Best Food and Treats

One of my cats just passed away last saturday after complications with Urinary Blockage which caused his kidney to fail and he had diabetes we didn't know about. His sister is alot smaller than he was but now I'm worried for her since they are littermates that she'll get this too. What is the best food I can give her to ensure a healthy and long life? Is dry or wet food better? She has a fountain to make sure she gets plenty of water but i guess it wasn't enough because my other kitty is no longer here. :-/ Any advice on this is greatly appreciated.

So sorry for your loss, I just lost one of mine yesterday and it is horrible to deal with. I also have other cats, I spoke to my vet about food changes.
I know vet food can be very costly, but they may be able to give you a inexpensive alternative.

vw032904 said:

One of my cats just passed away last saturday after complications with Urinary Blockage which caused his kidney to fail and he had diabetes we didn't know about. His sister is alot smaller than he was but now I'm worried for her since they are littermates that she'll get this too. What is the best food I can give her to ensure a healthy and long life? Is dry or wet food better? She has a fountain to make sure she gets plenty of water but i guess it wasn't enough because my other kitty is no longer here. :-/ Any advice on this is greatly appreciated.

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Sorry to hear this. Wet, meaty foods are much better for cats than dry. Dry is way too high in carbs which cats have no nutritional need for. In addition, it doesn't provide the moisture necessary to keep the system flushed out. Dry food can cause chronic mild dehydration which is hard on the kidneys. In addition, the unnecessary carbs can lead to obesity and diabetes. If you would like to learn more about feline nutrition and related health issues, please visit www.catinfo.org. Written by a vet, it also provides a very useful comparison chart of wet foods to help you make good food choices for your cat.

lorrainem said:

So sorry for your loss, I just lost one of mine yesterday and it is horrible to deal with. I also have other cats, I spoke to my vet about food changes.
I know vet food can be very costly, but they may be able to give you a inexpensive alternative.

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I think that vet prescribed foods are one of the biggest marketing scams out there. You can achieve the same goals with foods of your choice with much better ingredients and supplements as needed. Vets are not very versed on feline nutrition and for the most part only know what the pet food manufacturers tell them. Next time you speak with your vet about food, read the ingredient list of the food he/she is recommending together and ask exactly how those ingredients (usually with corn very high on the list) are supposed to help with any health issue.

If anyone would be able to recommend a food for my 2 cats (indoors) that would be great. We just lost one due to chronic constipation and cannot go through that same ordeal again. I have heard many times that wet food is much better than dry

It really depends on how much you're willing to spend and what's available to you. Cats tend to be a little more picky with some of the higher quality canned (no gravy and less smell). Some decent ones to try are By Nature Organics, Tiki Cat, EVO, Hound & Gatos, Nature's Variety Instinct, Wellness. Some lower priced options are Fancy Feast classic pates and Friskies pates. The catinfo site has a comparison site of different canned foods that will help you pick some to try and also explains what to look for (high animal protein from a named meat source/moderate fat/low to no carbs).

Thank you! I have heard that it is a good idea to look into a more raw food diet, by trying to imitate what they would eat in the wild.

lorrainem said:

Thank you! I have heard that it is a good idea to look into a more raw food diet, by trying to imitate what they would eat in the wild.

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Yes!  Raw is, indeed,the best bet, but many people are not willing to go that route. Both Vball and I feed raw, but I also keep canned on hand for those days when either someone is on a raw strike, or I simply am in such a hurry that it's not possibly to do a raw meal.  (I have one cat right now who has been on a raw strike now for about 30 days, but just today she actually had a couple of bites of her brothers turkey )  Anyway, what I keep on hand is By Nature Organic, Wellness, BG 96% Beef (or Chicken or whatever protein I feel like buying), Evo and Weruva.  Mine HATE Tiki and Nature's Variety Instinct

Thanks for all the great info! I am going to look into the raw diet for my 2 babies to see if it's the best option. I'm extremely nervous about one of them getting constipated (we just lost one from mega colon) so I'm hoping this will help preventing it