Cat people: what do you feed your cats?

[Bossy Monkey]

As some of you know, we just lost our older cat due to end-stage kidney disease. Looking around the 'net, I find that many people (including some vets, but apparently not the majority) feel that diabetes and kidney disease in cats is caused largely by carbohydrates and other inappropriate ingredients in commercially available cat foods, especially dry cat food. I've been feeding them (although now there's only one of them) Hill's Science Diet, which is said to be a prime offender. Thinking of switching her/ them (a ragdoll kitten is arriving in about a month) to Evo. What are thoughts? What do you feed them and how? (I.e., if you feed multiple cats wet food, how do you manage it? We've stuck with dry because if we fed them wet, late lamented Madeline just ate it all. This is a patio home, a little short on doors; I can sequester them each in her own bed/bath suite so they can't get at one another's food, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't like it.) Your thoughts, suggestions, experience?

Edit: removed a stray 's'

[MrCoffee]

1. Meow Mix...it's the only food we've found that doesn't give him toxic ass.

We tried iams, and it almost killed all life in a three block radius.

[meow2u3]

17. I feed my cats Meow Mix

It's the only thing they like. They both scarf it down as if they were freakin' addicted to the stuff--Max especially!

[femmocrat]

29. Same here. Meow Mix.

I mix in a small can of Giant Eagle's canned cat food (3 oz.) twice a day. He's 19 years old, healthy and still has a good appetite.

[meow2u3]

32. 19? God bless your kitty

My cats are 2 (Ruby) and 7 months (Max, Ruby's son). Max loved Meow Mix from the time he was weaned.

[TZ]

2. A lot of disinformation on the net

I would suggest you get actually veterinary advice from a vet..Older cats are subject to kidney disease..diet is not necessarily the biggest factor here.
You will get a thousand and one answers here.
My vet actually recommends little to NO dry food because dry food is not great for the teeth..which can lead to infections..which can lead to other health issues. Dry food...like candy my vet says and leads to more weight issues in cats than wet food.
As I said..ask your vet.

[Bossy Monkey]

4. The vet was selling Hill's Science Diet

so I think I have a shrewd guess what he'd say. The studies indicating that cats are obligate carnivores and need nearly nothing but meat are from Cornell, so probably not mis- or disinformation. But I also get that if the majority of vets think that Hill's and Iams are OK, they probably aren't all bought off; no doubt both products are fine.

AS to wet, I still don't know how to feed it to multiple cats, but am open to suggestions.

[moriah]

24. Just remember that ...

.... while most vets sell Hills products because they also have the Prescription Diet line, not all of them recommend Science Diet.

As for kidney issues, if a cat has a confirmed kidney issue already, too much protein may be bad for them. If your vet recommends a specific prescription diet plan, if it's by Hills or another maker, do follow your vet's advice... don't do what we did and listen to another vet who says the money isn't well-spent.

My CareCredit account is a testament to this.

[flvegan]

3. Evo is a very high quality pet food.

I have an outside cat that adopted us years ago, and I also have at least two other cats that stop by for a meal (plus the large family of raccoons that's found the cat food stash). Honestly, they get whatever I pick up or gets donated. I don't buy garbage, but I don't spend a ton since I'm feeding a percentage of Tampa's wildlife.

[DarkTirade]

5. Non-cat people.

Well, you have to grind them up or cut them into little chunks first. Cats can't really handle a whole person.

:evilgrin:

[Bossy Monkey]

9. I'm not sure long pig is good for kitties. I mean, look at what WE eat

Do you choose only lean, healthy non-cat people? (Going straight to hell, here :))

[DarkTirade]

10. I try to be picky when I can

but sometimes I don't have a choice.

It's easy to trim out the fatty parts though.

[Ohio Joe]

6. I always keep a bowl of dry food out

but Animal eats maybe 2 bowls a week. Most of her diet comes from whatever I'm eating. Meat, some of the veggies, diary, she is not very picky. As long as it does not have garlic, she eats almost anything. Stuff I make with garlic, I usually make some of it without for her. Last night I had tacos, so she had meat, sour cream, a little tomato and cheese. I didn't give her the onion, lettuce or shell as I know she will not eat them. I've fed all my cats this way since I was a child, seems to work ok. Animal is almost 15 (Christmas day) and still going strong.

