# Dear Purina ...



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Our indoor/outdoor cat eats Pro Plan...

I wonder if he would stop catching mice and leaving their skin or heads by my car if I put him on a kibble with more meat...


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

Too funny! Brought a big smile to my face. My daughter also feeds her cat Purina, he is obese and mean. Wonder if she fed him meat he would be nicer??


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

The beagle I rescued in vet school lived to be 17 years eating Purina most of her life...my current 6 goldens have all been raised on Wellness... but not large breed,


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Sally's Mom said:


> The beagle I rescued in vet school lived to be 17 years eating Purina most of her life...my current 6 goldens have all been raised on Wellness... but not large breed,



While there are dissenting opinions on whether dogs are considered carnivores or omnivores, cats are without a doubt carnivores and it's amazing how grain heavy many commercial cat foods are.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

missmarstar said:


> While there are dissenting opinions on whether dogs are considered carnivores or omnivores, cats are without a doubt carnivores and it's amazing how grain heavy many commercial cat foods are.


I think that would be a huge problem if the cats are never fed wet food (I'm not sure how much grain goes into that) and if they are never allowed to hunt. 

Our first cat lived 19 years eating Friskies (the kibble). He also got a lot of tuna straight out of the can and he was a very active hunter year round. Unlike Lu, he actually ate the skins and only left heads and tails behind.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

You logged onto GRF to publicly criticize a friend's choice of cat food?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Actually a lot of cats like veggies, peas for example, and our hospital cat likes grass... they are somewhat domesticated after all...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sally's Mom said:


> Actually a lot of cats like veggies, peas for example, and our hospital cat likes grass... they are somewhat domesticated after all...


One word - catnip.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

my poor indoor kitties each lived over 18 years eating nothing but Purina Cat Chow. Guess I should have fed them something better.


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## Loboto-Me (Nov 13, 2008)

My currently 18 year old kitty (she turns 18 this week) is eating the cheapest dry catfood we can buy. Oddly, we tried the expensive stuff, and miss "fuss bucket" turned up her snooty little nose at it. I had to give it to my daughter in law and get her.... wait... wait.... MainStay! That's only a baby step higher than No Name I think. She also likes Friskies, which is what she's eating right now. 

She's slim and trim and an inside cat who's starting to show her age this year. Her sense of distance isn't all there, and evidently, her sense of taste never has been


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

Loboto-Me said:


> ...and evidently, her sense of taste never has been


Cats have very few taste buds compared to both humans and dogs. They generally pick their food by smell and texture.


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## T&T (Feb 28, 2008)

tippykayak said:


> You logged onto GRF to publicly criticize a friend's choice of cat food?


Dear Tippy
T&T gave my Mom 2 trial size bags of new cat food for me 
Top 6 ingredients = meat = yum purr purr 
My Mom never reads ingredient lists 
She was grateful T&T pointed it out to her 
And so was I !!!

Signed: Oscar the CAT


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I have always feed a commercial diet to my cats, dry food. I feed them a vet grade diet now ($60 for 16 lbs) because of recurring UTIs, and only because I want my cats to live the rest of their lives with no blockages. If I could figure out how to make a more natural diet that would keep my cats from blocking without having to feed Hills, I would do it in a heartbeat. Unless you have owned cats and have serious urinary issues, maybe you don't have room to judge a cat's needs. I have had cats all of my life and have always fed them cat chow, meow mix, etc. I also lost almost all of my cats to kidney disease. Do I blame the food? Yes, mostly. I will feed my cats a higher quality of food and especially canned food in the future. Sorry, but I have had cats all my life and all of them except for one died from kidney issues.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

T&T said:


> Dear Tippy
> T&T gave my Mom 2 trial size bags of new cat food for me
> Top 6 ingredients = meat = yum purr purr
> My Mom never reads ingredient lists
> ...


I'm glad the cat is enjoying the taste of the new food. And I'm glad that your mom appreciates your input.


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## MicheleKC87 (Feb 3, 2011)

I feed all six of my cats Purina cat/kitten chow. They do fine on it, and my two rescued kittens that were bones when I got them are thriving. I would like to feed a higher quality food, but for 6 cats it's nearly impossible to afford. I feed Lily Wellness, and that's quite expensive for one dog, but with all the diseases goldens are prone to, I don't want to take a chance. My cats though have always done well with Purina, but when my budget will allow me to feed my cats better I will probably change food.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Our old cat only went to the vet because of battle wounds (he got into a fight that had part of one of his ears chomped off and it got infected). He never got sick or had anything wrong with him. In fact we put him to sleep in the end because we noticed he was beginning to sleep deeper and was going senile. We were afraid he was going to go off into the woods and die alone.  

Our current cat had his first major vet visit just this past Sunday because of a torn tongue. He apparently tried eating something while it was still alive (which isn't a big deal with baby mice, but might be a problem with chipmunks). We've had him for 5 years since I saw him as a 4 or 5 month old dump at my barn.

My sister had her big medical issue with her (indoor) cat, in that he is a compulsive eater (he was a stray before landing in rescue) and ate something that either disagreed with his system or blocked something. That was $500 in vet care for him. Not related to his regular kibble. 

Originally, we thought he was 6 years old (my sister adopted him when he was supposedly 3), but the vets now think he's closer to 9 or 10. 

*fingers crossed* We have never dealt with kidney disease. They do find other ways to scare you though...


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## Hali's Mom (Oct 5, 2006)

Megora, I hope your indoor/outdoor cat is spayed.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Hali's Mom said:


> Megora, I hope your indoor/outdoor cat is spayed.


The little boy couldn't have been neutered early enough.  While I will debate with people all day about the necessity of neutering my boy dog who is never out of my sight. I think cats (little houdini escape artists that they are) absolutely must be neutered and spayed ASAP.

We had to wait a month or two because our vet said so. I think it was a mixture of waiting for him to grow a little and getting all his vaccinations done.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

hotel4dogs said:


> my poor indoor kitties each lived over 18 years eating nothing but Purina Cat Chow. Guess I should have fed them something better.


My outdoor kitty is 15+ years, never been sick a day and has eaten grocery store brands (MeowMix, Kit 'n Kaboodle, Cat Chow etc) his whole life. He probably supplements with the many rodents around 

I didn't even think about it much until I joined this forum in 2009. I'm afraid to change his food now at his age.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

don't fix something that isn't broken!



Willow52 said:


> My outdoor kitty is 15+ years, never been sick a day and has eaten grocery store brands (MeowMix, Kit 'n Kaboodle, Cat Chow etc) his whole life. He probably supplements with the many rodents around
> 
> I didn't even think about it much until I joined this forum in 2009. I'm afraid to change his food now at his age.


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

tippykayak said:


> You logged onto GRF to publicly criticize a friend's choice of cat food?


No, she logged into the "Other pets" section of GRF, which is where we discuss other pets. As in cats. Or birds. Or horses etc. As in a forum for fans of golden retrievers who would like to discuss an animal other than a golden retriever.

I have also always fed my cats commercially made dry cat food. I've had 2 UTI's and a bout of stones from one cat, and severe UTI issues with another, although that one came to me with the issues so I cannot say whether it was the food or not. I have always fed high quality commercial food though. If I had less cats, they would get more wet, or raw, but with 10 cats, that's just not in the cards (or the wallet). But for now they are doing well with no other issues, and of course there's no way to tell if the one who had stones got it from food or it just happened.


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