Is there a Wet Cat food that DU'ers feel is okay to feed? I have a sick cat and

[KoKo]

the vet has her on Hill's prescription diet. She won't eat it. I bought Newmans's wet but the lining of the can is white (that platicised stuff they coat inside of cans with) but she's eating it.

There have been so many recalls and so many DU'ers don't trust one brand or another but I've got a sick cat and trying to nurse her back from kidney problems and thyroid.

What can I try?

[Robbien]

1. Baby food

Human baby food. Really. It is the best for sick cats.

[KoKo]

3. What about the vitamins that cats need. Wouldn't baby food have additives

for humans that might be bad for her?

Is there one you would recommend that doesn't have any additives?

[MzNov]

37. Baby food does have sodium, so you have to be careful.

I only give baby food for treats and trying to "trick" them into hiding medicine :-)

there are no other nutrients in just baby food, so you have to add a variety of those. I am going to assume we're talking about the meat: veal, lamb, turkey, etc.

Not good as the only source of food for cats.

:hi:

[Nite Owl]

2. I switched my dogs

to: http://www.bluebuff.com/#

A friend of mine has an elderly, sick cat and she switched to their cat food for him. When you open the page though it says some of the kitten food was recalled for one run. At this point I'm thinking of making my own food but then is our food ok?

[KoKo]

6. I ground up some fresh chicken in my blender for her...but she wouldn't touch it.

She seems to like things with a strong smell...but I read that fish is bad for cats with kidney problems.

[melnjones]

17. Go with blue.

Excellent food, and the fact that they caught the one run of dry food that had a problem so incredibly early makes me feel more confident about feeding it to my animals. A friend who knows some about the company said they think maybe 50 bags of that run even hit the shelves nationwide- they caught it way early, without any complaints from customers, and immediately pulled all of that kind of food off the shelves to make sure not one bag was purchased if they could help it.

[Nite Owl]

36. They have both been on it

for about a month now, since the first reports, and they LOVE the stuff. Even the little one who is as finiky as any cat didn't even pick up her little head to give me the 'look', you know the one, 'is this all there is?'. She had some soft movements so I add some more rice. I switched her without any weaning off the Iams so I think it was an adjustment problem.

[Warpy]

4. Baby food

I kid you not. Strained chicken and turkey have been prescribed to sick kitties I've had. Just read the label, make sure there is no onion or garlic in it. You might also check with the vet about both the Newman's and the baby food.

Chances are the kitty just feels too lousy to eat. Put a little on her nose and let her lick it off. That might pique her interest.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. My cat is the pickiest kitty I've ever had, and I give her Fancy Feasts. Grilled Turkey, Grilled

Chicken and the new Chicken Florentine. I've tried to give her natural foods, etc and she won't touch them. She also likes Friskies Chicken.

I also recommend that you give her Nutrimalt. It's a gel-like substance that comes out of a tube and when I've had sick, non-eating kitties, eat it. It seems to help their appetite.

[Individualist]

27. My picky kitty also likes Fancy Feast and Friskies

[Lugnut]

58. Same here

My crotchety old female tabby loves Fancy Feast. Her dry food of choice is Meow Mix. She will not eat people food at all.

[Pokey Anderson]

66. Fancy Feast. Here's the recall list, consolidated.

A friend's cat had serious diabetes and was getting insulin shots daily. She finally got a decent vet, who got the cat (then overweight) off the carb stuff, and onto a high protein diet (which is what cats historically have eaten, and what their bodies are made for). Fancy Feast is high protein.

The cat was supposedly going downhill, with 6-12 months to live, before the switch of vets and food. Cat is now fine; it's been about 2 years.

As for the recalls -- there will, in all likelihood, be more recalls.

Here's the FDA website, which seems to be up to date with the recalls, and it's easy to search (yeah, I know, it's the federal government and we know how incredibly competent they are).

FDA list --- http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/

[stray cat]

29. Fancy feast cod. salmon, tuna (all flaked) for my cats

I have also used the Nutrimalt for sick cats and it helped spur their appetite and keep their calories up.

