Every single vet tells me a different thing about cat food.

[gabicards]

I don't know if this thread would be better suited for the social section of the forum, but since it's related to nutrition...

I'm at my wit's end with veterinary care. My kitten currently has two vets, who are mildly in agreement with one another regarding food (but not so much regarding treatment), but what they say doesn't fall in line with what I've been researching online, what I've read here on the forums or on facebook groups for cats with digestive issues. Case in point: problems related with dry food have never come up, none of the probiotics they ever recommended has the bacteria I've read about that's actually helpful, they always recommend Pro Plan or Royal Canin and that's about it.

Now, my mother was doing me a favor by going by a pet store to get some wet food - I've made the decision to start the transition out of dry food - and the vet that works there advised against the one I had chosen, which was Royal Canin Kitten - because my kitten already knows it and he didn't have any symptoms when most of his food intake was based on it. Also, because this chart by catinfo.org shows it has a decent ratio of protein, fat and carbs. The vet at the store essentially started complaining about the level of sodium it has - which is fair, I suppose, but they then recommended another one that was primarily fish based. Doesn't that have more sodium, naturally? It was by a popular brand too, but now I'm not sure if it was Friskies or another one.

Mind you, none of them are nutritionists. But the one nutritionist I found works for Farmina (granted, everyone seems to love that brand and it does seem interesting, but is it okay to work with a professional that's so obviously biased right off the bat?).

Anyway, I honestly needed to rant. I hate to be that person that reads stuff online and tries to argue with professionals, as I respect them so much. But if they all say different things, how am I supposed to make a decision?

 

[Robyn5678]

All the information online and from the vet is so overwhelming. With the vet, I find they typically recommend whatever food they have sitting in the shelf in their waiting room. Maybe they get some sort of kickback for that? I don’t know

my vet always told me that any wet food, even the ones people consider “bad” is better than even the highest quality dry food. She did always tell me to avoid fish, and there are some great articles on here why. I do feed mine fish based but maybe only once or twice a week at most. It helps they don’t really like it

at the end of the day, your cat will determine what you feed it because even some of the “best” foods, my cats won’t touch

i feed mine a combo of fancy feast classic pate, Koha, tiki after dark and I and love and you

everyone will give you a different opinion on gums, carrageenan, etc. if a certainfood doesn’t agree with your kitty, those are the first things I’d look at

 

[Babypaws]

I fully agree about vets that sell the high price foods from their office. i don’t think they are worth the money. I’ve been trying to get my cats away from Friskies wet food to a better quality brand but they are stubborn and won’t touch other brands. I’ve been reading labels and it’s hard to find a wet food that doesn’t contain any fish, even if the label says beef or chicken etc. I know the lower the fish is listed on the the ingredients the less there is…
but I would suggest since you are writing about a kitten, you have a blank slate to work with….introduce her/him to a variety of different brands of wet food…it doesn’t take long for cats to get in the habit of only eating the same brand/flavor.
my cats ages run between 2-18 years. It also seems from a lot of posts here and other places I’ve read that pates are a little better.

 

[LTS3]

Ignore the vets. Every vet will tell you something different about food. Ultimately it's your decision on what to feed. A good rule of thumb is to feed your cat whatever brand(s) he / she likes to eat and you can afford and can find without too much difficulty in stores or online.

Many vets have no clue about probiotics and will either steer you towards FortiFlora or other pet specific products or just discourage the use of probiotics.

For your kitten's tummy issues, a bland-ish novel protein food would be ideal.

 

[Robyn5678]

It also seems from a lot of posts here and other places I’ve read that pates are a little better.

I typically feed pates because I feel I’m actually getting the amount of food the cam says. With gravy, broth, etc some you get like 1 ounce meat and 4 ounce liquid. I just feel I have to feed my cats more non pate. I do mix pate and non pate because they like both

 

[gabicards]

Yeah, I do think their knowledge might be very limited in terms of nutrition. Which is terrifying because, obviously, so is mine, so it feels like I have no place to run.

Since his intestines are irritated enough that the vet is considering that it might be chronic (they want to do a biopsy, and I think I'll avoid it for now), I've been scared of switching foods... again. But the more I read about dry food, the more anxious I am to get him out of it. Particularly because, as I said, he had no issues with RC Kitten and he really liked it. I was just ignorant and thought wet food would be inconvenient, and once the problems started I kept assuming it was something specific to those foods and trying different ones... but always dry. I feel so bad about it now, he was doing fine and I messed it up.

