@threeofthree - our 18 yr old cat has always barfed. He eats dry food and won’t touch wet food. The thing that helps with him is giving him only a tiny amount of food at a time; especially in the morning. Usually, if he can eat a few pieces of kibble and then not have anything for a half hour then he can go the day without barfing.
And neutering does not turn a male into a female or an it- sorry, pet peeve of mine.
Bunsen, that makes sense. I can easily understand a Rescue Center’s desire to weed out people whom they feel are not committed to caring for a pet, or whose interest is fleeting and will be gone the first time kitty tears a sofa cushion or has poor aim in the litter box.
The following is a link describing the current medical thoughts on type of cat food:http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-the-importance-of-urine-ph
I got both of our current cats at rescue places a number of years ago. I don’t remember the paper work being too bad. However when we started thinking about a dog… Wow. not only was there a lot of paper work but they required a visit to the house to make sure that it would be right for the dog… while I can understand their concern , we decided to adopt a beagle from the local county kill shelter instead. Basically you walk in, pick out a dog and pay $30. The only requirement was that we had to get him fixed within 30 days or they would issue a citation .
@ECmotherx2 - That site advocates feeding cats raw meat only. Is that what you do?
The shelters with very strict requirements are typically smaller, all volunteer run no kill shelters. They run on shoestring budgets and want to make absolutely sure that the pet does not end up discarded again. Sure, it turns off a number of potential candidates, but apparently it does not deter the most determined ones. Kudos for adopting a dog out of that kill shelter, MG.
I’m really curious about feeding them raw meat! Anyone know anything about this apparent trend?
My take away from the article is to feed cats a diet close to what is found in nature. Concentrate on the amino acids, fatty acids, proteins and water content. Giving a cat some raw organ meat or chicken 2x a week to supplement the wet, canned food if possible. Avoid dry food.
Since I first brought by gal home I have been reading about the pet food industry. Just discovered that Nestle Purina has recently purchased Merrick, a premium pet food manufacturer. Seems to be lots of consolidation in this business. The Mars candy company has purchased several pet food brands in recent years. I fear that these big firms are simply looking for ways to cut costs (but not price) and marginalize quality.
@LakeWashington , please go to catinfo.org. This is a website by Lisa Pierson, DVM, who is one of the rare vets actually knowledgeable about cat nutrition. Cats are obligate carnivores and lack the enzymatic pathways to digest carbs, including corn. Ideally, they shouldn’t be given dry food at all, because all dry food, including prescription cat food, contain carbs as fillers. Dr. Pierson maintains a list of low carb canned cat foods, many of which can be found in the grocery store. The carb content varies by individual flavor, not just brand.
Dry food is convenient and cheap, I admit. For many cats, dry food works out just fine, even though it’s not ideal, but for others, including one of mine, it is disastrous.
One of our cats became obese and diabetic. Our vet recommended switching to a no or low carb diet because he was in the early stages of diabetes, and this condition can be reversed in cats if caught early. So we researched cat foods, trying about 50 kinds (not exaggerating) listed on the website. We have another cat who is chronically underweight, and both cats had to like the food, or it was worthless. We finally found a canned food that is >15% calories from carbs, which is on the high end of Dr. Pierson’s recommended allowance, but it worked. Our diabetic cat now has had normal blood sugar for about 3 years, though he will eventually need insulin. He went from 19 lbs to about 14, which is his ideal weight (he’s a very large cat!)
Many people say that wet food rots their teeth faster than dry, and there is some truth to this, but many cats swallow dry kibble whole, thereby losing the teeth-scraping benefit, and diabetes kills a lot faster than tooth decay.
“Many people say that wet food rots their teeth faster than dry, and there is some truth to this, but many cats swallow dry kibble whole, thereby losing the teeth-scraping benefit…”
That is exactly why dry food “cleans” teeth. It has nothing to do with scraping - it gets swallowed quickly and does not get stuck to the cat’s teeth. Pâté like cat food sticks to the gums and teeth and fuels bacterial growth. My sister, a vet, recommends wet foods that have some texture. I feed my cats Fussie Cat tuna and turkey for this reason.
I’ve had cats all my life and never thought to check ingredients. We’ve had our 13-year-old cat since we rescued him at 8 weeks. He’s well loved and healthy and fed exclusively the cheapest dry food on the shelf. He’s never been to the vet and never had anything more concerning that the occasional hairball, none of our cats have. Just lucky I guess.
Update:
Just finished assembling my gal’s new cat tower condo last night. How could such a seemingly simple thing be so complicated to assemble?
Kitty kept interrupting my work by lounging on the components while I was putting the thing to together. At one point she nearly tore off the cat hammock before I could get it away from her. But after completion I find that she only has ventured onto the floor of the tower and not dared to climb it, yet. Jeez, that’s a lot of work on my part only to find her stretched out on the floor like a rug. :))
That’s a typical cat’s thing. B-)
Does she like catmint? Mine love that stuff, so to entice them to use new scratch posts and kitty gyms, I would sprinkle a few dry crumbs on the object. The cats would be all over it!