I am sorry for your troubles. I did everything wrong with my first cat due to lack of knowledge & it is good to have the support of people on this site. By the time I figured out that my cat had IBD it was too late. I was feeding him fish for years because he liked it. Very high quality but he was hocked on it. Could not get him to eat any of the foods good for IBD & force feeding was out of the question. With my new cat I am feeding Instinct cans only. Polling the people here & Chewys this seems like the best choice. She is constantly begging for food. I wish Instinct made more flavors of limited ingredient & low cal wet food. I think the limited ingredient foods would keep cats healthy for a life time as so many are developing IBD. I hope your cat will adjust to the new foods & do well. I have heard that many cats with IBD live long lives with proper food management.
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Nature's Variety Instinct canned food
- Thread starter artiemom
- Start Date
Hey I just tried sprinkling the stellas and chewy's freeze dried as a topper on their food and they went nuts for it!
I probably can't afford to feed them raw freeze dried (I bought a bunch of S & C's before I realized this), but this is a great use for what I have.
I probably can't afford to feed them raw freeze dried (I bought a bunch of S & C's before I realized this), but this is a great use for what I have.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #43
Hi! another update:
I tried the Pride line of food last year. Although I only got him chicken. I think I will pick up a couple of rabbit on my next trip...
I plan to go local this week and pick up some NV....and a few days later go to where I can get Hound and Gatos....I would love to get a couple of varieties of brands for him.
It seems that the lamb is a real big hit with him.
I tried Wild Calling Duck and he would not even sniff it! It seems duck is a no go, no matter what brand it is. I even tried the Forti-Flora sprinkled on top!
Today, I gave some NV Pork. He ate about a half can this morning..waiting for him to finish the rest soon.
I tried the Petsmart Brand, Natural Recipes Pork this morning. Artie did not even go over to it. It smelt 'too' smoked for him...I did not blame him.
I have a can of buffalo from Wild Calling.
I also have a can of venison from EVO........hesitating to try them, I will this week.
Tomorrow will be rabbit. That is a tuff one for him. Last time I put some Forti-flora on it, and he gobbled it up.
Yesterday Artie ate the lamb up as if he was a little 'piggy'!
Today he is not eating as much.. He is a bit constipated. Had a hard time going yesterday. I upped the Miralax and will give him a bit of laxatone later...
He runs away from me when he thinks I am going to give him medicine. I have to sneak up on him...You should see the way he acts with the Pepcid.
New issue: I think he is coming down with some acne on his bottom lip/chin. It would have to be from the plastic syringe??? I do not have any plastic for him, except that.
He came down with it one other time. We were trying to change food also, but he had a plastic type of food dish. I tossed that and it cleared up....
always something with this boy....
Thanks Riley1 for your good thoughts and words of encouragement.
I tried the Pride line of food last year. Although I only got him chicken. I think I will pick up a couple of rabbit on my next trip...
I plan to go local this week and pick up some NV....and a few days later go to where I can get Hound and Gatos....I would love to get a couple of varieties of brands for him.
It seems that the lamb is a real big hit with him.
I tried Wild Calling Duck and he would not even sniff it! It seems duck is a no go, no matter what brand it is. I even tried the Forti-Flora sprinkled on top!
Today, I gave some NV Pork. He ate about a half can this morning..waiting for him to finish the rest soon.
I tried the Petsmart Brand, Natural Recipes Pork this morning. Artie did not even go over to it. It smelt 'too' smoked for him...I did not blame him.
I have a can of buffalo from Wild Calling.
I also have a can of venison from EVO........hesitating to try them, I will this week.
Tomorrow will be rabbit. That is a tuff one for him. Last time I put some Forti-flora on it, and he gobbled it up.
Yesterday Artie ate the lamb up as if he was a little 'piggy'!
Today he is not eating as much.. He is a bit constipated. Had a hard time going yesterday. I upped the Miralax and will give him a bit of laxatone later...
He runs away from me when he thinks I am going to give him medicine. I have to sneak up on him...You should see the way he acts with the Pepcid.
New issue: I think he is coming down with some acne on his bottom lip/chin. It would have to be from the plastic syringe??? I do not have any plastic for him, except that.
He came down with it one other time. We were trying to change food also, but he had a plastic type of food dish. I tossed that and it cleared up....
always something with this boy....
