Important story for the 1000s of cat owners/lovers on DU

[Divernan]

Pstokely posted this story in another thread which got locked because evidently news about cats cannot be latest breaking news. So here it is again. What makes it important is that there is veritable epidemic of cats coming down with diabetes because of being overweight. And that is often a death sentence since most cat owners do not have health insurance on their pets and insulin/needles can cost $100 a month, which many pet owners cannot afford. See my reply below re this issue.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/adoption-offers-pouring-in

ST. CHARLES • People looking for a pet to adopt from the city’s shelter can’t help but stop and stare at the cat in cage No. 1.

Biscuit — a gray and white tabby — weighs a whopping 37 pounds. He is morbidly obese.

Male house cats normally top out at between 10 and 15 pounds, according to Teresa Gilley, lead animal control officer. That makes Biscuit’s condition and his chances for adoption a concern.

Since he got to the shelter a week ago, he’s been put on a diet

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/adoption-offers-pouring-in-for--pound-cat/article_b0da05a6-e5b7-5db0-86e6-42fb204baece.html

[Divernan]

1. I cured my overweight cat of diabetes - here's how.

My vet read me the riot act when my neutered tomcat weighed 16 lbs.

As she warned me would happen, he did indeed develop diabetes. I then began researching and found that the grain based dry cat food (which I left out for him to eat on a demand basis) is absolutely the wrong food for cats. They are carnivores! To skip the scientific terms, I learned that the cat's digestive system/intestines are not long enough to adequately process these grains, and therefore the cat's hunger was never satisfied. That, combined with becoming an indoor cat with little exercise compared to when he was a stray living in the woods, led to the weight gain.

As recommended by more progressive vets, I switched him to all protein wet food. I had to inject him with insulin twice a day to start, but was able to gradually reduce the dosage as his weight came down. This required very close monitoring. A cat's pancreas CAN start producing insulin again. This combined with the insulin shots resulted in two episodes of low blood sugar/hypoglycemic shock/staggering/immediate trip to the vets/further reduction in insulin dosage.

Basically, I watched him like a hawk, which I could do since I'm retired. After about a year of this, his blood sugar levels were normal with NO insulin, and he is at a very healthy weight. Got him off insulin over a year ago and the results of the weight loss are terrific - he plays a lot with my younger cat - many galloping chases around the house. And he climbs up to spots he NEVER went to before. The other day I was looking for him all over the house, peering into any possible place on the floor. Then I raised my head & was eye to eye with him. He had managed to climb up to the top of my TV cabinet, where he was king of all he surveyed.

Cats do not need leafy garden greens! They need meat - and we're talking muscle meat, not organ meat. My vet recommended level one baby food - I get Gerber's turkey/turkey gravy; beef/beef gravy; chicken/chicken gravy. The other diet staple for my cats is Fancy Feast Classic line - beef, chicken, beef&chicken, turkey. Occasionally they get some tuna in water for a treat (not catfood tuna, but people food tuna like starkist).

I've talked to other cat owners whose cats are really overweight, and they say stuff like, "But he's so hungry and eating is his only pleasure, so I won't deny him." Bull shit! Whomever owned this poor, morbidly obese cat is guilty of abuse. Either they never took him to a vet - which is an abuse; or they ignored the vet's advice, because there is not a vet in the world who would approve of this cat's weight and not tell the owner to put him on a diet. Nobody's cats overfeed themselves. It is their owner's responsibility.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. I have one thin cat and one kinda chubby cat

Hard to control the diet of the chubby one because I suspect she nibbles from the bowl of the thin cat when I'm at work

[Hekate]

7. Interesting about the meat diet, Divernan

My old cat Othello liberally supplemented his dry kibble with mice and rats (and sorry to say it, birds). Maybe that's why he was so strong and vigorous. Of course, we had him wormed regularly to offset the wild diet, but that was a small price to pay for his service.

Never had a fat cat.

[chowder66]

9. Can I ask how much you feed your cat?

I have a fat cat and she barely gets any food. At least that's what it feels like. I feed her one small fancy feast grilled or classic daily and she gets a little dry food but sometimes I skip that because I am trying to get her weight down. I'm worried she is not getting enough nutrition and food.

I play with her daily but it's not doing the trick. Also, she has leukemia but is very active and happy.

[Divernan]

14. I don't know how the leukemia interacts with her weight.

That sounds pretty serious - you have a vet monitoring her, I hope. My tom is a big-boned guy and weighs in at 12 pounds. He & my other cat split a jar of meat/baby food in the morning, followed by his own can of fancy feast Classic in early afternoon, and shares another can with the second cat in the evening. She has no weight problem, and is extremely active, so gets a bit of diet dry food during the day where he can't get at it. She, however, bolts it down (she was a feral woods cat, and they seem to binge when they come across food), and then she'd throw it up. So I put it on a cookie tray, rather than in a bowl, so she has to chase it around a bit to eat it. (at my vet's suggestion). My vet also suggested hand-feeding her dry food one at a time as an option, but the cookie sheet approach works. And at bed-time, they both get hand fed some dry treats.

