When Erin isn't happy

[mimitabby]

since the cat food scare my cats are eating 50% whole ground chicken. And guess who's grinding the meat! me! their other 50% is the nutro brand catfood.
I got a catfood recipe from one of the cat ladies in town; their fur has gotten sleeker and my fat cat is no longer fat.

[onimity]

I'm with the others, my cat had terrible allergy problems which manifested themselves with digestive nastiness, a poor appetite, weight loss and a general desire to make everyone else miserable as well. I tried everything I could think of, medications, 'prescription' foods, acupuncture... I saw dozens of vets & the thing that finally fixed her problems was high quality wet food and no dry food *whatsoever.* She simply can't tolerate it in spite of the fact that she loves it. (We brought home a sample for my other cat and she got into it... BAD news) My cats eat a combination of Wellness (Old Mother Hubbard) and Merrick foods and we've had no problems since starting them on that routine.

Both are made entirely of human-grade ingredients & if your local store doesn't carry them they should be able to order them.

Her dry treats bothered her too, but a local pet store makes a lot of treats out of pure chicken, she loves those more than any others...

Good luck & I hope that Erin feels better!

Anne

[elk]

since the cat food scare my cats are eating 50% whole ground chicken. And guess who's grinding the meat! me! their other 50% is the nutro brand catfood.
I got a catfood recipe from one of the cat ladies in town; their fur has gotten sleeker and my fat cat is no longer fat.

You and me, Mimi. My 4 dogs get whole ground raw chicken and turkey...which I ground myself (for many years) but now I can buy them in convenient frozen "chubs" -and this Orijen "6 fish" kibble which makes my collie shine and keeps her color really rich. Proteins, vegetables. The only grains they get are in the occasional cookie....

Arguably, grains of any kind are filler, and not only unnecessary--they can in fact be unhealthy, to dogs and especially cats....Cats are more pure in thier carnivorous-ness.

Do you give them raw wing tips? Clean their teeth like nothin else...

I have been obsessed with dog nutrition for 15 years....it's like my hobby...!!I tend to go on and on...

My motto is get mostly food made as close to you as possible that is as whole as possible and has passed through the least amount of hands...

BTW: Eukanuba is Iams. Like Science Diet, it used to be a decent food...but not anymore.....

[mimitabby]

Elk, no i don't give them wing tips. My cats are eating the meat ground. even if i give them hearts (supposedly the tastiest part) without grinding them; they don't eat it.
So i'm also giving them high quality dry food so that they don't ruin their teeth.
I tried buying commercial ground meat pet food and none of my cats liked it.
They prefer mom's mix (me) which is all chicken, with extra hearts and livers and egg yolks. I tried freezing the whites and well, that's another story.

[elk]

ah...perhaps little mousies then?? with tiny little bones..

cats are so finicky!! no matter...they are getting great food.

although kibble doesn't do much for teeth..it's like using Grape Nuts to brush yr teeth...

[rij73]

Poor little baby... Hope she feels better. I can't agree enough with Elk, though! Try a great food even if you have to mail order it. Commercial foods are full of unnecessary fillers that can wreak havoc on a pet's immune system. You would be surprised at how much a good food can keep your pet out of the doc's office. Good luck!

[smilingcat]

Dear BMC,

Wish your baby a speedy recovery. It is always so hard to leave them behind when they get sick. Will you be able to check in with your vet everyday?

I agree with many of you about the so called premium food. They are not. We feed wellness after I lost my big boy Murph's (my avatar) last Dec. to the tainted food. Since then we've been looking at making our own kitty food. ground whole organic chicken.

Question? I worry about salmonella, so I was thinking of dunking the whole chicken in boiling water for like 2-3minutes to kill off any surface bacteria. Then grind it up bone and all. Freeze in serving size quantity. No liver, no heart, no gizzard is what I read. And do you add anything else to their food?

Smilingcat

[ibcycling]

I so agree with you Elk on the vets and their recommendations. Similar to human doctors they don't get a lot of training on nutrition. It's a small part of their studies and Science Diet puts enough money into vet schools to make sure they're supported as being a great food. Thanks to the recent food scare more people are paying attention to what they feed and doing their own research instead of blindly taking their veterinarian's advice.

I was so thrilled when I started researching vets here after we moved. There is a clinic here that focuses on nutrition and wellness instead of just prescribing drugs. When I took my Dane in for elbow pain we discussed his diet, exercise, supplements, and options and he never mentioned Rimidyl. He's also checking for underlying problems though we're pretty sure it's a genetic thing. I'm very happy to have found them and have more options than the "regular" vet.

Hopefully we'll end up at the same ride and can chat about dogs and nutrition someday Elk. I'd really enjoy that!

Lora