I did consider novel protein instead of RC Kitten again. I'm trying to find a brand that I'll be able to get in Brazil and in France, and I'd say these are the options I have right now:
Royal Canin - Kitten Gravy (not novel protein, but he was on this before without issues)
Farmina N&D - Lamb & Blueberry
Farmina N&D - Lamb, pumpkin & blueberry
Fancy Feast - Turkey Pate (or something very similar, which is the brazilian version of it)

As for the probiotics, I've ordered these two items from AnimalBiome:
KittyBiome™ Gut Restore Supplement
KittyBiome™ S. boulardii + FOS Powder

Based on this page, I think I also need to find something that contains mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), but I haven't looked into that yet. The math of quantities and mixes and whatnot will be another challenge on its own...

Any thoughts on this list? I've tried to use this food chart as a base, but they don't include N&D.

 

[sidneykitty]

Don't beat yourself up about changing foods. You are doing and trying to do your best by your cat.

You will find as many varied advice about cat diet as there are cat-owning people, so I get that it's difficult to decide who to listen to, what advice to follow. I've been through a lot of food transitions/food advice experiences, and I understand it can be really frustrating.

In my opinion, and that of a vet tech I used to know (and multiple vets I've gone to), the best food for your cat is the one that they will eat. I'd agree more wet food, less dry, is ideal if you can manage it financially and if your cat accepts it. If your kitten was doing well on RC kitten, I don't see why you shouldn't continue feeding that and then slowly transition to an adult food as he grows.

I will also add that I worked for a vet in the past and they did not receive kickbacks from food companies. We did occasionally get free sample bags when a new diet was being introduced and we gave them away to our clients to try. We got discounts on food for our own cats (in line with the clinic's discount policies) if we chose to buy those brands for our cats, and a couple of times a year, the company rep bought us lunch for a lunch and learn, which is consistent with sales reps in most lines of business. That's it. I generally don't think that vet brand foods are necessary unless your cat has a specific dietary need that is met by those specific formulations and I wouldn't personally bother paying/feeding those foods otherwise.

 

[livismom1]

Yeah, I do think their knowledge might be very limited in terms of nutrition. Which is terrifying because, obviously, so is mine, so it feels like I have no place to run.

Since his intestines are irritated enough that the vet is considering that it might be chronic (they want to do a biopsy, and I think I'll avoid it for now), I've been scared of switching foods... again. But the more I read about dry food, the more anxious I am to get him out of it. Particularly because, as I said, he had no issues with RC Kitten and he really liked it. I was just ignorant and thought wet food would be inconvenient, and once the problems started I kept assuming it was something specific to those foods and trying different ones... but always dry. I feel so bad about it now, he was doing fine and I messed it up.

I did consider novel protein instead of RC Kitten again. I'm trying to find a brand that I'll be able to get in Brazil and in France, and I'd say these are the options I have right now:
Royal Canin - Kitten Gravy (not novel protein, but he was on this before without issues)
Farmina N&D - Lamb & Blueberry
Farmina N&D - Lamb, pumpkin & blueberry
Fancy Feast - Turkey Pate (or something very similar, which is the brazilian version of it)

As for the probiotics, I've ordered these two items from AnimalBiome:
KittyBiome™ Gut Restore Supplement
KittyBiome™ S. boulardii + FOS Powder

Based on this page, I think I also need to find something that contains mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), but I haven't looked into that yet. The math of quantities and mixes and whatnot will be another challenge on its own...

Any thoughts on this list? I've tried to use this food chart as a base, but they don't include N&D.

I have good luck with Farmina. My picky boy wont eat lamb, but I do have the Venison and Pumpkin and the N&D Wild Boar and Apple in our rotation.

 

[maggie101]

Yeah, I do think their knowledge might be very limited in terms of nutrition. Which is terrifying because, obviously, so is mine, so it feels like I have no place to run.

Since his intestines are irritated enough that the vet is considering that it might be chronic (they want to do a biopsy, and I think I'll avoid it for now), I've been scared of switching foods... again. But the more I read about dry food, the more anxious I am to get him out of it. Particularly because, as I said, he had no issues with RC Kitten and he really liked it. I was just ignorant and thought wet food would be inconvenient, and once the problems started I kept assuming it was something specific to those foods and trying different ones... but always dry. I feel so bad about it now, he was doing fine and I messed it up.

