Expert: Ali - 11/24/2008

Question
I have a cat that is about 4 years of age.  As of late I have been having to put her litter box upstairs because she won't go downstairs to use the other one.  Right after she eats, she goes to the one upstairs and don't do anything.  When I pick her up, she acts like her stomach is sensitive.  She doen't poop a whole lot.  She doen't even pee a lot.  I have been using Science Diet cat food which was recommended by the vet which is closer to where I live.  Do you think that this could be the cause?  The vet also told me to give her 1/2 can of can catfood a day.  Could this also be the cause?  She is a little overweight.  I am trying to put her on a diet.  Some of the time she acts right.  And some of the time she doesn't act like herself.  I would really appeciate the information.  Thanks!

Answer
Melissa,

In terms of feline nutrition I can honestly say that I am a whole lot less comfortable with recommending the majority of commercially produced foods including Science Diet. I asked my veterinarian about her food recommendations in terms of homemade diets and my concerns for the safety of commercially produced foods. I would suggest that you consider checking out information on nutrition on the following website: catinfo.org. I would also suggest that you consider changing the cat's diet to a high quality holistic food with human grade ingredients such as Wellness (meant to be fed as a mix of wet and dry food) or Spot's Stew (by Halo) which comes in wet and dry. It's a very good idea to get as much water into a kitty's diet as you can so that you keep them as healthy as possible for as long as possible. The types of ingredients found in pet foods quite commonly are things that I can promise no human being would ever eat. The Menu Foods scare has changed opinions of vets and pet parents worldwide and more people than ever are turning to holistic foods with human grade ingredients or making their pet's food on their own. You may find that on a high quality diet your cat loses weight and feels better. The better the quality of the food that you feed the less your cat will have to eat to fill herself up. Also, while the initial price tags of the foods that I have recommended may not be your favorite foods you will also notice marked changes in your cat's coat, behavior, health and attitude fairly quickly. For the sake of your cat's health and wellbeing I would recommend that you listen less to people who are going to profit from your cat getting sick and listen more to people who are intent upon the best possible nutrition and health of your cat. Pet food is kind of funny in a way - a higher price tag doesn't mean a higher quality food is in that bag. Main ingredients which include dead, diseased, or dying animals are obviously not as healthy as high quality ingredients that you or I would eat. Fiber and protein sources that aren't accessible for the cat aren't going to work for her. Nutrition for pets has become forefront recently within the media. Recently many foods were recalled due to the presence of melamine in ingredients within the foods in ingredients from China. I personally am affected by this as I was feeding what I believed to be a high quality food to my 3 resident cats. My oldest cat's kidneys almost completely shut down due to the melamine in the food. It has taken a year to get things back on track with my little girl's kidneys and I wouldn't wish that heartache on anyone. My opinion on the subject comes from almost losing my oldest resident cat (who was 8 at the time) as a result of Menu Foods recall. This kitty almost lost her life to renal failure as a result of melamine being found in her food, however she was one of the lucky ones. I thought that I was feeding a high quality food - I fed Science Diet and Natural Balance.

Now I feed Spot's Stew by Halo, the Sensitive formula. The ingredients are as follows: Turkey, Pea Protein, Whole Dried Eggs, Oats, Pearled Barley, Vegetable Broth, Chicken Fat, Pea Flour, Turkey Liver, Salmon, Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Pea Fiber, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Green Beans, Carrots, Cranberries, Zucchini, Alfalfa and vitamins and minerals. Nutrition is an important part of a pet's life and it determines a lot of the medical status of these pets. If you have access to high quality, organic protein sources (chicken, duck, goose, rabbit) and dry foods are limited in their availability in your area then a homemade diet may be the best thing for your cats. This way you know exactly what they are eating at any given point. If you are able to spend some time and a bit of money I would recommend that you consider feeding the diet recommended at this site I have provided....

If you are able to find a variety of good quality dry foods then I would recommend foods like Wellness or Halo Spot's Stew. These foods both contain human grade ingredients and are available in wet and dry formats. In terms of costs of pet food the price tag doesn't always reveal the quality of the foods contained within. Many companies use rendered proteins, meat meals, digests, and dead, disabled, or dying animals. Not my choice of a good diet and as far as I'm concerned the foods containing these types of ingredients are garbage and should be taken off of the market. I now feed a combination of raw food diet with lots of water and Spot's Stew made by Halo. The Spot's Stew, Sensitive cat formula contains:  This food is fairly high quality in my opinion and second only to a homemade diet where you are controlling what your cat gets and only making the finest quality ingredients be a part of the cat's diet. I would strongly urge you to do your research, making a homemade diet can be expensive and time consuming and if the availability of ingredients is limited or unpredictable I would recommend feeding a food like Spot's Stew by Halo or Wellness. These foods run about $25 CAN funds for a bag that will last 3 cats one month.