Hello everyone,

I have posted this on a few Bengal related blogs in search of the right answer.
I’ve had Bacco (Male Bengal) for 6 years now. I got him when he was a kitten and he’s been by my side ever since. He’s an indoor cat with plenty of room for activities. Over the last few months he’s been shedding more than normal. At first, I assumed he was stressed because we moved to a new apartment. But now I am worried that his diet might be the cause. I’ve been feeding him Purina ONE Indoor Advantage Adult Dry Cat Food for years now. I am aware that is not the best but every time I introduce him to something else he ignores it. I would like to ease him into a more natural and balanced diet. (But not raw meat)

Anyone have any suggestions?

Have you tried BLUE Wilderness?

I have a bag of Blue Wilderness that my cats won't touch. Dry food is the hardest because you can't buy small samples of the food to try out. It's easier to purchase one can of wet food and try it out. Cats shed for various reasons and stress and allergies are probably the top culprits. Moving can be extremely traumatic for a cat. Naturally a seasonal cycle can cause this, too. My bengal usually sheds a little in the summer, but this summer he hasn't at all.

These days you can buy prepared raw food for your cat is that is something you want to try. You obviously want a food that your kitty will enjoy and will solve the shedding issue, if indeed that is the problem.

Of course, if you think this could be a medical issue, a trip to the vet is warranted.

This is a good read:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/category/nutrition/

My advice is to go on a bit of a shopping spree. Go to one of the smaller, boutique pet food stores, explain that you are auditioning new food for your cat, and most stores would be happy to help you (many will give you free samples and such). Don't worry at all about labels like "for indoor cats" or "prevents hairballs" or "digestive health", that's nonsense, worry more about good ingredients. Learn how to read the ingredient list (they talk about that at littlebigcat), but at the same time, you have to somewhat mistrust the ingredient list too (even though it's all we have to go on). That's one of the many benefits of canned or raw food is that we can see and smell whether they are using good ingredients, versus in dry food, since it's all just a brown rendered ball anyway, you really have no clue.

Brands my cats like include blue wilderness, weruva, tiki cat, earthborn hollistic, cats in the kitchen, rad cat, and others.

Also, I think a lot of people seem to buy one can or bag of one brand, and then conclude that their cat either likes or hates that brand, which is kind of nonsensical to me. It's kind of like buying a box of Cheerios and concluding that you hate General Mills, when actually it's more likely that you simply don't like that style of cereal, and those particular ingredients.

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The little monsters 3

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The little monsters 3

I only feed my girl Instinct brand. Chicken; tuna & Salmon are her favorites. She loves the hard food as it is smaller pieces and the wed food has a wide variety of flavors so not to get sick of the same ol stuff. Us humans don’t like the same ole crap so you need a good variety. Purina ONE isn’t the best you are correct. They don’t have a lot of all natural based ingredients. Try instinct from chewy.com. If your fur baby dislikes it they give you a refund and you can simply throw it away. Great company.

I also feed instinct (turkey limited ingredient wet). I found to get picky eaters on new foods, it helps to very slowly mix in the new food with the old food starting with a tiny amount and very gradually increasing it over weeks/months until all of the old food is replaced by new. Some cats I have had don't seem to like change in their food at all and I have had other cats that will eat almost anything put in front of them (one I have to keep from stealing the dog food) so it just depends. I do find my kitties to be more picky about dry than wet.

I would definitely get your kitty on some better food.