hey /an/on, what do you feed your cat?

I don't own a cat yet but I wanna foster soon. Raw food seems the easiest and healthiest. Cats are easier to feed raw than dogs.

I guess this is a good place to ask

I have 2 cats I got from the shelter as older kittens. At the shelter they were fed Friskies dry food. I have tried so hard to try and switch them to different dry foods, and once I have given up they ended up only eating Friskies Indoors or Friskies diet. They are basically the same low fat thing, but they don't need to be on a diet. They are on the thin side.

Whenever i switch, as soon as I get to around 1/4 new food, they refuse to touch it. When I try to take a step back and go to 1/8 new food, they still won't touch it and I have to go back to feeding 100% Friskies. I go painfully slow with switching, but they will go 3 days without eating before I snap and give them Friskies again.

As far as wet food goes, I have no clue how to introduce them to that. I had tried different kinds of wet cat food, never touched. They aren't even interested.

They are both indoor cats, and they refuse to eat any people food, so they aren't getting food elsewhere. Should I just wait it out? I'm worried because they aren't really fat cats and I'm not sure how long their hunger strike will go

Which brands of food (both wet and dry) have you tried?
>>2223662

>>2223662
Also, what a shitty shelter to give the cats shitty food.

>>2223677
The shelter I've gotten several animals from feeds Science Diet. They have a lot of animals. Cant pass too much judgement.

>>2223686
But Friskies is pretty much like feeding your cat Cheerios. Science plan isn't that bad. Also, Friskies is expensive.

>>2223671
I tried a bunch of different weird wet cat foods. Tiki cat, weruva, blue Buffalo, addiction, applaws, purrfect bistro, homestyle. I remember one can I opened and there was like a tiny squid in there amoung fish and clams. I've also tried things like fancy feast, Friskies, 9-lives, the popular brands, thinking that maybe if they were used to that quality dry food, they would be more inclined to eat that quality wet food. Basically for a while if I saw a new tiny cat food can I've never seen before, I'd try it.

Dry food I have to buy in a bag so I don't experiment as much. My first attempt was Wellness, then orijen, and Nature's recipe. At one point i bought a small box of regular Friskies just to see if they would even switch to that.

If I can get them to eat wet food reliably I don't think I'd bother with dry food. They do have a water bowl fountain to help with drinking but I'd prefer they eat wet food.

Also something I forgot to mention; during switching foods they turned into a sort of 'free-fed' cats. They wouldn't eat the new food mix so I'd leave it out for them all day. Now, although I only give them the amount of food they need for the day, they only pick at it throughout the day.

Most cats are crazy about Royal Canin (because flavor enhancers I guess). It's still way better than Friskies though, so get a tiny bag of that and see if they want to touch it.

>>2223677
It's an animal shelter ran on donations. They're lucky they can even feed the cats. They feed the cats whatever they get donated because their donation money goes towards vet expenses, which can't be donated.

>>2223698
Oh, right. Just thought it was weird that they fed the cats expensive and shitty food.

>>2223677

Shelters can't afford to give animals top tier, grain-free, AAA food. They have to settle for bottom of the barrel stuff like Purina or IAMS.

nutro dry and nutro wet

I'm feeding them Wellness Core dry. They used to love wet food when they were younger but now when I try feeding them it they don't seem to care much for it. They will take some bites and drink the juice

>>2223646
Antifreeze

>>2223696
I didn't know there was flavor inhancers for cats. Is that wet food or dry food? I'll try them next

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>>2223646
Coffee and cigarettes. Never had a problem,

I would love some help with my cats anons, I have been going crazy trying to ensure they are properly fed. They bitch at me all the time to feed them (i have ruled out anything else even attention, the guide me to the food bowls and bitch) but i am pretty certain I feed them enough food (if not more than enough). I currently feed them mostly dry food because I read this is good for them (hope thats true). One of the main problems is that I am gone all day working, so I don't get to spread out their feedings throughout the day.

Currently have one of those puzzle feeders on the way, but i just want them to stop being such miserable cunts in the morning and whenever I am in the kitchen. They just started doing this a few weeks ago and no amount of ignoring them seems to help them et the message.

I previously fed them blue wilderness, however due to a tight budget this month I bought a big thing of fry food from Costco. Trying to figure out what to order them and how to feed them over the day once my next paycheck clears/

>>2224020
Dry food isn't really good for them as a staple diet. Causes kidney issues, including stones and potentially failure. That being said, wet food is much more expensive.

Are you sure it's to feed them and not get attention? My cats used to bug everyone for food even when they weren't hungry because they knew they'd get even a little bit of attention from it. Keeping them occupied with a food puzzle is a good start. They also make kitty kongs too that you can put dry food or treats in

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>>2224020
For the record, my cats are 1 5 month old Maine Coon and a 4 month old Merican Shorthair (I think).

>>2224024
damn really? I should be able to afford going back to wet food. Is it a good idea to mix or just 1 or the other (also, holy fuck why is there so much misleading info on this from Vets?)

I am as close to being sure as I can. I used to be a Behavioral Therapist and I have done literally everything I can to determine the cause of the behavior. Even right after playing and getting unlimited attention they will meow and bring me over to the food bowl, sit behind it, and meow at me. If i put food in it they immediately dig in like wild dogs and then are either momentarilly content or bug me for more next time I enter the kitchen.