feeding cat food?

[kymzilla]

we wound up buying 2 cans of iams catfood [it had the most natual ingredients we could find]
we read that it can help boost appitite, and help them grow.

of course, it will only be a once in a while thing, i dont even know if they'll like it.


anyone have any suggestions on a good brand for them?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

It's not recommended to feed pet food because most people purchase low quality food that contain more grain, other fillers and preservatives that tegus don't need. Some of which I wouldn't and don't even feed my own dogs. Few people look at the ingredients in their own food let alone their pets.

Big commercial brands like science diet, iams, pedigree and a whole lot of others found in supermarkets and large pet chains are actually low quality foods. Some pets do fine on them while others don't.

Ever notice how a lot more pets are having some of the same health issues that we are like cancer, heart conditions and obesity. It's not just that some are living longer (among other things) but also because of what's in their food. Over processed, preservative laden, artificial flavoring, coloring and what ever extra that's anything but natural or good for them or even us.

There are other better, natural and just as readily available foods and choices to make.

 

[kymzilla]

I know, which is why im hesitant.
It will never be a staple, but their appetites arent where they need or should be. Ive heard that catfood seems to help, and if it doesnt...there is a cat in my building that will be getting a treat.

 

[Deac77]

I agree and only use cat food on severely underweight animals I use blue buffalo or simply nourish its incredibly expensive (2 bucks a can) and has no fillers or grain I only feed my dog simply nourish because of how sensitive his stomach is to preservatives and grains

 

[Rhetoric]

I've fed some small dog treats to guru before. Don't make a habit of it but here and there it shouldn't be an issue when SELDOM fed as long as its a higher quality.

 

[Little Wise Owl]

If I ever fed cat food to a tegu it'd be ONLY high quality and Iams is not high quality. I would just give it to the local cat or toss it.

 

[Grendel]

So in the wild a tegu will eat rotting carcass of a fish or small mammal that has been partially cooked in the sun. But we are supposed to be up in arms about a can of commercial pet food once in a while?
I'm all for feeding them well, but just consider that going high quality/ organic may be too extreme.

 

[Skeetzy]

You've invested all this money into a tegu. Why risk anything happening to it by feeding it cheap CAT food. Who's to say those that eat the rotting flesh live very long?

Also, why feed it cat food? There's plenty of foods that are known to be good for it, never mind a food made for a different species.

 

[Little Wise Owl]

So in the wild a tegu will eat rotting carcass of a fish or small mammal that has been partially cooked in the sun. But we are supposed to be up in arms about a can of commercial pet food once in a while?
I'm all for feeding them well, but just consider that going high quality/ organic may be too extreme.

It's less about the rotting flesh and more about the unnecessary grains, fillers, chemicals and preservatives thrown into pet food. A tegu has the gut to process bacteria and rotten meat but it's never been exposed to some of the junk that's allowed in commercial pet food. Sodium nitrite, menadione sodium bisulfate, BHT/BHA, ethoxyquin... No thanks.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

So in the wild a tegu will eat rotting carcass of a fish or small mammal that has been partially cooked in the sun. But we are supposed to be up in arms about a can of commercial pet food once in a while?
I'm all for feeding them well, but just consider that going high quality/ organic may be too extreme.

That may be fine for you, but even a rotting carcass is more natural than some of what they put in most processed pet food. I've given my tegus ripe rats that stayed in with my snakes over night when they didn't eat them. Quite a few times they have chosen the ripe rat over the fresh one. Be it for smell, taste or bacterial purposes,.. who knows but they like it.

Unlike pet food it's still part of their natural food sources.

 

[Grendel]

I agree that the preservatives are not good for anyone/ human or animal, but what they may consume in the wild from time to time is actually much more likely to kill them , then if someone feeds them a can of food we talk about once in awhile. I actually have a few cans of "emergency" dog food type meat if I were to run out of food and be unable to get anything else for some reason for a few days.

 

[DoctorPepper4]

this is just from my experience with my own tegus....my male wasn't eating he went like 3days without food i was scared and worried then one day i left my bearded dragons butternut squash out and he started picking at it and he like it so when he doesn't wanna eat all i have to do is boil eggs and i also boil the squash the i peel the egg and with a fork i mash down the squash and mix it together i have done this with my own tegu and a friend of mine tegu as well and he started eating....my female smell this and she goes crazy and starts looking for a way out just to eat it...i also mix it in her food with he special meat patties....and theirs a dude called Ntyvirous he has a blue tegu and his tegu loves it as well.....so that make it four tegus i dont know what it is but they love it and wont turn it down....when i get home i'll post a pic of my male and he is only 8 or nine months(i've only had him for seven but shop said he was two months when i bought him) and i us to feed him everyday cause like i said he wouldn't eat what he suppose to and i started started seen he was shedding like every two weeks so Ntyvirous works at the shop where i bought him and i asked if that was normal and he said all i know is that means he is growing....i took him to the vet and they told me i had to cut down on feeding him every day only to feed him once every two day and he is 3feet all ready and not even a year old.....also you can try what im trying with my caiman....if you want to build his appetite feed him small meals and they still grow fast my caiman he growing got him at like 14 inches and now he is 2 feet and 3 inches.....im not that experience like maybe 73% of the people on this site but i can show you every vet checkup they been threw and their extremely healthy.....i wish you luck

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I agree that the preservatives are not good for anyone/ human or animal, but what they may consume in the wild from time to time is actually much more likely to kill them , then if someone feeds them a can of food we talk about once in awhile. I actually have a few cans of "emergency" dog food type meat if I were to run out of food and be unable to get anything else for some reason for a few days.

