Hello,
We just moved back to the US from Europe and feel that I can finally try something different for our cat Cassis.
Cassis has been overgrooming for a few years now, she is pretty much hairless on the underside of her underbelly as well as parts of her legs. She bites herself. She also scratches her neck/throatcreating scabs. She bites her claws too. sometimes it slows down, and sometimes it flares up. We are changing the litter soon to Precious cat clumping litter.
She is a big eater, always hungry. We had to put her on a diet as she was over 16lbs she is now a little under 14 lbs
Quick history:
We first tried wet food when she was young and she would regurgigate all the time. Switched to the cheapest 9 lives dry food for a couple weeks, she LOVED it. we did not. it did not feel right. it was full of crap, they ate too much..etc..
We tried a variety of wellness, nature balance wet food, she was really picky.
We switched to wellness dry food which worked for a long while, tried a couple others "grain free" options in the mix.
I think she started overgrooming/biting when we moved for the first time but can't be sure. (we have moved a lot since)
She still regurgitate often but we think it is due to hairballs mostly (from overgrooming) and eating too fast. We have to give her little food at a time, otherwise it is a "clean up" for sure..
Anyway, since then we have seen countless vets, both in the states and in france. She has been put on royal canin vet diet Urinary s/o for about 18 months after they saw a gall stone (she got surgery) back in france. It is the moderate calorie dry option. That is what she eats now. The US version seems slightly different and they apparently need more of it.
Now we are back in the US, we dont have tons of money and we feel wet food would be better for her as far as water intake and future urinary issues.
While we are not sure she has allergies (she is also an anxious cat), it sounds like most vets were leaning toward a combination of stress and allergies by now.
We have been advised before leaving france to put her on the Royal Canin hypoallergenic vet diet food.
I was thinking of trying some wet food, grain free with a change in protein: maybe rabbit or duck?
HUsband is refusing to keep spending $60 on cat food (we have 2 cats, it ads up) every time we buy it.
Can anyone recommend something? Am I going at it the wrong way? Should i be concerned about certain ingredients that could cause more gall stones?
I was looking at nature variety instinct grain free or pride by instinct.. but did i read right that I would need to give her 4 cans a day ?? that seems insane..especially given they cost $28 for 12, which would be 3 days worth of food? so like $300 a month??
We just moved back to the US from Europe and feel that I can finally try something different for our cat Cassis.
Cassis has been overgrooming for a few years now, she is pretty much hairless on the underside of her underbelly as well as parts of her legs. She bites herself. She also scratches her neck/throatcreating scabs. She bites her claws too. sometimes it slows down, and sometimes it flares up. We are changing the litter soon to Precious cat clumping litter.
She is a big eater, always hungry. We had to put her on a diet as she was over 16lbs she is now a little under 14 lbs
Quick history:
We first tried wet food when she was young and she would regurgigate all the time. Switched to the cheapest 9 lives dry food for a couple weeks, she LOVED it. we did not. it did not feel right. it was full of crap, they ate too much..etc..
We tried a variety of wellness, nature balance wet food, she was really picky.
We switched to wellness dry food which worked for a long while, tried a couple others "grain free" options in the mix.
I think she started overgrooming/biting when we moved for the first time but can't be sure. (we have moved a lot since)
She still regurgitate often but we think it is due to hairballs mostly (from overgrooming) and eating too fast. We have to give her little food at a time, otherwise it is a "clean up" for sure..
Anyway, since then we have seen countless vets, both in the states and in france. She has been put on royal canin vet diet Urinary s/o for about 18 months after they saw a gall stone (she got surgery) back in france. It is the moderate calorie dry option. That is what she eats now. The US version seems slightly different and they apparently need more of it.
Now we are back in the US, we dont have tons of money and we feel wet food would be better for her as far as water intake and future urinary issues.
While we are not sure she has allergies (she is also an anxious cat), it sounds like most vets were leaning toward a combination of stress and allergies by now.
We have been advised before leaving france to put her on the Royal Canin hypoallergenic vet diet food.
I was thinking of trying some wet food, grain free with a change in protein: maybe rabbit or duck?
HUsband is refusing to keep spending $60 on cat food (we have 2 cats, it ads up) every time we buy it.
Can anyone recommend something? Am I going at it the wrong way? Should i be concerned about certain ingredients that could cause more gall stones?
I was looking at nature variety instinct grain free or pride by instinct.. but did i read right that I would need to give her 4 cans a day ?? that seems insane..especially given they cost $28 for 12, which would be 3 days worth of food? so like $300 a month??
- 5.5-oz cans: For adult cats, feed approximately 2 cans per 7 pounds of body weight