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Need help with new food for mom's cat

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Member Since 01/12/2012     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 1:51pm PST  My mom's senior cat has been eating Hill's r/d for years (per the vet's recommendation). He is still overweight and my mom wants to help him lose weight. She is open to switching his food (I have tried to explain why it's not good for him). I am also going to suggest she try making canned food the majority of his diet and supplementing it with dry (rather than the reverse, which is what she's been doing). He also gets a small amount of Fancy Feast in addition to the r/d dry. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a tiered approach to getting him on a better food. I don't want to shock her with a huge price increase at first and I don't want to shock the cat's system with an immediate switch to grain free. Or do you think this would be OK? She will switch him gradually of course. I know a lot more about dog food than cat food, so I was hoping to get a little help. my posts [notify]

Alex (sweet- angel girl) Angel on a- mission!     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 2:21pm PST  Take her to my website and let her read what that kind of food did to my beautiful girl who suffered so much and is now gone forever. www.ibdkitties.net. overweight kitties are subject to so many diseases including diabetes, heart problems, etc and all the GI diseases my kitty had. It's avoidable and preventable to a large degree. Tell her that all the ingredients in those foods are nothing but pure sugar. Would she feed you nothing but potato chips all day long every day? I would hope not. Because you are her child. Pet are our responsibility and our children so we need to treat their health with as much importance as we do our human kids. I'll be happy to help in any way I can. I have a list of grain free foods on my site also: http://ibdkitties.net/Food.html. some are higher end and more expensive and some are cheaper. There's a link at the top on how to slowly switch foods also. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help okay? I don't want to see your kitty end up like mine. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Bumpurr RESPECT The- Star!     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 2:54pm PST  r/d is a prescription food of Hills, I know s/d and c/d, but why is the cat being given r/d, according to the vet? If you have IBD issues, Alex is the kitty to go to, you are in good hands. Hey Alex! [notify]

Member Since 01/12/2012     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 4:49pm PST  Ummmm..... maybe I was not clear in my first post? She is willing to switch to something different. She did not know that is was bad for him until I told her. (I did not know what he was eating until just recently.) I don't need to convince her to switch, I just need some brand ideas to share with her. I have no idea why the vet told her to feed this food (Hill's r/d is for weight loss), probably because they sell it there and sadly most vets have a very poor background in pet nutrition. So, I would like to know some good brands to switch him to without upsetting his digestive system too much. After all, he has been eating almost no meat and loads of carbs for years now. I was thinking that an immediate switch to a grain free food might be a bit of a shock to his system. What do you suggest? my posts [notify]

Member Since 01/12/2012     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 4:51pm PST  Oh, I forgot to mention that he has no health issues other than the fact that he is overweight. He is 16 pounds right now and I think he would be much healthier around 12 to 13 pounds. my posts [notify]

Alex (sweet- angel girl) Angel on a- mission!     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 4:53pm PST  Whoops! Sorry, we're so used to having to convince people to switch. Okay, the brands I feed my kitties are Nature's Variety, Weruva, Merrick, things like that. Also Evo is a good one. What I would recommend doing is buying some cans of one of these brands, and for a week adding a teaspoon of the new food to the old food every day for that week until that old food is no longer being fed and the new one is being accepted without harm. Do like a switcheroo. Less of the old food while continually adding the new food. Those brands are very good and shouldn't do anything for problems. You can also try Wellness, that's another good food and probably even easier on tummies. Does this help? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Member Since 01/12/2012     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 5:09pm PST  Thank you that is very helpful! my posts [notify]

Bumpurr RESPECT The- Star!     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 5:26pm PST  I didn't mean to offend, its just that to give accurate information, I sometimes need more information, than the poster has supplied, so I ask. And being that the kitty was given a prescription diet, I needed to know why, as in, if there were other issues going on, as that can affect the anser too. That r/d is a weight loss food, is the anser I was looking for. Sometimes, the anser, is not a simple one, and more information must be given. Best that Alex or others finish this post. Best of luck. [notify]

Member Since 01/12/2012     Purred: Thu Jan 12, '12 6:15pm PST  Oops, looks like I accidentally created a new topic. This is what happens when you type on your phone! What I meant to post here: No worries, no offense taken! I guess I am lucky that I don't need to spend the time to convince my mom why she needs to switch (she trusts my advice). I feed my dog Orijen and EVO among other high-end brands, but I need to get up to speed on the best brands for cats. my posts [notify]

Alex (sweet- angel girl) Angel on a- mission!     Purred: Fri Jan 13, '12 11:03am PST  Those brands are good for cats as well! Two of the best ones actually. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

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