I did consider novel protein instead of RC Kitten again. I'm trying to find a brand that I'll be able to get in Brazil and in France, and I'd say these are the options I have right now:
Royal Canin - Kitten Gravy (not novel protein, but he was on this before without issues)
Farmina N&D - Lamb & Blueberry
Farmina N&D - Lamb, pumpkin & blueberry
Fancy Feast - Turkey Pate (or something very similar, which is the brazilian version of it)

As for the probiotics, I've ordered these two items from AnimalBiome:
KittyBiome™ Gut Restore Supplement
KittyBiome™ S. boulardii + FOS Powder

Based on this page, I think I also need to find something that contains mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), but I haven't looked into that yet. The math of quantities and mixes and whatnot will be another challenge on its own...

Any thoughts on this list? I've tried to use this food chart as a base, but they don't include N&D.

Same here.vet is considering it might be chronic and wants to do a biopsy if it continues after the steroid shot and b12 pills which my other cat ate most!. I bought d manosse but that didn't help or probiotics I've tried. So I will try the kitty Biome. Which one? My 3rd vet agreed with me to feed her weruva steak frites since it was working til now

 

[Robyn5678]

Also if this helps, my parents had 2 cats live to be 17-18 years old eating friskies and fancy feast and were perfectly healthy their whole life.

 

[Artchic528]

From what I gathered over the years, there will never be one food or foods that work the best for every cat in existence. It’s all down to your budget, what food your cat likes and will eat, and what gives him/her the best overall health. Some cats have allergies/sensitivities that others don’t, some are just extremely finicky, some will eat anything and everything you give. Then there is age to factor in. Older cats will obviously require different amounts of things in their food than a kitten will.

All cat food you can buy has complete nutrition, it’s just a matter of where that nutrition comes from. Cheaper foods use a lot of fillers to bulk their food and add the nutrition last in some form of flavored spray, while more expensive brands rely more so on the ingredients themselves. I prefer Science Diet Urinary Tract Health (to keep my boy from getting UTIs) as it’s not hurting me in my wallet too much and my cat Ollie seems to do fine on it. Your cat(s) will obviously be different.

 

[maggie101]

Also if this helps, my parents had 2 cats live to be 17-18 years old eating friskies and fancy feast and were perfectly healthy their whole life.

My cat peaches has a sensitive tummy. Best food for her is fancy feast classics and nutro perfect portions. She cannot keep down rawz,Dr elseys,any of the expensive pate. Too rich for her little tummy

 

[Robyn5678]

My cat peaches has a sensitive tummy. Best food for her is fancy feast classics and nutro perfect portions. She cannot keep down rawz,Dr elseys,any of the expensive pate. Too rich for her little tummy

Yep mine can’t seem to handle the fancy feast non pate. They puke them right up.

 

[gabicards]

Same here.vet is considering it might be chronic and wants to do a biopsy if it continues after the steroid shot and b12 pills which my other cat ate most!. I bought d manosse but that didn't help or probiotics I've tried. So I will try the kitty Biome. Which one? My 3rd vet agreed with me to feed her weruva steak frites since it was working til now

My vet doesn't want to give any medication before a biopsy because Topaz has feline coronavirus - I think steroids affect immunity? I can see how this is tricky, but they don't want to try anything before a biopsy, and we're confused (so is his other vet) because it's not really... acute? Obviously I want to explore options to make him feel better, but to put him through an endoscopy you'd think there would be some other indication that he's sick.

So I'll explore possibilities related to food and just try to educate myself on the topic. It's both scary and annoying, but I don't feel good about having relied on professionals so far. My dad keeps complaining that it hasn't helped at all, if anything we've made it worse... I'm inclined to agree, to some extent.

 

[gabicards]

I've started to transition him back into Royal Canin Kitten, the sachet, and I've ordered Jarrow S Boulardii + MOS, which should arrive here this weekend, while both products from AnimalBiome would likely take a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed it helps!

(His poop was worse this morning. It had been a while since it was very very soft, but we saw it again today. Little blood, too)

 

[Astragal14]

Any thoughts on this list? I've tried to use this food chart as a base, but they don't include N&D.

Something to keep in mind is that your kitty may or may not have an allergy/sensitivity to proteins, he could also have a sensitivity to "filler" ingredients. This would be ingredients like carbs, fruits & vegetables, or gums and thickeners - basically anything that isn't a protein or vitamin & mineral.

My cat has IBD and a diet trial showed no sensitivity to proteins, his problems are with several filler ingredients commonly found in foods. He eats a variety of proteins but can not have potatoes, sweet potatoes, legumes or gums of any kind. Farmina is a popular and healthy food, but the ones I've seen have all had sweet potatoes very high on the ingredient list so he can't have them.