There are some very good support blogs on line for cats and their health problems. I strongly feel each of us should take responsibility for our health and research whatever illnesses, conditions, etc., we have so that we are informed patients who can then get the most out of consulting with physicians. I am fortunate to have very good health insurance so I can see specialists and/or get second opinions at my own initiative. I exercised that same responsibility for my kids when they were growing up, and I do it with my pets.

[kestrel91316]

10. Cats on an "all protein" diet will die. They need carbohydrates (not many) and fats and many

different vitamins and minerals. A high protein/low carb diet is often (but not always) the solution to obesity or diabetes in cats, but it must be a BALANCED diet.

Owners of obese and/or diabetic cats need to work closely with their veterinarians to ensure healthy weight loss and proper nutrition. Insufficient nutrients of the right kind in overweight cats can lead to dangerous liver failure known as hepatic lipidosis.

Organ meat, just like muscle meat, is just fine in cats AS PART OF A BALANCED diet. Baby food is grossly inadequate nutrition for cats. Please, DUers, do NOT feed it to your cats. You can have too much of a good thing - a diet too high in muscle meat can lead to a very painful death from nutritional hyperparathyroidism.

[Divernan]

13. My vet would disagree with you, at least in part.

I did work closely with my vet. The baby food (not all baby foods obviously, but just the first level, easiest to digest ones with meat) has fat in it via the gravy, and the canned food does have organ meat, vitamins, and minerals listed on the can. What guides me is the order in which ingredients are listed. I don't get anything which lists grain as the first (primary) ingredient The Fancy Feast Classic Beef canned food list of ingredients, for example, reads "beef, meat broth, liver, fish, meat byproducts, and then about 10 minerals, vitamins, etc.

And of course cats of all sizes in the wild do not get vitamin or mineral supplements.

I know there is a difference of opinion among vets, with some prescribing a straight dry food diet. Some of the diet dry food does have more carbs, but still are mainly grains. I chose to go with the wet food, and my cat lost the weight and his pancreas produces the necessary insulin. Everyone here is competent to do their own research and discuss it with their vets.

I'm a diabetic myself, and keep my A1C at 5.7, to my doctor's delight, and I exercise similar care with my cat.

[kestrel91316]

17. Your vet gave you bad advice if he/she told you that baby food could be anything

other than an occasional treat for your cats. It's called "baby" food and not "cat" food for a reason.

Fancy Feast Classic canned CAT food is an excellent choice.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. The ability to read words on internet pages does not equate with having a formal graduate level education in a particular subject and understanding the ramifications and real life applications of what one reads. If I had a nickel for every website I've seen that gives false, misleading, or downright dangerous lay medical advice for cats I could retire.

They don't call us veterinarians experts for no reason, you know. And the nutrition class we all took in vet school was taught by the world's best veterinary nutritionist - and was the second toughest class in all of vet school.

[Divernan]

21. You are not familiar w/labels of the foods you are dismissing as mere "treats"

Last edited Sat Mar 2, 2013, 05:26 AM - Edit history (1)

In my earliest post re what I fed my cat, I referred specifically to Fancy Feast Classic foods. As a vet, you should know that those include organ meats, multiple vitamins and minerals. Yet in your first response you indicate the diet I implemented did not include vitamins, minerals and organ meat. Then in a later post, you acknowledge that Fancy Feast Classic canned cat food is an excellent choice. You sound confused.

Turning to the baby food issue, take a look at the labels on the 3 Gerber foods I specifically identified. For example, "Turkey and Turkey Gravy" has only 3 ingredients: ground turkey, water and cornstarch. Were you assuming other ingredients? (I know that it's important that there is no onion in it.) I know that vets and animal shelters recommend simple baby foods, such as Gerber's chicken or turkey for kittens, sick cats and elderly cats - it seems to stimulate their appetites, but that other supplements are required, such as taurine,which is in the Fancy Feast classic foods.

I refuse to have blind faith in medical professionals, starting with the fact that a physician misdiagnosed & mistreated my father's cancer, resulting in his death in his 40's. Then there were all the ob-gyns performing unnecessary hysterectomies when birth rates and doctors' incomes dropped, including one who tried to pressure me into said surgery. On another occasion, I was sent home from the ER following an auto accident with a diagnosis of concussion, when in fact I had a skull fracture - something the doctor somehow missed in my skull x-ray. I could go on and on with similar disastrous health treatments suffered by friends and family over the decades. Then there was the vet whose office staff sent me home with the wrong medication for my terminally ill dog, resulting in unnecessary pain for him in his last weeks. By "wrong" I mean that the office staff counted out, put in a blank envelope and sold me not the NEW pain killer the vet directed as per my dog's chart, but the same one he had been on and had quit working. Since it was in a blank envelope, I could not see any label to catch the mistake.

