Looking for Feeding Guidance!

[frazzfox]

Hi all. Looking for a bit of advice on a feeding regimen for our girl Kila.

I'd like to do a combination of wet food and dry food if possible, though I'm open to attempting to switch her to all-wet. For the first week she's been with us we've been feeding her Purina One Tender Selects Chicken dry food mixed with some I and Love and You wet food, various flavors. She had been on the Purina food at the rescue we got her from but I'd like to move her to something a bit more nutritious. She eats two meals a day, 12 hours apart. I've been measuring the food out since she's a bit heavy (13 lbs but we're working on it).

She had her first vet checkup today and the vet basically told us anything with real meat ingredients would work. She seemed to be against grain-free foods. She recommended Iams or Science Diet, but I'm skeptical. I'd like to see something with a better ingredient list, at the very least.

One of my friends recommended Natural Balance, but that food is grain free. A bit of online research shows there's conflicting evidence on whether that sort of diet can be harmful to pets. So much to consider (and worry about)!

One further thing to take into consideration: our girl may be at higher risk for kidney and liver problems, having had antifreeze poisoning as a kitten while she was feral. Unfortunately I don't know the extent of her poisoning but the vet did let us know that she could have lasting damage and complications as she gets older. We'll be doing a blood panel for her at next year's annual checkup to ensure her levels are stable, but as of now she has no symptoms and seems perfectly happy. I know that too high of a protein level can be hard on a cat's kidneys and a lot of the more premium brands of food have high protein levels. I don't think she needs prescription kidney food yet but I'd like to be mindful and not give her anything that could exacerbate a potential problem.

So sorry for the book -- if anyone has some suggestions or could offer guidance, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks so much in advance for your help!

 

[Kieka]

Cat are obligated carnivores, which means they don't need plant matter in their diets. They are evolved to eat meat and their whole biology is centered around that. They need a diet that has high protein, moderate fat and low carbs to really thrive.

Your vet is a great health resource but most vets get one or two nutrition courses in school and those are usually sponsored by commercial food companies. Commercial pet food is designed to keep your pet alive and nutrition standards are the lowest level a pet needs to survive. Your cat won't suffer to eat a commercial diet, like science diet and iams, but she won't thrive on those diets. Most vets recommend them because they are known, safe and/or what they were brainwashed by limited classes to believe is best. It doesnt make your vet a bad vet but their knowledge on cats and/or diets may be more limited. My vet is a cat specialist who is a known speaker and researcher on feline neurological conditions; she's always expanding her cat knowledge and goes to conferences at least four times a year. She has told me that an all wet food diet with low carbs is the best commercial option available. Raw is also a good option but should be carefully undertaken as a raw diet done wrong can be worse then any commercial diet.

The problem with grain free labeling is primarily what is used to substitute the grains. Grains are only part of the problem in commercial diets; for cats the real problem is carbs. Being grain free doesn't mean low carb. For dogs, there have been problems linked with heart health and grain free diets which has made a lot of vets snubbed grain free out of ignorance of the real problem (which was still under investigation last I checked). But the substitute for grains with cat food is usually peas or potatoes; both of which artificially inflate the protein content of food and have unknown impact on cats in large quantities. I personally look for grain free as a starting point to narrow labels down to pick out my foods. But with the negative press of grain free I imagine that labeling will fall out of favor so owners will have to be more cautious in general.

Wet foods higher moisture content will help reduce chances of kidney problems in the future. Although since you know she likely will have problems you might want to look for low phosphorus wet food in addition to low carb. I dont have the link right now but their is a cat support group for kidney problems and you might want to just feed her from their suggested list as if she has kidney problems now. Personally, I'd look for an all wet diet, minimal fillers, low carb and low phosphorus.... or look into Raw and see if it is an option for you.

Here is a recent thread that may help Kidney disease diet

 

[frazzfox]

Hi Kieka, thanks so much for the guidance and thoughtful answer. I completely agree with you on all of those points.

A wet food diet seems to be the answer here. We'll slowly move her in that direction. She loves her dry food but she doesn't seem too finicky when it comes to the wet we've been giving her.

I know for a fact I don't have the resources to do a good raw diet for her but I've spent the afternoon doing some research, looking for some wet cat food brands that are high quality, lower in phosphorous, and still decent in protein (and that aren't exorbitantly expensive). I found Weruva and Tiki Cat, both of which seem to have some good options. Weruva especially is within budget for us.

Hopefully getting her on some high quality food will keep her happy and healthy for years to come!

 

[Kieka]

PetCo has their Soulistic house brand which is almost the same as Weruva. You might want to check it out to help out on the cost some.

 

[frazzfox]

Oh excellent -- I didn't realize they were from the same brand! I've been referencing this very helpful chart for phosphorous levels and it looks like Soulistic has quite a few options on there!