Thanks Riley1 for your good thoughts and words of encouragement.
Your posts are always so upbeat - great to read.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I think the goal is to find one novel protein and stick with it as long as it works. Mine (thank god) finally settled on the turkey. Duck and lamb were a no-go (though I forti-floraed him through both because I had a whole case to get through).
There's some name for the ulcers that appear on the lips and chins, I can't remember what it is though.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I think the goal is to find one novel protein and stick with it as long as it works. Mine (thank god) finally settled on the turkey. Duck and lamb were a no-go (though I forti-floraed him through both because I had a whole case to get through).
There's some name for the ulcers that appear on the lips and chins, I can't remember what it is though.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #45
Reba, thanks for the compliment.. Never knew me to be an upbeat person.. but I have been thru so much that this is nothing...As long as I know there is a food he will eat, the vomiting seems to be under control; and most important, Artie is happy and healthy....
What am I going to do with all the fancy feast that I have in the house? I just stocked up on it last month when it was on sale.....
some I will keep and some I will just have to donate....sigh
Not that I do not mind donating, but it is a lot of money and I do not have the receipts for it....
Chicken is definitely going...
The acne (looks like tiny black specks) is not an ulcer (rodent ulcer) it is really cat acne. When he had it the last time, the Vet diagnosed it.
I am trying to find which proteins he likes. Artie gets tired very quickly with the same food. I do want to find other proteins and other brands, just in case there happens to be a re-call or issue with a particular brand....
I know lamb and pork are definites! any others will be icing on the cake.
You know me, I will keep you guys updated...
What am I going to do with all the fancy feast that I have in the house? I just stocked up on it last month when it was on sale.....
some I will keep and some I will just have to donate....sigh
Not that I do not mind donating, but it is a lot of money and I do not have the receipts for it....
Chicken is definitely going...
The acne (looks like tiny black specks) is not an ulcer (rodent ulcer) it is really cat acne. When he had it the last time, the Vet diagnosed it.
I am trying to find which proteins he likes. Artie gets tired very quickly with the same food. I do want to find other proteins and other brands, just in case there happens to be a re-call or issue with a particular brand....
I know lamb and pork are definites! any others will be icing on the cake.
You know me, I will keep you guys updated...
You could just bring it back and exchange it. The worst they can say is no.
It probably is acne. Cats can't clean under their chins so bacteria sometimes just happily grow there
I'm so glad to hear they liked the Stella & Chewy's, Reba! It's like magic dust for our cats.
It's great to hear Artie's been eating more! And I know what you mean about cats quickly getting bored with their foods... ours are terrible like that and we have to rotate through a lot. Good luck icing that meat cake with another protein! Maybe that bison will turn out to have appeal!
As for the chin acne, I remembered that our previous cat, who most likely had IBD, also had chin acne... and then remembered that I'd seen somewhere that cats with IBD tend to get chin acne. So I Googled and found this page, from a cat clinic. It might not have any relevant information for your treatment of Artie but I do find it interesting that IBD cats tend to get chin acne more. We found that brushing or combing our cat's chin helped most.
Where did you buy the FF? Was it from one of the pet twins Co or Smart? If so, you might still be able to return or exchange it if it's attached to your account with them if you have a card. They can look up your purchase history with your phone number. They may only give you store credit but you were going to buy food there anyway. It's not like they can't put it right back onto the shelf and resell it.
The Wild Calling duck was a huge flop here too. I gave it to Henry to try and he's my good eater. I tried the NV pork on the girls a while back and they wouldn't touch it. Haven't bought it since. They don't like pork unless it's some grilled pork chop from my plate
Everyone was given raw for dinner tonight and everyone ate!!
A question for Cat Woman. I just bought a whole lot of Instinct for my new cat & now wondering if this is a good food. I looked up the balance & it seems to have a lot of fat in it. Is this OK? It is canned.
It's actually fine as long as there are no other health issues, cats need fat actually.
NVI is VERY good food. I tried it for my IBD girl, and the problem was, she liked it TOO much, and it is high in calories, and she is a chubbo already so out with the NVI and back to BB Basics LID turkey
I also agree, NVI limited should make more varieties then they do. I am happy (and so is Krissy) with Blue limited, she is doing well on it.
