Please be aware that this is a long post.
I have 2 cats, brother and sister. Loki is our ginger boy and Moxxi is a tortie.
Moxxi is allergic to fleas, so when Loki came home with fleas one day (around about 6 months ago) and Moxxi's fur dropped out I applied the flea treatment as normal and waited for her fur to grow back. It started to grow back, but to this day has still never fully returned to normal. At about the same time, she also started dropping 'nuggets' around the house. When I researched the potential causes, one thing I read was that too much dry food could be the problem. Up to this point in time we would have a big bowl of fresh water and a bowl of anti-hairball Iams permanently available for them to eat (I know, please don't judge), then they would be fed pouches of cat meat at meal times. I know that Moxxi would eat huge amounts of these Iams, so I considered that this could be the cause of her 'nugget' dropping. I removed the bowl of Iams and cut out the dry food from their diet (Moxxi was not impressed with that, I can tell you) with the exception of a small handful of treats once a day.
It took a long time, but eventually the nuggets stopped happening, but her fur still wasn't good.
Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed that she was licking her anus a lot. It was clearly irritating her, and because her stools were loose I checked her anal sacs and found that the left one was full, I expressed it then waited and watched. That worked and she appears to be no longer bothered in that area. Her stools were starting to firm up, but today my hubby has reported to me that she has diarrhoea.
Moxxi is happy in herself, her appetite is normal and she is full of energy and still very playful.
But her coat is really thin and lackluster, her stools are far too loose and she has lost a lot of weight, to the point now that when I stroke her I can feel her ribs and spine more than I should. I am worried that my messing about with her diet has put her guts out of balance and as a consequence she is malnourished.
Over the last 6 months or so I have been trying to find a better quality of meat that they will consistently eat in place of the junk that they are currently on. It has been a long process of trial and error, so their diet has not been consistent.
I thought that I would be able to just swap one brand of meat for another without any transition period. So they have been getting 100% of one brand in one meal, then 100% of another brand in another meal, with zero mixing. It seemed to be working because they both have been eating whatever I put down for them. Now however I am questioning that assumption, and am now thinking that I need to stop being so abrupt with the food changes and instead do a gentle transition to ease them into a better diet.
I have had cats for many years, but I am ashamed to admit that I never really looked at the ingredients and nutrients in their food until Moxxi started having problems in the last 6 months. Since this all started I have done more research in the last 6 months than I ever did over all the years of having cats.
I foolishly believed that when a cat food is advertised as "complete" that it would be just that - complete.
So when I read the list of ingredients I was horrified to find that I have been feeding my cats essentially junk food all this time. The ingredients in the brand that I have been buying are listed as follows:
Meat and animal derivatives* (14%, of which chicken 2% and kidney 2%)
Vegetable protein extract
Fish and fish derivatives
Derivatives of vegetable origin
Minerals
Various sugars
*chunks 44% meat and animal derivatives
Just 14% meat is appalling enough alone, but to then add sugars to the mix is (IMO) downright disgusting.
Considering the poor quality of food that they are used to and that the new food has approximately 70% meat, is it possible that this massive change could be causing Moxxi's problems? Loki on the other hand is completely fine, no obvious ill effects at all from the food changes.
One more thing - I have just bought a box of FortiFlora in the hopes of restoring equilibrium to her guts. I haven't used any yet (it literally arrived as I have been writing this post), but hope it will help.
My instinct says that this is all symptoms of me messing about with their diet, but I wanted to get opinions and advice from other more informed people.
If you made it this far then thank you for reading!
I have 2 cats, brother and sister. Loki is our ginger boy and Moxxi is a tortie.
Moxxi is allergic to fleas, so when Loki came home with fleas one day (around about 6 months ago) and Moxxi's fur dropped out I applied the flea treatment as normal and waited for her fur to grow back. It started to grow back, but to this day has still never fully returned to normal. At about the same time, she also started dropping 'nuggets' around the house. When I researched the potential causes, one thing I read was that too much dry food could be the problem. Up to this point in time we would have a big bowl of fresh water and a bowl of anti-hairball Iams permanently available for them to eat (I know, please don't judge), then they would be fed pouches of cat meat at meal times. I know that Moxxi would eat huge amounts of these Iams, so I considered that this could be the cause of her 'nugget' dropping. I removed the bowl of Iams and cut out the dry food from their diet (Moxxi was not impressed with that, I can tell you) with the exception of a small handful of treats once a day.
It took a long time, but eventually the nuggets stopped happening, but her fur still wasn't good.
Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed that she was licking her anus a lot. It was clearly irritating her, and because her stools were loose I checked her anal sacs and found that the left one was full, I expressed it then waited and watched. That worked and she appears to be no longer bothered in that area. Her stools were starting to firm up, but today my hubby has reported to me that she has diarrhoea.
Moxxi is happy in herself, her appetite is normal and she is full of energy and still very playful.
But her coat is really thin and lackluster, her stools are far too loose and she has lost a lot of weight, to the point now that when I stroke her I can feel her ribs and spine more than I should. I am worried that my messing about with her diet has put her guts out of balance and as a consequence she is malnourished.
Over the last 6 months or so I have been trying to find a better quality of meat that they will consistently eat in place of the junk that they are currently on. It has been a long process of trial and error, so their diet has not been consistent.
I thought that I would be able to just swap one brand of meat for another without any transition period. So they have been getting 100% of one brand in one meal, then 100% of another brand in another meal, with zero mixing. It seemed to be working because they both have been eating whatever I put down for them. Now however I am questioning that assumption, and am now thinking that I need to stop being so abrupt with the food changes and instead do a gentle transition to ease them into a better diet.
I have had cats for many years, but I am ashamed to admit that I never really looked at the ingredients and nutrients in their food until Moxxi started having problems in the last 6 months. Since this all started I have done more research in the last 6 months than I ever did over all the years of having cats.
I foolishly believed that when a cat food is advertised as "complete" that it would be just that - complete.
So when I read the list of ingredients I was horrified to find that I have been feeding my cats essentially junk food all this time. The ingredients in the brand that I have been buying are listed as follows:
Meat and animal derivatives* (14%, of which chicken 2% and kidney 2%)
Vegetable protein extract
Fish and fish derivatives
Derivatives of vegetable origin
Minerals
Various sugars
*chunks 44% meat and animal derivatives
Just 14% meat is appalling enough alone, but to then add sugars to the mix is (IMO) downright disgusting.
Considering the poor quality of food that they are used to and that the new food has approximately 70% meat, is it possible that this massive change could be causing Moxxi's problems? Loki on the other hand is completely fine, no obvious ill effects at all from the food changes.
One more thing - I have just bought a box of FortiFlora in the hopes of restoring equilibrium to her guts. I haven't used any yet (it literally arrived as I have been writing this post), but hope it will help.
My instinct says that this is all symptoms of me messing about with their diet, but I wanted to get opinions and advice from other more informed people.
If you made it this far then thank you for reading!