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What You Should Know About Changing Your Cat’s Diet

Deciding when and how you should change your cat's diet takes some planning. Because cats are creatures of habit, it is not uncommon for them to prefer their current cat food to a new food. They, like humans, become accustomed to something, such as a particular food, and may not welcome a disruption to their routine.

Tips for Successfully Changing Your Cat’s Diet

The following tips should help you change your cat's diet and successfully transition your cat to a new food:

Introduce the new food gradually. This is the most successful way to ease your cat into the diet change. Start by mixing 25% new food with 75% current food. Slowly change the proportions over the next three days or so by gradually increasing the amount of new food and decreasing the amount of current food. At the end of this weaning process, you should be feeding 100% of the new food. You may encounter difficulties; for example, your cat might choose to eat only the old food, or not eat at all. However, a healthy cat can miss meals for a day or two with no ill effects.
Watch your body language. Bringing a new food into your home, placing it into a bowl, and declaring that your cat had better eat it might cause your cat to go on an eating strike. It is better to introduce the new food to the cat using a pleasant tone of voice. Gently encourage the cat to try the new food.
Don't give in to demands. It is important not to give up too soon. During the initial two-day period, do not give your cat treats or table scraps! Cats train us as much as we train them. Giving in to their demands only reinforces refusal behavior and makes it more difficult to make a nutritious dietary change.
Expect a challenge when changing from a moist food to a dry food. The biggest challenge in switching diets occurs when changing from a moist food to a dry food. If your cat continues to resist eating dry food, mix a little warm water with it. You may even want to put the moistened food in the microwave for a few seconds. If you mix the food with water it is important to discard the uneaten portion after 20 minutes. This prevents spoilage. The same rule applies for canned food. After the cat has become accustomed to the moistened food, you can wean him or her onto the dry food.

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How Nutrition Can Help Manage Your Cat’s Hairballs
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Why Make a Hairball Management Formula?
Most cats are susceptible to hairballs due to continual ingestion of hair during regular self-grooming.
Cat owners have told us that hairballs are one of their top concerns.
According to IAMS™ consumer research, a number of cat owners and their cats have found hairball treatments to be an unpleasant experience.

How Were the IAMS Hairball Formulas Developed?
IAMS nutritionists were looking for a way to control hairball formation while maintaining optimal feline health and well-being. They evaluated risk factors for hairball formation in cats fed diets that varied in fiber source and content.
98 cats were studied.
Nine groups were fed test diets and three were fed control diets.
The test-feeding period was six to seven weeks, following a five-week control-feeding period.
Total cat-days of testing = 9,968.

Researchers found that feeding diets that contained a blend of beet pulp and cellulose was more effective at moving hair through the digestive tract, compared with the same diets containing beet pulp as the only fiber source.
There was an 80% to 100% increase in fecal hair excretion with beet pulp/cellulose-blend diets, compared with the beet-pulp-only diet.
By promoting the passage of hair ingested by the cat during normal self-grooming, an important risk factor for hairball formation is minimized.
Hairballs were not evident in cats fed the beet pulp/cellulose-blend diets.

How Do IAMS Hairball Formulas Work?
The fiber system (blend of beet pulp/cellulose) gently moves hair through the gastrointestinal tract while maintaining healthy digestion.
Beet pulp, a moderately fermentable fiber, promotes optimal intestinal health.
Cellulose helps to enhance the passage of ingested hair.
An optimal fatty acid ratio enhances skin and coat health, which decreases the likelihood of excessive shedding, a factor related to hairball formation.

How Do IAMS Hairball Formulas Compare with Other IAMS Cat Food Formulas?
IAMS hairball formulas provide high-quality nutrition and taste, like our other adult formulas, with the added benefit of reducing the risk of hairballs.
High-quality nutrition for adult cats
Optimal protein and fat levels
Higher fiber content due to added cellulose
Excellent stool quality, skin and coat condition, and taurine status
Great taste
Similar acceptability and palatability test results as other IAMS adult formulas
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