Curious how others are able to feed different proteins, yet Krissy is just the opposite. The ONLY thing she doesn't react to is turkey. So far at least.
That's why I couldn't do the rabbit instinct, it has other proteins in it too, and I can't give her anything other than turkey.
Makes me wonder what I'm gonna do when she starts reacting to turkey someday........
NVI is VERY good food. I tried it for my IBD girl, and the problem was, she liked it TOO much, and it is high in calories, and she is a chubbo already so out with the NVI and back to BB Basics LID turkey
I also agree, NVI limited should make more varieties then they do. I am happy (and so is Krissy) with Blue limited, she is doing well on it.
Curious how others are able to feed different proteins, yet Krissy is just the opposite. The ONLY thing she doesn't react to is turkey. So far at least.
That's why I couldn't do the rabbit instinct, it has other proteins in it too, and I can't give her anything other than turkey.
Makes me wonder what I'm gonna do when she starts reacting to turkey someday........
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #52
Yes, I did buy it at either Petco or Petsmart. I do not remember which ones I bought were.....They both had sales within a couple weeks of each other. Artie was going threw 3 cans a day of FF; so I really stocked up...I wanted to save money...sigh
I would really appreciate just the store credit. I plan to buy NV Instinct at Petco (larger inventory than that of 'Smart)....
I think they know me better at the Petco. I can just try bring in a couple of the 24 can/case(s) and see what they say...the worst will be no. I know FF is a good seller.
I really don't think they will give you a hard time. You'd basically be doing an exchange and then spending more money on a more expensive food to boot. They won't have any issue reselling the FF. I'd give them a call and ask to speak to the manager before I went just to be safe though. Let him/her know you are a PALS member and buy food there often.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #54
Lisa, That was a very interesting article! Hummmmm if IBD is an autoimmune response to food, then it would be understandable that Artie would be subseptable to other auto immune thingies..... as in acne..
I'm so glad to hear they liked the Stella & Chewy's, Reba! It's like magic dust for our cats.
It's great to hear Artie's been eating more! And I know what you mean about cats quickly getting bored with their foods... ours are terrible like that and we have to rotate through a lot. Good luck icing that meat cake with another protein! Maybe that bison will turn out to have appeal!
As for the chin acne, I remembered that our previous cat, who most likely had IBD, also had chin acne... and then remembered that I'd seen somewhere that cats with IBD tend to get chin acne. So I Googled and found this page, from a cat clinic. It might not have any relevant information for your treatment of Artie but I do find it interesting that IBD cats tend to get chin acne more. We found that brushing or combing our cat's chin helped most.
Interesting, especially for me... I had one autoimmune disease (seasonal allergies) and over the years, especially when stressed, I have come down with others......
allergies, then thyroid issues, then shingles, then a rare form of colitis, and osteoarthritis...the last 3 within the past 3 years when I have been at the most stressful period in my life.....very interesting....
BTW,
The Weruva Glam and Punk (lamb and tuna) was a great hit late yesterday--licking dish.....
The cats in the kitchen lamburgini was eaten but not as voraciously. But it was eaten...
Both of these have fish, so I will limit them....but at lease he likes them, without any prodding!!!
This morning I opened a can of NV Rabbit, sprinkling forti fora on it... He is eating it!! He ate earlier and now, an hour later he is lapping up some more!!
Onward, back to Petlife for some more!!!!!
and Petco to return!!
That is after the bank and Mass (holy week). I have been trying to go almost daily during Lent. I need all the help I can get!
Now, to get off the comp, play with him, pick up and then my errands and day starts....
thanks again!
Petsmart has always taken back canned food as long as you have a receipt. Try Chewy.com. Once I ordered the wrong thing. They sent me the right food & told me to keep what I had ordered. They credited for the wrong food. Some people came in the shelter with 4 cases of dog food & a couple bags of dry they had ordered from Chewy . Their dog had died & they were not getting another. Chewy credited them & told them to give the food to a shelter. Their prices are better than the stores. Great company!
Thanks! I am just getting confused. People said this was the best food but when I looked on Lisa Pierson's site it said Instinct was only 35% protein. I thought that cats should be getting almost all protein & 35% did not seem like a lot. It has the lowest cabs however. My new cat is very young & healthy. I just want to feed her good food to avoid IBD, diabetes, etc.
