Feeding cats when there is no cat food. Ideas?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

As cat food supplies dwindle I think a thread to
Offer tips and ideas about what to do to feed cats when there is no cat food around.
For me ordering cat food online is kind of expensive,to get smaller sizes is really expensive too,because cat food prices have gone through the roof.


Also for instance my Othello does not like any human food. I cant buy chicken and cook it up because he won't touch it. Some cats are finicky.

What to do about them.

[Ocelot II]

1. Baby food? My cat, who does not like people food, does like baby food.

But that's as expensive as cat food..Tuna? Mackerel? Sardines?

[spooky3]

8. My vet advised against baby food because it doesn't have

All the nutrients cats require. I did use it to get an old sick cat to eat; it was better than his not eating. Sometimes a little baby food stop cat food (wet or dry) would work.

[Ocelot II]

10. They shouldn't eat it exclusively, but if it was mixed with something the cat normally doesn't like,

they might go for it.

[spooky3]

13. The vet was also concerned that some types include onions

or other ingredients cats shouldn’t eat.

[Ocelot II]

14. I always read the ingredients. The Gerber first solid food doesn't have onions, just meat.

[Mr.Bill]

2. Canned Pink Salmon.

My granddaughters cats love it.

[SheltieLover]

3. I've been feeding ferals dry dog food

They don't hesitate to eat it, but sweet Othello might be quite offended.

Tough situation with finicky eaters. My kitty will only eat 1 flavor of wet & 1 flavor of dry. No interest in human food at all.

I've even tried cooked eggs. Nope.

Not sure what you feed but Target had a good stock when I was there last, a week or so ago for litter.

I hope you find something your sweet boy will eat!

[CurtEastPoint]

7. Please don't.

There is plenty of dry cat food out there from my experience.

Please read this:

An occasional bite of dog food won't hurt your cat. But dog food is not a substitute for cat food. They do have many of the same ingredients. But cat food is specially formulated for a cat's needs, which include more protein as well as certain vitamins and fatty acids. A steady diet of dog food can cause your cat to be severely malnourished.

https://pets.webmd.com/cats/ss/slideshow-foods-your-cat-should-never-eat#:~:text=An%20occasional%20bite%20of%20dog,certain%20vitamins%20and%20fatty%20acids.

[SheltieLover]

11. Good grief!

Last edited Sun Jan 16, 2022, 12:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Ty for sharing!

[SheltieLover]

22. Ferals dined on tuna today :-)

I usually feed tuna 2-3 times per week.

I will get them cat food this week -no worries.

Ty again!

[CurtEastPoint]

23. Sure. I just went to feed my 2 early and NO KITTIES... snow!

[SheltieLover]

24. 😱

No foul weather breakfast buffet takers?

My ferals usually show up before bad weather (as well as during & after lol). Looking at me as if to say, "I know you know, hooman. Bust out the good stuff!" And ofcourse I do.

This morning, 1 showed up just after snow ended. Not a bad storm here from my perspective, a dusting on grass & roofs & right at freezing, already melting from sun & warm ground. But I'm not a 4 lb homeless furkid.

I hope your ferrals fare well & enjoy their repast.

[CurtEastPoint]

25. I feel sure they ventured out when it slacked up a bit.

[TheBlackAdder]

4. In a pinch canned tuna, kippers or sardines. Salmon is good too. Give infrequently (mercury, ash).

.

If you have dried dog food crunch it up if out of dry. Many of your natural cat foods have chicken meal, eggs and peas in them. My two 13yo male domestic cats get Blue Buffalo Wild Animal mixed in with Purina One Urinary Tract formula.

My one cat loves sliced turkey, roast beef, cheese steaks and ground beef. Any kind of prepared frozen fish is good, just remove the breading. Oh, one is a slute for shrimp.

.

[spooky3]

5. Is dry cat food in short supply where you are? It's plentiful here.

I’ve had problems only with getting the wet food, apparently due to can shortages.

[Srkdqltr]

6. When I had a cat I treated it with canned tuna but not much because there is a lot of salt.

I would put tuna juice on dry food from time to time too.

[TygrBright]

9. When my kitteh many years ago got diabetes, I got help from the butcher shop.

They collected "clean" offal and trimmings, and coarse-ground them for me.

That was back before the advent of many of the "prescription" and "grain free" foods. It wasn't real cheap (about the same price as hamburger) though.

Of course, there are fewer butcher shops nowadays. But if you live in a place with a lot of Hispanic/Latinx neighbors, look for a carniceria.

Cats are obligate carnivores who need a large majority of their protein from meat and/or fish, so whatever you come up with should be based in that knowledge.

reminiscently,
Bright

[piddyprints]

12. We have been lucky so far.

But we order our food special and don’t exactly use small quantities with 6 cats.

I see a couple people recommending dog food. Do not feed dog food to cats long term. It is missing taurine that cats need. If there is no choice, you could probably add some taurine power.

