YAY!
Sorry I missed this-- glad kitty is doing better, and I’m jingling she will keep improving!
I’m a demo rep for Natura and no they have not changed anything in the formulas or where the ingredients are sourced. It’s been over a year since P&G bought Natura so by now you would have seen a change in the labeling if they had changed anything.
I feed my cats 95% evo canned as I have fed it for many years now (before I became a demo rep). It looks the same to me as it did when I first started them on it and they eat it the same. They’re less enthusiastic as when I first put them on it but they do that with every food I’ve had them on.
They ate raw for a year and then stopped liking it. I know people automatically assume formula change if the animal stops liking the food all of a sudden. But I know the raw diet I was feeding didn’t change because I was the one making it. I bought the meat from the same high quality source and I added the same vit/min to it. They just got tired of it.
But for a cat with history of pancreatitis I wouldn’t feed any evo dry. It’s high in fat. I think even the weight management is a bit high in fat for a cat with pancreatic issues.
I think I would just stick to a canned diet and not do any dry. I would also not use chicken soup for the soul. It is not high quality food. Raw would be great if you can do it but your vet will hate you for it LOL.
Oops. Also wanted to add that I wouldn’t give her cat grass. Cats can’t digest it and it often will induce vomiting. One of my cats will vomit if she eats so much as one blade of grass.
I’m sorry, I don’t believe you. I go through a case of 13 oz cans in 6 days. The last 10 or so cases I had of 95% chicken/turkey were a different color, a different consistency and smelled different than several YEARS of cases before them. All four cats went off the food, even the ones who eat anything happily. I buy two cases at a time and place I purchase from moves a good deal of inventory, so it was not one bad or weird batch. I wish I had the label numbers for you–I did keep them, along with the labels, but pitched the whole file when I switched to the Merrick product.
I don’t know if perhaps the chicken or turkey is just coming from a different place, or if perhaps the ratio of the two meats has changed, or if something more nefarious is going on, but the food is definitely DIFFERENT.
Well, it’s nice to know that Proctor & Gamble hasn’t changed anything, so at least that’s out there.
I’m in the process of transitioning my cats off of Evo due to the fat content. However, fat content is the issue that I’ve come across with basically all of the, “high quality” foods. Innova (I’m aware this is also a Natura product) low fat version and Chicken Soup’s low fat version, along with a brand I’ve never heard of but found at the store the other day called Lotus, seem to offer the lowest fat content I’ve been able to find.
Kitty has a history of being a picky eater. As a wee kitten he did not do well on Wellness and spent his earlier years on California Natural, so I’m somewhat reluctant to try him on the lower-fat Wellness Indoor formula, for example. Raw did not go over well when I tried it before Evo, and I’m not interested in doing the whole, “when you get hungry enough, you’ll eat it,” transition with him at this point.
I’m completely open to food suggestions, if anyone has any ideas for low-fat formulas! I am familiar with Binky’s page and have spent some time there.
Kitty is doing well, finished his meds, is eating enthusiastically, and even galloped across the house when I came home. I’m just so glad he’s feeling better. Things just don’t feel right when he’s not warbling something or playing in his water dish. I love this little guy. :yes:
Here is a picture of him at the vet’s office, all wrapped up in my sweatshirt.
[QUOTE=Simkie;5706533]
I’m sorry, I don’t believe you. I go through a case of 13 oz cans in 6 days. The last 10 or so cases I had of 95% chicken/turkey were a different color, a different consistency and smelled different than several YEARS of cases before them. All four cats went off the food, even the ones who eat anything happily. I buy two cases at a time and place I purchase from moves a good deal of inventory, so it was not one bad or weird batch. I wish I had the label numbers for you–I did keep them, along with the labels, but pitched the whole file when I switched to the Merrick product.
I don’t know if perhaps the chicken or turkey is just coming from a different place, or if perhaps the ratio of the two meats has changed, or if something more nefarious is going on, but the food is definitely DIFFERENT.[/QUOTE]
You don’t have to believe me. I don’t get a commission or anything so it doesn’t matter if you use the food or not. But I thought I just clear up that no changes have been made to the product. The evidence is on the labels.
Lotus is a baked food which is nice. But it does have a high ash content which is not good. Again, I would just avoid dry all together and stick with canned.
There are plenty of ways the food could change without changing the labels–just starting with where the ingredients are sourced or how it’s prepared. It’s also my understanding that NO pet food producer is required to change the labels the instant they change the formula, but that they must do so within 6 months.
I truly have loved the Natura Pet products and loyally fed them for 15 years. I think the P&G purchase is unfortunate.
And, back to the thread, I do agree with you on only feeding canned (or raw!) Redkat, I have not had a kitty with pancreatitis, but I have had other challenging issues with my meows, and all of them–from minor CRF to inappropriate urination to under weight/over weight to insane shedding–ALL got better when I went to an all wet diet. I thought I’d been doing right by them by feeding a very high quality dry food, but the improvement I saw when I switched to all wet was shocking, and I wish I’d made the switch earlier.
Also watch for diabetes, which can unfortunately follow after a pancratitis attack. I dealt with it with both of my tuxedo cats for many, many years.
I sure wish I could find a food that my 5 like that wasn’t so expensive. The only foods they really like are the Purrfectly Good dry food and the wet food in the little plastic cups by Meow Mix. I know those are not great quality, but the Purrfectly food has chicken as the 1st ingredient and so many have byproducts or grains…
I have tried all of the “good” canned and dry foods and they just leave so much.
another thought
Hello, hope your cat is doing better. I have one cat which had the same symptoms. He was also always hungry but was losing weight. Two different vet hospitals both wanted to label it as pancreatitis but he was not getting any better with their regimen. I took him to a specialist and they agreed the signs could be pancreatitis or even diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism or even small intestinal cancers OR it could be pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. This takes a special test to get a definitive answer: Trypsin-like immuno-reactivity or TLI. My vet was in Md and had to send to lab in Texas.
Anyway, sure enough he has exocrine prancreatic insuff. I was advised he would need pancreatic enzyme meds every day forever. He should be on a high fiber diet and possibly folic and b12 supps.
I never could figure out the hi fiber diet. He gets mostly fresh chicken or tuna and some variety of canned foods he likes. He gets half tablet of Pancrezyme am and pm. I use a cat pill gun. He also gets half tablet of a b12 and folic vitamin once a day. I use dry prescription CD for all the indoor cats but this one eats mostly wet/fresh food.
I have to be careful not to over feed. He is doing wonderfully. Every once in a while he will have a bad day and that is usually because he has eaten too much or perhaps I have given him the wrong kind of meat ( ie ham will usually upset him)
Just a thought. Sorry for so long a note.
Good luck!
[QUOTE=p3ac30ut;5712771]
Two different vet hospitals both wanted to label it as pancreatitis but he was not getting any better with their regimen. I took him to a specialist and they agreed the signs could be pancreatitis or even diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism or even small intestinal cancers OR it could be pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. This takes a special test to get a definitive answer: Trypsin-like immuno-reactivity or TLI. My vet was in Md and had to send to lab in Texas.[/QUOTE]
Kitty is still NQR and eating sparingly. We tried appetite stimulants and he has gained some of his weight back, but I’m still…not convinced he’s actually truly recovered from this bout. My spidey sense is still tingling.
He refused his wet food this morning (uncharacteristic of him) but did eat a small amount this afternoon. We’re going back to the vet. I’m going to ask about the above as well as Meghan’s suggestion for the pancreatitis-specific test at his appointment this evening. More jingles would be appreciated while we try to figure this out!
And let’s hope he doesn’t need to be hospitalized for the second time this month…! :eek:
