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Old April 5th, 2007, 10:39 AM
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krdahmer krdahmer is offline
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Ugh! Help! Food search has stalled out!

Ok, as some of you know, I have been feeding Medi-cal Hypo-Gastro Formula from the vets for about 6 months now. Fagan may have had a problem with the food (Nutro-glad now) and the litter (World's Best Corn- although I loved it). The factor that was in both and taken away was corn, so his allergy may be that simple, however it may also be the chicken or turkey as those are both big allergies for cats. His legs are healing and I don't want to chance him starting that mess all over again. And feeding 6, the vet food and prices are not the best.

So here is my dillema.

I am hearing that Medi-cal is also not a very high quality food, and I would like to switch to something better and more natural. The problem is the majority that I have found all have chicken or turkey as their main ingredients. Also I have already tried Wellness and Windy did not react well to it at all, and I have tried Blue Buffalo (haven't heard anyone mention that one here- which I take as a bad sign) but they liked that too much and it has a looooong list of ingredients that I'm not sure are necessary.
Felidae is all about poultry as are just about all the others I have seen mentioned on here.

What I am wondering is have any of you in your cat food research found anything that is made from duck and rice like the Medi-cal or fish? Or have any suggestions for more places I could look?

For now they have to stay on the vet diet but I need an alternative to $35 for an 8lb bag which lasts only a week and a half to 2 weeks ( so we are at about $80-100 on food a month and about a $100 in wheat litter plus vet bills~ and I will make it work cause my babies are so worth every penny but it would be nice to save a few bucks somewhere). I don't mind continuing with the wet food as only Buddy and Fagan will eat it and it took me forever to find a wet food any of these finicky kitties would at least try. For most including the wellness, Smoke and the others usually try to bury it like it smells poopy. The only one they all agree on is tuna which I don't give too often.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions guys....
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Old April 5th, 2007, 11:54 AM
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DVP's Natural Balance makes a venison and green pea formula for allergies:

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/products/VenCat.html
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Old April 5th, 2007, 11:56 AM
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California Natural makes a herring and sweet potato formula:

http://www.californianaturalpet.com/...lt.asp?id=1338
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Old April 5th, 2007, 12:07 PM
Edgewaters Edgewaters is offline
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Quote:
For now they have to stay on the vet diet but I need an alternative to $35 for an 8lb bag which lasts only a week and a half to 2 weeks ( so we are at about $80-100 on food a month and about a $100 in wheat litter plus vet bills~ and I will make it work cause my babies are so worth every penny but it would be nice to save a few bucks somewhere).
I can't say anything for the food ... but I might have a suggestion for the litter, if you're looking to cut costs somewhere without cutting quality.

We use something similar to the wheat litter, it's called "Elegant Cat" and it is made from alfalfa. We've never had any problems with it and it does seem to work well; none of the "barn smell" that comes with the pine litters, it clumps very well, its flushable (the clumps break up nicely in water), and its biodegradable (ok for septic tanks, though we are in the city). Price is *very* reasonable, about $7 for a 10kg bag. It is pellets though, so you can get a little tracking, we bought special mats of a funny netlike material that trap the pellets as they exit the box. Website is here:

http://www.elegantcatlitter.com/

PetValu here carries it, not sure who else.
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Old April 5th, 2007, 12:15 PM
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krdahmer krdahmer is offline
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I also just found Fromm has a duck and veggie one too, anyone know if thats a good one...and thanks for those sights Rainbow, I'm compiling and printing out ingredient lists and content to discuss the new food with my vet. Fagan gets his last depo shot on Tuesday.

I am especially impressed that California Natural and Fromm have complete breakdowns of what is in their foods and how much of each ingredient. Feel a little better about those 2.

But a few other questions,
Is Vitamin K1 the good K? ( I think I read that K3 is the bad one right?)
How much Vitamin D is too much? (read another post that too much is bad too)
Is tomato pomace like tomato and therefore potentially poisonous to cats?

Arg and I just noticed that even the Fromm Duck and Veggie has Turkey Liver listed 8th and Chicken Fat listed 12th. Grrr. This is so frustrating.
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Old April 5th, 2007, 12:25 PM
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krdahmer krdahmer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Edgewaters View Post
Price is *very* reasonable, about $7 for a 10kg bag. It is pellets though, so you can get a little tracking, we bought special mats of a funny netlike material that trap the pellets as they exit the box.

Thanks... seeing as we go through about 120lbs of the wheat cat litter here in 2 months, that might be something to try. I'm not sure I'd be crazy about stepping on those pellets in my laundry room though, and I know the mats you mean we tried all the different tracking mats and the cats thoroughly enjoyed peeing on each kind! I see on the web site that it's not supposed to stick to their paws or fur is that true? That would really help here....they track litter EVERYWHERE!
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“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” -Mahatma Gandhi

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Old April 5th, 2007, 12:45 PM
Edgewaters Edgewaters is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krdahmer View Post
I see on the web site that it's not supposed to stick to their paws or fur is that true? That would really help here....they track litter EVERYWHERE!
Uhm, well it doesn't *stick* to the fur or paws like some clumpable stuff does but it's pellets, so sometimes they come leaping out of the box and a few (dry) pellets fly out with them. Without the mats we get a small amount of pellets tracked out the front of the box. They don't go far because they don't stick, but they still make it out of the box ...
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Old April 5th, 2007, 01:03 PM
Prin Prin is offline
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It's a cat? I had a thread a while ago with dog foods without poultry...
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Old April 5th, 2007, 01:53 PM
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[QUOTEkrdahmer]But a few other questions,
Is Vitamin K1 the good K? ( I think I read that K3 is the bad one right?)
How much Vitamin D is too much? (read another post that too much is bad too)
Is tomato pomace like tomato and therefore potentially poisonous to cats?
[/QUOTE]


1. Vitamin K1 is the good one.
2. I'm not sure of the maximum amount allowed. The incident with Medi-Cal was because someone added much more than they were supposed to.
3. It wouldn't be added in high enough amounts to be poisonous. The only concern I have is the potential for remaining pesticides on the skins.
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