Awesome new cat food is awesome! :)
Aug. 10th, 2009 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosebeeWe've had Mort for about a month now.
When we first brought him home, he had really runny/watery stools. I figured that was because he'd been a stray, and then for a few hours one morning a neighbor couple took him in and fed him dog food (all they had).
After a couple days his stools firmed up a little, but only to a semi-soft state (about like firm pudding). And they were still atrociously stinky. He could stink up the bathroom worse than anyone else in the house - including my husband & I! Utterly and completely foul!!! :(
Well I finally called the vet about it, and she recommended a prescription food (that only she sold, of course) called Royal Canin Intestinal HE 30. So I bought some and took it home, and *then* looked at the ingredient list! ::shudder:
First few ingredients: Chicken meal, chicken fat, corn gluten meal, powdered cellulose, natural flavors, soy protein isolate, dried egg product, dried beet pulp (sugar removed), & etc. "powdered cellulose"?! Mort does NOT need any additional fiber in his diet, and if he did I'd want it to be something digestible... not wood pulp! What kind of 'special vet food' is this?!
I called the Vet back when I got home to ask what "powdered cellulose" was, and why it was in the cat food (making a joking comment that, "I'm a little confused to see it on the ingredient list, let alone as the 4th ingredient, because it doesn't sound all that edible to me".
Vet wasn’t sure made an off-hand half-dismissing comment that she bet it was plant matter and that it was in there for fiber.
She got points for offering to call Royal Canin on Monday to find out. I'm eager to see what she says.
In the meantime, I went out and bought some Innova EVO, thinking that a grain-free option might work better for him. I also bought a bag of Wellness "de-boned chicken, chicken meal, & rice recipe" flavor. I'm also trying to avoid food with fish products in it in case he's allergic or something.
I first fed Mort a bit of the Innova EVO with his regular Innova kibble on Saturday evening. A little over 24 hours later I saw him leave a deposit in the litter box... and it was MUCH firmer, and NOT nuclear-bomb-level stinky!! :D YAAAYYYY!!
::happy dance::
I'm hoping this wonderful change remains permanent. The vet said we'd have to try that special prescription food for 4 full weeks, and we'd have to switch both cats so that Mort wouldn’t accidentally get some of the other food.
Four weeks on corn gluten meal & powdered cellulose? I don't think so. Lots fillers/bulking agents so he needs to eat more is NOT what I want in my cat's food.
Er, sorry for the lack of cutting before. :/
When we first brought him home, he had really runny/watery stools. I figured that was because he'd been a stray, and then for a few hours one morning a neighbor couple took him in and fed him dog food (all they had).
After a couple days his stools firmed up a little, but only to a semi-soft state (about like firm pudding). And they were still atrociously stinky. He could stink up the bathroom worse than anyone else in the house - including my husband & I! Utterly and completely foul!!! :(
Well I finally called the vet about it, and she recommended a prescription food (that only she sold, of course) called Royal Canin Intestinal HE 30. So I bought some and took it home, and *then* looked at the ingredient list! ::shudder:
First few ingredients: Chicken meal, chicken fat, corn gluten meal, powdered cellulose, natural flavors, soy protein isolate, dried egg product, dried beet pulp (sugar removed), & etc. "powdered cellulose"?! Mort does NOT need any additional fiber in his diet, and if he did I'd want it to be something digestible... not wood pulp! What kind of 'special vet food' is this?!
I called the Vet back when I got home to ask what "powdered cellulose" was, and why it was in the cat food (making a joking comment that, "I'm a little confused to see it on the ingredient list, let alone as the 4th ingredient, because it doesn't sound all that edible to me".
Vet wasn’t sure made an off-hand half-dismissing comment that she bet it was plant matter and that it was in there for fiber.
She got points for offering to call Royal Canin on Monday to find out. I'm eager to see what she says.
In the meantime, I went out and bought some Innova EVO, thinking that a grain-free option might work better for him. I also bought a bag of Wellness "de-boned chicken, chicken meal, & rice recipe" flavor. I'm also trying to avoid food with fish products in it in case he's allergic or something.
I first fed Mort a bit of the Innova EVO with his regular Innova kibble on Saturday evening. A little over 24 hours later I saw him leave a deposit in the litter box... and it was MUCH firmer, and NOT nuclear-bomb-level stinky!! :D YAAAYYYY!!
::happy dance::
I'm hoping this wonderful change remains permanent. The vet said we'd have to try that special prescription food for 4 full weeks, and we'd have to switch both cats so that Mort wouldn’t accidentally get some of the other food.
Four weeks on corn gluten meal & powdered cellulose? I don't think so. Lots fillers/bulking agents so he needs to eat more is NOT what I want in my cat's food.
Er, sorry for the lack of cutting before. :/
no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 08:26 pm (UTC)I'm convinced grain-free is SO much better for cats; ours thrive on it, and yes, much less stinky!
So many cats have corn and gluten-grain (wheat, rye, oats, etc) sensitivities, but most vets seem clueless about it! My Goosie had a recurring mast cell tumor on his side from age 2 on that completely vanished when we went grain free and never came back.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 11:32 pm (UTC)Most vets seem to be very uneducated when it comes to pet nutrition.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 11:43 pm (UTC)I think vets get far more promotional materials from cat food manufacturers than they get helpful information in school about a normal, healthy diet for an obligate carnivore....