I'm glad you're able to easily find the Royal Canin, especially since he seems to do well on it.

 

[gabicards]

Something to keep in mind is that your kitty may or may not have an allergy/sensitivity to proteins, he could also have a sensitivity to "filler" ingredients. This would be ingredients like carbs, fruits & vegetables, or gums and thickeners - basically anything that isn't a protein or vitamin & mineral.

My cat has IBD and a diet trial showed no sensitivity to proteins, his problems are with several filler ingredients commonly found in foods. He eats a variety of proteins but can not have potatoes, sweet potatoes, legumes or gums of any kind. Farmina is a popular and healthy food, but the ones I've seen have all had sweet potatoes very high on the ingredient list so he can't have them.

I'm glad you're able to easily find the Royal Canin, especially since he seems to do well on it.

I've been considering that, too. It's a pain that food trials take so long.

I do know that Royal Canin Gastrointestinal, Purina Pro Plan Gastrointestinal, N&D Chicken and pomegranate (with and without grains) all didn't agree with him. He's now eating Purina Pro Plan Hydrolized which also didn't agree with him, though it did improve symptoms since he no longer has flatulence, has less frequent bowel movements and his stool has regained shape. It's far from perfect though as the blood persists.

None of those symptoms were there when he arrived here, and up until that point he was getting fed mostly Royal Canin Kittten in sachets. So... back we go, and we'll see what happens. I'm aware all of the dry kibble he's eaten have chicken, which I'm keeping in mind. RC Kitten sachet does, too, but some of the fillers aren't there, which is the main reason I'm going back to this one instead of attempting a novel protein now. He'll need a different type of food in a few months anyway, since he's almost 8 months old now... I guess then I can try novel protein.

 

[maggie101]

Animal Biome / Kitty Biome Experiences?

Hi everyone - since mentioning this on another cat IBD thread, I've been looking into this more. When my IBD cat, Max, had his most recent flareup, I did read all about Animal Biome and the work they're doing and how many people seem to have had good results with it. But ultimately kind of...

thecatsite.com

If you do a search there are many threads on biome. The catfooddb.com does mention farmina in its reviews

 

[gabicards]

http://[URL]https://thecatsite.com/threads/animal-biome-kitty-biome-experiences.436900/#post-5536525

[/URL]
If you do a search there are many threads on biome. The catfooddb.com does mention farmina in its reviews

Oh I didn't know this site, thanks a lot!! That's so helpful, and it seems they quite like Farmina.

 

[Caspers Human]

none of the probiotics they ever recommended has the bacteria I've read about that's actually helpful

Unless you know that you have a need for certain bacteria for a particular reason, probiotics should be unnecessary.

Speaking personally, I had my appendix taken out when I was a kid. Years later, I started having digestive trouble and I pinned it down to lactose. I did some research and found that taking a probiotic often helps me when I have digestive flareups but I don't take it every day. Maybe only once or twice per month when I feel like I need it.

Extending the metaphor to cats, I think it's okay to give your cat a probiotic when you think it's necessary but I would worry about finding a food with probiotics. Besides, the word "probiotic" is mainly just a buzzword. Slapping buzzwords on packages is one way companies justify charging more money.

I think it's perfectly okay to feed whatever you food you think is best then supplement with probiotics when you see fit.
That's exactly what I do for myself. I see no reason why you can't do the same for your cat.

The vet at the store essentially started complaining about the level of sodium

The supposed dangers of sodium are mostly a myth propagated by word of mouth which have been taken as Gospel without much real scientific proof. The whole myth started over 100 years ago when a doctor from France proposed it based on a handful of his patients and, for some reason it stuck.

I absolutely agree that we should eat less salt in our diets and feed less salt to our pets but, on the other hand, I don't think that people should get too worried about it. Just do your best and don't worry.

I find they typically recommend whatever food they have sitting in the shelf in their waiting room. Maybe they get some sort of kickback for that?

What's wrong with that? Vets are in business. They should be able to sell things that they think are good for our pets.
Vets have the right to make money. Just don't believe that they are the final authority.

Vets might have the right to sell you food for your pets but you also have the right to say, "No, thank you."

Ignore the vets.

Take them with a grain of salt.

my parents had 2 cats live to be 17-18 years old eating friskies and fancy feast and were perfectly healthy their whole life.

As long as you keep your pets in good health, that's all that really matters. Just feed whatever food you think is best and don't worry about all the small stuff.

There are millions of fifteen-plus year old cats that have been eating Friskies or Fancy Feast all of their lives.