"Best by" dates

In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", "KellyH"
artfully composed this message within
news:4aGIc.63685$a24.3583@attbi_s03 on 12 Jul 2004:

"PawsForThought" wrote in message
...
From: "KellyH"

Like I said before, at the shelter,
where every donation counts, we won't even keep Special Kitty
or other store-brand food.

What exactly is Special Kitty? I never heard of it until CP
posted about
it.
________

It's the Wal-Mart brand cat food. Bleh.



It makes me think of Special K. Cereal for Kitties.

--
Cheryl

"Cat Protector" wrote in message news:knCIc.69045$rn1.6186@okepread07...
Karen,

It is all about choice. Just like us, cats can choose not to eat certain
foods. I brought home a bag of Iams once and my cats wouldn't even touch it.
Right now they get Special Kitty and Friskies canned and they love it.

--

I have incredibly finicky cats as well - the two brands of dry catfood
they will eat reliably are Nutro and Royal Canin (I mix them). Have
you ever tried Nutro? Most cats I have encountered will eat it. My
cats still eat Friskie's canned, but I don't feel so bad about it
because they get a decent chow. They won't eat any other canned
variety and I have tried them all. (Except for Purina DM, and I feed
that as much as I can.)

Yes, there is a lot of hype about feeding higher-quality foods - and
rightly so, I think. But the truth is, thousands of cats eat
Friskies, Purina and other store brands, and live into their late
teens and early 20's. No, it may not be the best diet they *could*
have, but they do live long lives. Personally, I don't think it's
*that* big of a deal, and if the choice is to feed high-priced foods
and then not be able to afford adequate vet care, or feed
grocery-store brands and get adequate vet care, I'd rather see a
client do the latter.

However, I would never feed Special Kitty or some other brands - Meow
Mix, for example.

-L.

"Cat Protector" wrote in message news:knCIc.69045$rn1.6186@okepread07...
Karen,

It is all about choice. Just like us, cats can choose not to eat certain
foods. I brought home a bag of Iams once and my cats wouldn't even touch it.
Right now they get Special Kitty and Friskies canned and they love it.

--

I have incredibly finicky cats as well - the two brands of dry catfood
they will eat reliably are Nutro and Royal Canin (I mix them). Have
you ever tried Nutro? Most cats I have encountered will eat it. My
cats still eat Friskie's canned, but I don't feel so bad about it
because they get a decent chow. They won't eat any other canned
variety and I have tried them all. (Except for Purina DM, and I feed
that as much as I can.)

Yes, there is a lot of hype about feeding higher-quality foods - and
rightly so, I think. But the truth is, thousands of cats eat
Friskies, Purina and other store brands, and live into their late
teens and early 20's. No, it may not be the best diet they *could*
have, but they do live long lives. Personally, I don't think it's
*that* big of a deal, and if the choice is to feed high-priced foods
and then not be able to afford adequate vet care, or feed
grocery-store brands and get adequate vet care, I'd rather see a
client do the latter.

However, I would never feed Special Kitty or some other brands - Meow
Mix, for example.

-L.

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:36:41 -0500, "Karen"
wrote:

I threw away a LOT of food until I got to Petguard. The three flavors my
picky eaters like are Premium Feast, Chicken Stew lite, Turkey Lite with
Barley, and Beef w/Barley. Still, I have seen starving strays turn away from
9 lives which makes me wonder what is in THAT!


I finally got to the pet store that has Petguard. They didn't have
your favorites but there were quite a few and I'm trying those. They
also had lots of other brands that I'd never heard of. All I can
remember at the moment is Evolve.

Nipsy seems to like the new ones a bit, Jackie will eat almost
anything. Espy actually ate a few bites of the Petguard Beef (I
think). I need to make a chart.

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:36:41 -0500, "Karen"
wrote:

I threw away a LOT of food until I got to Petguard. The three flavors my
picky eaters like are Premium Feast, Chicken Stew lite, Turkey Lite with
Barley, and Beef w/Barley. Still, I have seen starving strays turn away from
9 lives which makes me wonder what is in THAT!


I finally got to the pet store that has Petguard. They didn't have
your favorites but there were quite a few and I'm trying those. They
also had lots of other brands that I'd never heard of. All I can
remember at the moment is Evolve.

Nipsy seems to like the new ones a bit, Jackie will eat almost
anything. Espy actually ate a few bites of the Petguard Beef (I
think). I need to make a chart.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On 09 Jul 2004 22:06:07 GMT, olitter (PawsForThought)
wrote:


I'm trying to feed my cats a high quality diet and they simply walk
away. I'm finally going to get a chance to try some Petguard Premium
Feast which some kind soul recommended last week. But frankly, if they
won't eat that, then I'm going to try Friskees or 9 Lives.
snip ...This is just anecdotal of course, but I am really
getting ****ed off throwing away expensive food after getting that
look from the boys."What, you expect us to eat this crap?"

