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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
Is he on a special diet FA? I'm curious as to what is recommended in cases like this, where your new companion is the result of a rescue.
I think that "Eukanuba Pet Rescue Formula" is what is what the vet orders. That, or any other balanced dry cat food.
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Daily video.
Dramatic renactment of FA's new cat trying to eat at it's old home. Played by 3 guinea pigs as the cats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q85Tq3C6Bcc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
"Eukanuba Pet Rescue Formula"
No such thing smart guy.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
This is a cat... C-A-T cat thread chucklehead.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
This is a cat... C-A-T cat thread chucklehead.
Well, I used to have a cat. And, as noted, they were guinea pigs playing out the part of the cats.
Thats why it was a dramatization. Good Lord. I thought you were smarter than Pix...
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I got the connection. I also know that cats hunt G. pigs.
:ihih:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
Is he on a special diet FA? I'm curious as to what is recommended in cases like this, where your new companion is the result of a rescue.
I actually did a lot of reading about cat nutrition when we brought Brandy home as he was overweight, but he isn't an overeater. Plus, there's a lot of pet foods to choose from and I wanted to be sure that my cats are eating healthy. What I discovered is that cats have absolutely no nutritional need for grains. All they need are protiens and vegetables (for the fibre). Most commercial cat foods have lots of inexpensive grain filler in them which overloads a cat with carbs which, of course, causes them to gain weight. I suspect that coming from a house with 80+ cats, they were getting fed whatever was cheapest. So, I put my kitties on a grain free diet with the vet's blessing.
The wet food that they eat is Wellness. The dry food was originally also Wellness, but Brandy would sniff it and walk away. The vet told me that cats choose their food by smell and if they can't smell it they won't eat it. So I'd put a treat in Brandy's food and then he'd have no trouble eating it. When I needed a new bag, I switched to a brand called 'Before Grain'. I could tell as soon as I opened the bag that it had a stronger smell and getting Brandy to eat it wasn't a problem.
Neko doesn't eat the dry food, so we give him a slightly larger serving of wet food to make sure that he's getting enough calories for a growing kitten.
We also thought that Brandy had a problem with his hip (probably caused by his weight). The vet suggested adding some Glucosimen (people take it for arthritis and joint pain) to his wet food. We've been doing that for about two weeks now and he doesn't appear to be experiencing the hip pain anymore. Plus he's lost a half pound from the change in food.
Sorry if that's more information than you wanted.
Our cats eat better than we do.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
That's hilarious! Nice looking piggies. The Brown pig, um, I mean cat wins!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
Neko doesn't eat the dry food, so we give him a slightly larger serving of wet food to make sure that he's getting enough calories for a growing kitten.
Our cats eat better than we do.
When we adopted our 2 cats as kittens they were "wet food only". That had to stop for two reasons.
1)Its terrible for their teeth.
2)It's just gross to get it out for them, it stinks, and you have to clean it up when they are done.
Here is how were made them transform from wet food to dry food. We started with 100% wet food diet.
Then, we mixed in approximatly 10% dry food. We kept that percentage up for a couple of days. Then we mixed in approximatly 20% dry food. Every few days we upped the percentage.
After 2-3 weeks we had both of them eating only dry food. Of course we used the better stuff (without all the fillers). The vet was happy, we were happy, and the cats didn't seem to mind.
You could also mix in a tiny bit of cat nip to further entice them.
Good luck!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
When we adopted our 2 cats as kittens they were "wet food only". That had to stop for two reasons.
I don't want Neko to stop eating the wet food, but I do want him to get a balance of both. Thanks for the tips!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
I don't want Neko to stop eating the wet food, but I do want him to get a balance of both. Thanks for the tips!
Could you expand? Why wouldn't you want your cat off of wet food? Not to get all preachy and stuff, but wet food is really bad for the animals teeth. An occasional moist treat is ok, but wet food is terrible for long term tooth health.
Just more curious than anything else.
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I get my cat's teeth cleaned at the vet yearly.
In Thelma's case, I have to feed her wet food only, in order to keep diabetes from returning. She's lost a few pounds as recommended by the vet on the wet food. The trick was in finding the proper daily amount to feed her. Her weight seems to have stabilized at about 10.6 lbs which is good for her.
In conclusion, if my vet prescribes Hill's Science Diet M/D in the can, that's what she gets.
BTW, some cats are pre-disposed to poor tooth health from birth, as is Louise's case.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
I get my cat's teeth cleaned at the vet yearly.
In Thelma's case, I have to feed her wet food only, in order to keep diabetes from returning. She's lost a few pounds as recommended by the vet on the wet food. The trick was in finding the proper daily amount to feed her. Her weight seems to have stabilized at about 10.6 lbs which is good for her.
In conclusion, if my vet prescribes Hill's Science Diet M/D in the can, that's what she gets.
BTW, some cats are pre-disposed to poor tooth health from birth, as is Louise's case.
Don't get me wrong. If the vet prescribes wet food, that's what they should get.
And some older cats need it if they have trouble eating etc. But in FA's case, it's a pretty young cat. Just wondering why she wanted it to stay on wet food.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
Could you expand? Why wouldn't you want your cat off of wet food? Not to get all preachy and stuff, but wet food is really bad for the animals teeth. An occasional moist treat is ok, but wet food is terrible for long term tooth health.
Just more curious than anything else.
The wet food is much higher in moisture so that there is less opportunity for dehydration since cats tend not to drink a lot. It's also less processed than dry food. I'm a believer that domesticated animals should eat as closely to their wild counterparts as they can. It's what comes naturally.
