Purina Shredded Blend. Finally, a food Mittens truly loves.

Trying to find an ideal food for my cat Mittens is one of life’s great challenges.  Like many cats, the gene for fussiness is firmly embedded in her DNA.  She’s one of those cats that eats to live, rather than lives to eat.  In some ways, it’s nice to have a cat that isn’t terribly food motivated.  She never wakes me up at 4:00 in the morning to ask for food, and she doesn’t pester me every time I go into the kitchen.  As a cat veterinarian, I hear these kinds of complaints daily.  Thankfully, as a cat owner, I don’t experience them myself. 

In some ways, however, I do wish Mittens was a little more enthusiastic about food.  About four years ago, she began having digestive issues.  It’s normal for a cat to vomit occasionally, and Mittens started out as your typical once-a-month vomiter.  However, it soon escalated to twice a month, and then twice a week, and then twice a day!  That familiar, horrible middle-of-the-night retching noise became the soundtrack of my life.  I ran all of the appropriate tests, and my suspicions were confirmed when endoscopy revealed that she has inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).   Fortunately, she has responded dramatically to anti-inflammatory medication, and I literally cannot remember the last time she vomited her breakfast or dinner. 

Cats with IBD sometimes have trouble maintaining their body weight, and I’ve been vigilant in my search for a nutritious food that excites her.  She’s a bit of an oddball in that she has zero interest in canned food.  Sure, she’s interested in the salmon on my dinner plate, but a can of salmon cat food?  Yawn.  She’ll hover nearby when I’m eating a piece of chicken, and will readily eat a little piece if I offer it to her.  But of course, she turns her nose up at a can of chicken-based cat food.  It’s frustrating.

I know she prefers dry food, and that’s certainly a more convenient option for me.  It’s easier to store, and it’s simpler to feed.  Every morning, when I grab the bag of food from the pantry, she recognizes the sound and comes trotting over.  I place a scoop into her bowl.  She goes over, takes a sniff, and gazes up at me with a look that clearly says, “You’re kidding, right?”  I counter with my best take-it-or-leave-it stare, and she relents and begins to nibble.   This morning ritual is repeated every evening, as well. 

I’ve been watching her closely these days, and I can see that she’s on the thin side.  The resolution of her main clinical sign – vomiting – tells me that her IBD is under control. I’m certain that her delicate body size is due to boredom regarding the foods that she’s being offered, and trust me, she’s been offered more varieties than you can imagine. 

Today, however, I decided to try something new from Purina Pro Plan. It’s called Shredded Blend Chicken and Rice Formula.  It’s a diet that composed of kibble, which I know she likes, along with softer, meaty pieces, not unlike the chicken she tries to steal off my plate.   I was already familiar with Purina Pro Plan products of course, especially their therapeutic diets, which I’ve prescribed many times.  Could Shredded Blend finally be the diet that my finicky feline would enthusiastically embrace? 

See for yourself.  I couldn’t keep her away from the bowl.














Or the bag.

















What a relief to find a high quality food that she loves.

 Oh, there’s one more thing I like about this food, and it has nothing to do with the food itself.  The cat on the bag looks a lot like Mittens!

Check it out... same colors, same orange spot on the muzzle.

        
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Purina using complimentary products. The opinions and text are all mine.