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My question is about Cat food

Posted in cat care, natural cat food  by admin on October 18th, 2011

carol asks

I have a cat who has a real food problem and i need some help or suggestions

What kind of food will help my cat gain weight?

I have a hyperthyroid cat who is severely underweight and getting worse everyday. She is on meds, which have also affected her appetite.

I currently feed her Solid Gold Indigo Moon food

. It has the highest fat and protein that I could find in a dry food (and its grain free), but now she is more interested in wet food. Does anyone have any recommendations for a wet food that is high in calories? I plan to ask the vet about Hill’s A/d but are there any over the counter foods I can use, or any supplements?
We plan to do the radioactive iodine treatment but we have to get her thyroid and weight somewhat under control first!
Thanks for the tip Lee. We are going to try out the Hills J/D. Like the calories and controlled phosphorus (her levels are high, but kidney function is good).
As for Wellness, we’ve used it before but it led to stomach upset.

The nutritional value of wet food is so low that it needs supplemented, that is another reason for the prescription diet…the nutrient levels are as high as dry, so she can eat an all wet diet safely!

And…I’d love to go raw, but she won’t have it!
Thanks to everyone for the food suggestions!

Alleycat answers:

First off, I would not recommend to feed any dry food. Cats need to get their water in the food, they will not drink enough to compensate the lack of moisture in dry. This can lead to kidney disease, UTI, renal failure and more.

Wet diet would provide better hydration and nutrition as well, since the ingredients are not over-processed and keep more of the nutrients. Wellness and EVO make some good grain-free, high calorie wet foods. My cat was really thin when I got him even though he was on low quality high carb diet. I switched him to all wet grain-free diet and he is slowly gaining.

I can only recommend to switch to all wet diet, it’s the best. You can include some raw muscle meat and organ to boost up the protein in his diet. My cat won’t eat raw, but maybe yours will. Cooked meat looses the nutrition for cats.

Prescription foods are mostly low quality, I would not recommend that at all. You want your cat to gain the weight in a healthy way, not just stuff him with junk.

Here are some great articles on cat nutrition, which you might find helpful.

Good luck with the food and getting your cat better!

Yahoo! Answers

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Is Science Diet Optimal Care cat food the best kitty food for my Persian?

Posted in natural cat food  by admin on October 30th, 2009

My vet says it is the best food available for Mr. Beasley and the shelter I adopted him from recommended it as well. I am just wondering if anyone has anything bad to say about this food? Is there something better for my boy out there? I am concerned about him getting bladder stones and I am wondering if there are foods that can help prevent this. I have heard bladder stones in male cats can be very dangerous. Can anyone offer any guidance?

We fed Science Diet before we knew any better. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a good brand at all.

Science Diet is made up of mostly fillers such as corn and animal byproducts. It made my cat’s coat dull and flat. The vet told us that she lost the sheen in her coat because “she was old.” She was only 10. It turns out that corn is a major allergen in cats and it’s not at all good for them. They can’t digest it, since they’re obligate carnivores. It’s very unfortunate that so many vets endorse this company, but that is because Hills funds many vet schools and clinics in return for them recommending their brand.

Here’s the first two lines of ingredients for the adult indoor formula:
Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Powdered Cellulose (10.5% source of fiber), Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Animal Fat (http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/products/productDetails.hjsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441781151)

Chicken By-Product meal is essentially beaks, feet and other parts unfit for human consumption.. ground up and dehydrated. Corn Gluten Meal is a filler, as is Whole Grain Corn.. ANIMAL fat? Why don’t they tell you what kind of animal the fat comes from?

Really, for a company that tells you it cares about your pets, it sure throws some horrid ingredients into their food recipes.
Unless your cat has to be on prescription SD for a medical condition, I would ditch the food right away. Go back to the pet store and look for a food that:

-Contains a named meat source as the first ingredient(s)
-Does NOT contain wheat, soy, corn, gluten or animal byproducts
-Does not contain any extra added salt or sugar.

Here’s a list of foods that I recommend:

Wellness http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/
Blue Buffalo http://www.bluebuff.com/
Solid Gold http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
Innova http://www.naturapet.com/
Chicken Soup For The Cat Lovers Soul http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
Merrick http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
Felidae http://www.canidae.com/
Natural Balance http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/

You can find these in PetCo. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo but has a limited supply of quality foods. Many independent pet stores will carry these brands as well.

Best of luck to you.

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