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Post by littleweasels on Sept 5, 2010 17:27:24 GMT -5
One of my cats, Ty, is overweight. He is 30 pounds. He also has crystals in his urine so he gets prescription food from the vet. I would like to switch him to a raw diet but what can I do about the crystals? The kibble he gets prevents the crystals. If I switch him to raw will he lose weight? He also sheds like crazy and has dandruff, will that go away? He is 9 years old and very picky. How do I get him to eat raw food?
I also want to switch my other cat to raw. She is 1.5 years old and weighs 12 pounds. She does not have any health problems. She is not as picky as Ty. I gave her some raw chicken and she ate it.
Right now both cats get wet cat food twice a day as treats and kibble.
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Post by Heather on Sept 5, 2010 20:34:27 GMT -5
I've never had to deal with the crystals but all 4 of my senior kitties eat raw. If Ty is already eating moist then put ground up raw into his moist in very small amounts to switch him. Like switching ferrets using something they already recognize, eat and like is used as a base food. Do you know what type of crystals he gets? This knowledge is important when choosing how you treat him. I know that Beauregard (my mother in laws cat)was hugely overweight when he moved in with us in May. He's since lost about 7 lbs, he's still overweight but at 14 taking weight off slowly is more important than the amounts. He still sheds a lot, more than I like but it has improved. You may want to join a cat group, I know there are groups that deal specifically with special needs kitties. I'm a moddie on rawpaws@yahoogroups.com and they can help you with diet and switching ideas. I'm sure that there are others who may be able to actually put you on to the lists that deal with urinary issues for kitties. I do know that by changing his diet you could very well be able to improve his quality of life. ciao
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Post by littleweasels on Sept 5, 2010 21:37:45 GMT -5
I have no idea what kind of crystals they are. I didnt even know there are different kinds. The prescription food he is on is hills w/d if that helps. If I switch him to only wet cat food will he get crystals? I really want to switch him to a raw diet but I dont want him to get crystals. It would be great if he could lose some weight. He has been overweight almost his whole life.
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Post by Heather on Sept 6, 2010 0:19:23 GMT -5
If it was me personally, I would do my research first, regarding his needs and what possible solutions you can do before jumping in and switching him. I know it can be done but there are 2 types of crystals both have different needs as far as diet is concerned. Your vet will be able to tell you what type you're presently treating. As I mentioned I've never had to deal with this but I do know that knowing what you're dealing with must be discovered first before you can change the diet to properly treat what crystals he has ciao
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Post by littleweasels on Sept 6, 2010 11:22:39 GMT -5
The vet is closed today so I cannot see what kind of crystals he gets. I will findout tomorrow. Can I switch my other cat, Neko, right away? She has no health problems.
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Post by Heather on Sept 6, 2010 14:01:41 GMT -5
Yes, go ahead. I can't see that you would do any real damage switching the other cat either at the moment. It's not like it's going to happen overnight or at least it usually doesn't ciao
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Post by littleweasels on Sept 7, 2010 14:21:48 GMT -5
I called the vet and Ty gets struvite crystals.
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Post by Heather on Sept 7, 2010 15:00:40 GMT -5
Ok, that gives me something to work with. I will get back to you ciao
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Post by littleweasels on Sept 8, 2010 6:49:32 GMT -5
Thank you so much.
