- Joined
- Oct 27, 2018
- Messages
- 12
- Purraise
- 3
Hey everyone! We have 4 cats in total, the main one being 17/18yo, the others 10 and younger. Our eldest has hyperthyroidism (methimazole topical), high blood pressure (amlodipine topical), and arthritis (meloxicam oral). She also has kidney issues, and urinates buckets (not unusual for her). We've gone through a very long and windy road with our vet about getting her comfortable, but we've recently moved across the country (to GA) and have not yet established care. Part because we don't know who to see, and also because we are flat broke.
The food they have been on for a long time was Royal Canin SO (dry). But being $90 for 17lbs, I just can't afford it anymore. Plus the issues my second youngest was having has long since been resolved. I've read that urinary diets are also not good for cats with kidney issues, and that low phos diets are ideal, but that it shouldn't be low in protein? Or should have high quality protein sources, not by-products?
It's been a long while since I've looked for food, and sadly I don't know the southern equivalent to Pet Food Express, where I was going to before and had more options. I really don't want to use brands like Purina, Science Diet, or Royal Canin (I don't trust them in the slightest, despite using RC), and would prefer to use higher quality brands, though will not be against it if it seems to be the best option price/quality wise. Also, I'm trying out Merrick's Purrfect Bistro Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato, but they seem to not enjoy it as much, and pick at or eat around it. (I am also aware that Purina bought Merrick a few years back, but that Merrick has independence in continuing their recipe.)
For reference, the SO diet has 32.5% min protein and 1.26% max phos; Merrick's has 38% min protein and 0.8% min phos. Merrick is about $35 for 12lbs, SO is around $90 for 17lbs.
Some other things I'd like to note, is that our eldest does have muscle wasting and does vomit, sometimes more frequently than usual. We've talked to our vet about food and her muscle loss and vomiting many times, but she was no help at all about food (had no recommendations), and (frequent) blood tests showed nothing on the other issues.
The diet needs to be good for all of the cats also, as they are free fed. She does get baby food with her metacam EOD (every other day), and we try to give her baby food in general twice daily, since she doesn't eat enough as is. Baby food is around 1/4 jar (Gerber meat variety). All of our (Friskies) canned food is in the storage unit, but she always seemed to vomit after eating it anyway. The others used to get about 1/8 of a can twice daily, before it disappeared into the storage unit. That'll start again once we find it (or buy more, if we find we have the money).
Money is very very tight, and our family has become way more hectic with moving in with children and big dogs, so unfortunately, we just can't give them the priority and free house range that they used to have. Hopefully that will change at some point, but for now we are trying our best as we all acclimate.
Thank you for any advice and recommendations! Thank you for reading this far also. Any help with any of our issues is greatly appreciated <3 and I hope all of y'all are doing safe and well.
The food they have been on for a long time was Royal Canin SO (dry). But being $90 for 17lbs, I just can't afford it anymore. Plus the issues my second youngest was having has long since been resolved. I've read that urinary diets are also not good for cats with kidney issues, and that low phos diets are ideal, but that it shouldn't be low in protein? Or should have high quality protein sources, not by-products?
It's been a long while since I've looked for food, and sadly I don't know the southern equivalent to Pet Food Express, where I was going to before and had more options. I really don't want to use brands like Purina, Science Diet, or Royal Canin (I don't trust them in the slightest, despite using RC), and would prefer to use higher quality brands, though will not be against it if it seems to be the best option price/quality wise. Also, I'm trying out Merrick's Purrfect Bistro Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato, but they seem to not enjoy it as much, and pick at or eat around it. (I am also aware that Purina bought Merrick a few years back, but that Merrick has independence in continuing their recipe.)
For reference, the SO diet has 32.5% min protein and 1.26% max phos; Merrick's has 38% min protein and 0.8% min phos. Merrick is about $35 for 12lbs, SO is around $90 for 17lbs.
Some other things I'd like to note, is that our eldest does have muscle wasting and does vomit, sometimes more frequently than usual. We've talked to our vet about food and her muscle loss and vomiting many times, but she was no help at all about food (had no recommendations), and (frequent) blood tests showed nothing on the other issues.
The diet needs to be good for all of the cats also, as they are free fed. She does get baby food with her metacam EOD (every other day), and we try to give her baby food in general twice daily, since she doesn't eat enough as is. Baby food is around 1/4 jar (Gerber meat variety). All of our (Friskies) canned food is in the storage unit, but she always seemed to vomit after eating it anyway. The others used to get about 1/8 of a can twice daily, before it disappeared into the storage unit. That'll start again once we find it (or buy more, if we find we have the money).
Money is very very tight, and our family has become way more hectic with moving in with children and big dogs, so unfortunately, we just can't give them the priority and free house range that they used to have. Hopefully that will change at some point, but for now we are trying our best as we all acclimate.
Thank you for any advice and recommendations! Thank you for reading this far also. Any help with any of our issues is greatly appreciated <3 and I hope all of y'all are doing safe and well.
I mean, you can't get much better quality protein than raw for a cat (100% nutritionally balanced, of course) 