[hippywife]

7. We have

an older cat, she's 12, and two new kittens. The older cat used to eat Meow Mix but went off of it years ago for some reason, so we started on Kit n' Kaboodle, which she loves. The little ones are on kitten chow. They all go back and forth between bowls so they eat it all.

The older cat has become quite arthritic so lately I've taken to giving her 1/2 a baby aspirin in the morning, and occasionally again in the evening (it really is helping her!) To do so, I've had to begin muying soft food. So I get the small cans of Fancy Feast salmon. I crush the baby aspirin on the plate and then mix in around a TBS. of the food with it. While she's eating that, the babies get a very small spoonful on a separate plate. The same tiny can lasts for two rounds. That is all the soft food they get.

[bettyellen]

8. i have to do dry too, i use Royal Canin because it low carb and the sensitive stomach

formula works for my littlest one who is finicky and has bowel trouble with lots of other foods. they are toilet trained so it's best they can shit happily and easily , you know what i mean?
it's supposed to be very good for their skin + coats. and they have breed specific foprmulas, popular w/ breeders. :shrug:

[trueblue2007]

11. both our cats eat EVO. They love it.

[spinbaby]

12. Dry food and Fancy Feast

The dry food is usually Deli Cat which we buy in big buckets. Some of the kitties dine out. Some like a bit of what we're eating (Wilma is right now polishing off the last of my cottage cheese). They all seem to have different preferences and they're all healthy. A couple are a bit fat but not extremely so.

[marigold20]

36. Same for us - dry food always available,

1 can of Fancy feast split for our two cats. And for a special treat, a little Fancy Feast Gold dry food once a day. They go nuts over this stuff.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Friskies cans and kibble, or other Purina varieties. They each get

1/4 can of food when I go to bed and I leave a few handfuls of kibble out (we like the grass formula) so they can nom during the day.

[LostinVA]

14. One gets Innova dry and the other gets EVO canned

The one on the Innova dry gets the runs from EVO. I think it's too much protein for her.

Meanwhile, EVO and Tiki Cat (as a treat) is the only thing the cat with IBS can keep down. He also supplements his diet with rodents. They also cause no digestive issues.

Our dog also eats EVO mixed with a little bit of Merrick.

[The Straight Story]

15. mice and birds

it is what they narutally eat, hard to catch the birds for me though, especially those big eagle ones... ;)

[LeftyMom]

16. Natural Balance kibble

[DS1]

18. Friskies wet, Purina One dry. 2 wet packets a day, or 3 if he's bulking up for winter

and always a pile of dry for him to snack on.

He gets water from the Britta, too.

[Bossy Monkey]

22. Alice (gf) makes fun of me for giving them Britta-filtered water

but our tap water is rusty, I won't drink it, so I figure why make the cats do so?

[mnhtnbb]

19. Purina One Sensitive Systems for Mouse and Simba. I switched them

from Purina One Urinary Tract mix when Simba was throwing up a couple times a week. Once I switched them
to the Sensitive Systems, Simba only throws up once in a while now. They are indoor/outdoor cats
and I think occasionally they still do catch something at night.

They're both 12 years old, eat from the same dish, and have never had any serious problems from food requiring vet visits. (Mouse used to get in fights with neighbor cats and have to get antibiotics for scratches/infections, but hasn't been in a fight for a long time).

[fizzgig]

20. meow mix

i can't remember them eating anything else. i've got my two girls and i free feed them. the same goes for my dad's cats and there have never been any problems

[LiberalEsto]

21. Wellness brand cat food

My two torties refuse to eat wet cat food or home-cooked food, so I buy them the dry Wellness brand. I give them plain low-fat yogurt a couple of times a week -- our vet said it helps prevent urinary tract problems. And there's always a pot of cat grass on the window sill for them to nibble.

[moriah]

23. Ninja gets Hills Prescription Diet c/d

And we aren't switching him ever even if Hill's isn't the best, unless it's to another prescription diet to prevent stones.

[Flaxbee]

25. Dry: Felidae, Natural Balance, Wellness, Artemis, California Natural

or some other 'high quality' dry. I weaned them off of the corn-crap that most grocery stores offer, and they eat LESS of the good quality stuff (so it is cost-effective in the long run), there is LESS poop, and they like it better.

