I was wondering if anyone could let me know their thoughts on what type of kibble I might start feeding Loki in the future. He's a 10 month old kitten. And, at the moment he's on GoCat kitten kibble. But for the future I can't decide whether to give him "Purina One Coat and Hairball" kibble or "Crave Adult cat food" kibble. At the moment I give him some "Vet IQ Healthy Bites Hairball Remedy" and "Vet IQ Healthy Bites Urinary Care" treats once a day. If I decide to use the Crave I could go on doing this, but if I change to Purina then, as it is also anti-hairball I'm assuming it wouldn't be a good idea to continue with the Hairball treats, just the Urinary Care ones.
As for his wet food I'll just get the adult version of his current pouches, which he seems to love, along with some different ones to use in an emergency if his favorites are unavailable.
Finally, a different question. Loki often shakes his right side back leg when he gets up from crouching at his food bowl. Is this anything to worry about?
Thank you.
Changing Cat Food
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Mollycat
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Re: Changing Cat Food
Crave certainly seems to be marketed on the basis of being more "natural" and "wild" but as Molly turned up her nose I fed it to the dog and never got as far as checking it out nutritionally. I know Go-Kat is pretty much junk food, but I'm not sure how much difference there really is between what's considered an average and what's supposed to be high quality food for cats.
What I'm wondering about though is why the anti hairball focus, I think I understand about urinary care as this seems to be a massive problem with cats these days that never was years ago. Does Loki have a hairball problem? There is a good case for allowing hairballs to come up rather than making them go down, and as far as I'm aware very little evidence that these foods achieve reduced amounts of hairballs. They often use paraffin oil to make matter slip more easily down the gut, but there's nothing to prevent the furball forming in the stomach or to make it start going down. Have you ever wondered how a cat can bring up all their stomach contents but leave the furball in place, or bring up a furball with very little food on it just after eating a meal?
Hairballs will form in the cat's stomach regardless. As much as nobody likes to step in a wet lump of matted squelch between the toes when getting up in the night, it may be the safe and correct way for the cat to expel the hair inevitably ingested while grooming. Although these mats look about the size of a poop, the poop only gets that size in the large intestine. The whole distance of the narrower small intestine, food travels in a much softer and more liquid form. A lump of matted hair poses a serious danger of obstruction, a very sick cat, an emergency surgery and a massive vet bill. Wild cats bring up hairballs too. They don't form by accident.
What I'm wondering about though is why the anti hairball focus, I think I understand about urinary care as this seems to be a massive problem with cats these days that never was years ago. Does Loki have a hairball problem? There is a good case for allowing hairballs to come up rather than making them go down, and as far as I'm aware very little evidence that these foods achieve reduced amounts of hairballs. They often use paraffin oil to make matter slip more easily down the gut, but there's nothing to prevent the furball forming in the stomach or to make it start going down. Have you ever wondered how a cat can bring up all their stomach contents but leave the furball in place, or bring up a furball with very little food on it just after eating a meal?
Hairballs will form in the cat's stomach regardless. As much as nobody likes to step in a wet lump of matted squelch between the toes when getting up in the night, it may be the safe and correct way for the cat to expel the hair inevitably ingested while grooming. Although these mats look about the size of a poop, the poop only gets that size in the large intestine. The whole distance of the narrower small intestine, food travels in a much softer and more liquid form. A lump of matted hair poses a serious danger of obstruction, a very sick cat, an emergency surgery and a massive vet bill. Wild cats bring up hairballs too. They don't form by accident.
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Ruth B
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Re: Changing Cat Food
I may have mentioned on a previous thread, my three get Purina One Adult. I've tried different types and normally ended up throwing the other food away, even if I mixed the cats would carefully pick out the Purina and just eat that, leaving a bowl full of the other food, or a circle of it around an empty bowl.
Like Mollycat says, I'm not sure if the Hairball formulas are worth it. We did try it when we had our Ragdoll as no matter how much we groomed him he would bring up furballs every so often, even some of the short haired cats do fairly regularly, but as Mollycat says it is perfectly natural no matter how bad it may seem to us. A cat that catches and eats its prey will also bring up any fur and feathers they have ingested from them. If Loki eats a lot of dried food then I would ask your vet about Urinary ones, vets may not have a lot of training when it comes to what to feed your cat, but it would be worth making sure it isn't going to do any harm feeding it to him if he hasn't got any problems, it isn't something i have used so I'm not sure if such foods are meant to be preventionary, or are to help treat cats that already have a problem.
Like Mollycat says, I'm not sure if the Hairball formulas are worth it. We did try it when we had our Ragdoll as no matter how much we groomed him he would bring up furballs every so often, even some of the short haired cats do fairly regularly, but as Mollycat says it is perfectly natural no matter how bad it may seem to us. A cat that catches and eats its prey will also bring up any fur and feathers they have ingested from them. If Loki eats a lot of dried food then I would ask your vet about Urinary ones, vets may not have a lot of training when it comes to what to feed your cat, but it would be worth making sure it isn't going to do any harm feeding it to him if he hasn't got any problems, it isn't something i have used so I'm not sure if such foods are meant to be preventionary, or are to help treat cats that already have a problem.
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Kithra
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Re: Changing Cat Food
Hi Mollycat,
Sorry not to have replied earlier but I’ve been busy.
Checking out all the different brands, and being on a limited budget, I’ve decided to just stick with what Loki likes, but get the adult version for him.
As for hairballs he’s never had one and he’s almost 11 months old. I’d like to try and keep it that way as I suffer from Emetophoia! Both the hairball and urinary tract items are cat treats and he enjoys them. I’ve had him since he was 3 months old and just want to do my best for him, which is why I thought both items might be good for him.
Hi Ruth,
I think it’s really difficult to find out what cats like and what they won’t touch. It’s all trial and error until you hit on the right thing. Loki eats both wet and dry food, as well as having fresh water which he sometimes drinks and sometimes doesn’t. But, after lockdown, when I can take him to the Vet again, I’ll definitely ask about his diet and what I’m feeding him. I certainly don’t want to do him any harm.
Sorry not to have replied earlier but I’ve been busy.
Checking out all the different brands, and being on a limited budget, I’ve decided to just stick with what Loki likes, but get the adult version for him.
As for hairballs he’s never had one and he’s almost 11 months old. I’d like to try and keep it that way as I suffer from Emetophoia! Both the hairball and urinary tract items are cat treats and he enjoys them. I’ve had him since he was 3 months old and just want to do my best for him, which is why I thought both items might be good for him.
Hi Ruth,
I think it’s really difficult to find out what cats like and what they won’t touch. It’s all trial and error until you hit on the right thing. Loki eats both wet and dry food, as well as having fresh water which he sometimes drinks and sometimes doesn’t. But, after lockdown, when I can take him to the Vet again, I’ll definitely ask about his diet and what I’m feeding him. I certainly don’t want to do him any harm.