Pipercats
March 29th, 2008, 01:18 PM
Hi Group .. I found this group the other day while doing a bit of research on Grain Free Pet Foods. Please bear with my intro and somewhat lengthy story of what we have experienced with both inferior and far better foods and our furry family's health.
My wife and I are from Regina, Sk. We have been animal lovers for far longer than either of us can remember. Our family consists of 5 cats - 3 Scottish Folds - Foster, Fozzy and Teddy, a Manx - Cabot and a dsh - Loudmouth. We also have our Shi-Tzu cross - Miss Cleo.
We have fed various foods over the years, but have always been trying to find something better. I have to admit that finding out what is better for their health and diet has not been easy. We have come a short way on the long road to learning what is the best. Part of our quest for better food led to the frustration of knowing that there is better food available, but not being able to find a source locally.
Our cats have been for the most part healthy and happy with no major issues. The exception to the rule is our beloved Fozzy. In the fall of about 2000 he was diagnosed by our vet as having feline liver syndrome. He had for what ever reason simply stopped eating. Our vet felt that at the time he had at most a day or maybe 2 left. We had 2 options - put him to sleep or we could try force feeding him cat pudding. Royal Canin Feline A/D. We left the vets office that day armed with a syringe and a case of A/D. Over the course of almost 2 months of force feeding, we were able to get him back to full health. We took him by to see the vet just before Christmas at full health. He was the best Christmas gift we could have ever received. Our vet considered him a Miracle Kitty as she did not expect him to make it and said that our love for him and his love for us had to have brought him through.
This past year in December we noticed him eating less, loosing weight .. eating a few kibbles then off to bed for a nap. We tried every thing to try to entice him to eat with little to no success. He was listless, looked horrible, and his eyes had an almost glazed over look that just said I am dying. We again were in the position of force feeding him to try to get him to eat something, anything.
Fortunately for us - at the time this was happening we had a new pet food store open up called Metro Pet Market. We had heard about them on the news and in a news paper article. The goal of the store is to carry the best, most nutritional, foods available. We went in to check it out and had a nice long talk with the owner Kurt about various foods. We talked about what the ingredients are in the foods he carries and why he carries those particular brands as well as his holistic views on pet nutrition. He gave us a couple samples of food, a can of Evo and a can of Evangers, with the understanding that we try the food and let him know how things went. We got home, popped open the can of Evo, set it on a plate in front of him on our bed and to our surprise and delight, he dove right in. No fuss, no trying to persuade him to try it or anything. Just a couple sniffs, a tentative lick to get the taste and then - he ate 1/4 of the can! We set down some Evo kibble for the rest of family and the same reaction. Sniff, taste, dive on in.
We made the food change at the end of December 2007. Since that time, all our cats have shown drastic improvements in energy levels. Their coats are shiny and soft and feel great. Fozzy has shed the mats that he was getting, his belly is full and he has as much or more energy than when he was a kitten. He lets us know in no undetermined words when it is time for "ummies". We now feed canned Evo 95% Chicken and Turkey, Evangers Whole Mackerel with Gravy, Organic Turkey and Butternut Squash, Raw Chicken from Urban Carnivore as well as Evo Kibble to everyone so that the get variation in their diets. Add to that the bonus pieces of food from our plates at meal time.
We suspect that what had brought this about is that we had changed foods from the Royal Canin Feline Urinary S/O diet we had been feeding to Hills Urinary food at the same vets office. We changed because it seemed that they were throwing up a lot with the RC. and with Hills, it was definately less. BUT after really looking at what goes into the stuff - it is not hard to understand why our furry family members began having the issues they did, especially Fozzy who seems to be far more sensitive to diet changes.
After seeing the changes that have come about by changing what and how we feed our cats, my wife and I are trying to learn more about the needs of our "pets" and have made it our mission to spread the word to everyone we know that there are far better foods out there than what they can get at the grocery store or those other pet food places. Our mission is to share what we have learned so that they can also make better choices in what they feed. Fortunately, we have Kurt and the staff at Metro Pet to thank. Without them, our path to better health for our pets would have probably taken a far different direction.
