# Mixing types of wet food ok?



## Kris86 (Jun 6, 2016)

In my recent endeavors to switch my two cats to a wet food diet, I've discovered 3 kinds that my picky cat will eat (the other cat basically eats anything). The 3 brands picky kitty likes are Wellness, Blue Buffalo (including Blue Freedom and Blue Wilderness), and Fancy Feast. My plan was to feed my cats these brands in rotation, and I was also about to try Friskies (haven't tried that one yet). I want them to have a fairly healthy diet but I was trying to keep it affordable by not ONLY feeding an expensive one like Wellness (yep, it's quite expensive to me!). I also was thinking the variety would be good for them, and read that variety is good.

But now I've read another side to the issue. (I've been reading stuff online in recent weeks about all this while trying not to drive myself too crazy hah): that mixing different foods long term can potentially be dangerous health-wise, since each food is formulated with certain percentages of nutrients and bla bla bla, I don't want the cats to end up with too much of one thing or too little of another, or whatever other potential issues could result over time. 

So... what's the deal? Is it okay to mix different brands? (Particularly the brands I've mentioned?) If so, what details do I need to pay attention to on the labels to make sure I'm doing it right and they're getting the proper amount of everything? And if different brands aren't a good idea, is it ok though to be mixing different types from the same brand (hopping around between chicken, turkey, beef etc.)?

This is all rather new to me since I've always fed my cats a dry food diet of the same thing every day. Reading different websites doesn't necessarily clarify things for me... even different vets have different opinions. Gah, trying not to go crazy here! :lol:


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## Adelea (Dec 20, 2015)

My Abigail gets 4 different flavours of food each day, from 4 different brands.

I think this way avoids her becoming too dependant on one particular food.

Not sure I really understand your concern about percentages. If one food was lacking in something, or had too much of something else - then imagine what the situation would be if a cat was fed soley that food.

If anything I would suspect that mixing it up is likely to lead to a more balanced intake.

Here in the UK, cat food has to be labelled as complete or supplementary. Complete contains everything they need - so mixing these should be OK.

The only concern I might entertain, would be that food from many sources could lead to upset stomachs - but this is the case with any food change - so once youve done the slow introduction of the food, it should be fine.

At least I hope so, since this is the approach I have taken!


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

My opinion is that it is fine to mix the brands you mentioned.


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## Geek_Chick82 (Mar 21, 2009)

It's a good idea to give kitties different varieties of food. If they're on one food for any long stretch of time, they might go off of it (they're bored/their taste changes). Feeding different flavours from one brand is probably easier on their tummies than feeding different brands all the time, some cats need a transition period from one brand of food to the other if the foods are quite different.


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

I rotate foods and also have to mix in a cheaper alternative at times due to budget.


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## DebS (Jun 14, 2015)

I also rotate wet foods. I think his is good in case one brand goes out of business or something like that. At least then, I would have alternatives ready.


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## Kris86 (Jun 6, 2016)

Thank you for the input so far. (More always welcome!) I share much of your reasoning about rotating types of food seeming like a good idea, but as I mentioned, I read a website or 2 saying otherwise (not a food brand's website!) which made me question it. It can get confusing! I just want to make sure I'm not doing something potentially dangerous.

I also plan to pose the question to my vet the next time my cats go in for their physical, but that's about 8 months away. And it also seems that some vets are actually less well versed on cat nutrition than some self-educated cat enthusiasts, so... there's that!

I'm still mixing their wet with their old dry food for now while getting them used to it, and will be easing them into an entirely wet food diet. I'm finding it kind of hard to let go of the dry food myself, as part of me wonders if there's some benefit to be derived from keeping it partially in their diet, such as the dental "myth" or some other benefit, but my reading has convinced me wet food seems the way to go.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

My girls get a little kibble in their diet. And they get a different variety of food every day.


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## TabbCatt (Mar 26, 2014)

I've only heard from other members from this forum that some cats may have stomach upsets if they are not used to eating a lot of variety, or if they're fed a mish mash of high quality and then some very low quality stuff, though I confess I've hardly done so myself, so I don't know how true that really is.

My cats are fed a raw diet some meals and canned on other meals (days I'm feeling lazy to cut up/thaw meats). Of the canned, they are fed a range in a variety of quality stuff, no grocery store brands. I've never noticed any stomach upset from them eating the various brands I typically buy: Wild Calling, First Mate, Nature's Variety Instinct, Tiki Cat, and Mauri. I also think mixing brands are fine, most of the canned foods out there are 100% nutritionally complete and balanced and meets the AAFCO levels, but those words to hardly mean much if you look at it more closely:

Complete and Balanced and Misleading – Truth about Pet Food

The Myth of "100% Complete and Balanced" Processed Pet Foods

I've learned after much research that _most_ pet foods are just going to be lower in protein and higher in fat/carbs than it looks/claims via advertising. You need to understand their food labels and how to read/calculate them too, to see that. Cats being obligate carnivores (they _need_a high protein diet), I've decided that my two are going to be on a high protein diet from me (thus the raw diet). Granted, I've also studied how to properly feed raw, so I don't worry if a vet questions me about improper nutrition with the raw.


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