Hello all,
I have written a few posts recently about my 10 year old, indoor-only boy Nub, and what has been going on with his health. Primarily, he has had ongoing constipation for the last few months, with one bout of very-near obstipation (I think from too much Psyillium Husk).
Nub has been eating an almost entirely wet hypoallergenic diet for the last year or so (specifically Trovet Hypoallergenic Quail, ingredients and content here: http://trovet.nl/en/product_detail.html?groep=QRD&dier=cat). He also gets a tiny amount of the Hill's hypoallergenic dry food as a treat.
Due to his constipation (and the fact that the vet has suggested that the unique protein diets aren't meant for long term use because they're incomplete), I believe it is time to try a new food. His allergies seem to be environmental, and I don't think the allergy food did much for them anyway.
It should be noted that right now he's on 2-3ml of lactulose a day to manage his constipation, which is working a little but he is now pooping every 1-3 days and the poop is still rather hard (usually Type 2 on the Bristol stool chart). I plan to switch him to Miralax to see if that works better, but still would like to change the food.
We live in the Netherlands so we don't have access to the commonly suggested US foods. We can get Applaws, Bozita, Almo Nature, and Yarrah here, which I have read are considered to be high quality brands, but elsewhere I have also read that since some of them (such as Yarrah) don't contain any additives like Taurine, that they can actually be damaging, and many of the foods state on the labels that they are meant to 'complement' a diet and other food needs to be eaten for a complete diet.
As I don't want to risk an incomplete diet, and it is very difficult to find reliable information about these European brands, and also due to the fact that we will most likely be moving to another country in the next 6 months (either Israel or the US, not sure yet), I think that it may be best for me to choose between Royal Canin and Hill's (so I don't have to switch brands again when we leave).
I know that these brands are not ideal, but from the research I've done they do seem to be of at least a reasonable quality, and at least seem to ensure a complete nutritional balance.
Royal Canin is available both in the US and in Israel, Hill's is only available in the US, so I'd prefer Royal Canin if possible.
The caveats are that:
1. I want the food to be appropriate for Nub's constipation. I don't want a high fiber diet, but perhaps a little more than he's getting now (1.5%).
2. Nub has also been diagnosed with spondylosis in his back and his stump tail last year, which showed up incidentally on an x-ray. I have not seen any effects of this in him (he still runs around and jumps on furniture), but the vet has suggested that maybe he should go on a joint diet. They did another x-ray this year and did not detect any change from last year, so it doesn't seem to be getting worse for the time being, and I'm not sure if this is a good route to go down (but if anyone has experience with spondylosis/arthritis and thinks otherwise, please let me know). The other thing is that Royal Canin only makes a dry version of their joint food, though Hill's does a wet and a dry.
3. Nub has a 10 year old sister, Squish, and it is extremely difficult to keep them out of each other's bowls, so whatever food he eats needs to be appropriate for her as well.
As you can see, the scenario is quite complicated, and I need to figure out how to factor in the constipation, spondylosis, his age (he is 10 but still rather active for an indoor cat so I don't want to put him on a diet that will reduce his energy), and ideally within the Royal Canin or Hill's lines.
I don't really trust my vet's recommendations sadly, so can anyone recommend food types within these brands that sound best given the circumstances? Or does anyone have more information about the European brands that might be best and offer a complete diet?
Any advice would be helpful and very much appreciated.
I have written a few posts recently about my 10 year old, indoor-only boy Nub, and what has been going on with his health. Primarily, he has had ongoing constipation for the last few months, with one bout of very-near obstipation (I think from too much Psyillium Husk).
Nub has been eating an almost entirely wet hypoallergenic diet for the last year or so (specifically Trovet Hypoallergenic Quail, ingredients and content here: http://trovet.nl/en/product_detail.html?groep=QRD&dier=cat). He also gets a tiny amount of the Hill's hypoallergenic dry food as a treat.
Due to his constipation (and the fact that the vet has suggested that the unique protein diets aren't meant for long term use because they're incomplete), I believe it is time to try a new food. His allergies seem to be environmental, and I don't think the allergy food did much for them anyway.
It should be noted that right now he's on 2-3ml of lactulose a day to manage his constipation, which is working a little but he is now pooping every 1-3 days and the poop is still rather hard (usually Type 2 on the Bristol stool chart). I plan to switch him to Miralax to see if that works better, but still would like to change the food.
We live in the Netherlands so we don't have access to the commonly suggested US foods. We can get Applaws, Bozita, Almo Nature, and Yarrah here, which I have read are considered to be high quality brands, but elsewhere I have also read that since some of them (such as Yarrah) don't contain any additives like Taurine, that they can actually be damaging, and many of the foods state on the labels that they are meant to 'complement' a diet and other food needs to be eaten for a complete diet.
As I don't want to risk an incomplete diet, and it is very difficult to find reliable information about these European brands, and also due to the fact that we will most likely be moving to another country in the next 6 months (either Israel or the US, not sure yet), I think that it may be best for me to choose between Royal Canin and Hill's (so I don't have to switch brands again when we leave).
I know that these brands are not ideal, but from the research I've done they do seem to be of at least a reasonable quality, and at least seem to ensure a complete nutritional balance.
Royal Canin is available both in the US and in Israel, Hill's is only available in the US, so I'd prefer Royal Canin if possible.
The caveats are that:
1. I want the food to be appropriate for Nub's constipation. I don't want a high fiber diet, but perhaps a little more than he's getting now (1.5%).
2. Nub has also been diagnosed with spondylosis in his back and his stump tail last year, which showed up incidentally on an x-ray. I have not seen any effects of this in him (he still runs around and jumps on furniture), but the vet has suggested that maybe he should go on a joint diet. They did another x-ray this year and did not detect any change from last year, so it doesn't seem to be getting worse for the time being, and I'm not sure if this is a good route to go down (but if anyone has experience with spondylosis/arthritis and thinks otherwise, please let me know). The other thing is that Royal Canin only makes a dry version of their joint food, though Hill's does a wet and a dry.
3. Nub has a 10 year old sister, Squish, and it is extremely difficult to keep them out of each other's bowls, so whatever food he eats needs to be appropriate for her as well.
As you can see, the scenario is quite complicated, and I need to figure out how to factor in the constipation, spondylosis, his age (he is 10 but still rather active for an indoor cat so I don't want to put him on a diet that will reduce his energy), and ideally within the Royal Canin or Hill's lines.
I don't really trust my vet's recommendations sadly, so can anyone recommend food types within these brands that sound best given the circumstances? Or does anyone have more information about the European brands that might be best and offer a complete diet?
Any advice would be helpful and very much appreciated.