You sound like you disapprove of people researching medical issues on the web. You know, I'm not talking about some chain emails, or anecdotes repeating what someone's sister's neighbor's handyman recommends. Golly, I even know how to read and understand peer-reviewed articles in medical and vet journals! I've taken multiple classes at the University of Pittsburgh in infectious diseases - granted, for people, not animals! (Although some of them do jump species.) I've been trained to read and interpret autopsy protocols. In other words, I do NOT rely on "lay medical advice". Do I just "read words on an internet page"? No. How condescending and dismissive of you. Medical doctors aren't gods and neither are vets.

Here's something written by another vet, published for popular consumption on Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-karen-becker/healtthy-cat-diet_b_865604.html
Dr. Becker was discussing this article/study
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/6/1039.full#R22
from the Journal of Experimental Biology

Research Proves It: Cats and Carbs Don't Mix!

Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they have nutritional requirements that can only be met with a diet based on animal tissue. The macronutrient profile for cats is high in protein and fat, consistent with a meat-based diet.

According to study authors:

The carbohydrate ceiling explains many of the intake patterns seen in both dry and wet diet experiments and suggests that cats may only be able to process ingested carbohydrate up to a certain level.

The feline body is specifically designed for a low-carb diet. Indicators your kitty isn't equipped by nature to process a lot of carbohydrates include:

• No taste receptors for sweet flavors
• Low rates of glucose uptake in the intestine
• No salivary amylase to break down starches
• Reduced capacity of pancreatic amylase and intestinal disaccharidases

In other words, cats don't produce the enzymes required to digest carbohydrates. The only carbs felines eat in the wild are pre-digested and are found in the stomachs of prey animals.

If your kitty's body is incapable of digesting a heavy carbohydrate load and she's eating a cat food with high carb content, she could potentially develop digestive disease and other serious conditions, like diabetes and pancreatitis, related to eating a diet unfit for her species. And certainly, too many carbohydrates aren't the only problem with most processed pet foods. (End of quote)
I don't know how long ago you took your nutrition class in vet school, but if vets are so expert on animal nutrition, how come the pet food manufacturers are able to continue to profit from selling high carb dry foods, and using "leafy green vegetables added" as marketing gimmicks?

[BrotherIvan]

24. Sorry Divernan, I must have been posting at the same time as you

Your response was much more thorough and better said than mine. Thank you for getting the information out there as it is very important for pet owners to know.

[SmileyRose]

56. human baby food helped our cat too

she was 17 yrs old and diabetic though never overweight. Cat started dropping weight so fast no matter what we tried with vet care and advice.

Pet sitter said baby food and it worked. Cat started eating again perked up and lived to 21. Last 4 yrs was all human baby food, tuna and the occasional olive.

It's not ideal, not cheap, not recommended for a healthy cat but if a cst has special situations why not? It obviously helped in our case too.

[BrotherIvan]

23. Saying a cat needs "some" carbohydrate can be very misleading.

The reason why our pets are now exhibiting the diseases of civilization is because we are feeding them the same foods that are causing an epidemic of these same diseases in the human population. As I am sure your training has taught you better than I, cats are *obligate carnivores*. When they kill small game, they often eat the inner organs first, which may contain partially-digested grasses or vegetable matter. They will also ingest some grass themselves or taste a leaf here and there. This meets their very low need for any form of carbohydrate. But this is a FAR CRY from commercial pet foods that are LOADED with grains including wheat, corn, potatoes, etc. Not only do they have trouble digesting these grains, they have even less ability to control the surges in blood sugar these cause than humans do. Expect even more problems when GMO ingredients have saturated the market. This is true for dogs as well.

Yes, cats need a diet that provides the same makeup as their natural prey and the vitamins and minerals that come from that diet. Baby food will not provide that and is missing such essential amino acids as taurine. There are pet foods that provide these and are grain free as well, though owners should steadfastly read all ingredients in anything they feed. The big brands sold in grocery stores are the absolute worst offenders and often have sub par ingredients from sick or dead livestock unfit for human consumption, or worse yet, tainted from China which has led to so many deaths lately. Just google how pet food is made and you will find the disgusting truth. Checking with a reputable pet shop on higher quality foods will save tons of $$ in doctor's bills.