[Rosemary2205]

7. You could try a combo.

I have an ancient cat who's getting to be a VERY picky eater. We've finally resorted to giving her 1/2 can of chunk light tuna in water or little chopped up pieces of whatever meat we are having for supper or something of the sort. Then she gets Life's abundance dry food (avail online or at some vets, in the morning and she can eat that at will.

You can also order the taurine cats need online or get it from a vet and throw her favorite meat and a little rice into a blender. We've done that before too.

My cat won't touch any of the high quality wet foods out there. She gobbles up the cheap stuff that's no longer safe.


With kidney problems, beware of too high a protein. If you feed her people meat, make sure to get some carbs in there. -- Generally 50/50 is good.

I feel for you. With my cat its a constant bet on what she'll eat.

[frazzled]

8. Don't use wet food personally but

my cat has eaten nothing but natural Felidae dry food since we've adopted her, and I feel the company is trustworthy. They make a canned product as well, all natural ingredients. You can read about it here:

http://www.canidae.com/cats/cat_and_kitten/canned.html

I will admit that we once tried adding the wet Felidae to her dry, on the recommendation of the pet store owner, but she wouldn't eat it.

[derby378]

9. What about Friskies Special Diet?

If that's too rough on her system, Purina has a couple of wet formulas you might want to try.

[Justitia]

10. Yes! Merrick - my girl loves it, it's human grade & they do their own canning

It's very high quality. Only sold in pet stores and online. They have a locater on their website for places to find it (or order through them). They offer free shipping in the US.
I've seen lots of other DUers recommend it as well (that's where I found out about it).
No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.
No grains or glutens!

My kitty eats the poultry varieties: Turducken, Grammy's Pot Pie, Thanksgiving Day

Here's a link:

http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/canned_cat_food.php

Good luck to you!

[Ezlivin]

39. Another vote for Merrick and one for Wellness and Paul Newman's Own

Our Russian Blues get the best and they love these. Merrick is made right here in Texas and is very high quality.

[Justitia]

62. OMG, those kitties are gorgeous! Their expressions are priceless. -eom

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

64. Another vote for Wellness - and OP: get that sick kitty off grocery petfood pronto!

I don't know all the brands people are naming but I know Wellness and Blue Buffalo. Super-premium brands like these use whole foods, digestible grains and real meat - and they don't use the corn, wheat, and even beef that cats can develop allergies to. They are highly palatable.

I fed my cats grocery brands for years, not knowing any better - and there were very few premium brands around when they were young. They lived to almost 20, but they would have enjoyed even longer and healthier lives if I had switched them to better food early on. You will be amazed by the difference it makes.

These brands can be found at pet specialty stores like PetSmart and Petco. Use the store locator at their sites to find a retailer near you:

http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/

http://www.bluebuff.com/products/cats-spa-select.shtml

[DawnIsis]

11. I suggest going to a "Pet Bakery"

Depending on where you live you should be able to find a gourmet pet food store. They mainly have dog food but also sell organic human grade cat food both hard and soft.

The soft food I am using is called "Wellness" and the hard food is called "Innova". There are many other brands and most of the pet bakeries will special order whatever you request. If you can't find one near you I suggest ordering online, just do a search for "gourmet pet food" or "organic pet food".

[Rosemary2205]

13. I think Innova is too high protein for sick kidneys.

I could be wrong....... maybe I'm thinking of Evo.

[uppityperson]

23. Red bag 36% protein

http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
Pink bag (reduced fat) 32%
Senior 38%
I don't see the Silver bad there, maybe they don't have it anymore.

California Natural (same place)
http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp
Herring & Sweet Potato 30%
Chicken & Brown Rice 36%

[uppityperson]

21. Welcome to DU and we use Innova also.

The silver bag is higher in calories, good to plump them out in the winter. Now we are back to the red bag. They are doing well on this brand, have had problems with other brands due to food allergies.

[DianeG5385]

12. What my vet told me when I had a sick cat was to boil chicken

and mince finely and add boiled brown rice with nothing else added for flavoring. Let cool first, of course!

[cliss]

14. Koko, this is what we do.

I buy canned salmon + canned tuna and give to the kitty. I did this long before pet food became tainted.

