Words Cannot Express My Disgust

[Haligren]

So a few weeks ago I started feeding my cats wet food as I had learned that cats do not have a thirst drive and actually need some moisture in their food. So I started to feed them canned food, mostly slightly higher quality stuff to go with their slightly higher quality dry food which is Nutro brand. The wet stuff is also mostly Nutro and Nutrience. Occasionally I get Merrick's but that's REALLY expensive stuff so they don't get it often. I told my in-laws, whom we live with unfortunately, that I would handle the cat's food from now on. We have a cat, Sana, and they have an older cat named Jadey. Jadey should definitely be on senior food, but it's tough to separate the cats during feeding time especially since it would always be inconsistent since my in-laws evidently do not see the importantance of animal nutrition. I'm actually surprised that they finally listened to me and started to feed the cats more wet food.

The problem? Not only do my in-laws feed the cats TOO much canned food, they feed them low quality, generic brand crap. Which isn't good when you mix it with the higher quality stuff. So far my mother-in-law mostly will feed them half a can in one sitting. Most of it goes uneaten and crusts up in the bowl. The cats still attempt to eat it but I try to clean the bowls out before that happens. Now both cats are sick. My cat has thrown up once already in our bedroom, and then several times (looked like in a row) in the upstairs living room and on my in-law's leather couch. I started to clean it up but I figured I'd show my mother-in-law first. I have told them several times, with increasing frustration and disgust, that she should stop feeding them so much at one time and to mix it with the dry stuff since Jadey has a problem with inhaling it and then vomiting it up later. She's been outside more so I've only seen her throw up like once since this started.

Not only that but their poop is pretty much pale liquid with very little shape and holy crap does it STINK! Of course, they don't know this because the litter boxes are in the basement with us and it's out responsibility to keep them clean.

I don't really know exactly what's causing the cats to get sick; the low quality of the food changing from higher quality food, too much wet food at once, or the fact that they are eating it after it's been sitting out. Or maybe all three. Sana has become more lethargic than normal and obviously doesn't feel well. I'm worried that I may have to take her to the vet. Her nose is warm and dry so it feels like she might have a low-grade fever. Jadey seems to be okay though. I think she might be handling the change better than Sana, but I'm just so upset by this. It's one of several things that have almost driven me to suicide living in this house.

 

[ajveachster]

I know I was only able to make it 2 months living with my parents as an adult. I feel your pain.

 

[Haligren]

Two months! Wow! I've been here for four freakin' YEARS. I'm almost ready to slit my wrists! Jeez! D: And there's no end to this in sight! I have university coming up next month and my husband and I are both working part time. My husband has been looking for a new job for several years now. He's gone back to school several times and has a lot of education under his belt but he only gets as far as the interview. It's hopeless. ;-;

 

[Barbel]

EEK! That sucks! A lot of people don't seem to see the correlation of cheaply priced food as being cheap quality food. Seems obvious to me but some people don't seem to think it matters!
I do know that is bad to be constantly switching up a cat or dog's diet. Their digestive system just can't handle it. That is why when you find a brand that works you have to stick with it. A sudden change in diet can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and soft and/or excessive bowel movements. When changing brands or even flavors between brands you have to do it slowly. Start out with 75% old 25% new for a few days, then 50% new 50% old for a few days, then 75% new 25% old for a few days until you finally go 100% new. By you feeding one brand and them feeding another it is probably irritating their digestive tracts, causing the pleasant side effects you are experiencing.
Also, feeding too much wet food is bad for their teeth and can cause them to rot faster. It is supposed to be more of a treat or supplement, not a meal.
Maybe you should just take their food and water bowls downstairs and tell them that you going to handle it from now on. Good luck!

 

[nrich]

Wow. I've had cats all my life and I've never heard of them having a lack of thirst drive. Seems like I refill their water bowls 20 times a day, plus they drink out of the toilet and one drinks out of my goldfish tank. I do agree with Barbel that changing food should be a gradual process and can lead to upset stomachs. I actually had one cat that would wrather starve to death than eat anything other than plain Iams dry food. I do occasionally give my cats wet, but it is more of a treat thing. I keep a really good quality dry catfood out all day for them so they can eat when they please. It's worked so far.

