Cat and Mexican pet food

Hi there, Last year I spent 6 months in Mexico with my cat (yes, I am a single guy with a cat) I eased her from her regular American dry food to dry Whiskas in Mexico. My cat lost A LOT of weight quite rapidly on that switch, it was so fast her skin was actually hanging , I want to avoid this in the future. What's the safest way to ease her into a Mexican brand so she doesn't lose so much weight so fast? I am looking at guaranteed analysis but there isn't any that quite matches her regular food. Should I go for more fat? more proteins? Anyone with a similar experience?

Thanks!

Ask your vet.

Yeah, thanks for input , but obviously I did that already otherwise I wouldn't ask here,  vets don't know anything about this as most of them have never been living in another country and they figure one dry cat food is the same as the next one. I am trying to get someone's hands- on experience.

I've never done what you did or had your exact experience nor do I know where you are or where you are intending to move. Sorry if I missed that.

I do know that the vets here at Lake Chapala all have opinions on which cat food manufacturers are better than others. And we have a few more choices than Whiskas for nutrition here at the lake.

Costco pet food is manufactured by Diamond, one of the best. They make it for both dogs and cats. Our cats thrive on it. I suggest you feed some canned food to, cats need the oils in the canned stuff.

If you post on a board in the area where you will be spending time you can ask for names of better cat foods available there that are also available in the U.S. Then, you can start gradually switching your cat over to the new food before the stress of traveling. When you return home you can switch the cat back or just keep feeding the same diet.
I agree that feeding some canned food is good as well as adding now and then some chicken or fish (my cats love sardines and they are inexpensive).
If cost is a factor be sure to mention that as some foods down here can be very pricey. I feed my cats Diamond which is reasonable by Mexico standards. They also get occasional canned food and meats or fish. Cat treats are mostly unheard of here and very expensive when found.  I buy a small bag of Whiskas or Purina kibble and offer a few pieces as a treat. My cats seem happy with that.

I have 2 cats one will only eat dry whiskers and the other only tuna flavored canned food..cats are strange creatures. each cats has its favorite and good luck about changing them. of course here in Chiapas cats are not fed anything and I see them eat tortillaa, chicken bones or anything they can grab...

Yep. The cats on my street eat anything that is edible out of the garbage pile. Vegetables, tortillas, whatever they can find.

I put kibble out for them from time to time but they really don't like it much. Neighbors put out leftover food as well. They are not skinny and their coats look good for their lifestyle. There were 6 of them, abandoned by a crazy neighbor - thankfully, she took the 14 that lived in the house with her when she finally left. I took one in and there are now 5 that just hang. They do pretty well, everyone looks out for them and the dogs hang out with them. We don't have rats or scorpions . . .

Both cats and dogs know how to survive. Our rescue dog still catches birds and eats them.

Peter Muritake wrote:Hi there, Last year I spent 6 months in Mexico with my cat (yes, I am a single guy with a cat)  I eased her from her regular American dry food to dry Whiskas in Mexico. My cat lost  A LOT of weight quite rapidly on that switch,

That's interesting to know, as I have two male cats that stay a tad overweight on an exclusive diet of Whiskas.  I guess it is what they are used to.

slainte39 wrote:

Peter Muritake wrote:Hi there, Last year I spent 6 months in Mexico with my cat (yes, I am a single guy with a cat)  I eased her from her regular American dry food to dry Whiskas in Mexico. My cat lost  A LOT of weight quite rapidly on that switch,

That's interesting to know, as I have two male cats that stay a tad overweight on an exclusive diet of Whiskas.  I guess it is what they are used to.

Huh..... That IS interesting. I wonder why my cat lost so much weight then.... maybe I wasn't feeding her enough?.... But somehow that seems impossible, there was the regular meowing , the staring, the demands at 6 am...same as normal, I somehow doubt she missed a single meal... It is too bad I can't bring large amounts of her food into Mexico.

Cats will not over eat dry food. Allow them all they want.

Peter Muritake wrote:

slainte39 wrote:

Peter Muritake wrote:Hi there, Last year I spent 6 months in Mexico with my cat (yes, I am a single guy with a cat)  I eased her from her regular American dry food to dry Whiskas in Mexico. My cat lost  A LOT of weight quite rapidly on that switch,

That's interesting to know, as I have two male cats that stay a tad overweight on an exclusive diet of Whiskas.  I guess it is what they are used to.

Huh..... That IS interesting.  I wonder why my cat lost so much weight then....