For example, I buy a large can of Bumble Bee salmon. It's $1.29 at WinCo. The kitty absolutely loves this stuff. One can lasts about 4 days, so that's about 30 cents per day. Not exorbitant, at all.
I also buy "people food" canned tuna for about 49 cents per can. Tuna packed in water.
This is not much more than Pet Food quality, but it's so much better.

Good luck with your kitty!

[KoKo]

43. Thanks Again...for all your replies...I'm reading every one of them!

You guys are :grouphug: THE BEST!

[illinoisprogressive]

15. We've been using Fancy Feast, Friskies and Chicken Soup for the...

These are not on any lists so far and my cats are doing well. Very much themselves. I will not use any others.
The pet store was only carrying Chicken soup for the Cat.... and said that is the only safe one they have.
The Friskies and Fancy Feast are not on any lists.
Also, get People's Tuna. Starkist or bumblebee, both are on sale alot. They love it.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

31. My cat eats only Fancy Feast and one kind of Friskies. She loves tuna but I rarely give it to her

I recently heard that tuna isn't that great for cats.

[calimary]

44. Our cats have eaten Fancy Feast. One just recently died -

of old age and suspected cancer up in the nasal passages. So said the vet who also added that the contaminated pet food had no bearing on this. Besides, he ate the same thing our other cat still eats, and she's still quite healthy, plump, and sassy.

I did feed the ailing cat baby food - the earliest kind for youngest babies - strained meat, like chicken, turkey, and ham. No mixtures.

[LiberalEsto]

16. plain yogurt?

When my two cats had cystitis, the vet suggested feeding them plain yogurt to promote "good" bacteria in their systems. They both love it.

These cats are so picky that they refuse to eat any sort of wet or moist food. They won't touch cooked chicken or even salmon. I feed them dry Iams and give them plain yogurt as well as "catgrass." These are wheat seeds that I grow in a pot. They just mow 'em down.

[Anywho6]

18. We have a kitty that has a sensitive tummy...

...and we feed her the Hill's Science Diet ZD (prescription), but we're trying to ween her off onto Natural Ultramix (no corn, no wheat, no by-products). She gets Innova wet food mixed with it and she's been doing well so far. We feed the low-cal Innova wet food to our older cat and our Golden Retriever (~8 years old) gets the Innova Senior dry food. We love Innova!

Best wishes to you and your dear pet...

[Up2Late]

19. I'm pretty sure the stuff I use is not on the recall lists

I use the Friskies "Special Diet" for my old male Cat. He likes both the Whitefish and the Turkey & Giblets Dinner flavors. My Female Cat doesn't like the Turkey & Giblets Dinner though, but she's very finicky anyway.

My old male cat has also lost a lot of weight recently, and I just discovered the cause to be Gingivitis (he needs to have his teeth cleaned).

Turns out he was having trouble eating the dry food, so to try to put some weight back on him, I've started using the Regular Friskies wet food, of which he really likes the Salmon, Tuna, and "Turkey and Liver" flavors.

I do worry a little about the environmental Toxins in the Salmon, but I think it's the best if you need to put weight back on a Cat, but I've been using the wet Friskies food for a long time and have never had a problem with them.

[jgraz]

20. Get some brewer's yeast

Cats love it and it's good for them. Sprinkle it on her food and you'll probably see more interest.

My girlfriend has a cat that had kidney problems (from dry food, says the vet) and she switched her to a homemade raw food diet. She's now doing great.

[jumptheshadow]

41. Thanks for mentioning the drawbacks of dry food

We had a major shock last month when one of our cats almost died from diabetes. He always had preferred dry food (Science Diet) exclusively. It turns out that his dry food diet was bad for him -- it had too many carbohydrates producing too much sugar in his bloodstream. The finicky guy has refused to eat any wet food, except for an occasional bit of baby food or tuna, and is now on a prescription dry food diet. It's not optimal, but his diabetes has reversed itself and he's no longer getting insulin.

[jgraz]

50. Go to this link and follow the instructions

http://www.felineinstincts.com/

If you can find ground turkey or chicken (or ground rabbit) your cat will probably tolerate this a lot better.

Please send me a PM if you have any questions. My girlfriend know all the ins and outs of feeding this diet.

[Rex]

22. Friskies and Whiskers wet catfood, both seem to be okay where I live.

So far so good.

