Dry cat food warning!

raintyger

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After this whole experience I have done a lot of reading and learned quite a lot that I did not know about my kitties. (They are my first cats as well, I grew up with dogs, but I am totally a cat lover now!) I love my babies and honestly if I could afford a grinder and the items needed to make my own healthy homemade cat food I would, but oh my gosh I looked into it and it is such a process, not to mention expensive for a high quality grinder! But still I am definitely going to look into at least getting my babies on a healthier and well balanced diet. I think Kino, my orange tabby, could afford to lose some weight too which I hope this new diet will help with since he'll be getting more nutrients from it and will be eating less and feeling fuller.
You do not need a grinder to do raw. You can purchase what is called a premix, put chicken meat and skin into a food processor along with the premix, and viola, raw cat food! The premix of course adds expense, but it makes it easy and removes the grinder requirement. You can also feed frankenprey style and not have to use a grinder.

Here are some premixes:

http://tcfeline.com/

http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/alnutrin_supplements.html
 

pasithea

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Oh nice! Thank you for the information. I have always wanted to go raw for my cats since it is just so much better for them. My calico is about 2 years old and my orange tabby is about 1. I like the idea of getting them on super healthy diets and getting them plenty of play exercise and keeping them healthy, happy and strong for hopefully a very long time.
 

raintyger

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Oh nice! Thank you for the information. I have always wanted to go raw for my cats since it is just so much better for them. My calico is about 2 years old and my orange tabby is about 1. I like the idea of getting them on super healthy diets and getting them plenty of play exercise and keeping them healthy, happy and strong for hopefully a very long time.
You're welcome! TCFeline has a trial size package, a good way to see if your kitties will take to raw without putting out a lot of $ or time educating yourself.
 

pasithea

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You're welcome! TCFeline has a trial size package, a good way to see if your kitties will take to raw without putting out a lot of $ or time educating yourself.
I just bought a trial size package. I am going to start making some raw food and see how the transition process goes. Hopefully I can get my orange tabby to enjoy raw as much as I am sure my calico will.
 
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gusmom

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Right on! We live and learn, right? I mean i have had cats my whole life and yet i had no idea. My Gus is also fascinated with running, or rather dripping water. The surgery was expensive, both in pain and monetary amounts. I think getting them on wet first is a good idea. I saw a tip of adding just a wee amount of water to wet....Gus has been enjoying petco's in house brand..,point is, you are doing great! Spread the word! Let's save some cats! Thanks for posting, it is encouraging to know the word is getting out there! Best of luck, keep on keeping on.
 
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gusmom

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Anyone have any experience with the suppliments that support kidney function? Are they a good idea? I saw one advertised on the side bar here, reviews were really glowing, but....i wanted to hear from people i trust. Thank you.
 

peaches08

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Anyone have any experience with the suppliments that support kidney function? Are they a good idea? I saw one advertised on the side bar here, reviews were really glowing, but....i wanted to hear from people i trust. Thank you.
I guess it depends on what is going on with the cat and what the supplement is supposed to do.  Adding more water to food is a great idea.
 

oneandahalfcats

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Just thought I would chime in here with a different experience and perspective plus some additional information ...

Up until last October 2013, two of my cats had been on an all dry kibble diet since we adopted them in 2006. I had no reason to believe they were on anything but dry before that time as we adopted them as young cats, however, the shelter we adopted them from also serves wet canned food so they were likely getting some of this. The decision to stop the all-dry diet was to deal with an issue of constipation in one of my cats. Plus, I wanted to feed a more appropriate diet. Since October of last year, my cats have been receiving mostly high protein, wet canned food with a small bit of dry in the afternoon. Recently, I have been replacing this last bit of dry with more wet canned.

In all of the time leading up to last October, neither of my adopted cats have ever had an issue with crystals, and it is my belief that this was due to both of them being good drinkers. Not excessive mind you, but regular water drinkers. I have had my male cat's urine tested in the past and this has always been clear. We took in a stray (Thomas) in 2012 and very recently he was found to have crystals in his urine. He was NOT blocked however, in pain or having ANY difficulties in urinating. It was just by chance that the crystals were found through a routine urinalysis. The point here is that cats can develop crystals in ANY urine PH and not have any symptoms. Thomas' PH was 7.0 which is the point where crystals typically start to form, but he could have had them for some time before this. Some cats are just predisposed to crystals.

