Iams Kitten

[Dobbys Mom]

I have had the Dobster on Royal canin since he was small. He is 7 months old now. For the last month or so his eating has increased and I have to add a bag of whiskas to his food to make it last a month. Again this month I ran out completely and i was forced to go to the vet to purchase another bag. I spotted IAMS kitten and decided to give it a try. I have found that he doesn't eat so much now and infact doesn't finish his bowl. It seems to be filling him more. I want to keep him on it but after looking at some reviews on the web am worried as there are reports of cats and dogs vomiting and dying on this stuff and that it effects the kidneys. Does anyone else use this brand and is it safe. I am terrified I will make him sick but he eats so much and I need something to fill him. Any suggestions or advice. ( I did see the USA nature range but its extremely over priced here in South Africa).

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

WHY was he on a Veterinary food in the first place?

You can find horror stories for just about every cat food out there if you search hard enough, so I don't know if I'd really worry too much about it. If he seems healthy and isn't vomiting or have any other issues on it, then I'd think you're good to go.

 

[Dobbys Mom]

I was told the vet foods were the best. I really just want to give my baby the best I can afford and would be mortified if I made him sick from something I fed him. Do you have any suggestions ? Keep in mind though that I am in South Africa so many of the brands you get in the USA and UK are unavailable here. I do give him raw lean mince and chicken breasts at leat once a week. Tried organs but he turned his nose up at it.

 

[_spadekitty]

Royal Canin food really isn't that great, not to mention over-priced for the quality. I'm not sure which variety you were feeding, but from what I've seen almost all of them are heavy on grains and low on actual protein like chicken, pork, etc.

The iams is probably a bit of a step up from the royal canin, so I'd say keep him on it if its not causing him any problems.

The reason people have reported kidney issues with the iams is because cats don't tend to drink much water, so combine that with a dry food diet and you can end up with a cat who develops stones/crystals or has poorly functioning kidneys. This is a problem with pretty nuch any dry food, its not specific to iams. The vomitting may be because some animals are grain intolerant and just couldn't handle the grains in iams kitten.

Supplementing his diet with the raw is good though. I'd recommend trying to either put him on an all raw diet, switch him to wet food (you could still do a brand like iams if thats all you have available to you), or find a really good quality dry (meat as one of first five ingredients, grain free, etc) if you wanna stick to dry foods.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Not sure which Iams you have available, but I'd try to go with the Iams Grain Free Naturals in another month or so. Right now Dobby is still young enough he should probably still be eating the kitten formula, but at months he can move to the adult formulas (IMHO), and the one I mentioned above is better, I think.

No knowing what you have available makes it difficult to make suggestions. Maybe this article will help you when looking at the different foods you have available: How To Choose The Best Dry Cat Food?

When feeding the raw foods, do make sure it's not too much of his diet, since it's not nutritionally complete. He would need to have the organs and bones added to make to complete. Have you tried mixing in a little bit of liver WITH the chicken. Usually cats really enjoy a little bit of liver, and it only take s a tiny bit to balance it out. And, of course, as spadekitty suggested, there is always wet food to help make sure he is plenty hydrated. I even add extra water to my boys' canned food (at every meal).

 

[Dobbys Mom]

I have him on the iams kitten currently I will see if I can get the grain free. The only problem with wet foods is tinned kitten food is almost impossible to get here and the sachets upset his stomach they have done so from the first time I tried him on them. The royal canin kitten sachets were the only ones that didn't give him the runs. He does drink a lot of water particularly after eating his pellets. I tried him on chicken liver the other day and although He picked it up with his mouth he refused to eat it. I will try mix it with his chicken and see how it goes. Thanks for the idea. He has no problem eating human food though and will eat everything from vegetables to rusks ( in moderation of course he stares us down until we give him a taste). I will def take a look at the link thanks for that

 

[Dobbys Mom]

Thank you guys for the wonderful advice and for assisting me in this. Its immensley appreciated. I will try to find a grain free food and also keep hunting for tins ( not a problem when He is an adult though as there are plenty of those in the stores).

