Got new prescription food, curious about quantities

So, my cats, Doll and Yue, have decided they hate each other this summer.  Feliway has barely helped, and I think they're scared of my ex-boyfriend/roommate (hiss whenever he comes near.  When he's sleeping or on the couch, sometimes they'll come and cuddle, but not when he gets up or anything.  He is moving out shortly).  

I took them to the vet about two months ago, just to make sure neither of them were sick, and then when it seemed to get worse (at first Doll wouldn't come out from under the bed and I had to feed her in the bedroom, now Yue won't come out from under the bed and I have to feed her in the bedroom.  They'll both snuggle with me at night with minimal hissing), so I phoned the vet again just to see if maybe I should bring them both in again or not.

Now, about two years ago, Yue got an intestinal blockage made up of poop.  She needed surgery to remove it.  Eight months later, she got another intestinal blockage, which was able to be removed by an overnight stay at the vet and laxitives.  After that, I switched them from their grain-free dry food diet to raw.  Yue's been fine ever since.  

Anyway, when I called the vet, she told me to try out this perscription calming pet food.  I'm not sure what exactly it is, but I guess it's supposed to do the same as feliway, just... they eat it instead, or something.  

I went to pick it up today, but I've tried perscription pet food before with my girls, and neither one of them would so much as touch it, so I didn't have very high hopes.  But nope, they love this food.  It's a dry food, so the vet gave me some laxitive powder in case Yue seems to be having trouble with it.  

ANYWAY!  Here comes the question.  I don't want to overfeed my cats.  Yue I think has a really slow metabolism (her and Doll eat about the same amount, and Yue's a little on the chubby side, whereas Doll's thinner).  They both eat about 4 oz of raw a day.  How's the best way to figure out how much raw to cut out, and how much dry to feed them in between.  I do know I should wait about an hour between feeding them raw and feeding them dry (That's correct, right?), but I can't figure out what kind of quantities to be feeding them. 

I'm a little confused--confusion comes easily to me!

Are both your cats on raw (yeah!)  And as I understand it, Yue hasn't blocked since.

Can you give us the exact name of the prescription calming pet dry  food.  I've never heard of such a thing:  calming TREATS, yes, but not food.  Is the stress/hiding problems overiding the blockage potential in your vets opinion, kind of surprised your vet prescribed a dry food knowing Yue's history?

There are other calming agents that might better--Feliway is a hit or miss with some cats.  Have you tried Bach's Rescue Remedy or L-THEANINE.  You can mix both in some baby food or on top of the raw food.  Ritz doesn't like the taste of l-theanine as much as she likes the other supplements like probiotics, so babyfood is my go-to food when I need to give her supplements or Rx.

You were perspective in that cats hiding can be a sign of illness.  So glad you got that checked out.  And (no offense), I'm glad your x-boyfriend is moving out; he may be contributing to the stressfull environment.  But can you think of ANYTHING that changed between Yue and Doll?

In so far as your question, as little as possible:  is there a calorie content on the Rx bag?

Yep, Doll and Yue are both on raw, and both of them will be eating the calming food.  I like to give them both the same foods because I hate needing to lock one or the other up so they can eat seperately and not get into each other's dishes if they were fed differently. 

The front of the bag is Medi*Cal Calm.  Royal Canin: Veterinary Diet.  I'm not sure whether Medi*Cal or Royal Canin is the brand.

I guess the vet didn't really know much about Yue's history (she just saw it was a hard  blockage, but I guess there wasn't any notes indicating that it was because she had been constipated).  When I told her, she also perscribed me a powdered laxitive I can mix in with the food.  I had asked if it came in wet food form, but she said it didn't. 

The calming ingredients in the food are apparently a hydrolyzed milk protein and tryptophan, the latter of which my friend says I can get from the store, so it may be worth looking into just mixing those ingredients with their food (also my friend's advice), assuming anyone can advise for or against that particular course of action. 

Nothing has really changed.  It started about a month or two after he had moved in, so that might have something to do with it (though Doll always disliked him, and Yue always loved him.  Now both seem to be stressed about him, but Doll less so).  The vet did point out that I was having these agression issues with them two summers ago at around the same time (I had taken them in then, too), so it might just be that it's something outside/the air or whatever that's bothering them. 

Bag says it's 349 kcal/cup. 

Royal Canin is the brand.  I can't find the ingredients, so I don't know how much "real" meat/protein it contains.  Hopefully someone will come along and guide you as to how much of the dry food you could give your cat.  Personally, I'd try herbal remedies like Bach's rescue remedy.  I believe turkey has a fair amount (relatively speaking) of tryptophan.

I feed raw and Ritz is a skittish cat; she is easily startled.  I am trying L-theanine (not sure it's helping) and will be trying some homeopathic remedies for this and other issues she is having.

Oh!  I actually just bought some new raw turkey (my health pet food store just got a new brand, so I figured I'd try it out and see how they like it).  It's only enough for two days, but maybe if they like it, I'll start feeding them more of it if you think it'll help.   As for ingredients, I can type them up:

Chicken meal, Corn, Brewer's Rice, Wheat Gluten, Corn Cluten Meal, Wheat, Natural Flavour, Powdered cellulose, dried beet pulp, chicken fat, fish oil, calcium sulphate, salt, potassium chloride, DL-Methionine, Vegetable poil, Fructo-Oligosaccharides,taurine, ground psyllium husk, choline chloride, vitamins [DL-Alpha-tocopherol (source of vitamin E), inositol, niacin, L-Ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), D-Calcium Pantothenate, biotin, pyridoxine, hydrochloride (vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), vitamin A Acetate, Folic acid, vitamin B12, supplement and vitamin D3 suppliment], L-Lysine, Dried hydrolyzed casein, L-Tyrptophane, Trace minerals (zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate and sodium selenite), L-Carnitine and rosemary.  Naturally perseverd with mixed tocopherols and citric acid

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So, basically a lot of stuff I'd rather not feed my cats.  I hate reading the ingredients of perscription foods, because even though I know they're probably not really bad for my cats, I just can't look past all the wheat and gluten and... well... the fact that I can't pronounce half the stuff on that list. 

Honestly from the ingridients you are better off buying a herbal supplement Spirit essences are supposed to be very good and they have both a stress stopper and peace maker one http://store.jacksongalaxy.com/Spirit-Essences-Bestsellers-s/1850.htm . You could also buy several treats on the market that have similar ingridients to the food. I personally would not risk your cats intestinal health by feeding them that kind of food because the fact that she has not had any issues since starting raw points to the conclusion she has food intolerancies. If it were me I would return the food because the food is totally species inappropriate and would most likely cause some issues for cats with stomach issues. I also worry about giving laxatives long term if you do not need to. In humans long term laxative use can lead to incontinence and a host of digestive problems and I would assume this would be the same in cats. It is kind of like a person taking laxatives so they can eat fast food instead of eating a healthy diet IMO.

Honestly, other than possibly the tryptophan, I don't see how this is a "calming food." Between the terrible ingredients and the fact that it's dry (all of which may be an issue for Yue), I wouldn't feed this to my cat. If you find that it works somehow, you can add tryptophan on your own to their raw food. I agree with Ritz that there are better calming products out there.

Thanks so much, everyone!  I really wasn't sure since I assumed that perscription food wouldn't be too bad, despite my instincts looking at the ingredients, but I'll definitely get some suppliments to mix in with their raw food and return the dry food once I have them.   =)

OMG, that is some baaadddd dry food.  Agree with Franksmom, etc.