And while many veterinarians would never condone feeding anything raw, there are so many pets that have benefited from a raw diet. Canned food is canned and preserved in order to maintain its shelf life, killing many of the vitamins and denaturing the proteins. One doesn't have to feed 100% raw, but adding in a little in the form of egg yolks or raw meat or even whole prey has brought many pets back to health. Dogs and cats both have relatively short digestive tracts so are far less susceptible to problems with raw foods. It's really an eye opener when people find out how they have been scammed by the pet food industry to feed their beloved pets food that will make them sick. They are mega corporations trying to make a buck by keeping costs as low as possible and basically creating junk food. I know people don't intend to feed their pets a steady diet of McDonald's, but that is EXACTLY what they are doing.

[Divernan]

25. You made excellent points I had not covered.

My post was getting so long, that I feared people wouldn't start to read it.

Commercial pet food manufacturers - particularly dry foods - ARE running a scam. From what I've read, this will not change because the manufacturing process for dry cat food pellets with long shelf lives mandates a high percentage of grains. Then you referred to the subpar safety manufacturing process of pet foods (which is far less than for the Gerber or Beechnut baby foods). And a primary source of dry pet foods being grains, the GMO effect, whatever that may eventually be proven to be, greatly impacts any pets eating such grain based foods.

There's an obvious conflict of interest for vets who sell high priced "prescription" dry foods. I've read some excellent critiques of such foods:

"Here’s a FACT that Science Diet didn’t mention about corn and other grains; corn and other grains are prone to develop deadly mycotoxins. From the International Journal of Food Microbiology, Drs. Herman J. Boermans and Maxwell C.K. Leung published “Mycotoxins and the pet food industry: Toxicological evidence and risk assessment“ in 2007. This paper studied the risk of day to day consumption of small amounts of mycotoxins (amounts not detected in any pet food manufacturers quality control testing). They found this small day to day consumption can result in “chronic diseases such as liver and kidney fibrosis, infections resulting from immonosuppression and cancer.” This peer reviewed science shows any pet foods containing even small amounts of corn and other grains pose health risks to the pets that consume them. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17889389

"Science Diet also addresses their use of by-products and meat by-products. They state “Our ingredients include by-products, which are common ingredients found in both human and pet food.” This statement is somewhat of a stretch. The AAFCO definition of Poultry by-product (same definition for chicken by-product) is “must consist of non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice.” Perhaps some humans around the world consume food containing chicken intestines free from fecal content, but I doubt it’s being served at many Super Bowl parties."
http://thehydrantblog.com/2011/03/02/science-diet-why-its-crap/

[lapislzi]

38. I found Science Diet to be utter crap.

My cat got sicker. I told my vet as much and took over the nutritional management myself.

Read, read, read. And watch, watch, watch.

Cats are not evolved to digest a heavy or complex carbohydrate load. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something. The canned food I feed my sugar cat (Weruva) adds sweet potato, which is an OK carb for cats, but just as often, they eat around it and leave it in the bowl. I'm fine with that.

[Divernan]

26. An excellent commentary from The Canadian Veterinary Journal

Last edited Sat Mar 2, 2013, 09:54 AM - Edit history (1)

aka, La Revue Veterinaire Canadienne
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2034416/
It concludes:
"As pet owners become more educated to the fact that a dry food diet is a junk food diet, they won’t blame the pet food companies, but the veterinarians who prescribed and sold them these prescription diet kibbles.

Safe and effective handling of raw meat, a cat’s natural diet, is of course paramount, and pet owners are not idiots who cannot understand how to make food at home when provided with the correct information.

Legislative changes are needed to strip the claims of “health” from dry cat food, remove the products from the market, and effectively educate owners on how to ensure the health of their cats by feeding natural diets.

Tainted pet food is but the tip of the iceberg: the real scandal is that dry cat food formulations, veterinary-prescribed and sold, are causing so many illnesses in our cats."

The article links to: Parker-Pope T. Why vets recommend ‘designer’ chow. Wall Street Journal. 1997. Nov 3. [Last accessed August 31, 2007]. Available at http://www.twodogbarkery.com/articles/designer_chow.html (printed in 1997, when the pet food industry represented over nine BILLION Dollars in sales per year)
. . .(M)any veterinarians receive very little in the way of impartial scientific training in nutrition, although many are embarrassed to admit this. What they learn comes from the pet food industry, which, I also understand, as standard practice, provides students with free pet food. Business marketing plans are directed at veterinarians to encourage a lifetime of feeding commercial dry cat food. The sale of dry cat food can amount to 35% of a clinic’s income(1). Cats are obligate carnivores, no veterinarian would dispute that fact, so how is it that most veterinarians prescribe and sell only prescription diet dry cat food?

Many illnesses in cats — diabetes, chronic renal failure, inflammatory bowel syndrome — are caused by dry cat food. Since veterinarians are prescribing food that is creating illness in cats, selling this food constitutes a conflict of interest and makes veterinarians part of the problem.

