OK to feed cat the same food all the time?

We've had a number of cats over the years and when "Fred" left us for
that great litter box in the sky a few years ago we adopted "Ellie" a
few months after that.

We decided to try something new with this cat.

1) We went from canned to dry food (only dry).

2) We feed her the same dry food all the time.

Personally, I really like this cuz..

1) I've never liked messing with canned food.

2) Since the cat eats the same food all the time, she's not finicky. I
assume this is because she doesn't know any better.

But I can't help but wonder if there anything wrong with feeding her
the same thing all the time?

Obviously any human would grow bored of the same food all the time,
but I wonder if the cat really knows any better.

And since our foods aren't chocked full of most everything we need
vitamins and mineral wise, it's not healthy.

Not to mention, our previous cats had a fondness for things like bacon
(threats from our breakfast plate) and Ice Cream (licking one of our
empty bowls).

But obviously in those cases, it's cuz we offered it to them at some
point, they liked it, so we continued to do so.

After a while we tried the same thing with this cat and she repeatedly
turned up her nose at it. She only wants what she's used to.

And as for the previous cats, we tried "variety" with the canned cat
food only to find them getting "finicky" and bored with certain
varieties after a time.

This is one reason I like the same food routine. It's just easier from
my standpoint.

But I digress.....

Is there any disarrange to this from a mental or physical health
standpoint?

For the record, we feed her nothing but the same variety of IAMS dry.

You are making a big mistake feeding her dry food. Urinary problems
(crystals etc) are much more common in cats that are fed dry. Canned
food provides more water to dilute the urine. I know you will say that
Ellie drinks plenty of water but the fact remains that canned food is
more likely to prevent urinary problems. I feed my two Wellness chicken
twice a day. They get small amounts of Wellness or Nutro dry as a
treat.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

I feed both of my cats Iams dry, the Indoor + FatCat + Hairball variety
- and they love it. I also feed them 9 Lives Tuna (wet) on weekends -
just a treat 'cause it IS a weekend . Doesn't seem like a problem.

Jim

"Scott" wrote in message
:

We've had a number of cats over the years and when "Fred" left us for
that great litter box in the sky a few years ago we adopted "Ellie" a
few months after that.

We decided to try something new with this cat.

1) We went from canned to dry food (only dry).

2) We feed her the same dry food all the time.

Personally, I really like this cuz..

1) I've never liked messing with canned food.

2) Since the cat eats the same food all the time, she's not finicky. I
assume this is because she doesn't know any better.

But I can't help but wonder if there anything wrong with feeding her
the same thing all the time?

Obviously any human would grow bored of the same food all the time,
but I wonder if the cat really knows any better.

And since our foods aren't chocked full of most everything we need
vitamins and mineral wise, it's not healthy.

Not to mention, our previous cats had a fondness for things like bacon
(threats from our breakfast plate) and Ice Cream (licking one of our
empty bowls).

But obviously in those cases, it's cuz we offered it to them at some
point, they liked it, so we continued to do so.

After a while we tried the same thing with this cat and she repeatedly
turned up her nose at it. She only wants what she's used to.

And as for the previous cats, we tried "variety" with the canned cat
food only to find them getting "finicky" and bored with certain
varieties after a time.

This is one reason I like the same food routine. It's just easier from
my standpoint.

But I digress.....

Is there any disarrange to this from a mental or physical health
standpoint?

For the record, we feed her nothing but the same variety of IAMS dry.

"Scott" wrote in message
...
We've had a number of cats over the years and when "Fred" left us for
that great litter box in the sky a few years ago we adopted "Ellie" a
few months after that.

We decided to try something new with this cat.

1) We went from canned to dry food (only dry).

2) We feed her the same dry food all the time.

Personally, I really like this cuz..

1) I've never liked messing with canned food.

2) Since the cat eats the same food all the time, she's not finicky. I
assume this is because she doesn't know any better.

But I can't help but wonder if there anything wrong with feeding her
the same thing all the time?

Obviously any human would grow bored of the same food all the time,
but I wonder if the cat really knows any better.

And since our foods aren't chocked full of most everything we need
vitamins and mineral wise, it's not healthy.

Not to mention, our previous cats had a fondness for things like bacon
(threats from our breakfast plate) and Ice Cream (licking one of our
empty bowls).

But obviously in those cases, it's cuz we offered it to them at some
point, they liked it, so we continued to do so.

After a while we tried the same thing with this cat and she repeatedly
turned up her nose at it. She only wants what she's used to.

And as for the previous cats, we tried "variety" with the canned cat
food only to find them getting "finicky" and bored with certain
varieties after a time.

This is one reason I like the same food routine. It's just easier from
my standpoint.

But I digress.....

Is there any disarrange to this from a mental or physical health
standpoint?

For the record, we feed her nothing but the same variety of IAMS dry.

As long as the food is nutritious, and contains everything your cat's body
needs, I doubt if there is anything wrong with it. I have one cat that eats
nothing but dry food, but I do change brands once in a while because I can't
be sure that any one brand contains everything a cat needs. He is healthy
and active, and has the opportunity to eat other things (we have 4 cats) so
I doubt that he would become undernourished. (He does kill a bird once in a
while, but never eats it.)

On Feb 17, 12:50�pm, (---MIKE---) wrote:
You are making a big mistake feeding her dry food. *Urinary problems
(crystals etc) are much more common in cats that are fed dry. *Canned
food provides more water to dilute the urine. *I know you will say that
Ellie drinks plenty of water but the fact remains that canned food is
more likely to prevent urinary problems. *I feed my two Wellness chicken
twice a day. *They get small amounts of Wellness or Nutro dry as a
treat.

* * * * * * * * * ---MIKE---In the White Mountains of New Hampshire

I must agree with Mike here. Cats are not efficient drinkers and can't
get enough water with dry food. To answer your question, I will rotate
among a few flavors of canned or raw food. If the manufacturer
slightly changes the formula of the sole flavor you are feeding and
you're cat won't eat it, you're out of luck.

I recommend a cat watering fountain like a Drinkwell (get the 70oz
reservior) and if your cat likes it not worrying about how much they
drink.