I have been trying to sort this out for a week now and my brain is pretty well scrambled. I have 6 cats - 4 indoor, 2 garage/outdoor. The easiest is probably to list them and then list what I'm trying to accomplish.
Snow - CRF
Whisper - a little chunky
Chenille - either has hairball issues or food issues
Muzby - he's just spoiled
Pippy - stomatitis
Star - no issues that I'm aware of
We have Snow on Hill's k/d, wet and dry and he's doing so well that we (us and our vet) are considering backing off on the fluids and stepping up the wet food some. Chenille tends to vomit, sometimes there's a hairball, usually it's very soon after she's eaten, kibbles are pretty much intact. We are going to keep Snow on the k/d, not my first choice for ingredients but it ain't broke so I'm not going to try to fix it. Everyone else was on Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea dry. Initially, we needed a limited ingredient for Snow, he's part Manx with no tail (which I've come to learn has an impact on the muscles back there). His poops had issues and when that happened he would leave evidence wherever he sat in the house (ick!). The limited ingredient made a huge difference. Then in April he was diagnosed with CRF. In order to attend to him, I added Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea Wet to the diet of the other cats so they would be busy while I was doing fluids. That's right about the time Whisper started getting what my husband called her 'winter coat'. I've never seen a winter coat that looks like a football in the stomach...but I digress.
A couple months ago Pippy was diagnosed with stomatitis, not a big surprise, his mother had it so bad we had to put her down. Have I lost anyone yet?
So...in an effort to simplify my life I am trying to find a food for the other cats that won't hurt Snow if he sneaks some and that Pippy can eat. I tried mixing in Hill's Oral Care dry with the NB Duck & Pea and, knock on wood, Chenille hasn't thrown up since, or yet. The phosphorus levels in the Hill's Oral Care and Hill's Sensitive Stomach are pretty low (low 70s) and the By Nature Organic is grain-free (rumored to help with stomatitis)and fairly low phosphorus. So if I feed Snow the k/d, Pippy the By Nature Organic wet (with Cod Liver Oil and Lactoferrin), and the rest of clan Hill's Oral or SS supplementing with By Nature Organic wet, does that sound pretty well balanced? Lastly, any thoughts on whether the Sensitive Stomach is that much gentler on the system than the Oral Care? The ingredients in the Oral Care look marginally better. Normally I wouldn't feed the cats Hill's, but I'm trying to keep continuity in case Snow decides to have a snack.
Sorry this is so long...I'm about to lose my mind with this. I dream about dry matter analysis and guaranteed analysis, etc.
Snow - CRF
Whisper - a little chunky
Chenille - either has hairball issues or food issues
Muzby - he's just spoiled
Pippy - stomatitis
Star - no issues that I'm aware of
We have Snow on Hill's k/d, wet and dry and he's doing so well that we (us and our vet) are considering backing off on the fluids and stepping up the wet food some. Chenille tends to vomit, sometimes there's a hairball, usually it's very soon after she's eaten, kibbles are pretty much intact. We are going to keep Snow on the k/d, not my first choice for ingredients but it ain't broke so I'm not going to try to fix it. Everyone else was on Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea dry. Initially, we needed a limited ingredient for Snow, he's part Manx with no tail (which I've come to learn has an impact on the muscles back there). His poops had issues and when that happened he would leave evidence wherever he sat in the house (ick!). The limited ingredient made a huge difference. Then in April he was diagnosed with CRF. In order to attend to him, I added Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea Wet to the diet of the other cats so they would be busy while I was doing fluids. That's right about the time Whisper started getting what my husband called her 'winter coat'. I've never seen a winter coat that looks like a football in the stomach...but I digress.
So...in an effort to simplify my life I am trying to find a food for the other cats that won't hurt Snow if he sneaks some and that Pippy can eat. I tried mixing in Hill's Oral Care dry with the NB Duck & Pea and, knock on wood, Chenille hasn't thrown up since, or yet. The phosphorus levels in the Hill's Oral Care and Hill's Sensitive Stomach are pretty low (low 70s) and the By Nature Organic is grain-free (rumored to help with stomatitis)and fairly low phosphorus. So if I feed Snow the k/d, Pippy the By Nature Organic wet (with Cod Liver Oil and Lactoferrin), and the rest of clan Hill's Oral or SS supplementing with By Nature Organic wet, does that sound pretty well balanced? Lastly, any thoughts on whether the Sensitive Stomach is that much gentler on the system than the Oral Care? The ingredients in the Oral Care look marginally better. Normally I wouldn't feed the cats Hill's, but I'm trying to keep continuity in case Snow decides to have a snack.
Sorry this is so long...I'm about to lose my mind with this. I dream about dry matter analysis and guaranteed analysis, etc.