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I LOVE YOU WILD KITTY CAT FOOD!

Wed, 2008-04-30 16:22 — Robin Olson

I just got off the phone with Rick Nadeau, the National Sales Executive from Wild Kitty Cat Food.

After almost 2 years of going nuts trying to get ALL of my cats to eat the same food, I finally figure out they LOVE Wild Kitty raw food, but it's expensive to feed seven cats! Of course. I've tried other raw diets, but the cats look at me as though I'm trying to poison them when they get other RAW food. Realistically, it's just too time consuming for me to create a mix with my own ingredients and experiment even more to get them to like it.

Insanely, like an addict looking for crack, I've been sweeping the local distributors to buy the stuff. This way I don't have to pay the shipping. Well no one has it. It's all backordered.

I gave up and went to their web site. I just ordered from them last week, but that shipment already ran out. I ordered two cases (72 ct) and just sucked up the cost. That said, their web site offered a comment box I could use along with my order. I left a note asking them to create some sort of customer rewards program. Getting a discount would really help. I'm not a cheapskate, but I'm looking at about a $400./mo cat food bill right now because I'm still feeding canned AND raw and I want to work it out to just feed RAW.

So instead of an email reply, Rick calls me! He's going to give me a discount! It was very generous of him and I am thrilled!

Once I get things settled, I'm going to offer him more of a plug here on CiCH. I really think Wild Kitty is a great product and I hope he'll be able to extend his generosity to the rest of the crazy-cat-people here so everyone interested can benefit.

More to come...

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Feeding RAW
Mon, 2008-05-05 12:21 — tuckers mom

Once they are all switched to raw, even though the cost is high, in the long run the less vet bills there should be. Hopefully you wont see some of the common stuff like kidney or diabetes because of the species appropriate diet.

I have only one raw eater now, but am trying to transition others.

Rick sounds like a nice guy. He must really care about animals to offer you a discount.

Sat, 2008-05-24 20:28 — Rich (not verified)

I think the notion of a "species appropriate diet" needs to be tempered by the notion of a "species appropriate lifestyle". I'd contend that for a feral cat, running around catching prey for fun and food, and climbing (being chased up?) trees, and living that wild lifestyle, "raw food" in the form of vegetation and whatever critters they catch makes sense. But for domesticated cats, especially the ones who live inside in our best efforts to keep them away from outdoor peril, a raw diet is going to end up causing more trouble in the long run, not less. I think that Bob Dole's unfortunate condition is an example; and I think it gives the lie to Tucker's mom's assertion about coming out ahead on vet bills in the long run.

I know that right now you're going through a difficult time, and agonizing about what to feed your cats. So here's a thought: the more time, effort, and money that you spend agonizing about what you feed your cats, the less you have to give to them of yourself -- both materially and emotionally. Do what any competent vet will tell you: feed them a diet appropriate to their age and lifestyle. If that translates to "Purina Cat Chow" or "Friskies" then that's the way it is.

There's a pretty good article in Salon about the matter of raw pet food; I do recommend that you take the time to read it. If you're not a Salon Premium member, you can get a day pass to read it: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/01/19/raw/index.html.

Whatever course you choose, I hope that Bob's recovery is speedy and full.

Sun, 2008-05-25 08:02 — tuckers mom

I'm sorry to disagree with you, but cats don't need meat because their feral side wants it. Cats have a small digestive track. Their bodies are not made to digest carbohydrates.

It takes a long time in the intenstines to break down cellulose chains into glucose and other simple by products that the body can utilize. Dogs and humans have large intenstinal tracts.

The research dollars spent on commercial food is spent on dogs. It's just a fact of life. Cat foods are the byproducts of research on dogs. Where a dog thrives on an omnivore diet, cats end up with diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, dull coats, broken whiskers, gingivitis, stomatitis and countless other conditions.

Many cats are allergic to commercial foods and due to food allergies must eat venison, rabbit or duck foods only.

