Some of you might remember when I first joined this site, our cat Tim was a mess. He was on cisapride for constipation, was vomiting frequently, had urinary crystals, was thought to have mild asthma, and had been diagnosed with mild HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). Our veterinarians kept trying different drugs, each of which caused new problems. In the end, we stopped everything except the cisapride because his quality of life was so poor. I believed many of his problems were possibly related and definitely due to inflammation and decided to modify his diet in an effort to reduce inflammation. Because the veterinarians had run out of ideas, they essentially wished me luck changing his diet, after commenting that it's hard to change a cat's diet.
So I came here, looking for advice about suitable cat foods. Raw was suggested, which seemed interesting and scary at the same time. I researched canned cat foods, read labels, and closely observed Tim and made notes when he vomited or seemed sick. I cut out fish, which resolved the problem with the urinary crystals. I cut out chicken and carrageenan, which stopped the vomiting. I cut out other gums, such as quar and xantham, though I am not sure it's necessary to continue to avoid those. I made bone broth and mixed it with his food every day. He got so much better: The vomiting stopped, he stopped barfing hairballs, which I had not realized was a problem, and he stopped coughing. His poops got smaller, which worried me at first until I realized it was due to his better diet, and they were not nearly as smelly.
A month later, to make sure I was on the right track and because I felt very alone, I found a holistic veterinarian who specializes in nutrition. After examining Tim, reviewing his records, and hearing about his history, she also thought he was an ideal candidate for raw. But she did not want him to start raw until he was off cisapride. She thought we should try to wean him off cisarpide to see if he could manage without it. We were happy to hear that, as we'd been asking our other veterinarian when we could take Tim off cisapride and they kept saying "not yet". In fact, about this time, the veterinarian changed his mind and said Tim would need to be on cisapride for life.
Nearly five months later, after some ups and downs, Tim is off cisapride. He had his last dose three weeks ago and is doing pretty good. Our holistic veterinarian had originally wanted to wait a good month before beginning the gradual transition to raw, to make sure he is pooping regularly on his own. But because he'd done so well with the weaning process, especially towards the end, she thought he could perhaps start a little sooner. I've emailed her details about Tim's box habits over the past three weeks and am waiting to hear if she thinks he's ready. All of us are hoping raw will help with his lingering issues - occasional, mild tummy upset and some softer stools on occasion, along with a very infrequent cough.
Okay, well, this introduction is a lot longer than I planned. Believe it or not, I do have some questions. Tim has been eating mostly canned rabbit for the past couple of months (Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit). The holistic veterinarian wanted to minimize changes to his diet during the final, critical stretch in getting him off cisapride. She has told us she wants us to begin the raw transition with rabbit, then we can gradually add more proteins. So I purchased two different brands of frozen raw rabbit so we're ready when the veterinarian gives the go-ahead and am hoping others can share their thoughts and experiences with each.
The first is Primal Feline Rabbit Pronto Formula (http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/detail/c/15/id/64). I was attracted to this brand because the bone content is around 10%, which I understand is a little lower than some other frozen raw brands. Tim MAY be prone to constipation, we really don't know. (He was on cisapride because he had two severe episodes over two years apart, but never had chronic constipation. We believe we resolved most of what contributed to his episodes by switching from dry to canned foods and by no longer free-feeding).
The second is Stella & Chewy's Frozen Morsels Absolutely Rabbit for Cats (http://www.petfoodexpress.com/produ...ys-frozen-morsels-absolutely-rabbit-for-cats/). This food is not even listed on Stella & Chewy's website; I happened to see it in the store and thought I'd try it because I've heard good things about this brand. It is higher fat and lower protein than the Primal, however, which may be an issue for a cat like Tim with a sensitive stomach. Also, I don't know the bone content, which may or may not matter.
I also have small tubs of Rad Cat in the freezer, but given Tim's experiences with chicken, I will wait to try chicken; I've heard some cats that get sick on cooked/processed chicken do well on raw and/or after they've healed. Tim was previously doing very well on turkey, but over the past couple of months I have noticed a relationship between visible signs of mild tummy upset and coughing and him eating larger quantities of turkey, so I'm concerned about poultry in general. But we're gonna try once he's doing well on raw!