Could she have "fallen in love"?       Muchos gatos guapos en Mexico.

Perhaps the weight loss was due to the stress of traveling and being in a strange environment? Some cats are very attached to place. Were you free feeding her and was she eating normally? Did she remain really thin the whole time you were down here and then return to her normal weight when you returned home?

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Perhaps the weight loss was due to the stress of traveling and being in a strange environment? Some cats are very attached to place.  Were you free feeding her and was she eating normally? Did she remain really thin the whole time you were down here and then return to her normal weight when you returned home?

My cat is used to moving, I have moved like 8 times since we've been together, she has only lost weight in Mexico. I never free feed her because she is capable of eating all the food in a matter of minutes. She was eating normally. She did remain thin the whole time I was in Mexico and returned to her normal weight in the US, which is why I thought immediately it had to be the food. She did get a bit more exercise in MX since she had access to a small yard but I didn't feel like it was a huge change in exercise routine, she just had a little bit more access to lizards and bugs and she hated this one rose bush and always jumped to destroy the darn flowers... Still,  not active enough to lose that much weight.

But now that you say that... there was one huge difference: I immediately made friends in MX and had people over to the casita all the time. She is very used to only being the two of us in the US as it is hard to make friends here, she was extremely antisocial during the visits and would hide in the bedroom until everybody was gone. I had friends over almost every night.... Still, such a drastic weight loss because of this?.....

Was she dangerously thin? Ribs showing and hip bones jutting out?

Two of my three cats were very antisocial. They would hide from most all visitors and never come out until we were alone again. Having visitors did not affect their eating though. One is overweight, the other normal verging on thin (and they are litter mates). I moved into this house last May and suddenly they just started coming out and greeting visitors. Now, they do not even bother hiding at all. My third cat is a newcomer off the street and he is afraid of nothing and no one.

It is difficult to figure cats out.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Was she dangerously thin? Ribs showing and hip bones jutting out?

Two of my three cats were very antisocial. They would hide from most all visitors and never come out until we were alone again. Having visitors did not affect their eating though. One is overweight, the other normal verging on thin (and they are litter mates). I moved into this house last May and suddenly they just started coming out and greeting visitors. Now, they do not even bother hiding at all.  My third cat is a newcomer off the street and he is afraid of nothing and no one.

It is difficult to figure cats out.

I wouldn't say dangerously thin, but thin, you know how when obese people lose a lot of weight and their skin hangs? That was definitely her, she looked like she had just recently had kittens (she is spayed). When we came back to the US, I took her to the vet and she commented she was thin but didn't have parasites or anything, it took her a month or so to go back to her "full" figure on her regular American food. She is now 11 pounds, she had a checkup a couple of months ago and the vet told me she was on her ideal weight so I know she was definitely on the "too thin" side while we were in Mexico.

By the way one of my cats in California took to eating lizzards and she became very thin. so maybe the lizzards down here affected yours the same way.. I forgot what the vet said at the time but it had to do with the lizzards, when we would keep her inside and she did not eat them she would gain weight again..

First, David I promise you if you free-feed a majority of cats dry food they will get fat. Even on a poor quality food like Whiskas. Diamond brand is an excellent balance of quality and price.

Foods like Whiskas and Purina are heavy on filler and low on nutrition. The companies count the protein in corn (main filler) but have known for years that cats can't assimilate corn protein like people can.

Interesting about the lizards.

Where do you guys buy the Diamond brand cat food here at the lake?

Perhaps the shock and stress of the cat's new environment caused the weight loss. Some animals do well with travel and relocation, some do not.

Trailrunner, I buy Diamond brand at Danvet next to Soriana. I believe the animal store next to Dr. Ladrone also has it -- they used to anyway.

Thanks, I will look. Don't remember seeing it at the AS as I have looked.

I have seen Diamonds at the big pet store beside the Tepahau Bazzar near the old Maganas.

We have two cats.. one 20 lb.the other around 14... Both are big boys and not over weight.. We feed them Science Diet which was a change from what we fed them in the US... They seem to eat only as necessary...If I see an empty dish I have to think that our sheep dog has done a little off the plantation grazing...

Both cats are rescue and the big guy came from the streets of Riyadh which is definitely a survival of the fittest venue. Interestingly, he likes raw meet but not cooked. Our other cat doesn't like ether. Both have maintained their weight since coming to Ajijic.

You might wish to try Science Diet. It is available at the Lakeside Animal store.