And it isn't like I've been offering them the real crap. For all I
know they're going to turn it down also (they have all the dry food
they want, which IS Science Diet or Eukanuba or Nutra or something -
that stuff they eat).


It can take persistence and a considerable amount of time to modify a cat's
eating habits, but it is well worth it if you can change to a premium cat
food. Holly had always been free-fed, and she looked and acted healthy.
However, I noticed a lot of dandruff (easily seen because she is a black
cat), and she had put on about a pound of extra weight over the previous
year (which is a significant percentage of a cat's weight). I had just
adopted Duffy, and his coat was sad to behold. At first, it was difficult
to convince these two to eat canned food, even though I was feeding
top-quality food -- Wellness and Felidae for Holly plus Innova for Duffy
because he was much too thin. Both turned their noses up at the canned
food, but they would readily eat almost *any* dry food (especially Duffy,
who was used to donated dry food at the shelter). I truly felt guilty as it
seemed that I was depriving them of a sense of enjoyment, and for awhile
they would simply leave their canned food untouched. I stuck with it, and
they gradually adjusted to the new food. The transformation has been
remarkable. Holly's black fur is gorgeous, glossy, and has no dandruff.
She also easily lost the extra pound of weight and has remained steady at
her optimum weight. Duffy has an incredibly gorgeous, fluffy fur coat, lots
of energy -- and in his case, gained on Innova (which is whas was needed)
but then held steady to his optimum weight on Wellness and Felidae.

Last summer, I had a petsitter for two weeks. She is wonderful with my
twosome, but she misunderstood my instructions about dry food. I keep a
small supply of Wellness dry and will give a very *small* amount of that to
Holly and Duffy every few days as a treat. She gave them too much of the
dry food, and they had reverted to ignoring the canned while waiting for
more dry. So, it was back to the drawing board. This time, they were back
on schedule in just a few days; but this does show how important it is to
maintain a good schedule of feeding and to remove uneaten food after a
reasonable period of time (even if it does seem wasteful at first to remove
uneaten food). I feed mine on a 12-hour schedule, or as close to that as
possible.

Is this cruel to "deprive" my cats of their preference for dry food? No, I
think not. They are active, happy, playful -- and clearly in better health
(even Holly, who I thought was pretty healthy before I started this). They
no longer beg for dry food, but they always come bounding to the kitchen
with me when it is time for their regular meal. One person I talked to when
I was worrying about depriving them of the food they clearly preferred
during the early stages made this analogy: Can you imagine convincing a
teenager that he or she should prefer milk instead of a hot fudge sundae?
At the same time, would you just turn over the hot fudge to a kid who
insisted that was all he wanted?

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On 09 Jul 2004 22:06:07 GMT, olitter (PawsForThought)
wrote:


I'm trying to feed my cats a high quality diet and they simply walk
away. I'm finally going to get a chance to try some Petguard Premium
Feast which some kind soul recommended last week. But frankly, if they
won't eat that, then I'm going to try Friskees or 9 Lives.
snip ...This is just anecdotal of course, but I am really
getting ****ed off throwing away expensive food after getting that
look from the boys."What, you expect us to eat this crap?"

And it isn't like I've been offering them the real crap. For all I
know they're going to turn it down also (they have all the dry food
they want, which IS Science Diet or Eukanuba or Nutra or something -
that stuff they eat).


It can take persistence and a considerable amount of time to modify a cat's
eating habits, but it is well worth it if you can change to a premium cat
food. Holly had always been free-fed, and she looked and acted healthy.
However, I noticed a lot of dandruff (easily seen because she is a black
cat), and she had put on about a pound of extra weight over the previous
year (which is a significant percentage of a cat's weight). I had just
adopted Duffy, and his coat was sad to behold. At first, it was difficult
to convince these two to eat canned food, even though I was feeding
top-quality food -- Wellness and Felidae for Holly plus Innova for Duffy
because he was much too thin. Both turned their noses up at the canned
food, but they would readily eat almost *any* dry food (especially Duffy,
who was used to donated dry food at the shelter). I truly felt guilty as it
seemed that I was depriving them of a sense of enjoyment, and for awhile
they would simply leave their canned food untouched. I stuck with it, and
they gradually adjusted to the new food. The transformation has been
remarkable. Holly's black fur is gorgeous, glossy, and has no dandruff.
She also easily lost the extra pound of weight and has remained steady at
her optimum weight. Duffy has an incredibly gorgeous, fluffy fur coat, lots
of energy -- and in his case, gained on Innova (which is whas was needed)
but then held steady to his optimum weight on Wellness and Felidae.

