High cost of food for renal diet

Fire_Fox

OnTheUp wrote: »

Hi yes she will be having food reintroduced as she has had an allergy. the vets are very happy with her progress and are more than happy with the diet she has. If you look on the webiste it provides all the info as to what the cat needs to stay balance :-)

I've read plenty about raw feeding, I partially raw feed myself. You can order in chicken offal which will contain the same proteins as the meat you are already feeding or you can simply add a little more dark muscle meat. Please be more careful with your recommendations - the diet you are giving at the moment is a million miles from balanced and you didn't make it at all clear that this is because your cat has specific medical issues.

OnTheUp_2-2

Hang on a second here... i am a consumer just like every one else. i stumbled upon knowledge that I would like to have stumbled upon a long time ago!! Therefore I thought it would be nice to share what i have found, the points that I raised I said I was not 100% sure of and I also said for people to look at the webiste rather than me relay wrongly.


Chameleon I now see where your coming from.. a biased opinion because you are in the very trade that relies upon people buying your foods

My vet is a holistic vet who promotes natural well being, please dont say I am not feeding my cat a balanced diet because I am. If i im not can you tell me why my cat was desperately sick only 4 weeks ago, with severe weight loss, sores round her mouth and totally depressed and now 4 weeks later her fur gleams, sores are gone, poos smell fine and she has put back on weight?????

I am not recommending people follow the diet i am recommending that people read the site and make their own minds up.

~Chameleon~

OnTheUp wrote: »

We have had several cats die of the liver/kidney thing over the years They continued to eat and drink normally, but just get thinner and thinner until they're just skin and bones. They also get a lot friendlier..seem to want to be nearer. We did not feel as though they were in pain..I hope that's true, so at the end we put a little bed right next to the food and water and they eventually just passed away.

Many, many years ago cats did often die from kidney disease, but then the pet food available wasn't really the highest quality ... think Go-Cat, Munchies, Katkins etc.

Today we have a huge range of scientifically researched diets available to cover the entire spectrum of a cat's lifetime, including a vast range of prescription diets specific to different health problems.

It's becoming increasingly common to see happy healthy cats in their late teens and twenties, and more often dying from age-related illness than diet-related.

Indeed my own two cats are 17 & 18 years old, both healthy, never had a dental and bloods are tested every 6mths - all fine! They were fed Hill's Science diets from the day they were weaned and more recently switched to Royal Canin, which they thrive on, and I don't have to worry about them receiving proper nutrition

OnTheUp_2-2

I would have fed my cats in this way and introduced it in this way even if she was not sick.. My other cat is okay but she got fed the same (although we allowed her to wean off dried)


I wonder what people think cats eat in the wild, for instance I highly doubt they go and pick their own grains of rice and simmer in a pot in a home made fire in the woods and a few carrots for good measure?


Like I said I posted because I believe that people should have the freedom to decide for themselves and this was not something that I was previously aware of... so thought others may be in the same boat. i have no reason to be biased in any way. i am not a vet, i do not own a pet shop or supermarket, I just own a cat who like every one wants the bests for her :-))

~Chameleon~

OnTheUp wrote: »

Chameleon I now see where your coming from.. a biased opinion because you are in the very trade that relies upon people buying your foods

I am no longer in practice and I don't/never have relied on people buying "my" food. I've never manufactured any pet food. The food sold in practices I worked was predominantly prescription food because at that time it was the only source available to the public. It certainly wasn't brand driven, but it's true there were only two brands available at the time... Waltham/Pedigree and Hill's.

My opinion is based on fact and not biased in any way

OnTheUp_2-2

Its great that you can give a Vets perspective :-)

Could you please anwer my question about what cats are meant to eat? ie do you believe they are meant to eat grains, veg? and do you agree or disagree that cats generally do not drink much water as most is sourced from their food?

