I’m worried that if you keep your pet on one food for his or her lifetime it can cause more harm than good.
What are your opinions on rotating your pets foods? From brand to brand, even different formulas of the same brand.
I have linked the information that I have found on this topic. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/changing_…
I am currently feeding Nature’s Variety Instinct Dry Cat Food and using Merrick Gourmet Canned Cat Food (all varieties). Before I switched I was feeding Wellness Kitten Health Dry Food.
I’ve asked this question once before and got very different views on the topic. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
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If you change the animals food you cause a number of problems. They also get really finicky about what they will eat. I feed Purina cat food following the age recommendations for each cat
Are you talking about dogs or cats? The article you linked to is about dogs but this forum is for cats….
I’ve always heard that you should just feed your cat the same food. Obviously you will have to switch food a few times during their lives, like switching from kitten to adult food, and from adult to senior food. If they develop health problems, you may need to switch to a special food like low-fat for an overweight cat, etc.
However, from my experience, rotating pet foods often just makes the cat more picky and it will learn to only eat its favorite flavor. At least if you rotate often — if you wait a long time between switching foods then it probably won’t matter. But I know that my parents always used to give their cats different flavors of canned food each day (all the same brand), and at first the cats ate any flavor but after a while there was only one or two flavors they’d eat!
However, ignoring any potential health benefits, I’ve always heard that the idea that pets get “bored” with foods and want to eat different foods (just like how people would get bored eating the same food everyday) is not true. Cats almost always prefer a routine and usually prefer to eat the same food every day! It probably varies though … everytime we’ve had to switch foods, while we were in that mixing-the-two-foods-together stage, each cat always picks out the one flavor of kibbles it likes best. And for some reason, our overweight cat always picks out the fattiest kibbles — does he *know* they are fatty? lol
We’ve only switched our cat foods when necessary … after the recall, after they reached adulthood, etc. They seem to be fine so far, but they are still young… Before the recall we fed them dry food with a little treat of canned at night (and actually, there was only one brand and one flavor of canned food that they would eat consistently!); now we just do dry food. Right now they get Science Diet Indoor Formula, plus (per our vet’s recommendation) a “treat” of a few Prescription Diet t/d kibbles, which helps our cat with dental problems but is too fatty to feed as a regular food.
I rorate it because my cats get tired of eating the same thing all the time.
You risk giving your cat problems with digestion when you change your food periodically. If the food is nutritious and he likes it consider yourself lucky. Also, do not feed the cat canned food. The dry food is better for his digestion, his teeth and his general health. Just ask your vet.
at my clinic, we generally recommend that animals stay on a given food - it causes less stomach upsets and the animal is less likely to have pancreatic issues from the differing fat contents in foods. (if you have to change foods, do so over the course of a week or so, slowly adding the new & taking out the old.) otherwise, if you find a good food your cat likes, stick with it - your cat will be healthier and happier than if you switch it all the time, even if you’re just switching between varieties in the same brand.
innova, felidae, wellness or even purina one are all pretty good foods. wet is good for aiding kidneys & liver, dry is good for teeth, so mix & match between the two styles if you think your cat needs something new. good luck.
you have to give him moist and dry food.
One thing to keep in mind is food composition. If you’ve got the animals on a good quality food that they like, usually that’s good enough. For my cats, I feed purina one dry with friskies canned (I know I’m going to get rotten tomatoes for that but I’m a vet student, I know about animal nutrition and I’m not about to waste my money over nothing). Since the friskies food has a generally similar composition, I make sure to rotate flavors among seafood. That way, they get some variety, and I’m not changing their diet. I’m sure you already know this but if you do change their diet, do it gradually. It’s really not good on a pet’s stomach to quickly switch.