Last summer, I had a petsitter for two weeks. She is wonderful with my
twosome, but she misunderstood my instructions about dry food. I keep a
small supply of Wellness dry and will give a very *small* amount of that to
Holly and Duffy every few days as a treat. She gave them too much of the
dry food, and they had reverted to ignoring the canned while waiting for
more dry. So, it was back to the drawing board. This time, they were back
on schedule in just a few days; but this does show how important it is to
maintain a good schedule of feeding and to remove uneaten food after a
reasonable period of time (even if it does seem wasteful at first to remove
uneaten food). I feed mine on a 12-hour schedule, or as close to that as
possible.

Is this cruel to "deprive" my cats of their preference for dry food? No, I
think not. They are active, happy, playful -- and clearly in better health
(even Holly, who I thought was pretty healthy before I started this). They
no longer beg for dry food, but they always come bounding to the kitchen
with me when it is time for their regular meal. One person I talked to when
I was worrying about depriving them of the food they clearly preferred
during the early stages made this analogy: Can you imagine convincing a
teenager that he or she should prefer milk instead of a hot fudge sundae?
At the same time, would you just turn over the hot fudge to a kid who
insisted that was all he wanted?

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

Yes there are hyped up feelings but they have gone into downright attacks on
people who don't follow some of the others who press for so-called "high
quality foods." My cats like Special Kitty and Friskies. They are quite
healthy and you are quite right, plenty of cats live into their teens and
even their 20's on normal store bought brands. I'd rather have my cats eat
than not eat.

--
Panther TEK: Staying On Top Of All Your Computer Needs!
www.panthertekit.com

Cat Galaxy: All Cats, All The Time!
www.catgalaxymedia.com

"-L. :" wrote in message
om...
I have incredibly finicky cats as well - the two brands of dry catfood
they will eat reliably are Nutro and Royal Canin (I mix them). Have
you ever tried Nutro? Most cats I have encountered will eat it. My
cats still eat Friskie's canned, but I don't feel so bad about it
because they get a decent chow. They won't eat any other canned
variety and I have tried them all. (Except for Purina DM, and I feed
that as much as I can.)

Yes, there is a lot of hype about feeding higher-quality foods - and
rightly so, I think. But the truth is, thousands of cats eat
Friskies, Purina and other store brands, and live into their late
teens and early 20's. No, it may not be the best diet they *could*
have, but they do live long lives. Personally, I don't think it's
*that* big of a deal, and if the choice is to feed high-priced foods
and then not be able to afford adequate vet care, or feed
grocery-store brands and get adequate vet care, I'd rather see a
client do the latter.

However, I would never feed Special Kitty or some other brands - Meow
Mix, for example.

-L.

Yes there are hyped up feelings but they have gone into downright attacks on
people who don't follow some of the others who press for so-called "high
quality foods." My cats like Special Kitty and Friskies. They are quite
healthy and you are quite right, plenty of cats live into their teens and
even their 20's on normal store bought brands. I'd rather have my cats eat
than not eat.

--
Panther TEK: Staying On Top Of All Your Computer Needs!
www.panthertekit.com

Cat Galaxy: All Cats, All The Time!
www.catgalaxymedia.com

"-L. :" wrote in message
om...
I have incredibly finicky cats as well - the two brands of dry catfood
they will eat reliably are Nutro and Royal Canin (I mix them). Have
you ever tried Nutro? Most cats I have encountered will eat it. My
cats still eat Friskie's canned, but I don't feel so bad about it
because they get a decent chow. They won't eat any other canned
variety and I have tried them all. (Except for Purina DM, and I feed
that as much as I can.)

Yes, there is a lot of hype about feeding higher-quality foods - and
rightly so, I think. But the truth is, thousands of cats eat
Friskies, Purina and other store brands, and live into their late
teens and early 20's. No, it may not be the best diet they *could*
have, but they do live long lives. Personally, I don't think it's
*that* big of a deal, and if the choice is to feed high-priced foods
and then not be able to afford adequate vet care, or feed
grocery-store brands and get adequate vet care, I'd rather see a
client do the latter.

However, I would never feed Special Kitty or some other brands - Meow
Mix, for example.

-L.

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 10:56:53 -0700, "Cat Protector"
wrote:

Yes there are hyped up feelings but they have gone into downright attacks on
people who don't follow some of the others who press for so-called "high
quality foods." My cats like Special Kitty and Friskies. They are quite
healthy and you are quite right, plenty of cats live into their teens and
even their 20's on normal store bought brands. I'd rather have my cats eat
than not eat.

Well, truth to tell, neither of the boys are in imminent danger of
starving to death. One is 10 lbs and the other is 16. They do eat the
dry stuff.