Moist: They LOVE Avoderm Fish canned, and Solid Gold Tuna canned. They tolerate Wellness, Holistic Blend, Tiki Cat and whatever else I try out on them. But Avoderm and Solid Gold are their favorites.

They also eat less/seem satisfied more quickly with higher-quality moist. Whereas they used to gobble down a whole can of Fancy Feast, they'll take a few licks of the pricier moist and be happy. So one 5-oz can can serve 6-7 of them (I have 7) but one 3-oz Fancy Feast would only sate 2. So it's a better bargain as well.

I had to switch to better quality food for one of the older guys, and they all like it better.

[Roon]

26. I can't help you in the food department

but please, please post some pictures of your new rag doll. That breed is so CUTE!!! They melt in your arms when you hold them and that is why they got their name. My Barney looks like a rag doll but he's not, hates to be held.

[Bossy Monkey]

31. I think I can do that

I'll add text on edit momentarily; just want to see if the pictures actually came through.

Edit: Dangit, didn't work. I'll keep trying, though it might take a while.

Editedit: I'll be damned, Earthlink transforms filenames from upper case to lower, then makes the page name case dependent. All fixed now, obviously.

The late great Madeline was just like a ragdoll in that she mostly went boneless when picked up. The cat currently on my lap, the world famous Amelia

was selected by gf Alice because she looks so cuddly, but like your cat she HATES being picked up. She's ok with scritches in great abundance, however.

[Roon]

34. cute!

WANT!!

[Sanity Claws]

27. Spot's Stew dry food (Chicken)

We've switched dry foods a lot. Before this, I got them Wellness dry food and before that, Organix. They did well on all of them.

I also give them a little canned cat food. We use Purina ProPlan canned because they will eat it. They will not eat many canned cat foods.
Both of my cats are healthy.

[carlyhippy]

28. mine gets purina one hairball formula dry and 2 times a day gets science diet wet food

yes, they are fat.....

[wickerwoman]

30. Royal Canin

It's made a huge difference in my cats' health. Any time I switch them to the cheap stuff for a few days, I can tell.

[DeepBlueC]

33. avoid anything with fish

Sometimes you buy some kind of chicken cat food, but if you read the label it is full of just about everything, including fish. My vet says nothing with fish at all, as it turns into damaging ammonia. Closest you can get to fish is tuna juice from the can but NOT any of the flesh. Also you can cook some chicken breast for the kitty. It is a very good protein, vet says. My mother is going through this with her own beloved companion. Her own vet gave her some Royal Canin renal diet but the cat is not impressed, so she said give her whatever she will eat. My own vet added the info about fish (NO) and chicken and turkey (YES). Also helpful is to leave multiple water sources around for the cat as drinking a lot of water will help compensate for under-functioning kidneys.

Also you should know that chronic renal failure does not mean that the cat is going to die next week. In fact if at some point you can administer subcutaneous fluids the cat can go on for years. This I have seen. Getting this done at the vet regularly can be pricey, but if you get your vet to teach you when it is appropriate treatment and how to administer the fluids you can buy yourself a lot of good time with the kitty. If you give the cat the prescription food and she eats it, then good.

Good luck. :hi:

[luv_mykatz]

35. I feed my girls Rad Cat.

Rad Cat is a raw, all-meat, all natural cat food. I buy it at our local natural food store. It is kept in its own freezer, in the pet section of the store. It is very expensive, but I feel that keeping my furry purry friends out of the vet's office is worth it. My vet recommended this kind of food. There used to be a web site called www.felinefuture.com that had information on the most recent research on feline health from diet (possibly connected or related to the Cornell University reasearch you mentioned). The web site used to have a recipe that you could print out, which told how to make good food for your cats, if you couldn't find anything like Rad Cat in your area. Now, I think the web site sells a nutrition supplement you can use to make food for your cats. I know it seems expensive, and making your own can be a lot of work, but the results in health for your cats is outstanding.
One of my cats would happily eat up all of the other cat's food. I stand over them while they eat, and won't allow this to happen. Good luck, whatever you decide to do.O8)