Can food really make a difference?

[alwaysamess]

I just happened to be walking past a vet when I realized I needed food. The vet didn't have my usual, Science Diet dry. He told me his food, ANF is the best.

And boy oh boy...

When I opened the package, my cat went crazy from the smell. He never gets excited about food and actually hates people food, even fresh fish and chicken prepared just for him.

Then he immediately dove in. He usually watches me put food in his bowl, smells it, then follows me around. He'll eat when I'm not around because I'm much more interesting than eating.

Since Tuesday (the first day he ate the food), he's been even more TurboCat mode every night. Usually, he knows that when I go to bed, he needs to calm down and will leave me alone for most of the night. On this food, it doesn't matter how much I already played with him, he's just not tired. He runs marathons in the house and has actually jumped on me going full speed once a night since, which he knows better than that. I spray him with the water, I chase him with the vacuum, nothing works. He's gotten kicked out every single night, last night was a record. He got kicked out by 12:45. That's so unusual. He gets kicked out once every two weeks usually. But every night? I'm quite forgiving. I give him lots of chances and he doesn't deliver.

My question is: could it really, truly be that food? He just might never be able to sleep with me again. Life is just too fun for him.

[Wibidad]

The food really can make a difference. Good quality food can make the coat shiny and the teeth stronger. Sometimes, however, cats may like food that may not necessarily be the best quality.

We generally like to feed our cats Natural Balance, which has very good ingredients. Our cats have grown beautifully, we believe, due to the nutrition in that food. After a while, though, they become a little bored, so we try other foods. They often LOVE the Royal Canin stuff, even when the ingredients don't seem as good as what we find in the Natural Balance. We suspect there is something added to make the cats like it better. I think a lot of commercial brands have something that makes the cats "addicted".

If your cat is happy with a brand, and the ingredients are good, stick with it. The cat may be euphoric for a while (and supercharged), but after a while, he or she may get bored. Cats are very fickle that way. We buy something we THINK our cats love (based on past experience), only to find their tastes have changed.

Or, one cat wants this and another cat likes that. Very hard to please everybody (true for cats as well as people). So, we often mix foods. We generally feed hard food (Natural Balance or Royal Canin Indoor) with one can of fish catfood served later in the day. Our cats love the fish.

As for the hyperactivity, if you need to sleep before the cat runs out of steam, get him some of those catnip mice. Our cats can chase them around for hours, completely ignoring our presence.