What the hell is wrong with cat food and cat litter companies? Their client's pets are the most finicky customers in the world but that doesn't stop them from frequently reformulating. Throwing up plus possible pissing & shitting outside the litter box are frequent results of reformulating.

My monthly subscribe & save Amazon Prime cat food order was cancelled due to unavailability. I decided to go online and check out the pet food manufacturer's website. Sure enough, complete reformulation and not even something close to the existing grain-free chicken & salmon (choices are chicken & chicken liver or salmon & whitefish) which has greatly improved her coat, eliminated licking itchy spots until there is a bald patch, reduced vomiting, and reduced hair balls for the past several years. I'll spend two weeks slowly adjusting the percentage of old food to minimize throwing up & retaliation, but I know there will be throwing up and hopefully only retaliatory pooping.

Their new formulation's slogan is "The Proof is in the Poop™" and I'm considering accepting their offer and sending them all of the retaliatory proof.

And the award for the worst slogan ever goes to...

We have gone through this exercise several times.
You find food the kitties like and the store stops carrying it or the manufacturers stop making it.

Ugh.

I use:
Worlds Best Cat Litter.
Made out of corn. Great stuff. Expensive but lasts a long time. Flushable.
I don't think they can reformulate.... Corn.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I use:
Worlds Best Cat Litter.
Made out of corn. Great stuff. Expensive but lasts a long time. Flushable.
I don't think they can reformulate.... Corn.

I thought that with Fresh step litter (ie. pretty plain clay litter) and the MF'ers reforumulated to add charcoal to it. My cat refused to crap in it, but thankfully she'd pee in it.

We use fresh results clumping corn kobb litter, wich walmart stopped carrying but you can still buy online. I'm waiting for them to say its no longer available...

Dr Karen Becker has her own Dog and Cat Food Recipe Book and other information on her website:

http://healthypets.mercola.com...-pet-food-types.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com...made-pet-treats.aspx

They merged with Denny's...

Switch to these guys, they're not going to change their food and it's the best cat food on the market.

https://www.orijen.ca/foods/cat-food/?lang=us

Well, it looks like my rant is now a moot point.

Splash began communicating by urine (i.e. she wasn't feeling well and got my attention by urinating outside the litter box) so off to the vet we went. Blood work, urinalysis, and kidney UT didn't show anything (vet really thought diabetes) so she got a 2 week antibiotic shot. She seemed better for a few days then started communicating by urine again so back to the vet we went. Vet did an x-ray this time and found the colon full of feces (i.e. severely constipated) so she had an outpatient procedure (nothing is minor with a 17 year old cat), and cleaned her out.

The vet also suggested switching cat foods so this doesn't happen again. Splash has begun a 14 day transition varying percentages of old food and new food (Royal Canin Veterinary Diet® Feline Gastrointestinal Fiber Response dry cat food). The vet has a patient who has been on this product 3 years and hasn't needed a 2nd procedure like Splash had.

A little nervous about her response to the brewer's rice, chicken by-product meal, corn, and wheat since she has been on the grain free Halo for several years.

Read up on "mega colon". Happens to some cats and once it becomes chronic, it is very difficult to deal with.

Older daughter had a cat that had it and had to use doses of mineral oil to help keep him "going".

Hope your kitty has an easily and permanent resolution.

I hope she’s doing better! Lots of fresh water ad lib, right? I was going to suggest Wellness as a new diet as that’s what we use for our current kitty, but sounds like you’ve got other stuff going on that requires a specific diet.
I love the old kitties (and I’m not a kitty person). Our last lived til she was 21, and by God, she used all her lives. My hubby was in charge of her (“his” cat) and had her on a plain old generic diet, though.. makes me wonder how long she’d have lived if I’d encouraged him to put her on a better diet. Who knows.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Read up on "mega colon". Happens to some cats and once it becomes chronic, it is very difficult to deal with.

Older daughter had a cat that had it and had to use doses of mineral oil to help keep him "going".

Hope your kitty has an easily and permanent resolution.

Thanks. We'll have to see how she bounces back from Friday's procedure, but the vet did mention it as an outside possibility.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
I hope she’s doing better! Lots of fresh water ad lib, right? I was going to suggest Wellness as a new diet as that’s what we use for our current kitty, but sounds like you’ve got other stuff going on that requires a specific diet.

The increase in quantity of water drank, frequent urination, the urine with barely any smell (as all cat owners know, cat urine is horribly strong smelling) when she peed outside the litter, she was eating less, was pooping less, and had lost a pound. The vet and I were both thinking diabetes or kidney issues. When everything came back negative, the thought was UTI so a 2 week antibiotic was given. I went back in Friday thinking she need a 2nd antibiotic for the UTI, and you could've knocked me over with a feather when she told me about the impacted colon. Splash was trying to soften her stool by drinking more water.

Best wishes for your kitty.

One week update:
Splash is doing great. It took a few days longer than anticipated, but she did not need a 2nd procedure and the Royal Canin Veterinary Diet® Feline Gastrointestinal Fiber Response dry cat food worked its magic. Even better, she loves the food and is back to her normal self (sweet lap cat at home, and embarrassingly badly behaved at the vet).