Diseases and food

I just finished a book that talked about the correlation between the types of food you feed your cat and the diseases they get. So I was curious about any diseases your cats have had and what they were eating at the time.

This does not include infectious diseases like FIV, FeLV etc. but thing like renal failure, Diabetes, liver problems, bladder infections etc.

So what illness did your cat get and was he eating dry food, wet food or raw/homemade food (specify if is was raw or cooked). If you want (although it's not mandatory) you can say the brand.

I think 50% at least is genetics and old age another BIG part is the fact that cats lifespans are Artificially increased, ie wild cats 3-5 yrs if lucky house cat 14 ish now ... Ie old humans get illness due to organ s aging and breaking down...

Kandie had crf ( renal failure) at about age 15 ... she ate some canned , some dry , some homemade, some raw for the first 15 the next 4 canned and raw ... I do think if she got it at say 7 food may have played a bigger role ...


Pj has some ph issues .... His are likely from inbreeding ... he eats canned and dry ( 95% grain free ) time will tell if it helps or hurts as he is 19 months

Zoey eats grain free dry and some wet or raw ... as long as I do not feed her foods she is intolerent to her gingivitis stay s at bay ... Her case it is food but NOT type she is 4.75 yrs old..

Dahlia eats only grain free dry but ate a corn and by product based one for about 4 yrs ... Her coat , eye dripping and other issues have improved with just a food she had no intolerance too... so again NOT type but intolerance Dahlia is 4 yrs old

Punky is Pj s litter mate brother his issues were Stress not food .... he eats what PJ eats

Given that ailments often have multiple factors its going to be hard to prove that diet is a major cause. I do believe that diet plays a huge part but have to be fair and state that it can play a role.

You can offer up the question on why so many kitties are becoming ill? Could it be diet related? With the limited amount of data available to us we can paint a fuzzy picture on why kitties are becoming obese. Some of us will use personal experiences for this explanation. I myself have seen approximately 1,500 cats in my animal rescue years and have noticed that a majority of them, that were on a dry diet, were generally overweight( imo overweight since I am not a vet). Often that won't be enough and I will fall back to the fuzzy picture. Its hard not to consider other peoples experiences of their kitties loosing weight on can food. But we only have a fuzzy idea on why that happens.

I am attempting to prove it on a molecular level why some diets won't work. But its a rough road given the number of pieces to the puzzle.

What book did you read?

Also bladder infections (UTI) are mostly a immune system problem.

Sorry not really what you were looking for.

As with humans, I believe diet can be used to minimize the risk of certain illnesses in cats. Yes, genetics and longer life spans might also be factors but unless we are willing to euthanize our cats at age 5 there isn't anything we can do to control those factors. Diet we can control.

Struvite crystals that can lead to painful urination, bladder infections and blockages can be prevented by feeding a diet that results in urine in a naturally acidic state. Jeta had recurring struvite crystals. I choose to switch her from processed foods to raw food which keeps her urine acidic and has prevented the crystals. Processed, prescription foods are available to prevent the crystals but there are reasons I don't like them. It might be possible to find off the shelf processed foods that would also prevent the crystals but I didn't want the headache of trying to find them.

Loose stools are a common problem with cats. Parasites and antibiotics can cause loose stools but there are many cats that have them long term with no known cause. In many such cases people have found that switching them from a processed food diet to raw food results in firm stools. Coco had constant loose stools for the first 1 1/2 years of her life. I found that adding a digestive enzyme supplement to her food resulted in normal stools. I believe the same result could be achieved by feeding her a raw food diet because the digestive enzymes in the supplement occur naturally in raw food. So far I haven't been able to convince her to eat raw food though.

A friend of mine has a cat that was literally on deaths door because of uncontrollable blood glucose levels from diabetes. The diabetes was completely reversed by switching from processed foods to raw food. Her cat no longer needs *any* insulin. Many people have achieved the same result by switching to low carb wet processed foods rather than raw food.

Sneakers got diabetes and was eating mostly dry foods
Panther adopted had diabetes when eating dry foods went into remission after a few months of insulin and having the dry food taken away

I have only lost 3 cats and not one was from diet.

Simba- had heart failure he was born with a bad heart, he also had severe eye problems which led to glaucoma, Simba was also prone to UTI's after feeding him dry Purina One Urinary Tract health he never had another one Simba was 10 years and a Persian.

Willow- had fibrosarcoma my vet does not feel it was from vaccinations, but I did not biopsy her, hers was more likely a genetic cancer? Willow was also prone to UTI's not from diet but from stress I guess? She was fed dry, canned, cooked and raw meat. Willow also had gotten an infection from raw meat so raw was removed from her diet. Willow also had asthma. She was 6 years and a domestic longhair.

Scruffy- had Squamos Cell Carcinoma, the most common kind of oral cancer in a cat. Scruffy ate dry food most of her life with some canned the last 2 years or so. I have read that canned food might be a contributing factor in oral cancer. Scruffy had no other health problems ever till the end with cancer. She was 13 years old and a domestic shorthair.

my current cats

Cala- has season allergies and is obese but otherwise is healthy. Her weight is from over feeding in her younger years and genetic. She is fed portion controlled Iams Hairball and canned friskies no glutens but was free fed Purina One Urinary in her younger years. She is 8 years old and a domestic longhair.

Veeshan- no health problems eats mostly dry Iams Hairball and Friskies wet no glutens. She is 3 years old and a Somali

Kingston- has the auto immune stomatitis which is genetic in his case, he eats Iams Hairball dry, friskies wet no glutens, cooked and raw meats. He is 2 years old and a Somali

Porcelain- is only 5 months old, no health problems, has eaten mostly canned her whole life with some dry and cooked and raw meats. She is a domestic longhair.