I'm not convinced that a wet food only diet is bad for their teeth. I had a cat for 21 years who ate nothing but wet food and never had a problem with her teeth. From the reading that I've done, it seems to be more a matter of opinion than science when it comes to dry vs. wet. At least I haven't been able to find anything conclusive either way. If you really want to ensure clean teeth, you should be brushing them regardless of the type of food they are eating. If your cat will let you brush his teeth that is. :p
Our vet recommended a small feeding of wet food in the morning and evening with dry food to graze on during the day for Brandy. I'll ask her about food for Neko tonight and let you know what she says.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
Our vet recommended a small feeding of wet food in the morning and evening with dry food to graze on during the day for Brandy. I'll ask her about food for Neko tonight and let you know what she says.
Oh, I see. I had just heard that wet is bad. I see your point about natural food. I guess the best thing would be fresh steak!
I don't think I can find a guinea pig acting the part of a cat eating filet mignon however. I'll do some searching...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
Oh, I see. I had just heard that wet is bad. I see your point about natural food. I guess the best thing would be fresh steak!
I read about people who feed their cats what they called a 'raw' diet. Basically, they make their own cat food out of raw meat and fresh veggies. That's just too much money and work for me.
When Brandy was throwing up (from a kitty virus) I read that I should be feeding him a mixture of cooked white rice and Groundbeef! :yikes: We just gave him smaller amounts of wet food to ease digestion and so that he would leave a smaller mess on the carpet if he threw up again.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundbeef
And some older cats need it if they have trouble eating etc. But in FA's case, it's a pretty young cat. Just wondering why she wanted it to stay on wet food.
Well, it turns out that Neko has gingivitus (among other things), which may explain why he won't eat the dry food.
We took him to the vet because I thought he had an eye infection and I noticed this morning that his throat glands seemed swollen. Unfortunately, I was right. He has an eye infection, swollen glands, a possible respiratory virus, worms, gingivitus and, not surprisingly, a fever! Just when he finally came downstairs on his own today, we have to isolate him from Brandy for a week! So he's locked in the den on his own. The vet sent us home with eye drops, antibiotics, worm pills and flea treatments for both Neko and Brandy. Although I checked Brandy's fur and, so far, he appears to be flealess.
What a night! Neko came with six weeks of free pet insurance. I'm hoping that at least some of this will be covered. :mad2:
I asked the vet about what kind of food we should be feeding him. She said that for now we should give him whatever he'll eat (wet food) and that we'll talk more about food once Neko is all better. Poor Neko!
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That's quite a laundry list FA, you've got your work cut out for you. I hope everything works out for the best hon.
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Sorry to read about Neko's ailments FA. But he's got a good mom. She'll take care of him.
Thanks for the pics. He's cute, in a scruffy kind of way.
Our cats get a mix of dry & wet food. Mostly dry though. The wet is just for a treat now and then.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
I also know that cats hunt G. pigs.
:ihih:
Not all of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqsP9...eature=related
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
We took him to the vet because I thought he had an eye infection and I noticed this morning that his throat glands seemed swollen. Unfortunately, I was right. He has an eye infection, swollen glands, a possible respiratory virus, worms, gingivitus and, not surprisingly, a fever! Just when he finally came downstairs on his own today, we have to isolate him from Brandy for a week! So he's locked in the den on his own. The vet sent us home with eye drops, antibiotics, worm pills and flea treatments for both Neko and Brandy. Although I checked Brandy's fur and, so far, he appears to be flealess.
It gets worse.
The vet just called. Neko tested positive for feline leukemia. This is a fatal virus in cats and is contagious. So now we have to take Brandy in for testing on Thursday and cross our fingers that he doesn't have it. Since they came from the same shelter there is a good chance that Brandy may also have it.
We have to make some decisions about Neko. There is a 30% chance that he can fight the virus and revert to negative. We would have to have him retested in four months. If he continues to test positive he has a life expectancy of about five years. And I'm not sure how much in vet bills. This sucks!
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So very sorry FA. I am sure that he will win this battle. He's young and strong.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
It gets worse.
The vet just called. Neko tested positive for feline leukemia. This is a fatal virus in cats and is contagious. So now we have to take Brandy in for testing on Thursday and cross our fingers that he doesn't have it. Since they came from the same shelter there is a good chance that Brandy may also have it.
We have to make some decisions about Neko. There is a 30% chance that he can fight the virus and revert to negative. We would have to have him retested in four months. If he continues to test positive he has a life expectancy of about five years. And I'm not sure how much in vet bills. This sucks!
Wow, FA that is terrible news. I realize that it is difficult to equate life with cost, but I would want to know how much the potential expense would be.
Does the waiting 4 months incurr any expense? If it's just a wait and see period I would probably wait. Then after the re-test make some decisions. If it's not a painful way to go, you could let it run it's course.
However, if it's rough sledding the whole time until the inevitable perhaps you should enquire about putting Niko down. It's not any fun with a sick pet. I agonized about putting down a hamster with a huge tumor. In the end, it was the right thing to do for the animal.
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My last cat of 10+ years tested positive for feline leukemia. They told us that cats of his age rarely get better and end up just spreading it to more cats. It was a very bad day for our family. My wife still refuses to get close to out current cats. She doesn't want to get emotionally involved and then have to put them down.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GMichael
My last cat of 10+ years tested positive for feline leukemia. They told us that cats of his age rarely get better and end up just spreading it to more cats. It was a very bad day for our family. My wife still refuses to get close to out current cats. She doesn't want to get emotionally involved and then have to put them down.
Thats the rub. As good and loving as animals are, they really tear at our hearts when it's time for them to move on.
I was suprised that I choked up when I was delivering our eulogy to Cinderella (guinea pig) that passed last fall. Pets are such good things, but they really create a bond that is hard to describe.
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