[Bitwit1234]

24. Friskies and Whiska are OK...

I feed my older cat their pouch food.

[H2O Man]

25. I sometimes feed

my wife & daughters' cats tuna fish.

[Mz Pip]

26. When my cat was

recovering from surgery I made mixture of Gerber babyfood chicken or turkey and kitten formula. I had to force feed him the mixture in a syringe but he was able to keep it down.

Good luck with your kitty. Hope she's better soon. :hug:

Mz Pip
:dem:

[stray cat]

28. So far fancy feast has been ok and my cats love it.

[Vinca]

30. My cats will only eat Fancy Feast.

I check the FF web site almost daily and so far so good. They claim to be able to track their ingredients and none came from the China source. My vet told me Purina is a reliable company as far as using the same amount of the same ingredients in each batch of food. He said some of the other brands will throw in whatever they've got that was cheaper and the formula varies. My cats also like one of the Purina dry products, Indoor Cat.

[Rock_Garden]

33. Same here.

And so far, so good.

[WinkyDink]

32. There's food just for wet cats?

[Lithos]

34. For older cats you want to avoid too much protein

Kidney's can't handle it.

Also don't forget to add Taurine to their diet. Yes, they go a bit without it, but it's definitely needed for long term health. In a pinch I've been told clam juice works.

L-

[onecent]

35. My kitty and my older cat LOVE to eat the yellow out of easy over

eggs. I just put the yolk on my fingers and they both go to town.

They also like scrambled eggs, moist.

[MzNov]

38. Here's a really good source if you want to consider making cat food

from scratch, or maybe just adding some ingredients to your other recipes



The author has been around forever and this book has been in print forever. I highly recommend.

I have a multiple cat household, Fancy Feast seens to be OK. There is a new version of it that has real chicken and salmon. A bit expensive, but what are we going to do???

Flint River still my No. 1 dry food.

This entire contamination issue is just awful!! We should demand harsh penalties!

:-(

[KoKo]

40. THANKS ALL.....for your replies and helpful info!!!!

DU'er's are always there when you need them. :hi:

[applegrove]

42. Try Purina. They were not on any recall list.

[Sydnie]

45. My cat is eating Wellness brand and loves it

I had been feeding her Fancy Feast and she would often leave a good portion of it behind. She doesn't do that with the Wellness foods. Some flavors she likes better than others (like the chicken and lobster one, even though she turns her nose up at fresh lobster from my plate) and others she doesn't care as much for.

You might want to check them out. http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html

[Dastard Stepchild]

46. Innova is good..as is EVO....

And they did not make the recall list.

http://www.naturapet.com/

[mithnanthy]

47. Pet Promise

I have successfully switched my 4 senior cats to Pet Promise (chicken formula) wet food and also their dry food product. Go to petpromise.com and check them out. Their product is high quality without hormones or antibiotics added to the feed of the animals they use. They are compassionate and have high standards. They are in Colorado and use only approved ranchers who supply quailty food. Read about their staff. I feel so relieved I'm feeding them a healthy product when I see little pieces of naturally grown carrots, beets, and potatoes in the food. It also contains NO by-products. So far so good, and the cats like it.

[Kool Kitty]

61. I feed my cats Pet Promise, too.

They like it and I haven't had any problems. I've been feeding them both the wet and the dry.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

65. Pet Promise is a very progressive brand

I like their policies on sustainable agriculture and support of local ranchers. They not only produce superior quality pet food but also care for the environment and and keep independent US suppliers in business. If allergies didn't stop me from living with cats nowadays, Pet Promise is definitely a brand I would try.

[RB TexLa]

48. Might try tuna. It's a treat my kittys get from time to time and they love it.

[appleannie1]

49. Tuna packed in water

instead of cat food. Or cook chicken livers.

[Lorien]

51. EVANGER'S is privately produced, organic, and human grade

no wheat,brewer's rice, soy or corn: http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/superpremium.html

Merrick's is also good: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/canned_cat_food.php

Products like Fancy Feast, Purina, Friskies, etc. are made of feed grade, not human grade, ingredients. Feed grade ingredients are basically industrial food waste. Many of these products also contain corn, which can't be metabolized by cats. Cats should NOT be dying of kidney failure, cardiomyopathy, cancer, hyperthyroid and other all too common ailments by age 16. A cat on a natural, organic human grade diet can easily live well into their 20's.

