What's in This Issue:

Cat Food Results

Background:

My poor Missy Bugsy Bits developed the worst case of diarrhea! At first, I thought the bloating was worms and began treating her for that - after all, we'd just had an outbreak of fleas, and fleas bring worms with them.

However, it soon became apparent that none of the others had a problem and Bugs got much worse! The diarrhea was horrible! She was very embarrassed by the process of elimination and then we just kind of stopped making comments so she wouldn't feel so self-conscious.

Meanwhile, I started to try and treat the problem. You know that I want to treat the cause, not just the symptoms by now!

So, I began at the beginning. What goes in must come out, and I looked at her diet. I tried many things, and her staunch refusal to eat any meat or canned food got me to thinking. She insists on her crunchies, but she wasn't getting the nutrition she needs. Her fur was beginning to look pretty dull. She was not dehydrated, and she was very interested in food (obviously hungry). I began patting her tummy lightly when the bloating started and that seemed to stimulate gas release so that the diarrhea didn't smell quite so bad.

I've been told several times about the "raw diets" for pets. However, I'm put off by the storage requirements. I don't have a very large freezer in my 1-bedroom apartment, so I'm a little leery of having that much frozen food to store at once.

I also heard a lot about the grain-free diets and thought at first that only raw food was available for this. I found out different with a little research. Not much research, either. There are quite a few foods out there for cats with this affliction.

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The Results:

Innova (read the labels) EVO and other flavors work well, as they are grain free. I still haven't picked up the Natural Balance but I've tried several others. Eukanuba Sensitive Stomach formula is good. They turned their noses up at Organics by Nature - possibly it's too hard or something. It smells good and the ingredient list is good. I found some others, too. I suggest reading the BLOG to keep up. This is fast moving!

The frozen raw diets are available locally, so I'm able to pick up one chub at a time. It lasts about 3 days with all 5 having access to it. The 2 that like crunchies are a bit put off, still, but that's fine. The Innova seems to be the answer so far. It runs about $8 for a 6 lb. bag, and I haven't found a larger bag so far. There are other foods available in 12 lb. bags for about $24. This is NOT a cheap diet.

I have several huge bags of food that have all been opened, so I'll be giving them to the local Feral Cat Caretakers organization. That seems the best answer so far. They work totally on donations and goodwill, no city or organized fund raising of any kind that I can find. This will certainly help them.

Foods that Work:

Innova EVO Cat - 6.6 lb. Bag $18.99
Innova EVO Cat - 15.4 lb. Bag $38.99

"High in protein and low in carbs, this grain-free formula supplies the key nutritional benefits of a raw food diet. By supplying a high level of quality turkey and chicken, this diet truly connects with the carnivore in your cat!"

Wysong Pet Supplies are completely natural, grain free foods. Supplemented with taurine, the dry and wet foods are excellent. I have some suppliers carrying these foods, and I'll put the links on Specialty Foods as soon as I can.

Freeze Dried Beef Bits are an excellent treat! I'm always recommending freeze dried treats for training, and I usually recommend liver (which should be given sparingly) or salmon. These beef treats can be given as freely as the salmon. This is a new flavor, and it seems to be a hit!

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