topic Re: Feeding cats in Community Spirit

Feeding cats

martinw-48 — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 23:17:59 GMT

Recently we received some little tins of Tuna in Springwater which I hate and my girlfriend wouldn't eat even though she said she would.
I like Tuna in oil.
So I gave one to Buffy and for the first time ever we didn't have to throw out food.
She only licks the gravy off of anything we put in her bowl.
I told my girlfriend to buy Tuna in Springwater.
She bought Tuna mince for cats.
Once again had to throw out half eaten food.
I bought a couple of tins of Tuna in Springwater because they were on special and once again Buffy ate the whole lot.
I think it's better to give her what she'll eat but my girlfriend is determined to only buy cat food.
I can't afford to feed the cat. I've got my own expenses that I'm struggling to maintain.

Re: Feeding cats

kopenhagen5 — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 23:23:50 GMT

Do you feed your cat a lot of dried food ?

I have found similar with mine when she gets a lot of dried food therefor needs more water and sometimes doesn't drink enough.

Then she just licks gravy and drinks the brine or tomato sauce not touching the sardines, tuna etc.

Just a thought.

Re: Feeding cats

martinw-48 — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 23:25:46 GMT

kopes, Buffy has dried food.
She eats very little for a cat.
Only cat I've ever met that doesn't scoff all the food given in one sitting.
There's like twenty sources of water to drink with my girlfriend having containers inside for Buffy and outside for birds, strays

Re: Feeding cats

bright.ton42 — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 23:26:26 GMT

They are perfet for dogs ad cats and my dogs love them. Only thing is rinse the salt water off them first, that's all. Salt not good for them. Also not as an 'only' diet as they need vitamins and supplements from other foods for balance. .

Re: Feeding cats

brerrabbit585 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 01:36:57 GMT

Try her on mackerel. It's pretty cheap in Woolies if you buy their home brand. It comes from Thailand so I wouldn't eat it myself but cats can eat a lot of things we can't.

@ bright.ton, I don't think the fish in springwater has added salt, which is why I always buy sardines in springwater.

Re: Feeding cats

rogevibe — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 01:52:01 GMT

@martinw-48 wrote:
Recently we received some little tins of Tuna in Springwater which I hate and my girlfriend wouldn't eat even though she said she would.
I like Tuna in oil.
So I gave one to Buffy and for the first time ever we didn't have to throw out food.
She only licks the gravy off of anything we put in her bowl.
I told my girlfriend to buy Tuna in Springwater.
She bought Tuna mince for cats.
Once again had to throw out half eaten food.
I bought a couple of tins of Tuna in Springwater because they were on special and once again Buffy ate the whole lot.
I think it's better to give her what she'll eat but my girlfriend is determined to only buy cat food.
I can't afford to feed the cat. I've got my own expenses that I'm struggling to maintain.

I suggest keep an eye open for road-kills if the budget is tight. As for " tuna in springwater" meets health standards for human consuption, cats are not silly.

Re: Feeding cats

zanadoo_56 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 01:49:09 GMT

Tuna in spring water is OK for cats....but only as a treat.

Because it is not a complete food (probably doesn't contain taurine and other vitamins and minerals cats need) it shouldn't be given to the cat too often.

Have you tried mixing some of the human food tuna with a cat OK tuna wet food to get Buffy to accept something new? This is how I usually introduce something new to my cat.

It also works for dry food. I bought something new for my cat....and she hated it. So I started giving her the new dry food mixed with her usual dry food. She got used to the new stuff and in the end was happy to eat it without mixing it with something else.

You've got to be more cunning than your cat is, to get any co-operation!

Re: Feeding cats

martinw-48 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 01:50:02 GMT

Bright, she doesn't eat the other foods.
She just licks the gravy off.
Except for some dry food

Re: Feeding cats

imastawka — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 01:54:09 GMT

Bright is right. Cat food contains Taurine, which is essential for cats.

Taurine is an essential amino acid that is critical for normal heart muscle function, vision, and reproduction in kittens. ... IAMS wet cat foods are supplemented with taurine because they must contain as much as twice the amount of taurine found in dry food for cats to maintain adequate blood taurine levels.

“After six weeks without taurine the symptoms become noticeable, but total irreversible blindness occurs only after a long-term deficiency. When the taurine takes its leave the retinas degenerate and eventually the cat will go blind

Re: Feeding cats

rogevibe — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 02:03:21 GMT

@imastawka wrote:
Bright is right. Cat food contains Taurine, which is essential for cats.

Taurine is an essential amino acid that is critical for normal heart muscle function, vision, and reproduction in kittens. ... IAMS wet cat foods are supplemented with taurine because they must contain as much as twice the amount of taurine found in dry food for cats to maintain adequate blood taurine levels.

“After six weeks without taurine the symptoms become noticeable, but total irreversible blindness occurs only after a long-term deficiency. When the taurine takes its leave the retinas degenerate and eventually the cat will go blind

reading the specs I think I shall purchase some ... meow !

