Dh is bringing home a cat. What do we need?

[jam217]

I agree 100% with Jobhunter but please read the website that was referenced. Our prior cat also ate dry food in addition to wet. She was then diagnosed as diabetic. The vet banned all dry food from her diet and put her exclusively on wet food. Not only did her weight drop but also her sugar levels and we were able to reduce the amount of insulin shots. The dry food is pure carbs.

 

[floridafam]

She has a name.....Tiki.

DH and the kids took her to the vet and she is perfect. She has some shots and they asked about food, litter box, etc.

She's sleeping on our hot tub cover right now.

 

[FayeW]

I am sorry, but the information about cat food here is absolutely incorrect. Dry food, and the high carbohydrate content associated with it, is producing increasing numbers of diabetic cats daily. As well as contributing to cats with pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney and bladder problems etc. Cats are obligate carnivores with a low thirst drive. They do not eat corn in the wild, yet that is the main ingredient in most dry foods. Cats need meat--protein--and lots of it, and wet food has a high water content and higher protein and significantly lower carbs than dry. When you have an animal with a low thirst drive and feed it dry food...well, you are setting it up for kidney issues later.

Of course, there are tons of cats who do well on dry food all their life, just like Willard Scott is always dragging out 102 year old people who live on bacon and rotgut whiskey exclusively. But cats are obsese now more than ever--and these high carb dry diets are greatly to blame.

But you do not have to take my word for it! I would not expect you to. Here is a website written by a veterinarian that explains, in detail, why dry food is not an ideal diet for a cat: http://www.catinfo.org/

OP, thank you so much for taking this sweet kitty in. This says a lot about you and your family & your kind hearts!!

My information comes from the veterinarians I worked for. I adopted a cat from the non-profit shelter that was part of one of their clinics. About a year later I started working for them, and stayed there for 2 yrs. Wet food is not bad for cats, just not necessary as long as they always have fresh water available. The dry food I feed my cats exclusively is 33% protein, and the first ingredient listed is chicken, then chicken meal.

I can tell you that working in an animal hospital that had a huge animal shelter, I cleaned alot of cat cages. Maybe the wet food has changed significantly in the 18 yrs since I adopted that first cat, but back then, canned food went through them like water. They crapped more frequently, and it certainly smelled worse. It's the same with dog food. My dogs get dry food exclusively. One time we were out at an all day event and I forgot to bring dog food with me, so I bought a small container of a popular wet food with lots of chunks of meat,etc. It was about a cup of food in total and my dog had diarrhea for 3 days.

Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[chyam]

As a owner of 6 cats presently I can tell you what I feed, I open 3 cans in the morning and split it 8 ways...(I have a couple of strays that I support!) then the rest of the day they have a 20lb automatic feeder filled with dry food....My cats are neither overweight or sickly! My last 3 cats were in their 20's and I do not buy the most expensive food on the shelf! In face I feed exactly the same as the bag in your photo! I do believe that you need to read the labels and on the same train of thought do not feed the budget stuff with all sorts of fillers!. I also like to feed the Purina Healthy cat which is about $14.99 at Petsmart for a 16lb bag.

Also a heads up Publix has the scoopable litter on sale this week, buy 1 jug get 1 free! Which with only 1 cat will last you awhile. It's a great deal.

Good luck with Tiki and I hope you have many years ahead with her.
Oh....I would stay away from the Hartz stuff and also Sargents, maybe try Adams products which can be found at Petsmart also.

 

[jobhunter]

My information comes from the veterinarians I worked for. I adopted a cat from the non-profit shelter that was part of one of their clinics. About a year later I started working for them, and stayed there for 2 yrs. Wet food is not bad for cats, just not necessary as long as they always have fresh water available. The dry food I feed my cats exclusively is 33% protein, and the first ingredient listed is chicken, then chicken meal.

I can tell you that working in an animal hospital that had a huge animal shelter, I cleaned alot of cat cages. Maybe the wet food has changed significantly in the 18 yrs since I adopted that first cat, but back then, canned food went through them like water. They crapped more frequently, and it certainly smelled worse. It's the same with dog food. My dogs get dry food exclusively. One time we were out at an all day event and I forgot to bring dog food with me, so I bought a small container of a popular wet food with lots of chunks of meat,etc. It was about a cup of food in total and my dog had diarrhea for 3 days.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Interesting. Dogs are not obligate carnivores, though, and can't be compared with cats like apples to apples.

