adding another food to the mix

I am thinking of adding another food to the mix I feed Sonic. right now he is on Innova Senior cat food and Simply Nurrish Indoor cat food(turkey & oatmeal flavor). The total protein is 35% and the fat is 11%. I am wanting to add more neutrition to his diet. I give him mealies every other day. I do not have any foods in mind to add to the mix I was am just wanting to add more neutrition to his diet. please give your suggestions with what store to get the food, the price of the food and the fat and protien %'s.

It can be a bit of a pain (or impossible) to find the good/nutritious food at your typical pet store. Take a look at specialty pet stores in your area, use an on-line supplier like this one, or try the companies directly. Price will depend on the size bag you're looking for.

It sounds like you have a good protein and fat% with the two foods he's currently eating. So my thoughts are if you're going to continue with those two and just add a third, you could probably do something you might not normally do -- like a food with a little higher or lower fat% & protein% than usual.

As a start, how about something like these:
http://frommfamily.com/products/four-star/cat,
http://frommfamily.com/products/gold...ry/mature-gold,
http://www.halopets.com/natural-cat-food.html,
http://bluebuffalo.com/dry-cat-food,
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/cats/dry_food/canyon_river_feline_formula/,
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/pr...t+Diets®+Green+Pea+&+Duck+Dry+Cat+Formula

Note: I haven't tried taste of the wild... no personal experience. But someone posted it recently and it seems like it may be a good choice. For the rest, at least one of my hedgies (if not more) have enjoyed and done well on them.

yes I will be keeping him on the two foods I just want to add another food.
I was thinking of adding this to it.
Simply Nourish Adult Chicken & Rice Cat Food
INGREDIENTS:

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Rice Flour, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Natural Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Oatmeal, Dried Chicory Root, Flaxseed, Dried Cranberries, Dried Carrots, Dried Sweet Potatoes, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, L-ascorbyl-polyphosphate, Vitamin A Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Ferric Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Taurine.
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:

Crude Protein Not less than 36.0%
Crude Fat Not less than 16.0%

or thinking of adding this food to the 2 food he being fed now.



Re: thinking of adding another food to the mix

Postby Sugargliderlove on Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:34 pm
I was thinking of adding this:

BLUE Wilderness Grain Free Duck Cats Food

Ingredients

Deboned Duck, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Potato Starch, Fish Meal(natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Peas, Whole Potatoes, Flaxseed (natural source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Natural Chicken Flavor, Alfalfa Meal, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Cranberries, Blueberries, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Turmeric, Oil of Rosemary, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Salt, Caramel, Potassium Chloride, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 40.0% min Crude Fat 18.0% min

Okay, if you've narrowed it down to those two (the Blue Grain Free vs the Simply Nourish) that you'll add to the other two you already have, I'd go with the Blue.

One reason is that it's a different company than one that you already have in your mix. From time to time, companies will do silly things like change their formula or the shape of a kibble or whatever and then, all the sudden, hedgie says "no" to the new thing or a company will issue a recall for their products... then you're out of luck with 2/3, rather than 1/3.

The other thing I'm noticing is the ingredient line-up. Blue goes (roughly): meat, meat, meat, starch, meat... Simply goes (roughly): meat, meat, flour, oil, "flavor..." I'm thinking Blue is looking better than Simply in that comparison.

It is true that the protein and fat % on the Simply look a bit better than the Blue, but they're not that far off and if it's just 1/3 of the mix, it's not going to be a big issue unless your hedgie is overweight... in which case you'd want a lower fat % than either of the two you've narrowed it down to anyhow.

Sonic weighs 455.6 grams. from what people are telling me that he is in shape.

