Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2-10 month old kittens, one of which was just recently diagnosed with Feline Eosinophilic Granuloma complex. Because there is a possibility of an allergy component to this problem Dr. Tobin of the holistic vet board is suggesting my cats be switched to either a diet of fresh food or all canned. They are currently eating Max Cat Gourmet Kitten....although the one who has been sick has also been getting Max Cat canned for a few weeks during her illness...the granuloma is beneath her tongue and she has been unable to eat on her own...so I have had to blend her food and feed her thru a syringe.

Anyhow.......I would assume the Max Cat canned are good foods....but I also wanted to know about fresh foods before making the choice...can anyone help educate me about this issue? I know NOTHING about feeding fresh. I have no idea..do they eat raw or cooked and what do they eat???

Also any input about good canned foods?

thank so much for any help. I would LOVE to get this kitten healthy again!

BTW..the sick one is the little tabby in the second pic down.
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Deb
owned by Booger and Tiny Dancer and the mom of the late, great Kakel

I also feed Nutro foods to my cats. I have found that the Natural Choice is a little better then the max cat for quality.
Innova, Wellness and Felidae are also great foods. I don't know anything about a natural diet. I believe some people don't cook the meat. They do freeze it to kill bacteria. I know a lot of people over on the dogs boards feed a raw diet. I think some of them feed it to their cats too.
Here is a comparision of Innova, Wellness, Felidae and Nurto canned foods.

Link

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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker

thank you for the link! They all look excellent! Nothing weird or chemical in any of them. I did notice the one had flaxseed oil in it where the other's didn't (that's an omega 3 fatty acid which is supposed to be goof for Tiny's condition)...but I did also see one with sunflower oil it is...that may be also...I'm not sure. Looking at what is in the canned I'm not sure fresh is really necessary.

Well anyhow..I ran to the pet store today to pick up food for them. I have to kinda break them in on this canned thing because they have always ate dry so they think they can graze (the little cows! LOL!. They have to get the hang of eating it all in a shorter period of time before it goes bad in the heat....so I didn't want to pull up the dry yet till I was sure they were both getting enough. I've been splitting a can 3oz can between the two of them twice a day....in two weeks I'll pull up the dry totally and just feed them canned.

Anyhow...about the trip to the store...we are sooo lucky! We had a new mom and pop pet store open down the street a few months ago...not like the chains...really goodl, personalized service! I had called last week and requested they carry their favorite toys. They were there today. Then I went looking for food. I got the Nutro Gourmet...they were kinda sparse on the chicken varieties....and I didn't want to give them beef so I did get some that had venison, and another with duck...gonna try them on turkey also. Anyhow I went up to the counter and was telling the owner about my feeding issues and he said he would stock more chicken verities and also told me that if we decided to put them on one of the allergy foods he would be happy to stock it for me. Not only that their prices are lower then the big boys....now wonder that new store is so crowded!
We were also speaking about the brand (can't remember which) that was made with all people quality meats.....the price on that wasn't too bad thru them either and he can get that too. So it looks like this whole food thing will be easier to work out then I had first thought.

thanks for the help!
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Deb
owned by Booger and Tiny Dancer and the mom of the late, great Kakel

Hi Deb,

I'm glad you have decided to put your cats on canned food. It is so much more natural for them than dry. Even the better quality dry foods are loaded with grains, which are not only unnatural for cats, but are likely to cause allergies in some cats. Cats are carnivores and they are made to digest meat properly, not grains. In fact their saliva doesn't even contain the enzymes needed to break down carbs.

I'm not totally against feeding raw/fresh foods, although I do worry about the source of the meat. There is no way of knowing how the meat was handled after the animals were slaughtered. It may not be all that nutritious after all.

Hope Tiny is continuing to improve!

AshleyElla