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1024/taurine

Re: Feeding cats

brerrabbit585 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 02:26:50 GMT

@zanadoo_56 wrote:
Tuna in spring water is OK for cats....but only as a treat.

Because it is not a complete food (probably doesn't contain taurine and other vitamins and minerals cats need) it shouldn't be given to the cat too often.

Have you tried mixing some of the human food tuna with a cat OK tuna wet food to get Buffy to accept something new? This is how I usually introduce something new to my cat.

It also works for dry food. I bought something new for my cat....and she hated it. So I started giving her the new dry food mixed with her usual dry food. She got used to the new stuff and in the end was happy to eat it without mixing it with something else.

You've got to be more cunning than your cat is, to get any co-operation!

Taurine is found naturally in meat, fish and dairy products. Cats survived for years before cat food was ever available!

Re: Feeding cats

lionrose.7 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 02:33:19 GMT

I only feed my cat cat food never human food.

Lilli is a snacker and I have dry food down for her at all times.

She runs in has a couple of mouth fulls and is off again

At night I give her half a packet of wet food so she does not leave any.

She would do any thing for Whiskers treats which I give her a couple in the morning amd use them to get her inside for the night.

At the moment she really loves the Purina Fancy feast ones with beef/chicken with veggies

Re: Feeding cats

crikey*mate — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 02:44:26 GMT

My next door neighbour's cat eats dog food. MY dog's food!

Re: Feeding cats

zanadoo_56 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 04:23:26 GMT

@brerrabbit585 wrote:
@zanadoo_56 wrote:
Tuna in spring water is OK for cats....but only as a treat.

Because it is not a complete food (probably doesn't contain taurine and other vitamins and minerals cats need) it shouldn't be given to the cat too often.

Have you tried mixing some of the human food tuna with a cat OK tuna wet food to get Buffy to accept something new? This is how I usually introduce something new to my cat.

It also works for dry food. I bought something new for my cat....and she hated it. So I started giving her the new dry food mixed with her usual dry food. She got used to the new stuff and in the end was happy to eat it without mixing it with something else.

You've got to be more cunning than your cat is, to get any co-operation!
Taurine is found naturally in meat, fish and dairy products. Cats survived for years before cat food was ever available!

Human food is more processed and as we don't need taurine (it is produced naturally in our bodies) cat owners have no way of knowing how much taurine and other cat necessary vitamins etc are actually in human canned food. That's why vets don't recommend canned tuna for humans as a complete cat meal. I'm not posting this info as my opinion, it's a veterinary one.

The food cats ate for years before cat food of course did not have issues like losing taurine etc due to cooking or the canning process.

Re: Feeding cats

zanadoo_56 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 04:30:19 GMT

@lionrose.7 wrote:
I only feed my cat cat food never human food.

Lilli is a snacker and I have dry food down for her at all times.

She runs in has a couple of mouth fulls and is off again

At night I give her half a packet of wet food so she does not leave any.

She would do any thing for Whiskers treats which I give her a couple in the morning amd use them to get her inside for the night.

At the moment she really loves the Purina Fancy feast ones with beef/chicken with veggies

Your cat isn't a small tabby/torbie with a white chin.....the twin of my cat....by any chance?

My cat is exactly the same in food habits. She doesn't like human food, she grazes on dry food in the day and has wet food at night. She loves the occasional treat, and Fancy Feast (actually all four varities) is her favourite dry food.

Re: Feeding cats

lionrose.7 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 06:44:55 GMT

Re: Feeding cats

lionrose.7 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 06:47:46 GMT

Not Tabby, Lilli is the evil Black Godess but I love her.

She will only let you touch her if she wants to, if not she will give you the LOOK

Re: Feeding cats

icyfroth — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 06:56:39 GMT

Cats gotta eat.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2391223/Janet-Veal-56-gnawed-eaten-CATS-kitchen-floor-died.html

Re: Feeding cats

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 07:08:11 GMT

@lionrose.7 wrote:
Not Tabby, Lilli is the evil Black Godess but I love her.

She will only let you touch her if she wants to, if not she will give you the LOOK

Could be Cleopatra reincarnated.

Re: Feeding cats

bright.ton42 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 07:19:53 GMT

@brerrabbit585 wrote:

@ bright.ton, I don't think the fish in springwater has added salt, which is why I always buy sardines in springwater.

Yes I stand corrected Brer I was thinking of tuna in brine.

Tuna in spring water is OK for cats....but only as a treat.

Because it is not a complete food (probably doesn't contain taurine and other vitamins and minerals cats need) it shouldn't be given to the cat too often.

Yep kazumi already addressed in my earlier post.

Taurine is necessary and can actually be bought as a powder and sprinkled on the tuna.

But Martin have you considered mixing the tuna with cat food? Very slowly. So say 3/4 tuna with 1/4 cat food to begin with?

And another thought have your tried her on sardines, so nutritious too.

Cats are cunning alright but we humans are the super breed and should be able to out cunning them.....(er, maybe lol)

Let's know how she goes?