Bob's issue... I firmly believe this stems from his pancreatitis and FIV+ status. He is a "diet controlled" diabetic. Before Robin he had diabetes, once the carbs were lowered to a species appropriate amount, his diabetes went into remission.

Species appropriate amount? Most feral cats get their veggies and carbs from the half digested grains found in the bellies of their prey. You'll probably hear of barn cats that chase down stalks of dry corn to munch on the corn. Of course, dried corn is like potatoe chips and twinkies. I love both, but eating them day in and day out will make me very sick. But if it's there, I'm munching.

Back to Bob, he became a diet controlled diabetic, this does not mean his diabetes went away. His pancreas is always going to be sensitive. Carbs and stress from things going on medically will always play a part in whether or not Bob will need insulin.

The hairball caused stress on Bob's body or the raw was too high in fat for his pancreas to handle. We don't know which, at this point Robin's plan to lower the fat in Bob's diet is sound. To give dry would be clinically insane. High fat and high carbs for a pancreatitis prone cat is going to lead to painful flare ups and ups and downs in blood sugar. That in turn will lead to days Bob spends needlessly feeling lethargic and just plain yucky.

Right now it's going to be trial and error to figure out how best to take care of Bob nutritionally. The younger cats, hers and mine, raw is perfect. The cats that are not prone to Pancreatitis, like my Tucker or her Bob, raw is not the best. Canned, grain free, mainly wheat gluten free, and lower fat, high protein, is best.

If you want to learn even more on what to feed a cat, check out Dr. Lisa Pierson's site which Robin noted, or if you'd like a great book, check out "Your Cat, Simple New Secrets To A Longer, Stronger Life" written by Dr. Elizabeth M. Hodgkins, DVM, Esq. While I don't practice her diabetes protocal for cats, I do follow her website and respect her expertise in nutrition also.

Sat, 2008-05-24 22:59 — Robin Olson

Rich,

I have to disagree with you most fiercely.

Firstly, the jury is out on the true reason for Bob's illness. There are lots of test results pending. So far they haven't seen anything alarming or worth causing his troubles other than an ultrasound which said "minimal inflammation."

Fingers have been pointing to the raw food causing a flare-up of pancreatitis, but this afternoon, Bob vomited a huge, hard hairball. This, indeed, may have been the reason why Bob was vomiting for 12 days. Why 5 Vets didn't catch this or see this is beyond me-even though I repeatedly asked them to check.

His pancreas being slightly inflamed could be from the fact he had diabetes or from being FIV+ or both. It's not necessarily that he got sick from the fat in the raw food.

It's possible he was sick for so long because too many Dr.'s did too many tests. I don't honestly know at this point.

What I do know is I would NOT trust my Vet to tell me what to feed my cat, ever. I had a Vet tell me to feed HIGH CARB to my diabetic cat—which makes them gain weight, have worse teeth and it either doesn't solve the problem. Grain-free diets, however can be very effective. Did this Vet know that? NO! He showed me some pamphlet from their sales rep. One of the first ingredients in this miracle dry food was corn! If I had listened to my Vet, Bob would possibly have out-of-control diabetes. Now he is in remission. Also, every single one of my cats are looking very well, with glorious coats, have lost weight and Nicky no longer has outbreaks of feline acne. You tell me this is bad!

I also have had Vets push "prescription diets" on me that are full of grains. If you're a cat owner, then it doesn't make sense to feed your cat something it cannot digest. They simply aren't built to digest corn, wheat, soy, rice. So if you're talking specie's appropriate, then why feed FRISKIES??? It's like feeding a bag of doughnuts to your cat! Also, most Vets aren't hip to nutrition, they treat disease, they aren't focused on diet as much as they should be. I think it's a changing trend-one I hope to see for the better. Also, to produce the dry food the ingredients get heated to such a high degree that most of the effectiveness of the vitamins and minerals in the meat are seriously diminished.

