Cat with a very special diet

erros

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Mar 19, 2014
Messages
2
Purraise
1
I have four cats, all of them rescued strays. My last rescue was really more feral than stray. Anyway, shortly after moving her in, she started struggling in the litter box. Not wanting to take a cat that was so distrustful of humans to the vet immediately, I tried treating her constipation at home first. I started with feeding her pumpkin. When that didn't work, I started adding a little bit of Benefiber to her food. Still didn't work. Eventually went to the vet and discovered via x-rays that a little piece of her hip protrudes and blocks part of her colon. Since she had no luck with the added fiber, the vet said that from now on, she should get as little fiber as possible, and recommended that she only eat grain-free wet food in pate form only. She takes a stool softener before each meal, and I mix Miralax in her food. We've been doing this for almost a year now, and she's been doing great. However, the Wellness that I've been feeding her is absolutely breaking the bank. I cannot afford to keep feeding her such expensive food. I'm really struggling right now financially and it's making me sick to have to keep putting her food on the credit card. I've researched and researched for hours, but I'm not coming up with too much. What I'm looking for is something comparable to Wellness but that is cheaper. It needs to be a pate in 5.5 oz cans that consists mostly of protein without fiber. I'm beyond stressed out about this.
 

ritz

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
4,656
Purraise
282
Location
Annapolis, MD
First, bless you for taking in all these cats. We need more people like you.
Here is a thread that might help.
I fed raw (prey model raw), which could work out to be cheaper than Wellness. You can substitute egg shells for bone, and you can grind the food. RadCat has a texture similar to gravy style wet food; if I remember correctly, Natures Variety and Primal are more pate consistency. Ritz didn't care for the consistency of NV, but liked RadCat and Primal.
How about Fancy Feast Classic--it comes in pate and is very low in carbohydrates, though the cans are 3 oz. Why 5.5 oz; you can refrigerate the left overs.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

erros

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Mar 19, 2014
Messages
2
Purraise
1
Thanks for your response. I'm reluctant to try raw food because I'm actually a vegetarian and I am pretty disgusted by meat. I may be able to talk my boyfriend into feeding her if we decide that it's worth the effort, however. I'm definitely looking into the brands you mentioned, though. Thank you so much. Also, I really like the 5.5 oz. cans because it is so incredibly simple to feed her 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the evening. With the smaller cans, I would essentially have to feed her 2 cans a day instead of one, which I was afraid would turn out to be more expensive. I suppose it if is a much cheaper brand like Fancy Feast, it may work out to be cheaper still.
 

ritz

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
4,656
Purraise
282
Location
Annapolis, MD
There are several vegan/vegetarian members of The Cat Site who feed raw. Their thinking is: humans can live very well without eating meat; cats can't. They are obligate carnivores. Some members feed strictly what a cat would find in the wild, i.e., chicken, rabbits, mice. Still others feed what ever meat they can find, such as beef, llama, pork, deer.
With raw, because of the bioavailability of the food, cats don't poop as much. Ritz poops maybe three times a week, and small ones at that. She is somewhat prone to constipation, so I feed the low end of bone, and if I notice her stools become hard, I increase her fat content. As I mentioned, egg shells can be substituted, I believe they cause less constipation issues.
I'm not trying to persuade you to feed raw and I don't think raw is the ONLY way to feed cats--just throwing that out as an option.
Good luck, it's obvious you care deeply about your cat(s).
 

vball91

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
3,853
Purraise
252
Location
CO, USA
The 13 oz cans of brands like Nature's Variety Instinct and Hound & Gatos are definitely cheaper per ounce. There are 5.5 oz cans as well that you can try to see if your cat likes those brands. I would recommend mixing the Wellness into whatever foods you try to make them more familiar smelling/tasting to her at first.
 

oneandahalfcats

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 13, 2013
Messages
1,437
Purraise
179
The 13 oz cans of brands like Nature's Variety Instinct and Hound & Gatos are definitely cheaper per ounce. There are 5.5 oz cans as well that you can try to see if your cat likes those brands. I would recommend mixing the Wellness into whatever foods you try to make them more familiar smelling/tasting to her at first.
vball91, are you referring to the dog cans of 13oz NV? I haven't seen any of the feline NV cans in 13oz. Just the 5.5 and 3.0oz?
 

vball91

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
3,853
Purraise
252
Location
CO, USA
Yes, the NVI dog and cat canned foods are the same. I believe some of their raw foods are as well.
 

furmonster mom

Lap #2
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Messages
2,764
Purraise
3,959
Location
Mohave Desert
I'm a raw feeder as well, but I just had a thought....

I will sometimes freeze scraps in small portions on a bit of parchment paper (better than regular wax paper).

Would it be possible to buy whatever food you decide on in larger cans, then separate portions out into patties and freeze them?  It might be more economical, and sometimes every penny pinched makes a difference.
 

ritz

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
4,656
Purraise
282
Location
Annapolis, MD
Furmonster Mom has a good idea.
I'm a raw feeder and I use an ice cube tray to freeze portions of liver/kidney. Each cube holds roughly one ounce and defrost quickly. And you can stack ice cube trays, or once frozen, dump them into a ziplock type of bag for future use.
 
Top