Fire_Fox

OnTheUp wrote: »

My vet is a holistic vet who promotes natural well being, please dont say I am not feeding my cat a balanced diet because I am. If i im not can you tell me why my cat was desperately sick only 4 weeks ago, with severe weight loss, sores round her mouth and totally depressed and now 4 weeks later her fur gleams, sores are gone, poos smell fine and she has put back on weight?????

I am not recommending people follow the diet i am recommending that people read the site and make their own minds up.

You are not feeding a balanced diet, by the sound of it you are feeding an exclusion diet on the advice of your veterinarian. I suspect the reason your cat is healthier now is he was allergic to something in his commercial diet, and hasn't had time to display the symptoms of a deficiency. You cat is probably getting more nutrition from her current diet than her previous one if it was going right through her, plus her immune system is no longer on overdrive.

I have studied (human) nutrition at degree level and have worked in healthcare for many years, it's therefore easier for me to understand feline nutrition. I am not against raw feeding far from it, as stated I partially raw feed myself and the commercial I use is grain free. But suggesting people read a website is not enough, you must be clear that your cat's current limited diet is short term only.

~Chameleon~

OnTheUp wrote: »

My vet is a holistic vet who promotes natural well being, please dont say I am not feeding my cat a balanced diet because I am. If i im not can you tell me why my cat was desperately sick only 4 weeks ago, with severe weight loss, sores round her mouth and totally depressed and now 4 weeks later her fur gleams, sores are gone, poos smell fine and she has put back on weight?????

I cannot comment on your cat as I've never seen or examined her. I'm very pleased you are working with your vet to find a solution to her problems, and even more pleased to see that what you're doing for your cat appears to be working

I wasn't refuting the claims that a raw diet works, it obviously does for those who have the time, inclination and knowledge to ensure their cat, or dog for that matter, is receiving an adequately balanced and nutritional diet.

However, I'm of the camp "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and would need a good reason to drastically change an animal's diet like that. If that's what people want to do however, then fine, go ahead but make sure it is properly researched and provides adequate nutrition as what you're currently feeding doesn't, due to medical reasons you've stated elsewhere.

The only reason I commented on your original post was to challenge the spurious claims you made without any evidence to back them up

OnTheUp_2-2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You are not feeding a balanced diet, by the sound of it you are feeding an exclusion diet on the advice of your veterinarian. I suspect the reason your cat is healthier now is he was allergic to something in his commercial diet, and hasn't had time to display the symptoms of a deficiency. You cat is probably getting more nutrition from her current diet than her previous on, plus her immune system is no longer on overdrive.

I have studied (human) nutrition at degree level and have worked in healthcare for many years, it's therefore easier for me to understand feline nutrition. I am not against raw feeding far from it, as stated I partially raw feed myself and the commercial I use is grain free. But suggesting people read a website is not enough, you must be clear that your cat's current limited diet is short term only.

Thanks for your advice, I can see your points as being valid. Will most definately be reintroducing other things into her diet but she will not go back onto any prepared commercial food.

Its like saying a human can only survive on supermarket prepared meals, thats simply not true

I didnt write the post as "you must follow", yes telling other people to have a look at this site is enough, that was what i posted for so people could have a look at the site.. otherwise my post would have been twlling everyone the full diet, how to carry it out etc. this is a discussion forum

OnTheUp_2-2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I can't comment on your cat as I've never seen or examined it. I'm very pleased you are working with your vet to find a solution to his problems, and even more pleased to see that what you're doing for your cat appears to be working

I wasn't refuting the claims that a raw diet works, it obviously does for those who have the time, inclination and knowledge to ensure their cat, or dog for that matter, is receiving an adequately balanced and nutritional diet.

However, I'm of the camp "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and would need a good reason to drastically change an animal's diet like that. If that's what people want to do however, then fine, go ahead!

The only reason I commented on your original post was to challenge the spurious claims you made without any evidence to back them up

Its nice for people to have avenues to explore if they so wish, that was the aim of my post

I do not feel it takes heaps of time to carry out and I guess its about what you want to do for your pet. i do not mind spending the extra time to give my cats what I feel is the best