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How do you feed 3 meals a day if you aren't home during the day? That's why I leave her a little bit of dry during the day. From not eating any canned food she is now eating it with gusto. :-)
I feed the cats in the morning, when I get home from work, and before I go to bed. Other people feed their cats just twice a day.
Well, here it is 6 weeks later and Rowan is still chubby. She gets a 2 oz. can for breakfast around 7 a.m. and another usually around 5:30 p.m . I did buy the best dry food I could find which was $32 for a 5 pound bag and I was really impressed with the ingredients. It's called Nature's Variety Instinct and 95% of its protein is from real chicken, no grains and gluten free. It has no rendered meats, chicken meal or by-products. She only gets 1/4 cup a day because I can't afford to give her canned three times a day. Each can is $1.39. That dry will last a long time since she doesn't get much. She eats both with gusto now.
Looked up her paperwork from when I got her 9/22/16. She was 11 lbs 15 oz. I would like to weigh her but she will not let me pick her up and I do not have a baby scale. After the holidays I will bring her to my vet for a check-up and to have her nails trimmed. That should be fun; she hates, hates, hates being picked up.
She has even been a little more playful. Caught her throwing the mouse up in the air and pouncing on it this morning. The one volunteer at the shelter is very knowledgeable and I can tell she really loves cats. She was telling me that cats in a shelter environment where they are not caged rarely play as it makes them vulnerable. Makes sense especially when you have a cat like Rowan who doesn't like other cats.
Rowan seems to want to be near me when I am home. When I take my shower she is always waiting at the door for me to open it. She only meows when I'm getting her food ready.
Found a great cat litter called "The World's Best Cat Litter". I buy the unscented and it has no dust, clumps well and really cuts down on odor. To test it I scooped a urine ball, held it up to my nose and I didn't smell anything and I have a real good sense of smell.
All in all things are working out well and she is a good kitty. Hope she enjoys the cat tree I am going to get her after Christmas.
Well, here it is 6 weeks later and Rowan is still chubby. She gets a 2 oz. can for breakfast around 7 a.m. and another usually around 5:30 p.m . I did buy the best dry food I could find which was $32 for a 5 pound bag and I was really impressed with the ingredients. It's called Nature's Variety Instinct and 95% of its protein is from real chicken, no grains and gluten free. It has no rendered meats, chicken meal or by-products. She only gets 1/4 cup a day because I can't afford to give her canned three times a day. Each can is $1.39. That dry will last a long time since she doesn't get much. She eats both with gusto now.
Stop feeding dry food. The idea that it will "last a long time" is not a good one. Dry food turns rancid and even more covered in bacteria very quickly once air hits it. Besides, 1/4 cup of dry and four ounces of wet food is a lot of food.
An 11 pound cat would maintain on about 6 ounces of wet a day, depending of course on the brand and the metabolism of the cat.
Get rid of the dry and feed the 2 oz meals of canned 3 times a day. If she gains, or doesn't lose on that, cut it back to 5 ounces a day. 2 oz, 1 oz and 2 oz. Add a little warm water to help her stay hydrated, which will also keep her feeling fuller longer.
Glad to hear she is playing more! Sounds like she is settling in very well.
Pick her up once a day, hold her close to you for just a second, then put her down. Just do that once a day so she can learn that nothing bad will happen when she is picked up. It is really important to get any cat used to be handled. The once a day one second pick up is a good slow way to start.
Keep introducing interactive Games too, to help her bond with you. x
Catsmom by now we are all aware on this forum how you hate dry food. I was expecting you to say exactly what you did and you didn't disappoint. I did not buy some cheap Wal-Mart brand dry cat food. This 5 pound bag was $32 and I'm not going to just throw it out. I researched, spent an hour reading all the labels and settled on the dry with the best ingredients that had no grains, starch, etc. To prevent it going rancid I will start putting it in the refrigerator now that the bag is open.
While I agree with you that a cat eating nothing but dry food is awful it won't kill Rowan to have a small bit of dry food daily. I'm not sure how many ounces are in 1/4 cup but I will look it up online and cut it back further. I like having dry food in the event of an emergency with my elderly mother who lives in a neighboring town. If I had to go to the hospital with her I have the dry food as an emergency back-up if I have to be out of the house for a day or two.
I get a little frustrated every time I post something regarding "dry" food only to get your lecture about the evils of dry food. I realize you are only trying to educate people and some people do need it but you've already educated me and I while I appreciate it I can't always feed canned to Rowan 3 times a day. Thank you for all the advice you have given me, however I just feel like if I post anything about the evil dry food I am going to be chastised like I was a child which I don't appreciate.
The problem is with the vets who know little about nutrition and recommend people feed their cat the junk they carry in their office or some Purina brand. They gave a brand new cat owner bad advice and then the cat owner thinks feeding dry all the time is fine. Those new cat owners definitely need to be educated.
As for the suggestion about how to get Rowan to let me pick her up I will definitely try it.
Last edited by chiluvr1228; 11-20-2016 at 09:08 AM..
<edit> Just to add, I understand your frustration toward me. But lots of people read these threads, so I am not just speaking to you, I am speaking to anyone reading. I can't help how you feel about it, of course. It's not personal.
A little dry food won't "kill her", no. At least...probably not anyway. But she'd be a lot better off without any. Though the long term effects of dry food are often not even attributed to disease and death because the cat has been "fed it all her life and was always fine on it". You know, until she wasn't "fine" any more. Nobody ever seems to think in the long term, with diet.