I was looking at this one as well. if I add this to the two I already feed him the total protein will 36% fat will 11.3%

Wellness® CORE® Grain Free Turkey & Duck Cat Food

Ingredients: deboned turkey, turkey meal, peas, potato protein, potatoes, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), tomato pomace, duck, pork meal, ground flaxseed, natural turkey flavor, cranberries, chicory root extract, vitamin E supplement, niacin, beta-carotene, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid, biotin, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), zinc proteinate, zinc sulfate, iron proteinate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, choline chloride, mixed tocopherols added to preserve freshness, taurine, dried kelp, yucca schidigera extract, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product and rosemary extract
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 38.0%, Crude Fat (min) 18.0%, Crude Fiber (max) 6.0%, Moisture (max) 11.0%

That's certainly a nice fat%. The first few ingredients look solid. Like the other two you're looking at, the protein is a touch on the high side (seems like that happens with most grain-free varieties), but likely okay. The high protein concern some folks mention has to do with renal (kidney) function and, if a hedgie has pre-existing kidney issues, the level of protein can be too much for them.

If that's a problem for him or you worry that it could be a problem but you just don't know, you can still stay with a good brand -- check out the Blue Basics Grain Free.

I want to try to keep his protein the same or within 1% up or down. I want to get the fat down lower. how can I get it down lower?

I have been talking with people on HC as well. I decided to add Blue Longevity Mature cat food to his kibble mix. his total protein is 34% and fat is 10%. he will have turkey, chicken and fish flavors, I hope he likes it and that it doesn't make his poop stink.

Sounds like a good choice given what you were looking for in a kibble

Let us know how it goes!

Keep in mind, introduce just a few pieces at a time and increase nice and slow. Depending on how sensitive his belly is to changes, you might see some mean greenies (soft, green poops) or not as he adapts to his new food.

he does really well with new foods to where I can mix it into his other food and hes fine. this morning he left the new food in his bowl. I know it is going to take some time for him to fully like the new food and not leave it in his bowl. he eats about 1 1/2 tbs a night and I give him 2 tbs each night. that allows him during the day if he wakes up wanting a snack he can get a bite of his kibble.

He has been on the new mix for a few days now. He has been leaving the blue longevity in the dish and eating the others. I don't understand why he is not eating it as well. I have seen his eat pieces of it.

Silly boy! He's probably still trying to figure out if he likes or does not like this new food. I suppose it's a bit like human children... the figure I keep seeing for human kiddos is that it takes trying a new food 12 times before developing a taste for it. And, of course, you add in the amount of times that it's presented and they don't even try it out...

So, I'd keep with it for now. You'll know if it finally "takes" or to give up on it in a couple weeks.

I'll tell you a story about Satin and Innova - after I first introduced Innova, Satin ate it like a champ along with the other two or three foods in her mix. All looked well. A couple weeks down the road, she started leaving it in her dish a little more so than the others. Another week passed and she'd eat everything except the Innova. The next week, she ate all the other kibbles, left all the Innova kibbles and a couple poops in her dish. Maybe 2 or 3 more mornings in a row, I found Innova and poops left in the dish (this from an avowed poop-on-wheel kind of girl)... which I interpreted as her saying "Mommy, I have made special effort to tell you I think this food is cr@p." So then I gave up on trying to feed her Innova... pulled the Innova from the line-up; she stopped pooping in her dish.

he get 2 tbs a night in his dish but he always left like half-1 tbs in his dish so I cut back on his food I put in his bowl and see if that helps on him eating the new food. If I give it to him when he is out of his cage for play time or in his cage playing in his cage he will eat it. I dont know if he is just getting full at night or he is being silly and not eating the food.

He only left like 7 pieces of food in his dish. 6 were the blue and one was of the other food.

Better than 7:0, eh? Unless, of course, you only put in 6 to start

there was a mix between all 3 food that equaled 1 tbs of food.

Sonic doesnt seem to like the new food I added to his kibble. he will eat it but he leaves it in his bowl. when I would give him his kibble without the new food in it he would only leave 1 or 2 pieces. what should I do???

How's his weight - holding steady? Decreasing in conjunction with the kibble change?