Tim will be starting raw either this weekend or next. It will be a very long, slow process. Any advice or tips? Any thoughts on brands, either the two I am considering or other nutritionally-complete commercial brands? We're all excited, especially Tim- we've given him a few sneak treats and he loves it!
So I came here, looking for advice about suitable cat foods. Raw was suggested, which seemed interesting and scary at the same time. I researched canned cat foods, read labels, and closely observed Tim and made notes when he vomited or seemed sick. I cut out fish, which resolved the problem with the urinary crystals. I cut out chicken and carrageenan, which stopped the vomiting. I cut out other gums, such as quar and xantham, though I am not sure it's necessary to continue to avoid those. I made bone broth and mixed it with his food every day. He got so much better: The vomiting stopped, he stopped barfing hairballs, which I had not realized was a problem, and he stopped coughing. His poops got smaller, which worried me at first until I realized it was due to his better diet, and they were not nearly as smelly.
A month later, to make sure I was on the right track and because I felt very alone, I found a holistic veterinarian who specializes in nutrition. After examining Tim, reviewing his records, and hearing about his history, she also thought he was an ideal candidate for raw. But she did not want him to start raw until he was off cisapride. She thought we should try to wean him off cisarpide to see if he could manage without it. We were happy to hear that, as we'd been asking our other veterinarian when we could take Tim off cisapride and they kept saying "not yet". In fact, about this time, the veterinarian changed his mind and said Tim would need to be on cisapride for life.
Nearly five months later, after some ups and downs, Tim is off cisapride. He had his last dose three weeks ago and is doing pretty good. Our holistic veterinarian had originally wanted to wait a good month before beginning the gradual transition to raw, to make sure he is pooping regularly on his own. But because he'd done so well with the weaning process, especially towards the end, she thought he could perhaps start a little sooner. I've emailed her details about Tim's box habits over the past three weeks and am waiting to hear if she thinks he's ready. All of us are hoping raw will help with his lingering issues - occasional, mild tummy upset and some softer stools on occasion, along with a very infrequent cough.
Okay, well, this introduction is a lot longer than I planned. Believe it or not, I do have some questions. Tim has been eating mostly canned rabbit for the past couple of months (Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit). The holistic veterinarian wanted to minimize changes to his diet during the final, critical stretch in getting him off cisapride. She has told us she wants us to begin the raw transition with rabbit, then we can gradually add more proteins. So I purchased two different brands of frozen raw rabbit so we're ready when the veterinarian gives the go-ahead and am hoping others can share their thoughts and experiences with each.
The first is Primal Feline Rabbit Pronto Formula (http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/detail/c/15/id/64). I was attracted to this brand because the bone content is around 10%, which I understand is a little lower than some other frozen raw brands. Tim MAY be prone to constipation, we really don't know. (He was on cisapride because he had two severe episodes over two years apart, but never had chronic constipation. We believe we resolved most of what contributed to his episodes by switching from dry to canned foods and by no longer free-feeding).
The second is Stella & Chewy's Frozen Morsels Absolutely Rabbit for Cats (http://www.petfoodexpress.com/produ...ys-frozen-morsels-absolutely-rabbit-for-cats/). This food is not even listed on Stella & Chewy's website; I happened to see it in the store and thought I'd try it because I've heard good things about this brand. It is higher fat and lower protein than the Primal, however, which may be an issue for a cat like Tim with a sensitive stomach. Also, I don't know the bone content, which may or may not matter.
I also have small tubs of Rad Cat in the freezer, but given Tim's experiences with chicken, I will wait to try chicken; I've heard some cats that get sick on cooked/processed chicken do well on raw and/or after they've healed. Tim was previously doing very well on turkey, but over the past couple of months I have noticed a relationship between visible signs of mild tummy upset and coughing and him eating larger quantities of turkey, so I'm concerned about poultry in general. But we're gonna try once he's doing well on raw!
Tim will be starting raw either this weekend or next. It will be a very long, slow process. Any advice or tips? Any thoughts on brands, either the two I am considering or other nutritionally-complete commercial brands? We're all excited, especially Tim- we've given him a few sneak treats and he loves it!