from no grain to senior food.

I don't know if this is a stupid question or not but I feed Tessie Evo dry now but can I still feed her this when she is a Senior or do I need to switch her to a senior formula?
Thanks,

Tessie has a few years before I would suggest a food change... If you are concerned it would be a good time to get a baseline bloodwork done to ensure all organs are functioning normally

Ya, I was just wondering. I know it wont be a few years until she is a "senior" .

I still feed one of mine no grain at 15, his bloodwork is still ok and he likes it, we talked about changing a few years back but decided that as they are fussy about eating different foods (Autumn is underweight but won't eat until she watches all of the others eat first, especially the older one) that as long as his panels come back ok he can stay on it

So what is the difference between Adult, Senior and no-grain anyways? Well I realize no-grain has no grains but why when they turn senior could this be bad for them?

Most no-grain foods are all life stages, and can be fed to seniors. If you think of their natual foods in the wild, they don't suddenly start eating different foods at 7-8 years old.

Most senior foods are lower in calories and protein and generally higher in carbs so they still feel full on less calories

However, many no grain foods are quite rich and the increased nutrients may tax their organs too much (they just dont work as hard when older) so some vets will advise against feeding them to seniors. As I mentioned, as long as mine have ok senior panels, my vet is fine with me feeding it

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Most no-grain foods are all life stages, and can be fed to seniors. If you think of their natual foods in the wild, they don't suddenly start eating different foods at 7-8 years old.

Most senior foods are lower in calories and protein and generally higher in carbs so they still feel full on less calories

However, many no grain foods are quite rich and the increased nutrients may tax their organs too much (they just dont work as hard when older) so some vets will advise against feeding them to seniors. As I mentioned, as long as mine have ok senior panels, my vet is fine with me feeding it

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Most No grains are all life stages.... there are a number that the % IMHO follow general guidelines for senior( ie they are 35% protein vs 50% protein)...

IMHO I agree with the above vet, if blood work is fine and NO uti s are showing up then the Dry protein may not be as taxing to the organs... NO grains Contain the same nutrients just slightly different % of minerals normally with more protein (normally they have higher protein and fat but the latest generation are far closer in macro nutrients than the first ones on the market)

Senior cats just like senior humans cannot digest as they once did.

Personally my vet and I agreed that about age 10 is time for either all wet/ raw or a grain containing dry ...

What if the diet for a senior consisted of an all grain-free wet, no dry at all. Would grain-free wet be ok for a senior kitty?

Originally Posted by fisheater

What if the diet for a senior consisted of an all grain-free wet, no dry at all. Would grain-free wet be ok for a senior kitty?

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IMHO I would be doing the happy happy dance... that is IMHO very close to perfect

Its still higher in protein which can be hard on their organs, it really depends on the cat but certainly much better than a dry food

Sharky - so since EVO has 50% Protein, It may be to high for a senior cat?

You are all helping get more knowledge on this, thanks!

Yeah high protein can be taxing on their organs. The only way to really know is to get a senior panel done once a year. Tessie still not a senior, would recommend the first one at 7 years. If you can afford it I highly recommend it... and ask the vet what he thinks about senior formula for your cat. A vet will be able to give you the best answer, it will depend the cat and how their organs are aging. Just like humans no cat ages the same here is my stories of my two seniors:

I have one CRF cat, she was diagnosed at the at of age 17, she is now 18! Before this happened, we had panels done every two years on her and EG (could only afford it every 2 years because there is two of them... I know it's bad but at least we got it done!) and a vet suggested we switch her to a senior formula when she was 11 because he said something like "her organs are aging and it will be easier on them". So we switched her at that age to senior foods... but he really didn't give any medical reasons at the time. Looking back at her old 11 year panel she had slightly elevated bun at the time, but everything else was fine. Looking at panels coming from years after they were completely healthy until her crash last year at 17. These days shes fighting CRF but we do fluids and senior foods with low ph as she simply refuses to eat k/d. Its not the best treatment(k/d would be better), but she is still active purring and cuddling so what can I say?