[BrotherIvan]

47. This information is so important

And I thank you Divernan for getting it out there. I know that everyone loves their pets and wants what is best for them. The information is so confusing, most of the time coming from big corps' marketing and the capture of physicians and in this case vets. I too have had similar experience with doctors enough to have learned that one must never take what they say as gospel--and NEVER follow their guidelines for nutrition.

Those have been created by lobbyists for big ag just the same way the human food pyramid has. People and pets are being made sick for profit. The flood of cheap carbohydrate and sub-standard food is creating a health crisis. Not only are corn and grain susceptible to mold and fungus, they also contain toxic anti-nutrients the plant has evolved for a defense and only birds, rodents and some insects can digest it. That is an undisputed scientific fact, so why then does the medical industry push eating copious amounts and feeding it to our pets?

The food we eat is the biggest exposure any human or animal gets every day. We ingest it, break it down and it goes into our blood, our organs, our body. Food bypasses many of the defenses we have against other dangers such as the skin. If you or your pet exhibits any modern disease--notice that term, also known as diseases of civilization--the first place to search is the diet. It seems like any problems that is stumping doctors on why is there such a precipitous rise in what was once a fairly rare problem comes from the diet--juvenile and pet type II diabetes in alarming numbers, autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, IBS and Crohn's, anxiety, depression, migraines, extreme allergies, arthritis at younger and younger ages, and of course obesity; the list is seemingly endless, but the root is the same.

I have a little rescue cat that is the most darling thing you will ever see. He is part maine coon so he is fluffy all over. All of a sudden he started scratching himself to death, ripping out all his hair and scratching until he had open sores on his neck. I took him to many vets and they did every test they could on him. Told me to feed him only this special diet that the vet sold. Surprise, he didn't get better, and actually looked worse because we had been feeding him pretty good food before that. I finally took him to an allergist who charged $600 just to walk in the door. He said we could either medicate him with steroids to control the scratching or we could try changing his diet. As my friend had a dog that was put on lifetime steroids who went blind and died at 5 years old, I was not willing to do that so we tried the food. The allergist said to try rabbit as that was the least allergenic. Surprisingly chicken and turkey, which many vets had said to ONLY feed him is very allergenic.

Got some ground rabbit that is ground whole for cats, bones, organs and all from Washington state and a vitamin mix that when mixed together makes a complete food. My cat recovered in about a month from what had been a year and a half of constant scratching. In dogs this often manifests as a bloated, stinky dog that chews how spots or licks paws or a constant scratching which owners assume is fleas. We were able to introduce new items such as beef, lamb, venison and duck. But no chicken, turkey or seafood. Through the experience I learned a lot, but what I keep learning as with my own health and the health of my friend's son with Crohn's is that a whole lot of research and a little bit of work go a long long way on the road to health.

Many people will balk and say it's too expensive or they don't have time. I completely empathize because I orginally felt the same way. But we had no choice as we couldn't stand to watch our gorgeous little furball tear himself apart. But we found that though it is more work than opening a can, it is in fact cheaper in the long run. We actually spend less now than we did on commercial pet food and far less than the vet's food. And the thousands we spent on vet's visits. So for me, making up the cats' food (I have two) once a month and storing it in the freezer is work, but as my pets are literally bursting with health, it's worth it for me. I know not everyone can feed their cat a raw diet, but just supplementing a little bit will help.

And if my very long rant helps any person who may be struggling with these issues, then I am grateful. Thanks Divernan!

[BrotherIvan]

48. I am bookmarking this thread

And especially the excellent references you have supplied for the next time I speak with someone about pet food. They always say, "My vet said this [junk food] brand was best." Then I ask them why their pet is still sick and heavily medicated? Didn't the doctor have a solution?

Because we have been taught that doctors are superior beings with rarified knowledge bestowed upon them that no layperson could possibly understand, we have been conditioned to accept what they say without question. Any doctor that is condescending or not open to finding the root cause of the dis-ease is one I do not visit again.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

15. "Whomever owned this poor, morbidly obese cat is guilty of abuse"

That's exactly what I said for the same reasons you gave. NO WAY the owner took the cat to the vet and was not told to put him on a diet. So either the owner did not vet the cat (abuse) or did and didn't follow the vet's advice (abuse).

Either way. . .

Just FYI I feed my cats GRAIN FREE cat food - wet and dry commercial but not cheap stuff. And I DO NOT free feed them. EVER. They get a set amount that maintains their weight 2x per day.

[lapislzi]

33. + 1 zillion

I also have a sugar cat. He is still heavy--he's always been big--and he remains a big eater. But there is no question that the switch to grain-free food has been a huge benefit to all 3 cats, and the dog, who we also switched to a grain-free formula. Their coats are better, they have more energy, and the food goes further because they don't have to gorge themselves to be satisfied.