The site I posted was written by a vet. I am interested, did you read the site? I had also accepted that dry food was IT, until I did research. I like to keep an open mind and I am glad I did because it was shocking! And disappointing as believe me, I loved loved loved the convenience of dry.

As with all fields, you have older, traditional ways of thinking and then those that stay on the cutting edge. I don't say that to belittle your vets AT ALL but just as a result of the research I have done over the past five years. I have spoken with vets who admit that after a semester or two back in vet school, they get their nutritional information from Hill's, Purina, etc. Uhhh, can you say biased, LOL!

Cats have a low thirst drive and will never actively drink enough water to counteract not getting moisture in their meals.

As I said, you will always find healthy cats who eat dry, just like you will find humans who eat nothing but crap who don't get colon cancer, etc.

I would not care how much my cat pooped, or what it smelled like, if I could have her healthy pancreas back. And not have to pay $100 every two months for insulin. Yikes!!!

In 10 years, enough people will have been burned by the dry food health detriments that the convenience of dry food will be outweighed by the cost of the health problems.

OP, sorry to threadjack. I am so happy for you and Tiki!!! Obviously lots of die-hard cat lovers on this board and that is always a good thing!!!

 

[Planogirl]

My cats all have had only dry food with veterinary approval and they all drank lots of water too. Our current cat has had urinary problems and he just drinks and drinks water now.

But of course YMMV. You'll hear all sides of the issue. I had to laugh at the comment about older veterinarians because that kind of thing is usually true. Our prior vet was in his early thirties and our current vet is just over thirty. No old-timers here!

 

[wdwmom2]

OP, you need to learn cat rules. Here are a few:

Rules for cats to live by
BATHROOMS:
Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything. Just sit and stare.

DOORS:
Do not allow any closed doors in any room. To get door open, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an "outside" door opened, stand halfway in and out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season.

CHAIRS AND RUGS:
If you have to throw up, get to a chair or bed quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, any quality carpeting is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so it is as long as a human's bare foot.

HAMPERING:
If one of your humans is engaged in some activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping," otherwise known as "hampering." Following are the rules for "hampering:"

1) When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.

2) For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.

3) For paperwork, lie on the paper in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure as much of the work as possible. Or pretend to doze, but occasionally reach out and slap the pencil or pen.

4) For people paying bills or working on income taxes or Christmas cards, keep in mind the aim: to hamper! First, sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table. When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. When being removed for the second time, make all four legs flail around wildly in order to push pens, pencils, and erasers off the table.

5) When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump on the back of the paper. Humans love surprises.

6) When a human is working at the computer, jump up on the desk, walk across the keyboard, bat at the mouse pointer on the screen and then lay in the human's lap across arms if possible to hamper typing in progress.

WALKING:
As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills.

BEDTIME:
Always sleep on the human at night so he/she doesn't move around too much.

LITTER BOX:
When using the litter box, be sure to kick as much litter out of the box as possible. Humans love the feel of kitty litter between their toes.

HIDING:
Every now and then, hide in a place where the humans cannot find you. Do not come out for three to four hours under any circumstances. This will cause the humans to panic (which they love) thinking that you have run away or are lost. Once you do come out, the humans will cover you with love and kisses and you will probably get a treat.

ONE LAST THOUGHT:
Whenever possible, get close to a human, especially their face, then turn around, and present your butt to them. Humans love this, so do it often. And don't forget guests.


Congratulations on your new kitty!!! She is beautiful!

 

[dicar123]

My cat (1 year old) absolutely refuses to eat ANYTHING but his dry food. No wet food, no treats, no tuna, no human food at all.

Dry food, water, and very occasionally a lick or two of milk. That's it.

 

[floridafam]

We let Tiki come in the house from the Florida room last night and she did a lot of exploring. I just let her in the house again this morning because she was at the door meowing. She meowed the entire time she was in the house.

She seems very content with her environment.

She seems to have gotten used to using her litter box. Do you think that she will enjoy being in the house or mainly in the screen enclosed room? The vet did say that she was likely a house cat for a while before she was abandoned because they took the time to have her declawed.