I see that there is a great potential to learn a great deal from this group. I hope that we can contribute as well.
Thanks.
Bill
My wife and I are from Regina, Sk. We have been animal lovers for far longer than either of us can remember. Our family consists of 5 cats - 3 Scottish Folds - Foster, Fozzy and Teddy, a Manx - Cabot and a dsh - Loudmouth. We also have our Shi-Tzu cross - Miss Cleo.
We have fed various foods over the years, but have always been trying to find something better. I have to admit that finding out what is better for their health and diet has not been easy. We have come a short way on the long road to learning what is the best. Part of our quest for better food led to the frustration of knowing that there is better food available, but not being able to find a source locally.
Our cats have been for the most part healthy and happy with no major issues. The exception to the rule is our beloved Fozzy. In the fall of about 2000 he was diagnosed by our vet as having feline liver syndrome. He had for what ever reason simply stopped eating. Our vet felt that at the time he had at most a day or maybe 2 left. We had 2 options - put him to sleep or we could try force feeding him cat pudding. Royal Canin Feline A/D. We left the vets office that day armed with a syringe and a case of A/D. Over the course of almost 2 months of force feeding, we were able to get him back to full health. We took him by to see the vet just before Christmas at full health. He was the best Christmas gift we could have ever received. Our vet considered him a Miracle Kitty as she did not expect him to make it and said that our love for him and his love for us had to have brought him through.
This past year in December we noticed him eating less, loosing weight .. eating a few kibbles then off to bed for a nap. We tried every thing to try to entice him to eat with little to no success. He was listless, looked horrible, and his eyes had an almost glazed over look that just said I am dying. We again were in the position of force feeding him to try to get him to eat something, anything.
Fortunately for us - at the time this was happening we had a new pet food store open up called Metro Pet Market. We had heard about them on the news and in a news paper article. The goal of the store is to carry the best, most nutritional, foods available. We went in to check it out and had a nice long talk with the owner Kurt about various foods. We talked about what the ingredients are in the foods he carries and why he carries those particular brands as well as his holistic views on pet nutrition. He gave us a couple samples of food, a can of Evo and a can of Evangers, with the understanding that we try the food and let him know how things went. We got home, popped open the can of Evo, set it on a plate in front of him on our bed and to our surprise and delight, he dove right in. No fuss, no trying to persuade him to try it or anything. Just a couple sniffs, a tentative lick to get the taste and then - he ate 1/4 of the can! We set down some Evo kibble for the rest of family and the same reaction. Sniff, taste, dive on in.
We made the food change at the end of December 2007. Since that time, all our cats have shown drastic improvements in energy levels. Their coats are shiny and soft and feel great. Fozzy has shed the mats that he was getting, his belly is full and he has as much or more energy than when he was a kitten. He lets us know in no undetermined words when it is time for "ummies". We now feed canned Evo 95% Chicken and Turkey, Evangers Whole Mackerel with Gravy, Organic Turkey and Butternut Squash, Raw Chicken from Urban Carnivore as well as Evo Kibble to everyone so that the get variation in their diets. Add to that the bonus pieces of food from our plates at meal time.
We suspect that what had brought this about is that we had changed foods from the Royal Canin Feline Urinary S/O diet we had been feeding to Hills Urinary food at the same vets office. We changed because it seemed that they were throwing up a lot with the RC. and with Hills, it was definately less. BUT after really looking at what goes into the stuff - it is not hard to understand why our furry family members began having the issues they did, especially Fozzy who seems to be far more sensitive to diet changes.
After seeing the changes that have come about by changing what and how we feed our cats, my wife and I are trying to learn more about the needs of our "pets" and have made it our mission to spread the word to everyone we know that there are far better foods out there than what they can get at the grocery store or those other pet food places. Our mission is to share what we have learned so that they can also make better choices in what they feed. Fortunately, we have Kurt and the staff at Metro Pet to thank. Without them, our path to better health for our pets would have probably taken a far different direction.
I see that there is a great potential to learn a great deal from this group. I hope that we can contribute as well.
Thanks.
Bill