As far as a lie goes about saving on Vet bills, well again, I disagree. If we had been feeding Nick grain-free and raw before he got blocked, it never would have happened. That would have saved 8K. After the surgery he had, he still got a gummy residue on his rear end from the dry food he was getting. The grains were causing him to block up. The surgery just gave him a bigger hole to void from so he couldn't block up. Once on grain-free and raw the residue went away completely. I've saved on not taking him to the VET to get yet another 'script for antibiotics for his face, too.

Yes, I just spent a lot of money on Bob, but that may have been due to failed diagnosis, not what he was eating. I stand by my guns here. There's no way I'm feeding crap to my cats. I've already seen what it does and I won't go back to it. Since Bob is a senior citizen, I'm going to pull him off raw, only because it is too rich for him. He'll still be on a grain-free canned diet, which is appropriate for him.

I don't think Salon is the be all end all source for an article on raw food. If you'd like to do some reading that does not require a subscription, you can check out Dr. Pierson's web site about feeding your cat. You can see it here

Sat, 2009-01-10 23:15 — Linda (not verified)

Aloha,
Since my 7 yr old male kitty, Percy was diagnosed with daibetes, I have researched feline nutrition to no end. I just ran across your letter about your kitty Bob and I'm with you 100% on not trusting the vet on nutrition. Our vet has us on Hills Perscription MD canned and they say the dry is good for him too but I certainly can tell if I feed the dry more often than a few morsels for a treat, Percy's energy level drops. Anyway, now we find the PZI insulin will no longer be available (we give him 2.25 ml once a day), the Hills foods are costing more and more every day....what good quality food have you found for Bob? I am presently looking at Wild Kitty Cat Food kits (www.wildkittycatfood.com), what do you think about that? I hope the new year finds you and Bob happy and full of energy. Thanks for your time, would love to hear from you. Mahalo, Linda

Mon, 2009-01-12 13:06 — Robin Olson

Hi Linda,

Wild Kitty is great stuff if you can afford it. You also have to be careful how you feed your cat. I 'may' have given one of my cats food poisioning...remember this is RAW food. Bob's an older cat and can't handle much stress on his system. I have to underscore MAY...I may not have caused him problems, but I had to pull all my cats off RAW for that reason. They are all on GRAIN FREE canned food. There are lots of great choices. I use Weruva and Wellness. You can get it from any good pet food store or online.

I would NOT feed a diabetic cat any dry food, even if it was grain free. I hope you can get your cat off the PZI on a new diet. I know you'll see a big difference once you cut the grain out of his food.

Please check out this very helpful web site: www.catinfo.org to learn more about nutrition issues for cats. Dr. Pierson is fantastic.

Also, if you sign up for an account, I can give you a code to get 10% off your order of Wild Kitty! Woo! So what are you waiting for?

:-)
Best regards and let me know how things go!
Robin

Sun, 2009-05-03 16:02 — Cat Food Secrets (not verified)

I use the wild kitty powder mix to make my own cat food. It is not that hard really. It takes me about 5-7 minutes to whip up a 1 pound batch in the mornings. I have 5 cats so i have to do about 1 pound of meat a day to keep them happy.

Open the 1 pound package of meat dump it in a bowl, pour in a 1 pound powder mix from wild kitty add 6oz of water and mix. It takes about 5-7 minutes from beginning to end. Not hard at all. As a treat I put a little sheba cat food on top when i serve it. They love this.

I buy ground chicken from the supermarket (all but 2 of my 5 cats hates ground turkey) and mix it with the wild kitty mix. It is much cheaper to mix your own than buying the wild kitty pre made food. Especially if you have multiple cats as i have.

Marva

Fri, 2011-08-26 19:06 — Kerry-Ann (not verified)

That's really nice of Rick, shows that it more than just the money, they actually care about helping their customers.

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