Cat health & dry cat food
Tom G.
kittens, and both are very healthy (with one problem that I'll get into
below). A friend said that cats are likely to develop urinary problems if
their sole diet is dry food. Any opinions?
My orange tabby seems very healthy, but on occasion he has defecated on the
carpet, and when this happens (maybe 5 or 6 times in three years) there is
usually blood on his stool. It doesn't seem to be mixed with it. My usual
solution to health problems with myself and my cats is to wait for awhile,
and symptoms usually go away by themselves. I have little money for vets,
but I really love my cat and don't want him to get sick if something can be
prevented. Any ideas on what is causing this? It last occurred about a
month ago. He seems perfectly healthy today.
Tom
Gail
A better solution is to feed dry food and canned. (high quality for both). You
can bring a stool sample to the vet and have it tested for parasites. This is
very inexpensive.
Gail
Judy
"Tom G." <tgorrell@ surewest.net (delete space after @)> wrote in message
news:u447qja...@corp.supernews.com...
> I've been feeding my two cats a premium dry cat food since they were
> kittens, and both are very healthy (with one problem that I'll get into
> below). A friend said that cats are likely to develop urinary problems if
> their sole diet is dry food. Any opinions?
Cats fed a sole diet of dry food are more likely to develop urinary
problems - especially males.
> My orange tabby seems very healthy, but on occasion he has defecated on
the
> carpet, and when this happens (maybe 5 or 6 times in three years) there is
> usually blood on his stool. It doesn't seem to be mixed with it. My
usual
> solution to health problems with myself and my cats is to wait for awhile,
> and symptoms usually go away by themselves. I have little money for vets,
> but I really love my cat and don't want him to get sick if something can
be
> prevented. Any ideas on what is causing this? It last occurred about a
> month ago. He seems perfectly healthy today.
When cats poop in places other than the litter box, it's often their way of
letting us know there is a medical problem. Blood on the stool is an
idicator that something is up.
It's important to determine the cause so a vet visit (taking along a stool
sample advised) is in order.
I can relate to the fact that money is tight, but many vets understand this
and offer the option of paying over a period of time.
Hopefully the solution to the problem will be as simple as a change in the
method of feeding.
Best wishes,
Judy & Matilda
Rosemarymemphis
<snip<
>on occasion he has defecated on the
>carpet, and when this happens (maybe 5 or 6 times in three years) there is
>usually blood on his stool. It doesn't seem to be mixed with it.
It would definitely be worth a vet visit, but it could be that the blood may be
as simple as hemorrhoids (sp?). Or it might be colitis as a result of stress,
an allergic reaction to something, or dietary indiscretions -- like your tabby
found a bug to eat that you don't know anything about (since his food has been
staying the same that you're feeding him). If it's colitis, you may also
notice some globs of mucous too.
But blood is always a sign you need to check with the vet.
Best wishes.
Rosemary
Darnit7
>their sole diet is dry food. Any opinions?
>
This is true. Your cat would be better off on a wet food diet, with occasional
kibble.
>usually blood on his stool. It doesn't seem to be mixed with it. My usual
>solution to health problems with myself and my cats is to wait for awhile,
>and symptoms usually go away by themselves. I have little money for vets,
>but I really love my cat and don't want him to get sick if something can be
>prevented.
I would borrow money if you have to, but get your cat checked out. If you let
things go, they could develop into much more serious medical problems and then
you will have a much larger vet bill.
L
_________
=^..^=
"When I die, I want to die like my grandmother who died peacefully in her
sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."
* Author Unknown
Tide E. Poo
Our cat refuses to eat any brand of wet food. vet recommended or
otherwise. she just turns up her nose and eats her dry food. As we
dont want to force her to eat something she obviously doesnt like, we
feed her boiled chicken and fish (no bones) when we have it. She
drinks plenty of water, and has never had a UTI as far as we can tell.
UTI is not a ailment for cats who eat only dry food, so even if you
feed a mix of wet and dry you cat could still get one. Best thing is
to see what your cat likes best, and then know the signs of a UTI so
you can get kitty to the vet and have it cleared up, should it occur.
hth
Tidey
On Sun, 13 Jan 2002 19:08:33 -0500, Gail <pa...@nac.net> wrote:
>Cats fed strictly dry food are more likely to develop urinary tract infections.
>A better solution is to feed dry food and canned. (high quality for both). You
>can bring a stool sample to the vet and have it tested for parasites. This is
>very inexpensive.
>Gail
>
>"Tom G." wrote:
>
>> I've been feeding my two cats a premium dry cat food since they were
>> kittens, and both are very healthy (with one problem that I'll get into
>> below). A friend said that cats are likely to develop urinary problems if
>> their sole diet is dry food. Any opinions?
>>
>>
*_*_*To YOU I'm an atheist. To God, I'm the Loyal Opposition.*_*_*
Snowcat
Only last week I had to take my male cat, who had been fed solely on dried
cat food, to the vet's with a urinary problem. He was weeing blood. What the
vet said to me was that tinned cat food is 75% water so a cat on dried food
has to drink helluva lot of water to make up the difference. Cats don't
particularly like water so they don't drink enough. The wee become
concentrated and crystals form which, in males, is very serious as it can
block the urinary tract and cause kidney failure.
IMHO, don't feed your cats on dried food. I learned the hard way.
C#
"Tom G." <tgorrell@ surewest.net (delete space after @)> wrote in message
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Sue & Steve
drink almost no water from their water dishes but their pee production has
actually increased; (2) the anal gland problem of two of our girls has
gotten better.
Susan L.
"Snowcat" <stargaz...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
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Pentapod
a bowl of dry kitten food available all the time (and water too of
course). Morning and evening I give her wet kitten food. However she
doesn't seem to like the kitten food (and there is a very limited choice
of different flavours available) so is mostly eating dry food. Now
you've got me worried. Not sure if I should worry about this.
Emily
Steve Crane
agreement that canned food is best for cats in general, we shouldn't get too
obsessed with the issue. Remember that less than 11% of cats ever have any
FLUTD problems during their entire lifetimes. The other 89% do just fine
regardless. Dry cat foods comprise the vast majority of cat food sold in the
country.
"Pentapod" <pent...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
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