In consultation with the doctor, I'm taking a minimal-management approach to sugar cat. He gets his insulin, but I'm not chasing him around the house to check his blood sugar constantly. I just watch the behavior. If he starts hanging over the water bowl, I test. Otherwise I leave him alone.

Cats also usually don't suffer the neuropathy commonly associated with diabetes. So as long as the cat isn't acting sick...keep doing what you're doing.

We're two years in (he was only 5 when he was diagnosed), and I hope to have him off insulin over the next year.

The take-away: dry kibble is like crack cocaine for cats. It's of no value and can kill them, although they love it. My brands of choice: Orijen Dry (ridiculously good pedigree of ingredients) for when I'm going to be out of the house for an extended period, Merrick Premium, and Weruva. And raw chicken, fish, beef, when I have time to prepare it. Hate to contradict OP, but organ meat is fine, in small quantities. Beef heart is especially beneficial because it contains taurine.

[Divernan]

37. I agree with you, organ meat is OK, but think muscle meat is the best primary source.

I'm open to fine-tuning my cat's menu. As they say in my OSHER classes, learning is a lifelong thing! Thanks for the tip about the dry food brands. I'll be checking them out. FYI, the reason dry food is like Kitty-Crack (as my adult daughter calls it), i.e, crack-cocaine for cats, is that the manufacturers spray it with meat flavored liquid, or the cats wouldn't touch it.

[lapislzi]

39. Once you know, you know.

I realized it about a month in, when Grumpy Cat (TM) suddenly became friendlier and his nasty coat improved. Light bulb: they were all benefitting from the dietary improvement.

Try a little bag of Orijen. It's amazing stuff. I don't know why the vets don't sell it (actually, I do...)

[Divernan]

41. Thanks. I found several local sources for it

and will pick some up this weekend. I was pleased to see it was a Canadian company.

[BrotherIvan]

49. Organ meat is essential

If you've ever watched a nature program, you will recall what lions do after a kill: they open up the stomach and eat out all the organs first. If they are still hungry, they may eat some of the muscle meat but often they will leave the carcass behind for the hyenas and wild dogs. That is why a meat only diet is not balanced enough.

[LWolf]

45. My cat gets grain-free

wet and dry food; she doesn't eat much. I also grow grass for her, because if I don't, she eats the houseplants. She keeps her grass plot neatly trimmed.

[nadine_mn]

54. That is so cute

I never thought of growing grass for our cat. I made the mistake of putting our one houseplant on a table to get some sunlight and then noticed it had been trimmed, so back it went out of kitty reach.

[gateley]

51. My cat has never had one piece of dry food -- only raw frozen balanced. AND I feed her every 12

hours - nothing left out to nibble at all day long. I learned that if you leave a bowl out for them, they WILL eat it. It's not optimal for their digestive system. It was hard for me to be strict about this because we equate food with love, but since I feed her raw, I can't leave it out after about 15 minutes anyway, so that helped.

My previous cats were all overweight and suffered varying illnesses. When this kitten found me, I vowed I would provide a better life for her, and she's the picture of health. I spent time researching and learning and shudder at what I used to feed my cats believing I was giving them the best I could.

Cats DO need organ meat -- picture eating an entire rat, for example. Organs are high in taurine which is essential for a cat.

Cats are carnivores, and the brands of raw food I buy have very little (if any) vegetables, greens, etc. in them. I honestly don't know why they add them, although their rationale is that in the wild, the cat will eat the contents of the prey's stomach, too. But cats begin with the brain, go on to the muscle and organs, then leave the stomach for last, so if they do get grass and plants, it's minimal.

Traditionally vets have been against raw diets, in part because of the concern for bacteria, and (I'm convinced) in part because of the brainwashing by Big Pet Food companies. But Big Pet Food sure didn't help when all the pets were dying from their cheap Chinese ingredients. None of the brands I use have EVER had a recall or a scare.

Just the other day I received an email from my Cats Exclusive veterinary clinic and they're actually beginning to see the benefits and embrace raw food! I was so surprised!

I'm glad you reposted this -- it's something cat owners should know.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Good news for Biscuit. (BTW, first link is not good. 2nd one is...with video!)

[dipsydoodle]

3. My Maine Coon / British Shorthair cross weighs about 20 lbs.

and he's not in the least bit obese : just tough.

[KittyWampus]

5. sounds like I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley!

There are no cat smilies.

[dipsydoodle]

8. He's a house cat as are the other cats I've got too

a Chinchilla Persian, a Bengal / Siamese cross, a British Shorthair and a Stirling Rex.

Amongst other reasons for them not knowing what outdoors represents is the fact I like having wild birds in the garden.

[madinmaryland]

12. We had a MaineCoon who weighed nearly 25 lbs. He was by no means fat.

He was what we considered as solid. But he was the sweetest cat and was wonderful with our small daughter. She even tried to ride him!