It's actually fine as long as there are no other health issues, cats need fat actually.
NVI is VERY good food. I tried it for my IBD girl, and the problem was, she liked it TOO much, and it is high in calories, and she is a chubbo already so out with the NVI and back to BB Basics LID turkey
I also agree, NVI limited should make more varieties then they do. I am happy (and so is Krissy) with Blue limited, she is doing well on it.
Curious how others are able to feed different proteins, yet Krissy is just the opposite. The ONLY thing she doesn't react to is turkey. So far at least.
That's why I couldn't do the rabbit instinct, it has other proteins in it too, and I can't give her anything other than turkey.
Makes me wonder what I'm gonna do when she starts reacting to turkey someday........
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Lisa Pierson indicates that she hasn't updated her chart in over two years, maybe the protein amount for NVI is different from what it was when she first posted the info. NVI's canned food - Instinct primarily (not Pride), is 95% meat so I'm not sure how the protein could be lower than other foods she has listed. My cats do very well on NV, especially since NVI is one of the few gum free foods (gums can cause digestive problems in some cats) out there. Good luck. Maybe someone else can answer the protein question.
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I have had a very strong suspicion about cat foods being the cause of how many cats have IBD anymore.
Is this a growing trend or WHAT?!
Many years back who heard of IBD, now it's like every other cat (at least) has this!! VERY frustrating...........
Something fishy going on. Some crap that's in foods, a very common ingredient too.......I mean my Krissy is so darn healthy, yet suddenly at 11 she develops allergies to chicken? Fish? Who knows what else at this point.
Think about it, develops an allergy to chicken??? Low fat content, easily digested over many other meats, what's up with that, you know?
Something to do with the feed or antibiotics injected in to the chickens? Our water? There's def. something fishy here........
Is this a growing trend or WHAT?!
Many years back who heard of IBD, now it's like every other cat (at least) has this!! VERY frustrating...........
Something fishy going on. Some crap that's in foods, a very common ingredient too.......I mean my Krissy is so darn healthy, yet suddenly at 11 she develops allergies to chicken? Fish? Who knows what else at this point.
Think about it, develops an allergy to chicken??? Low fat content, easily digested over many other meats, what's up with that, you know?
Something to do with the feed or antibiotics injected in to the chickens? Our water? There's def. something fishy here........
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #59
I just came back from Petco. I had called earlier. There was absolutely no problem what so ever! They even took back what I bought at Petsmart, although I got a much smaller credit for that case. Just glad that most of it is out of the house. I still have a lot left in here. I will keep some and try to donate the rest...I know the humane society really needs all the help it can get. FF will be easily eaten by almost all their cats. They will appreciate it...
I picked up some more NV at Petco. They are a bit cheaper there. In the future I will order it...Just want to make sure it is a "go"..
Also went to the Vet and returned the RC SO, which I had in here for about a year, but was not expired. No problems at all.. I got a credit for it. So now I have a 'free' Vet appointment!! It is in their computer, under my account. The front desk told me I have excellent credit there.. Oh no, but they do all know me by name and Artie's name...
I went thru a lot with this boy....
Tomorrow will be a different store to buy the other stuff...H&G and Weruva
Yes, Riley 1 and LisaMarie; it is so confusing. All this food stuff makes my head spin. All I know is that fillers are really bad. Food from China is unbelieavably BAD! Food from Thailand is good~~have humane grade food there. Fancy Feast may sound bad, but it is really not all that bad. That is, as long as you stick with the Classics. Too much fish is not good.
FF has not had a recall. So it is a stable food. If using FF Classics, remember that the Classic Chicken Pate contains fish. It is not all chicken.
A lot of cats have allergies to chicken. It is usually the first thing to think about. The less fillers and more protein, the better.
Just think: Have you ever heard of a cat, in the wild, eating cranberries, carrots, peas?? Does not seem to be natural to their diets.
I am not a raw proponent or opposed to it. I keep an open mind. If you can do it, then go for it.. I know I cannot. Canned food is the best for me..
I know it is good to have a cat used to a variety of foods. That includes proteins and different brands. In this day and age, who knows when a recall may occur. Or a company may go out of business, or it may be harder to find a specific food source...it should make it easier in the long run.