Baby food and tuna don't contain enough taurine, and tuna can be dangerous in large amounts. Both should only be used as occasional treats.

Hope that helps!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

57. from Veterinary Partner website

What Sort of Treatments Might my Pet Require at Home?

Special Diet:


Most prescription diet companies produce a diet with restricted protein (so as to generate less BUN), restricted phosphorus, and with other important qualities to promote metabolic health in kidney patients. Many clinics stock K/D diet made by Hills and Select Care Modified made by Innovative Veterinary Diets. In some cases, simply switching to this food may be adequate treatment. There is no preventive benefit that we know of in changing to these diets prior to the onset of kidney failure.

Amphojel/Phosphate Binders: Amphojel is an antacid caplet used for stomach upset in people. It also binds phosphates in the diet when it is given with food. This reduces the phosphorus intake from the GI tract and helps normalize the blood phosphorus level.

Calcitrol: This medication actually represents activated vitamin D. Vitamin D is not a vitamin in the way other vitamins are or in the way we think of vitamins; vitamin D is actually a hormone. It plays an important role in calcium phosphorus balance and is beneficial in preventing the progression of kidney failure when it is administered while phosphorus levels are still normal. Our experience with this medication has been excellent and we recommend its use in appropriate patients whole-heartedly. The doses that are used are exceedingly small and must be compounded by a special pharmacy. If your pet qualifies to take this medication, special instructions on how to obtain it will be given to you.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=572&S=2&SourceID=42

[KoKo]

63. An interesting link! Thanks....

:hi:

[Mme. Defarge]

52. Another vote for Fancy Feast

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

53. see Safe Pet Food blog

lots of people have questions, but since your pet is sick, hopefully
you can get some recommendations too.

http://safepetfood.wordpress.com/

Maybe call your vet back.

BTW, my cats eat Purina One that has Chicken as #1 ingredient and has oatmeal.
They love it.

I feed them Chicken Soup for the Soul, but they only eat it if they have to.

Then, I give them Fancy Feast from the seafood choices.
(No Gravy). They love it, and our dogs would eat it too if I let them.

(But catfood is really bad for dogs).

Hope your kitty gets better.

[Lorien]

54. My cat became very ill on Hill's and Fancy Feast

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=243&topic_id=4388&mesg_id=4388

Cat food is fine for a dog if it's truly species appropriate (low grain, natural, human grade). My cats eat Nature's Variety freeze dried canine/ feline diet:http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?page=1335&-session=naturesvariety:186EFBB40a4df39559WmJL8741F6

Ingredients
Chicken, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Hearts, Pumpkinseeds, Ground Chicken Bone, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseeds, Chicken Eggs, Montmorillonite Clay, Broccoli, Lettuce, Spinach, Kelp, Salmon Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Parsley, Honey, Blueberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Persimmons, Olive Oil, Duck Eggs, Pheasant Eggs, Quail Eggs, Inulin, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Citric Acid, Sage, Clove

Beware of ANY pet food that contains corn, wheat, or brewer's rice.

[alittlelark]

55. Turkey baby food is what my vet recommended

My 13 year old bounced right back.

[burrowowl]

56. If you have a Whole Foods grocery store in your area

their brand name 365 is good and here in ABQ $0.49 for a 5.5 oz can.

[hang a left]

59. I was going to respond earlier but you had so many responses.

I was thinking maybe you could find a really healthy dry food, add some boiling water to it and make your own wet food. Maybe you could even add some boiling meat broth. Just think if you could find an excellent dry food that had all the vitamins she needs you could make your own wet food.

I was in the feed store just yesterday and noticed that they had sample packs of some of the better foods. So perhaps you could do this without spending a fortune.

Good luck with your baby.

[Cleita]

60. Two things my kitty who was suffering from kidney failure was

able to eat was baby food and there is a cat milk called CatSip. It comes in aseptic packs. It's formulated for kitty's digestion and my elderly and sick kitties really enjoyed it when they couldn't get anything else down.