[LadyHawkAZ]

16. I had a 19 pound Coon mix

They are fantastic animals. I adored his squeaky mew.

[HockeyMom]

43. I had a Maine Coon who was 25 lbs.

Overweight? Well, he lived to be 22 years old!!!!! If he was overweight, he led a very active and very LONG life.

[joeybee12]

6. Hope Biscuit finds a good home and loses weight...

It irritates me about the second owner...moved and the apt didn't take pets...FIND ANOTHER APARTMENT!

[Pancho Schneider]

11. I have a cat. His name is Ricky

He eats chicken, leaves. etc. He's like a relative to us.

[GReedDiamond]

18. My cat was diagnosed, about 8 months ago, with diabetes.

He'll be 14 years old later this year, and he's never really been drastically overweight, as he's about 11.5 pounds.

One day I noticed his right eye was bulging from his eye socket, and he was obviously in distress.

When I took him to the vet, it turned out that he had a tooth infection which caused swelling, which was putting pressure on his eye, causing the bulging.

Then the vet told me he was also in diabetic ketoacidosis, so he was hospitalized for a week, so they could stabilize him so I could start administering him insulin.

Over the last eight months, I have spent at least $4000 bringing him back to good health, due to numerous vet visits for monitoring, lab work, and continuous treatments.

He also has food allergies, so he's on a really overpriced prescription diet.

I'm happy he's still with us, he's like me and my girlfriend's child. He's a great cat, very affectionate and smart, and he never rips up my furniture or causes any kind of problems, such as peeing in the wrong place.

Here's a picture of Chibi:

[siligut]

19. Aw, he's a sweetie boy

Oh my, and he looks so cuddly

[GReedDiamond]

20. You are correct on both counts...

...we're so happy he's still with us!

[Divernan]

22. You've been great with him - glad he's doing OK.

A good cat is a great companion and source of joy.

[lapislzi]

35. Been there, got the bills to prove it.

Treating diabetes can be very expensive. Bless you for persevering.

One caveat: be wary of "prescription" diets. Vets are strongly incentivized to promote them, and often they are not very good at all. Do your research:

http://petfoodtalk.com/catfoodreviews/

Maybe try one can of the premium brands to see how he likes it. And, I never heard of a cat who was allergic to chicken. One reasonably priced alternative that I use is to buy the giant bag of frozen turkey burgers at Costco. I thaw one out every morning and mush it up for him. Cat guts can digest a much heavier bacterial load than human guts, so salmonella (or related food-borne illness) is not a concern. He likes it, no grain, cheap, and you know it's reasonably safe because it's sold for human consumption.

Good luck with Chibi!

[GReedDiamond]

46. Thanks for the food info link, lapislzi.

Chibi reaches the point where he eats a little, then walks away from the food, I suppose because he's burned out on the same thing, day after day.

At some point, he comes around and eventually eats most of it.

I'm going to try some of the high quality brands listed at the link you provided. Even if it's expensive, it couldn't be any worse than the cost of the prescription diet, and Chibi will be much happier.

[Politicalboi]

27. Some cats don't like people food

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=380753158690164&set=vb.136336876521150&type=2&theater

Kitten VS 2 scary things.
Love the shaking of the butt.

[Divernan]

29. Terrific. Shake that booty, kitteh!

[Le Taz Hot]

28. All but one of my "house" cats are outside cats

and none of them are overweight. I know that's going to give some the vapors around here (it has in the past) but "house" cats are too often overweight because . . . wait for it . . . they don't get any exercise! Every day at dawn and dusk my guys and gals run around, playing grab-ass with one another, up the trees, onto the roof, back down onto the cinder block fence (I call it the kitty infrastructure) and back again. Then into the front yard where they chase each other around on the grass. They get to hunt 'till their hearts content and yes, they sometimes bring home birds but it's mostly tree rats and I haven't noticed a shortage of either around here. Cats are meant to run and jump and climb and yes, hunt. It's called exercise and it's what nature intended.

Let the stoning begin.

[lapislzi]

40. Not from me...

Despite his size, Sugar Cat is still the hunter. In warmer weather, he presents me with daily gifts. It's hilarious when he thinks he can stalk wild turkeys.

[davidpdx]

30. The older of my two cats was getting a bit heavy when he was younger

he's thinned out. My wife adopted a stray cat and she seems to eat everything in sight (which would explain why the older cat lost weight). I keep telling her we need to put the younger cat on a diet because she's sort of fat.

[scarletlib]

31. All meat diet

Put my 2 cats on all meat diet 4 years ago. Mostly high quality canned but also raw from time to time. My male cat, who is a big boy naturally, was up to 23 lbs & had already had 2 instances of urinary blockage & was at risk of diabetes. I feed 2 times a day and nothing in between. In less than a year he went down to 16 lbs & is maintaining that weight. His checkups have been excellent. He & his sister are 15+ years old now.