 

[gitrdone0420]

OK, one thing to look out for is the kind of cat food that they are feeding. I know you already know that, but unfortunately the lower quality cat food is lower quality because its not a fixed formula. That basically means that only 10% of what the ingredients say is in that food, is in that food. If your cats have a sensitive stomach than that could be causing them to get sick because pretty much everytime they open a new can, it is like feeding an entirely different kind of food. (Thats not good because when you switch food, you want to switch slowly over at least a period of seven days so their stomach doesnt get upset). I always recommend the Science Diet brand because they have what is called a Grandma's formula. It is always the same kind of ingredients in every bag/can, so it is easier on their stomachs. Also, if they are vomitting a lot, you may want to try the Adult SD Hairball control food. They make it in wet/dry and light/regular. If they are getting overfed, I would recommend the Light for a little while. Another thing to look at, is that they may be eating way too fast. If they have never had wet food before and they really really like it, they may be inhaling it. If that is the case, they can def. vomit from eating too fast. Try to feed in a bowl that they have to work at getting the food instead of having it easily accessible. This is easier for dogs because you can just use a muffin pan, so unfortunately, Im not sure what to use for cats. If they still continue vomitting, I would recommend bloodwork from your veterinarian to see if there isnt another cause that has risen. Cats are very prone to getting Diabetes, Thyroid issues, etc. Or, you could just stop the wet food completely and go back to dry. There is nothing wrong with dry and cats will drink if they are thirsty and have clean fresh water. If they didnt, then we wouldnt have all of these crazy cat ferral colonies that def. dont get wet food everyday! lol. (In fact, as a vet tech, I prefer dry food compared to wet because I believe that the wet food causes a lot more problems with their teeth).
Anyways, that is my book =] PM me with any questions.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

boy that dont sound good at all. I would get them back on the better food you were feeding them and tell the inlaws you will supply the food for them and this is how much to feed them and what time and whatever and if they can't handle that then I would get the cats into a schedule that works around when you will be home to do feedings. I have never owned cats but I have owned dogs. Also make sure there is no recalls on the food that you have been feeding because that can be a factor in their stomach upset and make sure its still good to date too. I hope they get better soon. I know living with inlaws is a pain I am there now and its been 4 years too and I feel exactly how you do. I wish you all the luck with everything.

Danielle

 

[BalloonzForU]

There is no reason to feed wet over dry food, it really makes no difference in the animals health, unless they refuse to eat dry. You do however need to keep the brand consistant as to not upset their tummies. Scarfing up wet food is one of the biggest causes of them throwing up, as well as mixing brands up, and low quality food.

I have a 14 year old cat that has always eaten dry food, only getting wet for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My vet constantly asks me if I'm sure about her age because he says she's as healthy as an 8 year old. I've had her since she was a kitten and it's been 14 years!! I use sience diet brands for both my cats and dogs.

 

[Haligren]

Jeez, I've heard so many different things although I agree that I need to stick with one brand. I'm thinking of taking all the stuff that my mother-in-law bought and giving it to the SPCA (Friskies, Fancy Feast, and some generic brand that is mostly by-product and chemicals. Ugh.). I normally do not feed them wet every day, although I have it on good authority that a small amount of wet food every day is good for them, but I don't have the money to feed them significant amounts of canned stuff every day, several times a day. Before this, neither of the cats were vomiting and their stools looked normal. I gave them a small amount of wet food mixed in with their dry, once a day, about three days a week. Their coats and teeth have never looked better.

I have had cats all my life as well and thought the same things; that wet food is bad for the gums and teeth; Science Diet is better because it's more expensive, etc. Granted, I do like some of Science Diet's line, especially the stuff for elderly cats, but the regular stuff isn't really much better than Iams. I prefer to feed my cats food that has very little filler and by products. The pet nutritionist I talked to also told me that the higher quality canned foods are actually better for their teeth than the dry. The dry food can wear down their teeth over time and I have seen this for myself in my elderly cat, Shadow's, teeth before he passed away. My mom had him eating almost exclusively Science Diet Senior Cat formula wet food. If you've ever seen a dog's teeth that gets fed raw meat every once in a while you can see the difference that the meat can make. I believe it's the same principal with the cat food although I'm not entirely sure how it makes their teeth so white and shiny. That being said, I'm not entirely sure if I believe the lack of thirst drive thing seeing as how I have had cats all my life and we hardly fed them wet food and they seemed to get along fine. Shadow was almost 20 in human years when he passed away.

