Can food or Kibble?

maewkaew said:

 The most common causes for a cat to lose weight and drink / pee more than used to are kidney disease , diabetes and hyperthyroidism.   These are all treatable,  and in fact diabetic cats often go into a sort of remission if the cat is put on a very low carb diet  and a long-acting insulin for a while to keep their blood glucose under control so their pancreas can start to heal.   then they can just be kept on the low carb diet and stop the insulin.
  
 Yeah I agree, it is a good idea to take him for a vet exam with a senior cat lab panel  just to check and find if something is going on,  because  if he does have some health problem it is best to catch it before it gets worse.

I learned a lot from Dr. Pierson's site catinfo.org that has already been linked.

Re the cat carrier fear,   I just leave a cat carrier out all the time with a blanket in it,  so they see it more as a comfy little den   and don't only associate it with the vet.   ( actually the crazy cats  i have now love going to the vet!  More people to give them attention!  But this  also helped when i had a shyer rescue cat who did NOT like going to the vet.) 

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This.

And IrinaSaK's advice about timed meals is spot on too. Especially if you have to use insulin for a while.

Thanks all. I think Munchkin must have read my posts last night! I got up this morning and went to feed the cats. My husband had already let three of them outside. As soon as I opened the door to call them Munchkin bolted! This is a cat that goes out maybe twice a week for 5 or 10 minutes. He didn't reappear until late this evening. At that point it was too late to take him. He never does that. I didn't even have the carrier out yet.
I can't believe the difference in the ingredients between the dry food and the wet food. Thanks for listing them IrinaSaK. That's a little scary to think they've been eating all that crap for so long. I guess I'll have to change their diet and put them on a schedule for their own good. I'm not an early morning person, so they usually get their wet food around 10:00am and again at 6:00 or 7:00pm. I need to figure out some kind of scheduled times to feed them. They are so going to hate me! Maewkaew,, that is strange that they like going to the vet! All of mine hate going. I've got one cat, Bubba, that's not the brightest bulb in the house. He raised Cain when he had to go, but got in the carrier later that same day! I do think there's a chance Munchkin has something wrong with his thyroid, possibly kidneys too. One of my friends had a cat with thyroid problems. He lost so much weight he looked like a skeleton. The vet put him on some kind of meds and special can food. He gained a little back, but not much. Can a cat just develop diabetes? Aren't they born with it, or shouldn't they get it before they get that old?

Peaches08, I meant to ask if diabetes has anything to do with the weight loss. Accidentally hit reply before I was finished!

Here's a picture of Munchkin. It's so hard to get a good one. If he doesn't have his eyes open he just looks like a rug or stuffed animal! He only has one tiny white spot right below his neck, on the chest.

Roxie said:

Peaches08, I meant to ask if diabetes has anything to do with the weight loss. Accidentally hit reply before I was finished!

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Yes, it can.

As far as diabetes, most cats are diagnosed as type 2 diabetics and it's not something that they are born with in general. It develops later on, often due to high carbs but sometimes not.

Did anyone respond to your question regarding Greenies? I have 2 adult cats and one 7mth old kitten and they all LOVE greenies! My 5yr old is addicted to them. she sits by the cabinet door, where I keep them and waits for them at least 3 times a day. After reading your post, im nervous. Is Munchkin feeling better?

www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/greenies.

NO MORE GREENIEs

I love   Halo spotsstew chicken in kibble form, the can makes me vomit,  It's all my mom lets me eat.  My vet  saw the packing and said it is perfect for me.  I need Lots of water available all the time no matter what I eat.  Water is good for all of us.  I don't barf any more  after eating like I did with other cat foods(canned or dry) 

minniesunshine said:

Did anyone respond to your question regarding Greenies? I have 2 adult cats and one 7mth old kitten and they all LOVE greenies! My 5yr old is addicted to them. she sits by the cabinet door, where I keep them and waits for them at least 3 times a day. After reading your post, im nervous. Is Munchkin feeling better?