Dry food is dry food, regardless of the brand. You stated you wanted Rowan to lose weight. She isn't going to, being fed high carb dry food, it doesn't matter how much you paid for it, it is still high carb species inappropriate dry food.. It bears repeating simply because you never know who hasn't been enlightened yet.
My mother lived 100 miles away and had pancreatic cancer and Alzheimer's disease. I was deeply involved in her care through her passing. Many very long days away from home. Left early, came home late. I continued to feed my cats a raw diet. No dry food.
I don't doubt your commitment to and love of Rowan. I think she is having and will continue to have a lovely long happy life with you. But it could be even happier and longer, with no dry food.
Ah, well, I will never stop speaking against dry food. I understand most people have to learn for themselves why dry food is so bad. But I've had some notes from grateful people here and there over the years. Even hearing of one cat taken off dry food and how much better kitty is doing, makes all my efforts worth it, in spite of people who dislike my persistence.
PS (When one lives with a cat who has a ruined digestion from six years on a dry diet, and pays the price every single day for it, one tends to become a bit passionate about the subject, hoping to save other cats (and their humans) the same heartbreak and endless worry, stress and work involved.)
Last edited by catsmom21; 11-20-2016 at 09:50 AM..
Thank you for civil response. You are to be commended for preparing your cats' food despite also caring for your mother. I wish there were more people in the world like you. :-)
Now how do we go about educating veterinarians? I did research online last night when I was trying to figure out how much food to feed Rowan to help her lose weight and many of the posts suggested asking the vet! I have yet to find one that doesn't tell an owner that dry food is simply not a good choice.
Thank you for civil response. You are to be commended for preparing your cats' food despite also caring for your mother. I wish there were more people in the world like you. :-)
Now how do we go about educating veterinarians? I did research online last night when I was trying to figure out how much food to feed Rowan to help her lose weight and many of the posts suggested asking the vet! I have yet to find one that doesn't tell an owner that dry food is simply not a good choice.
You would be fighting an uphill battle. A more accurate description of a vet's dietary training would be "pet food company's marketing strategy". The numerous well-stocked shelves of Hill's Science Diet found in most vets offices should give you a clue to the truth in that. My vet is a very good one, and I trust his judgment on medical issues, but he's the last person I would ask about what to feed my cats.
Thank you for civil response. You are to be commended for preparing your cats' food despite also caring for your mother. I wish there were more people in the world like you. :-)
Now how do we go about educating veterinarians? I did research online last night when I was trying to figure out how much food to feed Rowan to help her lose weight and many of the posts suggested asking the vet! I have yet to find one that doesn't tell an owner that dry food is simply not a good choice.
Mine says it. Well, both of them. There are two at the same practice I see whichever has availability.
Especially when one kitty had a problem needing extra hydration. She stressed that he should eat wet food anyway but definitely for this problem.
She gave me a hand-out on ways to hydrate kitty. get him to drink more.
Thank you for civil response. You are to be commended for preparing your cats' food despite also caring for your mother. I wish there were more people in the world like you. :-)
Now how do we go about educating veterinarians? I did research online last night when I was trying to figure out how much food to feed Rowan to help her lose weight and many of the posts suggested asking the vet! I have yet to find one that doesn't tell an owner that dry food is simply not a good choice.
Oh gosh, sadly I have no answer. (*disclaimer* this next part I talk about raw because I feed raw. I am NOT trying to influence you to feed raw here, just talking about my issue)When I started raw feeding my vet seemed very supportive. She asked questions, took notes, asked for print outs and data.
All that is changed now. She goes to those conventions every year, they are run by the PFI. She gets her annual dose of brainwashing from Purina, Royal Canin and Hills, and lately their focus is on the "dangers" of raw food.
She is now so anti raw that I despair of continuing a working relationship with her. She had the gall this past summer to blame a health issue on raw diet and instructed me to "keep an open mind" and consider I might need to feed my cat a "special diet" (Hills z/d dry). The same kind of diet that caused this cat's digestive issues in the first place.
She feeds her own cats dry junk food. She "rotates" them so they don't get bored. She pushes Hills and RC and the clinic she works in has stacks of bags openly on display of this horrible food. She thinks cats should be fed dry because of he "crunch".
She insists chronic vomiting in cats is "normal". It's shocking to me, how far she has regressed from the vet I interviewed and chose 12 years ago.
I really don't know what the answer is, as far as vets are concerned. What little they learn in vet school about nutrition is taught by pet food industry representatives. Vet students see advertisements for these foods in their text books. They are given free food for their own personal pets.
PFI makes their biggest profits from dry food. So they market wet as a "companion" diet for dry food.
I really do feel quite hopeless about it in general which is probably why I am so bull headed about it, and never stop yammering about it. The vets aren't taking the trouble to learn, it's easier to go with the flow and push a bag at the client.
Really when you think about it on a fundamental level, it's conflict of interest for them to have their patients fed a better diet. They make a lot more money on the animals fed dry food and other junk diets. Shocking, and I'm not saying most vets consciously think that way, but I bet the PFI does.
Last edited by catsmom21; 11-20-2016 at 10:53 AM..
I think my prior Vet did feel that way. He enjoyed all the fees from ear infections instead of telling me maybe the dog had food allergies. Which she did. Wheat.
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The idea that it will "last a long time" is not a good one. Dry food turns rancid and even more covered in bacteria very quickly once air hits it. Besides, 1/4 cup of dry and four ounces of wet food is a lot of food. 
