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-   -   Very Finicky Cat (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=54627)

darraz July 21st, 2008 07:53 PM

Very Finicky Cat
 
Just about 2 hrs of reading posts, I have learned a lot about what cats should and shouldn't eat.
Miss Kitty was given to me a year ago, she is 6 and weighs about 8 pds. She was an outdoor cat and was fed purina dry food. I switched her to wellness canned chicken (the only canned food she would eat) and wysong vitality. She is an indoor cat now.
4 months ago she had trouble urinating and started using the house plants. The vet said wysong had a high magnesium level .10% and some cats develop urinary problems. Miss Kitty went on antibiotics and the vet told me to try Science diet indoor .073% mag. She likes it because of the bigger pieces, like wysong but the content is what bothers me. I've tried Wellness dry and others. Either the pieces were too small (she would look at me then at the food and walk away) or she started to have problems again. Tried organic raw meats, chicken but she'll only eat a very small amt. of cooked chicken. So she eats about 3 oz of wellness and 1/4 c of dry throughout the day.
I can't seem to find a grain free, low magnesium dry food. Any suggestions?
:shrug:

"There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person."
- Dan Greenberg

sugarcatmom July 21st, 2008 08:45 PM

[QUOTE=darraz;626192] Miss Kitty went on antibiotics and the vet told me to try Science diet indoor .073% mag. [/quote]

First things first, welcome to the board! Sorry to hear Miss Kitty has urinary tract issues.

Now for my spiel about vets and nutrition. Basically, when it comes to cats especially, vets have no business giving diet recommendations. The education they receive on the topic is minimal at best, and severely biased by Big Pet Food at worst. Unless they've been really active in doing their own research on feline nutrition, it's best to ignore 'em. You might find this little article interesting: [url]http://catnutrition.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/dry-food-and-vets/[/url]
The fact that your vet thinks it's the amount of magnesium in the food that is causing Miss Kitty's problems proves s/he isn't all that current on the issue. Magnesium is only a factor when urine is too alkaline, and the way to make urine more acidic is to feed a meat-based, species appropriate diet, not a crappy corn/grain based one like Science Diet.

[QUOTE=darraz;626192]
I can't seem to find a grain free, low magnesium dry food. Any suggestions? [/QUOTE]

A cat with a history of urinary/bladder issues should not be eating any dry at all. The best thing you can do for Miss Kitty is eliminate the kibble (gradually, if you have to, but you have to none-the-less). I urge you to read this link for details on why dry food (even if it's grain-free) is not a good idea: [url]http://www.catinfo.org/[/url] There are tips on how to transition to an all wet diet: [url]http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_[/url]

Have you tried just picking up all the dry and leaving canned down instead? Most people get overly worried about spoilage when leaving wet food out, but it really isn't a problem. That's how I feed my cat. You might also want to try a few different flavours and brands of canned food because many cats get bored eating the same thing all the time. Miss Kitty might eat more if she had more variety.

Anyway, good luck and do let me know how she does.

growler~GateKeeper July 22nd, 2008 01:25 AM

What other meats have you tried other than chicken?

How about beef, turkey, rabbit, lamb? Sometimes the key is finding the protein source your cat likes the best.

Wellness, Nature's Variety, Innova, Evo, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, By Nature's Organics and Merricks are all good canned food choices

darraz July 22nd, 2008 09:38 AM

I've tried lamb and turkey and even mixed it in w/her wet food. She eats a tiny bit and walks away. I'll keep trying.
Most of the canned food brands and variety that were mentioned she has tried, wellness chicken is her favorite. She does like canned tuna occasionally and spiders.

[QUOTE=sugarcatmom;626267]
Have you tried just picking up all the dry and leaving canned down instead? Most people get overly worried about spoilage when leaving wet food out, but it really isn't a problem.

I'm really not worried about the spoilage issue. After a few hours she won't eat it. Even the dry, which she nibbles on throughout the day. Usually there is some left in the bowl, I have to fluff it up to pretend it's fresh, or she waits by the container where her dried food is stored.

I'm trying to ween her off the dry, she did like the sample of blue and will use it as a treat. Or is there something better to give her as a treat, she likes the larger size kibble.

Thanks for all the info.

__________________
"There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person."
- Dan Greenberg


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