While I don't advocate for a dry food diet, there are other causes for crystals besides dry food. A diet too high in phosphorus, stress, too many carbohydrates than can turn urine alkaline. If dry food were the sole cause of crystals, every cat on dry food would develop them and this is just not the case. Cats can conceivably develop crystals on a wet canned diet when the food contains too many carbs. So, when switching to a wet canned diet, its important to look at the carb content as well as protein, to ensure that carbs are minimal. The other important factor here is to make routine urinalysis part of the checkup each year, whether a cat has had problems with crystals or not, especially male cats. You would be surprised at how many cats are walking around with crystals in their urine, and you wouldn't know it because often times there are no symptoms.

@Gusmom: I was sorry to read about the PU surgery. Glad to hear that he is on the mend and doing well. You asked about supplementation for Gus - There are special probiotics that can help to support kidney function such as Azodyl. Here is an article that discusses CKD where Azodyl is mentioned : http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/08/06/kidney-disease-in-cats.aspx. Before considering any additional supplements, I would discuss this with your vet to determine if this is appropriate.
 

newkittyowner

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I am so sorry your cat had to go through this. I am working on giving my two who turn one in April less kibbles and more wet. However I might have run into a problem with one as she doesn't like as much wet as the other. Good luck with your furry baby!
 
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gusmom

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Thank you all for your concern. One step forward, one and a half back with Gus. Sad.
 

teddytimble

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I was told a long time ago that although some dry cat food is okay, apparently it helps clean a cats teeth but the cat must always have water to drink.

If male cats have too much dry cat food it can form "crystals" in their "plumbing" if you see what I mean and cause them blockages.  I only ever leave my cat some dry food to nibble on if she wants a snack in the daytime and she always has a bowl of clean water to drink if she wants it, but she is mainly fed on wet food.  I don't know if some of the more expensive brands of dry cat food are any better than the cheap ones?
Thank you all for your concern. One step forward, one and a half back with Gus. Sad.
 
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gusmom

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Finally bright day for gus. He broke out of his upstairs sick rooms and came down acting quite like his old self. Yep, i cried, out of sheer joy. His e collar and stiches come out tuesday. He has adapted to wet food. I pretty much read everything, bought one or two of every kind and some he likes, others not so much, although i can't figure out why. Don't care really. As long as he continues on wet. And continues to heal. Anyone who has been through p.u. Surgery will atest: the pain and the recovery are brutal. If by not feeding him kibble ever again is the price to pay for giving him a chance to never blocked again, so be it! It is a small price to pay. Please continue to pass the word and consider the horror of this all on our poor cats. It just so is not worth the risk. Blockage and p.u. surgery are truly horrible. It continues to haunt me that what i fed my cat may have, and more than likely did,contribute to his blockage.
 
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gusmom

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Ps what really made sense to me, in all my reading, was hearing over and over: cats in the wild never ever eat kibble! They survive very well for kazillion years on whatever they catch! They do not have a thrist drive....the wet of blood and organs provides them with fluid. Makes perfect sense to me!
 

cannegardner

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Agree with oneandahalf cats here. They can and do block on canned food even the expensive no grain varieties. Carbs and mineral content are the most common issues. That's what happened to my Moon. He will not eat canned food now. We switched him to Young Again mature and he's been problem free for two years and his last urine sample was perfect according to the vet. It's similar to the prescription diets only with more meat and very low carbs. He also eats less and lost the weight he put on from the high carb prescription food.
 

peer jones

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All our cats drink water even Pauli now she's gotten bigger. But, sometimes they want ice in it and other times it must be ambient temperature.

