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I was wondering what the general consensus here is. Do people tend to feed their cats a single brand/flavor of dry/wet food, or is it usually recommended to switch between flavours to give them some variation? I definitely wouldn't like to eat the same thing for my whole life, and I'd assume that a cat in the wild would also eat a variety of meat. So will you do your cat a favor if you give them a variety of flavors, or does the cat not care at all?

Thanks.

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    I have seen the benefit of mix and match when my cat had to receive renal food for his low functioning kidneys. But until that point, I only used Royal Canin Maine Coon food all the time. So, I can't say if it is common or not, but it is sometimes done.
    – ck1987pd
    Nov 22, 2020 at 12:56
  • When you say you have seen a benefit, do you mean because your cat would've been used to many different foods already, and therefor it would have been easier to switch her? Or do you think the kidneys problem derived from feeding the same food all the time?
    – SomeNewKittenOwner
    Nov 22, 2020 at 22:27
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    He always loved the Royal Canin Maine Coon, and he regularly had his check ups so there was no need for switching foods. Yet his palate changed a lot for the renal food. He stopped liking what he liked a month ago and started eating what he didn't eat a month ago. When he rejected everything, I mixed renal food with Royal Canin Maine Coon so he ate at least some renal food. (Not an advertisement, I am not paid by anyone to give the brand new) :)
    – ck1987pd
    Nov 22, 2020 at 22:48
  • I see. I definitely thinks it would make sense to get a cat used to some variety, in case the food needs to be changed because of a health problem. I think the probability that the cat would eat it might increase this way. Thanks for your insights
    – SomeNewKittenOwner
    Nov 23, 2020 at 11:24

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It's hard to know for sure, because it seems unlikely anyone's taken a formal survey on the subject, but I suspect that while some owners certainly do give their cats variety, that a reasonably large percentage really do feed their cat the same food unless they are forced to change it, usually to address a new health problem.

The reason why I think this is due to some common cat personality types or particular needs. Many cats actually hate or become stressed at any sort of change, while other cats are just very picky, and so it's a struggle to find them a food they'll actually eat in the first place. There are also many cats that have intolerances to certain foods, that will make them vomit, have diarrhea, or have excessive flatulence, and so forth. So again, owners with these cats will surely stick to the one food they discover that the cat can eat without experiencing these sorts of symptoms.

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  • That's a fair point. My cats eat the food i give, but i can definitely see that they prefer some flavor over another. I do wonder what would be fairer to the cat.
    – SomeNewKittenOwner
    Nov 22, 2020 at 22:26

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