Conference misery::feline_v1

    This sounds like it's the taurine deficiency business that came up
    awhile back and was discussed here.  I'm surprised that RD vanished
    for awhile, CD was instantly supplimented and stayed available as far
    as I know.  Maybe figuring out how to suppliment something is more
    difficult than just dumping in extra whatever.  (This problem involved
    a lot of pet food manufacturers, not just the RD CD folks.)
    

    Steve,  your cat must need to loose an awful lot of weight
    to be on R/D for four months.  We've had Kiwi on R/D twice
    now, and each time he's lost 2-3 pounds (which is the loss
    we were going for) within 3-4 weeks.
    
    .1 is correct.  The taurine deficiencies were across all
    cat food manufacturers.  Hill's was one of the first to take
    corrective action, well before it became public knowledge.
    
    Donna

    Thanks for the info.  Sy is on an RD diet also.  When the vet ran
    out of food I was at a complete loss.  The reason Sy is on the special
    diet is because of pancrities (sp), he cannot have any fatty foods.

    How much heart damage can this food cause?
    
    I did manage to find a vet that had an extra case for me at the
    time.   Do you think that I should just buy the new RD or finish 
    off the old case?  For my kid-I will toss out bad food, no matter
    what the cost had been.
    
    Thanks
    
    Linda (concerned mom)

    Re: .3
    
    When I was talking to Sweetie's and Holly's vet about this quite
    a while ago, he mentioned that
    you can buy taurine suppliments at health food stores and add it
    to their food.  So if you think you have the old kind of food, you
    might want to ask your vet about this, as an okay but cheaper
    alternative to tossing a whole case.  It was "long term use" that
    caused serious heart problems;  I don't know how much one case would
    effect this.
    

    re: .3
    
    Please don't get the idea that there is anything bad or poisonous
    about this food!  The thing is that the vet community has recently
    discovered that a deficiency of taurine (an amino acid?) can contribute
    to the development of cardiomyopathy in SOME cats.  Hill's (the
    makers of science diet (R/D, C/D, K/D, etc.)) has chosen to change
    the formula of their foods by increasing the available amount of
    taurine, and thereby decreasing the risk of heart disease in cats.
    As this is a new thing, most commercially available cat foods do
    not have what is now considered an adequate amount of taurine. 
    Most vets will tell you not to worry unless your cat has some
    indications of cardiomyopathy, or is in a high risk group for that
    condition (very old or with genetic history...)
    In any case if you are worried about the food, you can consult your
    vet about the prospect of putting your cat on a taurine supplement.
    From what I understand that was the only reason that the formula
    of the food has been changed.
    
    My hat is off to the Hill's company (a subsidiary of Colgate
    Palmolive!) to responding so quickly to this new discovery by making
    their foods even better balanced!   
    
    Again - the food does not "cause" heart damage, it's just that the
    new formula _might_ prevent it.
    
    Molly

    Re: .5
    
    I think it is not correct to say that most commercially available
    cat food does not currently have enough taurine.  All the manufacturers
    (and there were quite a number) involved changed their product
    formulations pretty much instantly when this news came out.
    

    By the way.
    
    Checked with my vet about availablity of the new food.  In my area
    (Los Angeles Basin) the food is still not available.
    
    Thanks for all the info.
    
    Sys' mom.
    

    
    Re: .6
    
    I got my info about the commercial foods from my vet, an internal
    medicine and heart specialist affiliated with U.C. Davis.  He knew
    of only two manufacturers who had modified their formulae already.
    If you know of a list that I could get a hold of it would be much
    appreciated.  I have tried to get info on this direct from the
    manufacturers, but have been getting incomplete information.  Some
    of the manufacturers don't want to give out their nutrient content,
    i.e. specific levels of nutrients contained in foods.  
    
    It seems that there is still discussion going on as to what amount
    of taurine is really adequate in foods, but if anyone is interested
    in the current official requirements list (so that you can check
    out the food you use) here's a good official source:
    
    	Nutritional Requirements of Cats  
    
    available for $16.25 from:
    
    National Academy Press
    2101 Constitution ave. N.W.
    Washington D.C. 20418
    
    
    Does anyone out there know whether Iams has changed its formula?
    If anyone knows of manufacturers other than Hill's who have changed
    theirs could you enter them in this note, or send me mail?
         
    BTW - the studies done concerning taurine deficient diets and
    cardiomyopathy did state that the cats with this problem almost
    always were found to have been given a diet of one food brand. 
    That is, their diet was not varied.  There was no particular brand
    implicated, they just noticed that those cats with the problem ate
    the same stuff all the time.  Perhaps varying our cats' diet would
    be helpful?                                           
    
    Thanks much!
    Molly  

    I should mention that before you run out and order the Nutritional
    Requirements of Cats publication, you might want to inquire as to
    when it was last updated....  My copy predates the taurine business.

    Re: .8
    
    I recall that the news stories of several months ago listed at least
    4 or 5 manufacturers who had corrected their products, but, naturally,
    I don't remember who at this point.
    

    Because I had a few partial cases (of R/D, C/D, P/D -- I think that
    covers it!), I decided not to throw them away, but to alternate
    2 new cans with 1 old can, because the problem seemed to be
    related to LONG TERM usage.
    
    I also tend to mix brands, especially my "BIG VAT" of dry food.
    For example, for kitties and pregnant/nursing moms, I mix Iams
    Kitten food and Hill's P/D dry -- thinking that if just maybe
    one is better for mumble1, perhaps the other is better for mumble2.
    These are the two favorites;  no one here seems to like the pet
    store variety of Feline Growth, dry or wet!
    
    	Penelope