, put the food for the fit cats on the counter, and feed the fat one on the ground.

It can be a pain in the ass to have to deal with different menus for pets.

I have two dogs with different feeding requirements. One is on a vegetarian diet due to liver disease. The other is healthy as a horse but tends to gain weight. I feed both the vegetarian diet, but I give the healthy horse one an occasional serving of meat. The liver dog is thriving, the healthy horse has lost a little weight....it's all good!

[Bertha Venation]

39. Do they know you refer to them as "liver dog" and "healthy horse"?

Ha! j/k

Jabba the Catt is fit enough to jump to the counters. It's a good suggestion, though.

I'm glad your dogs are doing well!

[MADem]

40. Fartso and Whiner, too!!!!

Heh heh!

They're great dogs; pains in the asses and wonderful companions--just like some people I know!

If the fat cat is REALLY fat, you could put the verboten food inside a box, with a small hole in it that is too small for chubby to get through! At the least it would make for some amusing YOUTUBE videos, as the cat tries to get through the hole or find a way to get the food....!