Yes, Catwoman. I agree about, all the strangeness out there. Cats are living longer, as humans are; but who is to say that all the additives are not hurting us? Look at the hormones, antibiotics which were given to cows. How they passed through the cow's system and is now in the milk we drink. Given all the antibiotics cows were given, no wonder why there are "SuperBugs" out there which are immune to common antibiotics.
Boy, it is really easy to hijack a thread... but all this seems true...
now, to get back to Artie; who is sleeping very peacefully on my bed....time to give him a bit more laxatone! Poor baby....
I picked up some more NV at Petco. They are a bit cheaper there. In the future I will order it...Just want to make sure it is a "go"..
Also went to the Vet and returned the RC SO, which I had in here for about a year, but was not expired. No problems at all.. I got a credit for it. So now I have a 'free' Vet appointment!! It is in their computer, under my account. The front desk told me I have excellent credit there.. Oh no, but they do all know me by name and Artie's name...
I went thru a lot with this boy....
Tomorrow will be a different store to buy the other stuff...H&G and Weruva
Yes, Riley 1 and LisaMarie; it is so confusing. All this food stuff makes my head spin. All I know is that fillers are really bad. Food from China is unbelieavably BAD! Food from Thailand is good~~have humane grade food there. Fancy Feast may sound bad, but it is really not all that bad. That is, as long as you stick with the Classics. Too much fish is not good.
FF has not had a recall. So it is a stable food. If using FF Classics, remember that the Classic Chicken Pate contains fish. It is not all chicken.
A lot of cats have allergies to chicken. It is usually the first thing to think about. The less fillers and more protein, the better.
Just think: Have you ever heard of a cat, in the wild, eating cranberries, carrots, peas?? Does not seem to be natural to their diets.
I am not a raw proponent or opposed to it. I keep an open mind. If you can do it, then go for it.. I know I cannot. Canned food is the best for me..
I know it is good to have a cat used to a variety of foods. That includes proteins and different brands. In this day and age, who knows when a recall may occur. Or a company may go out of business, or it may be harder to find a specific food source...it should make it easier in the long run.
Yes, Catwoman. I agree about, all the strangeness out there. Cats are living longer, as humans are; but who is to say that all the additives are not hurting us? Look at the hormones, antibiotics which were given to cows. How they passed through the cow's system and is now in the milk we drink. Given all the antibiotics cows were given, no wonder why there are "SuperBugs" out there which are immune to common antibiotics.
Boy, it is really easy to hijack a thread... but all this seems true...
now, to get back to Artie; who is sleeping very peacefully on my bed....time to give him a bit more laxatone! Poor baby....
I really wonder about this, too. I wonder about all the additives and fillers in foods. I also wonder partly if there's a difference in diagnoses now and if IBD is being recognized more and better now, at earlier stages, in part because of greater overall awareness of feline nutrition, both on the part of some vets and lots of cat parents.
As an example from the early 2000s: our previous cat most likely had IBD and then lymphoma but multiple vets at the practice we took her to didn't think her initial symptoms (occasional bloody stool, moderately regular hairballs, etc.) were anything to worry about. There wasn't much helpful information to find on the Internet back then, either, (and oh, did I try Googling everything!) and even when our cat's symptoms gradually got worse, the vets there didn't think it was much beyond an idiopathic and not-so-awful colitis. Until, of course, a couple years ago, when a newer, younger vet who was a bit more knowledgeable about cats realized what had gone wrong, when our cat was in her final months. Of course Brooksie's story is much more complicated because she did live a long life (she was at least 17) and had all sorts of other ailments -- mild thyroid problems, not-so-great kidney values, and a very scary arrhythmia that shocked every vet that listened to her heart -- that made her hard to diagnose, particularly for non-cat specialists. I'm pretty certain she was sensitive to a grain -- either corn or wheat -- because her symptoms lessened a lot in her last months after I started her on all grain-free foods.
Sorry, that's so TMI! I guess my point is that I think there might be something going on on the vet side, too, particularly since so many cat parents can now find so much more information on the Internet about IBD and other cat health issues. I wish that had been around when Brooksie was first sick. For our part, we take our new cats to a cat specialist who loves talking about diet!