It's actually just the opposite since their digestive system is designed to handle what they eat in the wild with bacteria and even certain parasites. That's not the case with processed foods, we don't know all that goes into it and of those products what may actually be seriously harmful to other pets, at what dosage or the affects. On a food poisoning level it can be something that leads to a quick death or slow one.

No one's saying Never feed pet food, if it's something you do just consider the type you offer.

My tegus have been in my dogs food bowl and liked it but I don't feed low quality food or let them do it often.

 

[larissalurid]

You can feed some canned pet foods. For one, never feed cat food, it contains taurine. Feed canned dog food instead. Make sure it's high quality like Merrick, blue buffalo, or wellness. Iams is HORRIBLE quality along with others such as pedigree and all those popular brands you see on tv usually. They have tons of fillers, broth, pulp, etc. Your animal will end up eating more and being less healthy than if you bought a high quality brand. (you may as well be feeding them potato chips and mcdonalds) I wouldn't feed this all the time either, only occasionally. A healthy meat mix you make yourself would be better.

 

[kymzilla]

Easy guys, relax.

They wouldnt even touch it.

The local cat will now get some wetfood.


Fed them pinkies instead, and they gobbled them right up.

 

[Little Wise Owl]

Is there some study or proof that taurine is going to harm a reptile because I kept reading this when researching BTS's... As far as I know, I don't think taurine can be overdosed and if it could, it would have to be in high amounts. Taurine is naturally occurring in all raw meats so if you're feed dark muscle meat (heart, leg meat or WHOLE PREY in general), you're feeding a decent amount of taurine. From Wikipedia; " It is essential for cardiovascular function, and development and function of skeletal muscle, the retina and the central nervous system." The only reason it's not in dog food is because dogs produce their own taurine but it's suspected that the lack of taurine in dog food now is causing cardiomyopathy (among other heart problems) in some breeds so it's being added back into many brands of food.

I wouldn't doubt that it's in many of the canned dog foods that people have been recommending to feed skinks (and other lizards like tegus).

Just my $.02 on the taurine/cat food thing. Unless there's something I'm missing, I've never seen a real reason to avoid cat food other than it's not meant for a lizard to eat.

 

[kymzilla]

compared to the whiskas, or fancy feast....iams was the best choice.

not that it matters, they didnt like it anyways haha.

 

[Grendel]

There is no real proof , as in prospective randomized double blinded studies, for 99% [ made up statistic meaning to signify all with some exceptions] of health issues of humans and animals caused preservatives, vaccines, hormones, chemicals that lay people like to talk about, especially on the Internet.

 

[BatGirl1]

Re: RE: feeding cat food?

Easy guys, relax.

They wouldnt even touch it.

The local cat will now get some wetfood.


Fed them pinkies instead, and they gobbled them right up.

From what I've been reading/hearing pinkies lack any real nutritional value...I keep hearing rats are more nutritious than mice too...given that, would that mean catfood/dogfood may be more nutritious than pinkies? Or no,because of fillers they may be adding to the poultry/beef in the processed food. Just curious...knowing on the average whole foods normally more nutrient rich than processed.also...any opinions on ground turkey vs. Chicken vs. Beef (etc) .one better than others or should variety be incorperated? (I do add beef liver to turkey and calcium powder and cod liver oil)

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[Little Wise Owl]

From what I've been reading/hearing pinkies lack any real nutritional value...I keep hearing rats are more nutritious than mice too...given that, would that mean catfood/dogfood may be more nutritious than pinkies? Or no,because of fillers they may be adding to the poultry/beef in the processed food. Just curious...knowing on the average whole foods normally more nutrient rich than processed.also...any opinions on ground turkey vs. Chicken vs. Beef (etc) .one better than others or should variety be incorperated? (I do add beef liver to turkey and calcium powder and cod liver oil)

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Commercial pet food is cooked so thoroughly that vitamins and minerals needed to be added back in. I have no proof of this but I'd think that natural sources of vitamins/minerals (from whole prey and unprocessed foods) would be more bioavailable to ANY animal as opposed to artificial vitamins/minerals.

Also, a variety is better than one food source overall. Offer rats AND mice along with different meat sources. Variety is key for any animal on a home prepared diet.