We have filter on fridge and I frequently add a few ounce of water to 'wet' food (it dries out real quick is Florida 'winter' )

I don't know for certain but I'm pretty sure filtered water will help remove any mineral build up in bladder (I refuse to drink the tap water and don't see why I should force cats to drink it with the high chlorine content)

They all seem happy enough and check ups haven't found anything strange so I guess indulging them is working?
 

peer jones

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Ps what really made sense to me, in all my reading, was hearing over and over: cats in the wild never ever eat kibble! They survive very well for kazillion years on whatever they catch! They do not have a thrist drive....the wet of blood and organs provides them with fluid. Makes perfect sense to me!
They don't live very long though, I read somewhere 4~5 yrs on average, often much less

Our cats spend a lot of time outdoors, I'm not expecting them to get to 18~20, but, they 'do thier thing' and are pretty happy to 'visit ' (although Kat-Kat did dissapear for 6 days earlier this year - came back looking fit and 'talking' to us)
 
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gusmom

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Just thought I would chime in here with a different experience and perspective plus some additional information ...

Up until last October 2013, two of my cats had been on an all dry kibble diet since we adopted them in 2006. I had no reason to believe they were on anything but dry before that time as we adopted them as young cats, however, the shelter we adopted them from also serves wet canned food so they were likely getting some of this. The decision to stop the all-dry diet was to deal with an issue of constipation in one of my cats. Plus, I wanted to feed a more appropriate diet. Since October of last year, my cats have been receiving mostly high protein, wet canned food with a small bit of dry in the afternoon. Recently, I have been replacing this last bit of dry with more wet canned.

In all of the time leading up to last October, neither of my adopted cats have ever had an issue with crystals, and it is my belief that this was due to both of them being good drinkers. Not excessive mind you, but regular water drinkers. I have had my male cat's urine tested in the past and this has always been clear. We took in a stray (Thomas) in 2012 and very recently he was found to have crystals in his urine. He was NOT blocked however, in pain or having ANY difficulties in urinating. It was just by chance that the crystals were found through a routine urinalysis. The point here is that cats can develop crystals in ANY urine PH and not have any symptoms. Thomas' PH was 7.0 which is the point where crystals typically start to form, but he could have had them for some time before this. Some cats are just predisposed to crystals.

While I don't advocate for a dry food diet, there are other causes for crystals besides dry food. A diet too high in phosphorus, stress, too many carbohydrates than can turn urine alkaline. If dry food were the sole cause of crystals, every cat on dry food would develop them and this is just not the case. Cats can conceivably develop crystals on a wet canned diet when the food contains too many carbs. So, when switching to a wet canned diet, its important to look at the carb content as well as protein, to ensure that carbs are minimal. The other important factor here is to make routine urinalysis part of the checkup each year, whether a cat has had problems with crystals or not, especially male cats. You would be surprised at how many cats are walking around with crystals in their urine, and you wouldn't know it because often times there are no symptoms.

@Gusmom
: I was sorry to read about the PU surgery. Glad to hear that he is on the mend and doing well. You asked about supplementation for Gus - There are special probiotics that can help to support kidney function such as Azodyl. Here is an article that discusses CKD where Azodyl is mentioned : http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/08/06/kidney-disease-in-cats.aspx. Before considering any additional supplements, I would discuss this with your vet to determine if this is appropriate.
Thank you for this info! Yes, i will check with vetre: supplements. Gus never had a sick day before all this. I am hopeful it was a one time incident, but i will continue to feed him wet as now he really enjoys it. Many cats do well on dry. for Gus, i am going to do everything i can to avoid another incident. I feel like it was the kibble, mothers intuition?. The carb content is good info for me, trying to learn all i can...thank you again! All good to know!
 
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gusmom

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They don't live very long though, I read somewhere 4~5 yrs on average, often much less
Our cats spend a lot of time outdoors, I'm not expecting them to get to 18~20, but, they 'do thier thing' and are pretty happy to 'visit ' (although Kat-Kat did dissapear for 6 days earlier this year - came back looking fit and 'talking' to us)
I know life is short for the wild cats...sad! Poor kitties. Love your "visiting" cats! So cute! I guess i meant: if they follow their natural instincts, dry food is not what they choose....oh kit-kat...i wonder what kit kat had to say upon return? Lol. If only we all spoke cat.....
 

clarasbows1

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I hope Gus is feeling better now. So much to learn. We have outside cats as well. They "adopted" us. I always make sure they have plenty of fresh water and good food.
 
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