# How often do you change up dry food?



## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

I've been feeding my cats Chicken Soup for quite awhile now and my bf suggested I change up the food a little bit since they've been eating the same thing all year. I wouldn't mind except I'm hoping that Sugar doesn't throw up again like she used to. But, I may just stick with Chicken Soup their whole life .......... I'm not sure what to do........... :roll:

Btw, I feed them canned food morning and night so this is just for the in-betweens


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## sassykitty (Oct 16, 2004)

I've read that cat's don't really like variety. So I'd say stick with what they eat now unless they aren't eating it like they used to.


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## jessamica8 (Aug 17, 2004)

sassykitty said:


> I've read that cat's don't really like variety.


Hi Sassykitty,
That's what most vets and even pet stores will tell you, but it's pretty much a myth. Cats do need a variety. There's a vet (Dr Jean) who posts on here who has a very informative website; one of the articles on here deals with this. Here is a quote from that article:



> It's way past time to bring a little common sense to bear, and common sense dictates that an animal ought to get a variety of foods.
> 
> The veterinary literature is full of cases where nutritional deficiencies (or excesses) were discovered, and in virtually every one, the problem arose (or was discovered) because the animal was kept on one food for a long period of time.
> 
> Cats, being strict obligate carnivores, have most often been the unintended victims – taurine, copper, vitamin E and potassium deficiencies have turned up in cats fed certain foods (which were, by the way, “complete and balanced” according to the standards at the time) as their sole diet.


Here is a link to the article in its entirety:
Switching Foods


Kitkat, this article also talks about switching dry foods, but since this is a more difficult process, and you only use dry in between, I would stick with what you're using. If you rotate the canned food, that should be okay.


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## BaileyAndSammi (Oct 13, 2004)

Sammi would freak out if I didn't give her a variety. I used to feed her all Innova wet food until she started refusing to eat it. Once I started giving her a variety she liked it a lot more. 

--Roze


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## opokki (May 5, 2003)

My cats are'nt picky but they do seem to love variety...I think the only time some cats don't like variety is when they are fed the same brand/flavor for long periods of time and become "addicted" to that one brand/flavor. Offering a variety of flavors/tastes while they are kittens also makes a difference in their acceptance of variety as adults from what I understand.
I change dry brand approximately every 3 - 5 months


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## Superkitties (Jan 30, 2004)

My kitties have a variety of dry and wet food brands. I mix 2 different brands together in another container, and when that's finished, move on to another two. I rotate about 8 different dry in different combinations constantly.


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

My cats get a different flavor wet food day and night. As for the dry I may stick with keeping it the same since I'm really worried Sugar will throw up. Twinkie has no problems but a long time ago Sugar used to throw up on most of the brands I fed her. I don't want to take the chance again. Thanks


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## Doeremi (Aug 21, 2004)

I'd feed a variety so she doesn't develop a sensitivity to any ingredients.


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## icklemiss21 (Aug 29, 2004)

I use a couple of different foods and each night i put one piece of each food down and whichever one Boomer eats first is the food he has 'chosen' for that night. That way if they want variety they get it


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## LilMizTinker (Apr 12, 2003)

*I only change if they decided that they dont like the dry food but my cats mostly eat wet food.*


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

icklemiss21 said:


> I use a couple of different foods and each night i put one piece of each food down and whichever one Boomer eats first is the food he has 'chosen' for that night. That way if they want variety they get it


Hehe that is so cute! Is it just Boomer though or do the other kitty's all get to pick?

I've decided that if I do switch up foods, I'm going to mix the foods with Chicken Soup. I know Sugar really likes Felidae so I may mix it with that.


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## icklemiss21 (Aug 29, 2004)

The others aren't that interested, as long its food. Sometimes, if they are in the kitchen at feeding time they will choose, but not often. Boomer has the sharpest hearing and makes it to the bag first


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## Superkitties (Jan 30, 2004)

kitkat said:


> Twinkie has no problems but a long time ago Sugar used to throw up on most of the brands I fed her. I don't want to take the chance again. Thanks


I definitely understand. We had the same situation here with Ginza as a baby. A combination of factors, one being that he would inhale his food so fast he'd just throw it right back up.

After logging his hork episodes along with what he had been fed, I also found out something very important. Ginza only seemed to throw up the cheap dry or wet crap. Whenever I gave him premium brands, he kept it down fine. It was surprising what he'd throw up, some "premium" brands, along with the usual cheap suspects like Science Diet, Iams, Royal Canin.

But the bottom line was that I figured out how to minimize Ginza's horking, and I learned a lot about cat food brands and ingredients. This may not have been the prob with Sugar, but sometimes the answers are unexpected!


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

Sugar seems to throw up the cheap brands too, especially foods that had that dark red coloring to it. She does well on premium brands though, thank goodness b/c for awhile I didn't know what it was and the vets were clueless :roll:


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## AngelZoo (Aug 24, 2003)

I change dry food ever 2-3 months.


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## brite (Feb 27, 2004)

i usually buy the 10lb sized bags of dry food and swap them out accordingly... i have a big air-tight bin that the food goes in, so i usually layer them in there. right now i'm rotating between nutro natural indoor, chicken soup, and felidae, but i'm probably going to add another one into the rotation. it seems to be working pretty well so far  i want these guys to be flexible with their food, especially since people on the forum have been talking about how chicken soup's formula may change from time to time.


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## Twisti (Oct 21, 2004)

Both of my kittens are very picky...they like dry food...but when it comes to wet, or snacks...its trial and error....youd think theyd just eat whats put in front of them...but nope they are classy cats lol...


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