[Deuxcents]

15. Try Chewy..they're great

Also..the juice and some tuna from cans mashed up in their food is good. I did have to quit giving Ruby the adult tuna.,she’d eat the whole can but too much salt so now I get cat tuna from Chewy’s n make a soup out of it. Fills her up..she gets the liquid she needs and everyone is happy. Happy cat..happy home 🐾

[jmbar2]

16. Do you want us to send you some cat food?

I'm sure folks here would be happy to help out. Let us know.

[tblue37]

17. Moisten cat kibble with water. Some cats actually love it. Or moisten it, then add a small

amount of wet cat food to give it a familiar flavor.

[MFM008]

18. perhaps a mix of

chopped canned chicken and or tuna - mine will eat dry only when he has to.

[fierywoman]

19. I'm not saying to do it, but in Italy they tossed out pasta (cooked, no sauce) to the ferals, who

gobbled it up -- I have pictures somewhere!

[slightlv]

20. When I needed to coax my elders to eat,

I'd buy the baby food ham and they ate it like crazy. They really didn't like much else baby food types, but they loved the ham. We didn't go crazy on it, cause it didn't have all the nutrients they needed, as cats, of course, but it did tick their appetites.

You say your baby won't do people food... but what about soups or broths? My cats go nuts over soups. Maybe start them off with some broths and see how they take to it, just to see if it tickles the appetite.

Once in a great while I'd also buy the cheap stuff... what I call cat food crack. Non nutritional; as long as it wasn't on any recall list. Today, there are soups and "push ups" and stuff like that. This seems to do the trick for my finicky eaters. If one isn't on the shelves, the other seems to be. I've had real good luck with Chewy being in stock on most everything I need. In fact, just put in an order today for my cats. I agree, when I add in tax and shipping, it's about $10 more than I'd rather spend. But when I consider schlepping the huge bag from the shelf to the cart and then from the cart to the car and then into the house, it's worth it to me as long as I can afford it. So, I'm taking advantage of it right now. I'm 97 pounds and 4'9" with a really bad back, fibromyalgia and lupus. Anything that makes life a little easier for me I'm game for. I've got 10 cats that rule me and one dog who's more horse than dog (I actually think he weighs more than me!). I'd do anything for them, but I'll cut corners on the wear and tear on the old body, where possible.

Good luck... May Bast bless your way, Panther!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

26. Dont worry Othello has

Dry kibble. Purina one.
I was concerned about wet food. If you feed a cat dry only is it okay?

He is fortunately a good drinker. Every few hours I notice he takes a good long drink from his water fountain.

[Dreampuff]

28. How interesting to see that others are having this dilemma.

I can't speak from a health point of view, but when we were Young and very poor, our cats spent years only having dry cat food. One of them lived to be over 16 and one was 18 years and 2 months.

I was so thrilled yesterday because we went to Walmart and hit jackpot with soft Kitty food! We have also been struggling to find something and since we are down to one cat, we no longer order from chewy because she is very picky and you never know what she might want to eat tomorrow. Absolutely no tuna or sardines or human food or baby food of any kind for her! She is the first cat we have had who is extremely picky, but she and our recently deceased cat switched themselves over to kit and kaboodle and they loved it and didn't even ask for soft food and she was so much more content with it. Then she needed Prednisone for her allergies and there was no way she was going to voluntarily take that 14 days in a row so we went back to soft cat food just so she would take her medicine and of course, now she refuses to eat the kit n kaboodle unless of course, it's just sprinkled along with her soft food.

Sorry that I don't have any help to offer other than experience with just dry food. We hit the Dollar general stores and the family Dollar stores and Save-A-Lot and Walmart and Target and just grab a few cans here and there that we can find that she will eat. No cat food with fish or chicken in it for her either!

[Ziggysmom]

29. I saw your suggestion about the baby food ham and told my daughter about it. She has a girl

that needs daily medication and hiding it in cheese wasn't working well anymore.
We can't thank you enough! She took her pill and was begging for more! Her sister had to have some ham treat, too. I did not think they would eat the baby ham since they do not have much interest in people food. So glad we gave it a try.

THANK YOU!

[littlemissmartypants]

21. Sardines, definitely sardines. ❤

[CountAllVotes]

27. Rex The TV Terrier Inc.

Check here!

I think they might help you being you seem to qualify for assistance.

>>Rex The TV Terrier Inc. is a social media influencer on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. As his popularity increased, the demand for Rex-related merchandise grew exponentially. With the help of his staff, Rex opened a Zazzle store with the intention of donating all proceeds to animal charities.

Along the way, it became apparent that individuals and their pets were struggling with food and financial insecurity due to the pandemic, as well as those already suffering from chronic financial stress as a result of fixed income because of disability or age.

https://www.rexthetvterrier.org/

Best of luck UndergroundPanther!

[LisaL]

30. I get my cat's fancy feast off amazon.

Chewy is another site you can order from. My cat is elderly and pretty much toothless, so he mostly eats wet food (fancy feast).