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He's been eating a little better. I'm going to do some research on the greenies since it keeps popping up in other posts. Munchkin is the one that lives the greenies!

Wow!  Seven cats.  Off the subject I know, but many thanks for taking in all those furry critters!

 I feed my cat mainly dry food because she simply just won't eat most of the wet food I give her and I can't force her to eat what she won't eat. She drinks PLENTY of water too and is very healthy. I had another cat that ate all dry food and she lived to 14 and never once had any health problems. So many people go on about "how awful" dry food is for cats but not all cats are the same or react the same. Many cats do completely fine on dry food and don't have any problems. Just make sure to get good quality food that doesn't have all those cheap fillers in it which even a lot of the expensive brands have but people don't realize. It just bothers me when some people act like if your cat eats mostly dry food then your cat is definitely going to have some sort heath problem or what not and that simply is not true.

Katie Vance said:

 
 I feed my cat mainly dry food because she simply just won't eat most of the wet food I give her and I can't force her to eat what she won't eat. She drinks PLENTY of water too and is very healthy. I had another cat that ate all dry food and she lived to 14 and never once had any health problems. So many people go on about "how awful" dry food is for cats but not all cats are the same or react the same. Many cats do completely fine on dry food and don't have any problems. Just make sure to get good quality food that doesn't have all those cheap fillers in it which even a lot of the expensive brands have but people don't realize. It just bothers me when some people act like if your cat eats mostly dry food then your cat is definitely going to have some sort heath problem or what not and that simply is not true.

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I can relate to your comments. My cat is now 16 years old. He was a kibble addict for 15 years and he never had any health problems from eating dry kibble.

When he reached the age of 12, my female vet really wanted me to switch him to wet canned cat food. It took me 4 years of trying every good brand of wet canned cat food to finally find a brand he would like based on my vet's critera for him. The criteria: Meat, no grain, no veges, no gluten, no soy, no fruits, etc.

Many times I wanted to give up because my cat just turned his nose up at any good wet canned cat food and walked away. Even putting toppers on wet food didn't work. He wanted his kibble and would always wait me out. But, I knew he was getting older and eventually, the dry kibble was going to eventually cause him a problem so I kept buying one can of wet canned cat food for "taste tests" and hoped I'd find a brand he'd eat. So I kept on my mission for him.

When he was turning 16, I found Nutro Natural Choice which met my vets criteria for a wet canned cat food and which he likes. He's been on NCC since this past June when he turned 16 and he's lost 3/4 of pound of weight, he's not sleeping as much as when he was on dry kibble, running around in the house more, perching himself on the top of the couch which he hasn't done in 3 years and finally, getting into anything and everything like when he was much younger.

It's great seeing him as active as he is now at his present age and I'm very glad I didn't give up the wet canned food "hunt" for him.

DrBobCat, thank you. I'm not sure who helps each other the most! They help me relax and I love them dearly.

Katie Vance, Munchkin is 14 and has ate a combination of wet/dry food his whole life. It wasn't the expensive kind either! He's been healthy until recently. I am going to start buying the better dry food that doesn't have all the fillers in it. He doesn't eat as much wet food now as he used to, but all my cats drink plenty of water. You're right, you can't make them eat something they don't like!

Night Wing, I'll have to try that Nutro Natural Choice wet food. The only can food he will eat is 9-lives tuna, egg and cheese. It would be good for him to have another choice.

Roxie,

The Nutro Natural Choice comes in minced, sliced, soft loaf and chunky loaf textures. The loaf is basically pate. As much as my cat loves the minced and sliced textures, he won't have anything to do with their loaf textures. You can purchase NCC at Petsmart and Petco. I usually go to Petsmart.

http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food/natural-choice-cat-food.aspx

My cats won't eat any pate except for the 9-lives tuna, egg and cheese. Maybe because it's tuna. I'll try the minced and sliced. Thank you.