My other senior kitty is on a no-grain formula and his last panel, since the food change was completely fine. He is 13, I slowly switched his food after joining TCS and researching foods for my CRF kitty. He was on senior formula before but after talking with my vet he thought EG would do good on no-grain and so far all has been well!

No cat ages the same!

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Its still higher in protein which can be hard on their organs, it really depends on the cat but certainly much better than a dry food

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Most grain free canned is = to kitten in protein ... ie not usually a amount that = taxing unless the cat is borderline... The moisture aid s in about 25% more digestibility

Originally Posted by sharky

IMHO I would be doing the happy happy dance... that is IMHO very close to perfect

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Wow, really? Don't mean to thread-crash...but I feed grain free both, but I don't think Tigger really eats that much of the hard food. She eats at least 1 1/2 cans of wet food a day - Wellness, usually...at this point I'm kinda just feeding her what she will eat...

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Wow, really? Don't mean to thread-crash...but I feed grain free both, but I don't think Tigger really eats that much of the hard food. She eats at least 1 1/2 cans of wet food a day - Wellness, usually...at this point I'm kinda just feeding her what she will eat...

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You know my philosophy the best food is the one Eaten that you and kitty can agree on ... If you want to talk about Tigger pm me ...

Originally Posted by sharky

Most grain free canned is = to kitten in protein ... ie not usually a amount that = taxing unless the cat is borderline... The moisture aid s in about 25% more digestibility

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As I said, it depends on the cat, thats why you need blood work feeding it to seniors

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

As I said, it depends on the cat, thats why you need blood work feeding it to seniors

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As one who actually found raw to lower a CRF values... YES on the blood work but canned is closer to raw than dry... You can pm me if you want the low down of different foods and protein bio availability and digestibility

I have plenty of experience with it myself feeding Scully, as I mentioned, its much better than dry but still higher protein and you need to watch it if your cat has abnormals panel results, not everyone will have the same results with any food and I think its always better to at least discuss with the vet after a panel result.

Not all people have as much experience with foods, nor take their cat to the vet as others and I don't think a food that could be harmful to older cats should be generally recommended without following up with the bloodwork etc

My senior cat is on Orijen and Wellness canned (the grain free versions) and her bloodwork is great.
Personally with my dogs, I found that they actually needed HIGHER protein levels and more calories as they got older and I ended up switching both of my dogs to grain free diets as seniors with my vet's recommendation. (I haven't noticed the same with my cat but she was already on grain free.)

Originally Posted by LisaR

Yeah high protein can be taxing on their organs. The only way to really know is to get a senior panel done once a year. Tessie still not a senior, would recommend the first one at 7 years. If you can afford it I highly recommend it... and ask the vet what he thinks about senior formula for your cat. A vet will be able to give you the best answer, it will depend the cat and how their organs are aging.

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Newer research has been showing that a low protein diet does not prevent or slow the progression of CRF and that a diet higher in protein is not the issue but rather the issues is with the level of phosphorus. There are certain health conditions that do require a lower protein diet, but the recommendations for senior pets and CRF are starting to change. Many of the newer senior formulas are not low protein and high grain as they used to be.

More info can be found here:
http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-kidney-disease.htm
http://www.holisticat.com/crf/Diet-w...in-issues.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200703312...alFunction.pdf
http://web.archive.org/web/200703312...alFunction.pdf
http://web.archive.org/web/200703312...alFunction.pdf
http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidneyprotein.html

The studies are interesting indeed. As far as illnesses go treatments are only bound to change with time. This was simply my experience and treatments changing is only more reason to seek the help of a vet when it comes to seniors.

Keep in mind that recommendation to change her food to senior happen 7 years ago now. I was merely trying to stress the importance of a senior panel.