I put them on this diet after much research. At first my vet was opposed, especially to the raw meat. However, the vet & his staff are agreeing that this diet works. Their particular vet (in this office) has her cats on the same diet. It works.

[Divernan]

32. Good to hear that your vet was open to changing her mind.

I spend more on food for my two house cats & one resident feral cat than I do on my own food. I don't mind the expense, as long as it provides good nutrition for them.

[scarletlib]

36. Yes. From what i have read,

Many vets have simply accepted 'research' from pet food companies. I think that is starting to change now. I see more & more cat food brands now offering all (or mostly all) meat cat food now.

[brooklynite]

34. Conversely, most shelters will insist that you agree no to let your cat outside...

One of my cats had become somewhat plumper since we moved (temporarily) to an apartment, meaning he can;t go out for his daily excursions...

[HockeyMom]

50. I had to sign that both in NY and Florida

Difference being that Florida houses have Lanai's; screened in cages for humans. I let my cats out on the lanai, BUT I still keep an eye on them even there. Screens are no protection for pets from wildlife. Heard far too many stories about that; gators, bears, coyotes, etc.

[Zax2me]

42. Cats can be like dogs

They would rather play than eat.
Nothing replaces one-on-one time.
Get out the ball of yarn and set aside an hour or two a day.
My toy of choice - a little rod and reel for kids I bought for less than 10 bucks.
I tie her favorite toy at the end of the line, cast it across the room, and reel in it.
Can do this while I'm watching TV.

[HockeyMom]

44. Cats will eat greens, on their own

I have had cats since I was a child, over 60s years. Outside cats will eat grass. My daughter feeds strays. Besides eating grass, in the summer they will also go in her garden and one of them eats her green PEPPERS.

I gave up a long time ago keeping plants inside my house. Far too many of the cats I have owned would eat the leaves of these plants. Since I don't know what could be poisonous, I keep the plants outside so my cats won't eat them. Just my experience that cats can and will eat greens.

As I said in another post, my Maine Coon Rocky was 25 lbs and 22 years old. No vet ever said he was overweight. He was a HUGE boy. He ate whatever. I never fussed with his diet. He died from old age. When everything started to fail and he had to be put down, the Vet said she had never treated a cat this old. Very sad. He was only 3 years younger than my daughter, and very much a family member.

My 2 year boy is 14 lbs. Boarding overweight? No, he is very LONG. That is what the Vet said. I guess it is just like people. A woman who is 5'10" can weigh a lot more than a woman who is only 5'.

My sibling cats will not eat canned food at all. In fact, I can leave human food anywhere and they will not go after it. Besides trying canned food, I tried giving them people food, from chicken to lamb. The will try to "cover it up" and then RUN from it. This is REAL CHICKEN with nothing added. So I give them only dry food; grain free, but with duck, peas, and sweet potatoes. The Vet said that is fine, but make sure they always have water.

They, and we, are all individuals. Hey, I weigh 100 lbs. and my husband is 225 lbs. But, he is 6'1" and I am 5'1". I guess my point is that "one size does not fit all".

[love_katz]

52. I feed my cat a raw diet.

I get it frozen, at a local pet food store, called Green Dog.

My vet recommended to me years ago, to switch to an all-natural raw food diet. It has some supplements that cats need added in, so it is a complete food. It contains a mix of organ and muscle meat, and the meat is organically raised.

The kind I am currently feeding her is made by smallbatchpets.com. In the past I fed her food made by a company called Rad Cat. Both are excellent quality foods, made with organic ingredients from the U.S.A.

It costs me more in the short run than commercial food, but it saves me money on vet bills in the long run. And, I didn't have to worry about her dying during the re-called pet food scare. Also, she is pure muscle. I can feel the difference in her body tissues, compared to another adopted cat I used to have, who had been fed a cheap commercial food for her whole life. That cat was a Maine Coon, and very loveable, but she had constant health problems. I made the diet switch on my vet's advice when I took her in for diagnosis. She did not live as long as my current cat, and her body tissues also never felt as firm and strong, although switching to the better diet did improve her health.

Our pets have faster metabolisms and live shorter lives than we do, so they develop disease symptoms sooner when fed commercial foods. As several posters have pointed out, a cat is an obligate carnivore, and can't digest cereal very well, due to their much shorter digestive tract.

Their used to be a web site, called Feline Future. The woman who posted the information for the site had done a lot of research on cats, including wild cats and feral cats. If it is still out there, it is worth doing the reading.

Wishing everyone's cats radiant good health, and lots of catnip.

[Divernan]

53. Thanks to all you cat lovers for sharing information on this thread. I've learned a lot!

[pstokely]

55. How many jobs has that fat cat created?

?