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Post by Heather on Sept 8, 2010 23:28:01 GMT -5
Ok, spoke with several people....first thing to get rid of is the kibbles. The only kibble that doesn't form crystals is the stuff that is made with cornstarch, which is a prescription based food....reason being...crystals for some reason cannot form in cornstarch. It also has very poor nutritional value. If nothing else start using only moist food. If your little one never gets beyond the moist then you've already done a large move to improve the state of his health. The total is that a cat cannot possibly drink enough water to hydrate the kibble. The suggestion is to toss some kibble into a glass of water and leave a few hours to see how big they swell and how much water they take on. Multiply that by the amount your cat actually eats and it will give you an idea as to how much water your cat has to consume to process that kibble. Cats, like ferrets are not designed to consume large amounts of water. Raw fed cats drink practically no water at all deriving all their moisture from the meats that they eat. Their kidneys are specifically designed for this.....the kidneys go into panic mode trying to moisturize all the kibble that is consumed....there isn't enough moisture available in the bowel so then the body starts to access moisture from surrounding tissue. This causes a crisis with the concentration of urine...causing crystals. Raw diets contain the needed moisture so it effectively cures struvite crystals. Even if you feed only canned this will supply the needed moiture. I hope this helps a little. This was one basic email sent to me, she also sent a number of links if you would like me to forward them to you. I haven't had time to go through them yet but if you would like a lot of reading material I can forward them to you Good luck ciao
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Post by littleweasels on Sept 9, 2010 14:25:03 GMT -5
Once again thank you so much. I have always wanted to feed him a better diet but I had no idea how because I though he needed to be on the prescription stuff. Just to be clear, I can just remove the kibble completely right now and only feed him moist? That would be great if you could forward me those links.
I now have more questions. If he refuses to eat raw, will he lose weight if I feed him only moist cat food, or at least stop gaining weight? What is the best moist cat food?
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Post by Heather on Sept 9, 2010 14:42:01 GMT -5
According to everything that I've read so far, yes the moist is the way to go, whether you feed raw or just moist canned you will at least cut down on the chances of crystals. I will see if I can find out what the best moist would be to feed. I'm guessing something that is grain free, low in additives and something he will eat. As far as loosing weight.....don't free feed and his activity level has to exceed his input...rather like us unfortunately I found that getting away from grains often helped alot. That includes various corns, wheat all that type of thing. Also watch the amount of carbs thats in the moist food too (sweet potatoes, carrots...basically avoid below ground veggies if you can or at least make it low on the additive scale). I believe that sherrylynne still feeds her kitties moist food you may want to pm her and find out what she feeds. My problem is I haven't fed any type of moist or kibble in over 11 yrs, a lot has changed and I'm guilty of not staying on top of the best kibbles. I know that P&G just bought out one of the more natural foods and it will probably go the way of science diet and eukanuba. I will see about sending you those links tonight...I have to switch up my brats so that the second playgroup can tear about my house now ciao
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Post by littleweasels on Sept 9, 2010 18:36:18 GMT -5
How much food do I give each cat every day?
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 12, 2010 17:33:57 GMT -5
Right now, mine are on Evo cat/kitten, Merricks before grain, and Wellness Core. I feed 3 times a day, a main meal in the morning, and suppertime, and a smaller snack meal at bedtime(I do that one so the little blighters will let me sleep ). And yes- all mine lost weight on the canned. When you get rid of the kibble, you are getting rid of a lot of the carbs in their diet. Mine drove me crazy squawking and caterwalling for a while, til they got used to not having free feeding anymore. They were convinced they were starving But once they got used to it, everything was fine. And the upshot? My old cat(17 this year) hasn't had crystals since he went off the dry food. He used to get them almost yearly on the kibble. The only reason they aren't on raw, is he gets violently ill if he has any of the raw fowl of any kind. And he won't touch food with probiotics/prebiotics on it So we figured rather than chancing him going through this, we'd just keep them on canned til he finally passes.
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Post by goingpostal on Sept 13, 2010 17:52:13 GMT -5
My cat who was only a bit overweight leaned out on canned, she's also pretty much stopped shedding completely, no more hairballs, puking, etc. In hindsight I feel awful I didn't know better, obviously she wasn't doing well on kibble but being naive trusted the vet. Now she eats canned and raw only, luckily she's taken to both with gusto, for canned I feed Evo 95% meats, Before Grain, Artemis, Avoderm, Felidae and a few others but those are the ones she likes best, cats are picky so there's a few good quality brands she hates. She eats mice, chicken, organs, turkey necks, etc for occansional raw. I feed 3 times a day, morning, 5pm and before bed, she gets about 5-6 oz a day canned.
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