 

[MeganLLB]

Vets get paid to recommend Science Diet that why it says right on the bag "Vet Recommended" but its over priced for the quality, like previously mentioned. If your cat is getting full faster on a certain food then I would look at the protein/carb/fat ratio. A food that is high in fat and carbs will fill him up fast. Of course you really don't want a high carb food. It's recommended 50% protein 25% fat 25%carb. I've never found a food like that, but try to get as close to it as possible. That will all determine how quickly your cat fills up and how many calories are in the food.

 

[Dobbys Mom]

I will check out the packet again and go according to your recommendation. I will let you know. He eats half his portion now then leaves the rest and comes back once after that but still leaves some in the bowl. He used to finish the whole bowl before and sometimes beg me for more. So either its filling him or he doesn't like it much. I did see an imported organic natural food at the vets but they didn't have kitten and the bags were small and extremely pricey even for me. Unfortunately we dont get the lovely varieties you get over in the US and UK. You guys are very lucky.

 

[MeganLLB]

He eats half his portion now then leaves the rest and comes back once after that but still leaves some in the bowl. He used to finish the whole bowl before and sometimes beg me for more. So either its filling him or he doesn't like it much.

That is what my cat did at first, she would eat some, leave it , then come back, but never finish it.
Then I got her a high protein, low carb food, and at first she picked around it and spit it out (little stinker) but now that she's transferred to it, she gobbles up the whole bowl. Not a crumb left. Go figure. So I guess she likes this food? Did she not like the old one, but then she spit it out at first, so why is she eating all of it now?

It's hard to tell, are they full? Or do they not like it? I can't figure mine out.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Try chopping the liver into very small pieces and mix with the chicken to see how he does. You only need a very small amount overall compared to the amount of meat. Then all you need to worry about is your calcium source, which could be either bones, or even crushed eggshells. Are you aware of our Raw Forum? Here's a link to our Raw Feeding Resource Thread: Raw Feeding Resources

 

[Dobbys Mom]

Ok so here is the composition of the iams kitten
Dried Chicken and Turkey: 41% (chicken 24%, a natural source of taurine), maize, animal fat, wheat, dried beet pulp (2.7%), hydrolysed animal proteins,calcium carbonate, fructooligosaccharides (0.69%), fish oil, potassium chloride, brewer's dried yeast, sodium chloride, dried whole egg.
Here are the additives
Vitamins: Vitamin A: 61480IU/kg, Vitamin D₃: 1768IU/kg, Vitamin E: 152mg/kg.

Trace elements: Cupric sulphate pentahydrate: 36mg/kg, Zinc oxide: 212mg/kg, Manganous sulphate monohydrate: 128mg/kg, Potassium iodide: 1.6mg/k
And the analytical constitent
Protein 34.0%
Fat Content 22.0%
Omega-6 Fatty Acids 3.31%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids 0.40%
Dha 0.10%
Crude Ash 6.80%
Crude Fibres 1.80%
Calcium 1.25%
Phosphorus 0.95%
Magnesium 0.095%

I suck at this . I'm totally confuzzled

 

[Dobbys Mom]

Ash, Yeast and beet pulp!!! Wtf! Why?

 

[MeganLLB]

I would be more concerned about the maize (corn) and wheat. Generally you don't want corn or wheat in your food, which is why Iams is kinda a lower quality food, but if that's all you can do, then It'll be fine.

beat pulp and brewers yeast is in a lot of dog and cat food. some consider it controversial, but most do not.

 

[Dobbys Mom]

Which foods would you recommend . The choices we have at the vets are Hills, eukenaba, royal cabin, iams. I did find a limited supply of orijen cats & kitten &Acana wild prairie both organic and both incredibly pricey. Supermarket is the normal run of the mill whiskas, friskies, catmor & epol not very encouraging.

 

[MeganLLB]

Well, out of those choices then Iams is probably the best. Orijen is not worth the price. Too bad you don't have anything better. But out of those options I would say Iams is the best.

 

[Dobbys Mom]

Thanks for that. Will keep him on iams until something better comes along. What would you recommend? Perhaps i can ask the vet to try order some in if it works out around the same as jams cost wise.

 

[MeganLLB]

Idk, there are so many foods. Saying "grain free" doesn't mean much nowadays because they just add other fillers that aren't grains like potatoes. I would just try to ask for a food that is high in protein like 35%-40% + and low carb with a moderate amount of fat.

 

[Dobbys Mom]

Thanks Megan you have been very helpfull, as has everybody, else, its immensely appreciated.