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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:	Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:	FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:	MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO

Created:	Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:	Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5089
Total number of notes:	60366

3942.0. "Puck Won't Eat" by USCTR1::HASTARJIAN () Fri Aug 24 1990 14:50

    I have a question about diet.  Five months ago I got a male cat from
    the Nashua (N.H.) Humane Society -- now named Puck (as in Shakespeare's
    character from "A Mid Summer Night's Dream").  Puck is approximately
    a year and 3 months old and is fixed (broken really).  He's very
    affectionate, gentle, playful, patient, docile...in other words,
    generally a great little guy.  Unfortunately, he came down with a
    urinary tract infection about 2 weeks ago (I think its called FUS -- 
    where he develops crystals and can't go).  I feed (fed) him 1/3 cup of
    IAMS dry in the morning and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of Wiskas moist in
    the evening.  To make a long story a bit shorter, the vet gave him a
    shot and some pills which have cleared things up.  He also gave me S/D
    and C/D as a replacement for Puck's food.  
    
    The problem:  Puck refused to eat the stuff.  I've tried the waiting
    game, thinking that he'll eat when he get's hungry enough, but to no
    avail.  The vet suggested I mix the prescription food with other moist 
    cat food that Puck likes, but that didn't work either.  I've since
    gotten some low ash, low magnesium food (Triumph and Old Mother
    Hubbard moist which Puck seems to like, and Triumph dry which I haven't
    given him yet, and probably won't for a few more weeks).  These two 
    brands are actually lower in ash and magnesium than the prescription 
    food and Puck seems to like them.  My question (finally): Should I
    completely abandon my efforts to get Puck to eat the S/D and C/D, and
    continue with the Triumph and Old Mother Hubbard brands or am I doing
    him harm in the long run?  I'd like to take the remaining cans of
    prescription food (about 12) to the humane society rather than continue
    to put it in his bowl and end up throwing it out.
    
    Your advice is much appreciated.
    
    
    - Hratch

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
3942.1		SANDY::FRASER	Too bad ignorance isn't painful.	`Fri Aug 24 1990 14:58`	11
	Ask your vet if Science Diet would be ok. Our C.C. refuses to eat the K/D (kidney diet) version, and the vet said that the dry food she's getting (Science Diet Light) is a good substitute (better than letting her starve, anyway). The same company makes all the different varieties, but the K/D must be truly horrible. When C.C. wouldn't eat the food, I gave it to our resident pig, Tas. Unlike Mikey, Tas will eat anything, but he won't eat the K/D! :^} Sandy
3942.2	Ask you vet - my crew have been eating it for years.	PENPAL::TRACHMAN	EmacX Exotics * 264-8298	`Fri Aug 24 1990 15:50`	4
	Some vets think that Old Mother Hubbard is fine. It IS VERY LOW in ash and magnesium. An excellent food. E.T.
3942.3	TRIUMPH	AIMHI::OFFEN		`Fri Aug 24 1990 17:03`	5
	Lightning does well on Triumph. She has been on it for over a year now and she hasn't had any new bouts (cross my fingers) in quite a while. Sandi mom to Thunder, Lightning, Storm, DejaVu & Patches
3942.4		TENAYA::KOLLING	Karen/Sweetie/Holly/Little Bit Ca.	`Fri Aug 24 1990 23:35`	7
	There are a couple of Friskies flavors that my vet okayed also, but I forget the specific ones, your vet would probably know. My neighbor's cat gets regular cat food with a once a day acidifier pill, so you might ask the vet if this is an option (if you feel like administering a pill once a day....)
3942.5	C/D acidifies the urine	CRUISE::NDC	Putiput Scottish Folds - DTN: 297-2313	`Mon Aug 27 1990 11:59`	7
	C/D has two benefits for your cat. Aside from being low ash, it also contains a urine acidifier that will help prevent the crystals from re-forming. Those other foods do not contain the acidifier. Talk to your vet because s/he should be able to give you a urine acidifier to make up for Puck not eating the C/D. Nancy DC
3942.6		MARX::BARLOW		`Mon Aug 27 1990 15:50`	11
	A couple of things to try to make him like his food: - heat is up in the microwave with about 1-2T of water for 20 seconds. Then let it sit till it cools a bit. This causes the mildly greasy covering on the food to melt and cats seem to like it better. - put 1T of cod liver oil over his food. It's really good for a shiny coat that won't fall out and it tastes like oily fish. A cats favorite! Rachael
3942.7	Juice It Up...Heavy On The Gravey Mom!	SWAM2::SZAFIRSKI_LO		`Mon Aug 27 1990 20:49`	15
	re .6 The cod liver oil sounds like a great tip, gonna try it this week. I feed Sausha (my 15 year old) C/D about twice a week and alternate with other brands that are low in ash. When we buy water packed tuna, I drain the water and save it in the fridge and pour it over her C/D; she thinks this is pretty special and helps the medicine go down. Since my other two girls can eat anything, Friskies wet food usually has a lot of juice and I pour that over Sauha's food too and she does just fine......although, she would never touch the stuff without gravey of some kind! Lori...Sausha...Misty Rae...Freeway
3942.8	Try to get a powdered acidifier	PINION::LAURIE		`Mon Aug 27 1990 21:22`	10
	re .4 A urinary acidifier POWDER is also available from your vet, if you want to continue feeding regular food, and your cat hates pills. The powder can be mixed with a bit of wet food and seems pretty palatable.