But anyway, I thought it would be best to stick to the Nutro brand since that's the type of dry food I've been feeding as well. Merrick's is almost people food if you look at the ingredient list. It has very little to no by products and I've found that it's often easier on the cat's stomach (learned this from working at a pet store. We fed Merrick's kitten food to the kittens because it actually seemed to help their upset, nervous tummies.) But, it's almost two dollars a can. >.< Also Nutro is a higher quality cat food but I get a discount on it at my nearby pet store so it's more affordable anyway.

Also here's the links where I got some information from;

http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php

http://www.catinfo.org/

And the other information I got from talking to an animal nutritionist.

Oh, and I'm not trying to argue with you guys at all. Just trying to point some things out, okay? :3 And the situation has been resolved. I showed my mother-in-law the vomit, told her that Sana had been sick for atleast three days and that both of the cats have had runny stools. She agreed to let me handle the food.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

Well I guess its a step that she said for you to handle the food. i have dogs and I feed Diamond Naturals its affordable for me and its not as bad as store brands for them and they tend not to stink with it and also they like it better than any other. well excluding the really pricey stuff i buy to make gutload lol they eat it like its candy. It would be good to donate the food to the a local shelter. yeah i definitely understand keeping them on one food only time i might buy different is when i can't get the food i normally buy but its only a small bag to feed for one night or 2 but my dogs are finicky or get upset stomachs easy either so but they are iron stomached beagles lol. I wish i could have a kitty but i dont know with the dogs what they will act like around a cat since they never been around a cat in their life. I hope the kitties start feeling better soon.

 

[ang3l3s]

EEK! That sucks! A lot of people don't seem to see the correlation of cheaply priced food as being cheap quality food. Seems obvious to me but some people don't seem to think it matters!
I do know that is bad to be constantly switching up a cat or dog's diet. Their digestive system just can't handle it. That is why when you find a brand that works you have to stick with it. A sudden change in diet can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and soft and/or excessive bowel movements. When changing brands or even flavors between brands you have to do it slowly. Start out with 75% old 25% new for a few days, then 50% new 50% old for a few days, then 75% new 25% old for a few days until you finally go 100% new. By you feeding one brand and them feeding another it is probably irritating their digestive tracts, causing the pleasant side effects you are experiencing.
Also, feeding too much wet food is bad for their teeth and can cause them to rot faster. It is supposed to be more of a treat or supplement, not a meal.
Maybe you should just take their food and water bowls downstairs and tell them that you going to handle it from now on. Good luck!

AGREED!!! Consistency and quality is always best. God i miss having a dog R.I.P. NALA

 

[cindre2000]

Just so you know. Nutro is completely revamping their cat food sometime in next couple months to a year, they are going to try and really get a hold on the market like Science Diet. I figure they just need to pay vets to advertise for them like science diet.

But anyways, moving water is key, oftentimes, with cats. Most cats do not like water that is still, thus if you get one of the 'cat' fountains it encourages them to drink more.

 

[Chewbecca]

If feeding dry food is a problem due to lack of moisture, simply add water to the dry food.

The reason to feed wet cat food is not only moisture, but it also lacks the carbs that dry cat food has and it's also better on their teeth.

Ever wonder what forms a piece of kibble into a piece of kibble?
Carbs.

If you add water, though, it breaks down a lot of the "unwanted" stuff in dry cat food.

Personally, I'd be more concerned with the ash content of the cat food over the moisture since cats in general (or so I've read) can be susceptible to urinary tract infections.


Science Diet often puts vets through vet school with various programs.
THAT'S why vets are so "grateful" and willing to promote their products.