fourcatmom Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 So now that I have 5 cats to deal with at feeding time and 2 of them being on special diets, I am struggling to find something that is healthy that the other three cats can eat together. I have been feeding all of them on a urinary diet for over 3 years due to the past surgery of the oldest cat. Recently, the vet put my big boy (2nd oldest) on a diet and he will start that tomorrow so that will be another prescription food to buy. The rescue kitty who just came home this week came home on a new diet as well and is now eating EN prescription food which I am weaning him off of mixed with something called Nature's Domain from Costco. I was hoping to transition the other two cats that don't need to be on a prescription diet over to the Costco brand food but they are not having any of it. Since we were having diarrhea going around the vet put them all on a week of pro-biotics this week and that seems have cleared up the problem. I have been shifting them to feeding 4 times a day and trying to find areas in the house where they each can eat. The problem is the pro-biotic has to be served in a wet food which they normally don't get so I think that is clouding their judgement of the new food but I don't know for sure. They have been getting 1 small portion of wet food a day just for the meds and then it's back to dry but the other two cats seem to prefer the urinary food over the Costco food. And rescue kitty doesn't seem overly fond of it either. None of them have weight issues so it's really a matter of picking something that they all like and can work for the 8 month old through the two almost 5 five year olds. The other two will need be to be separated to eat. It is crucial that the oldest cat not get anything of the other diets. It is possible once the wet food is completely gone and they realize they are not going to get it anymore that they might be more accepting of the new food. So, I my question is two fold. What do you feed your cats that is healthy and easy to get. I really am only looking for dry food at this time. Although I do worry about them getting enough liquid if I take them off the urinary food. I don't want another urinary blockage and they are all boys. And, if you feed at certain times or multiple diets - how do you make it work. I was trying for 4 times a day about 6 hours a part. Something like 7am, 12pm or 1pm, 6pm and around 11pm before I go to bed. Basically I am going to have to split them up in three groups. I might just keep one of them on the urinary food with the oldest and feed the two youngest on the new food but it's still three different diets. They also don't really seem to enjoy eating alone but I guess they will get used to that. Advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 We don't do multiple feedings, so I can't help you there. I feed both of my cats Earthborn Holistics. My male cat has had some urinary issues in the past, and my older cat has some kidney issues. Switching to this food cleared up the health problems for both of them. I've seen it in multiple pet stores, and you can buy it on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Earthborn-Holistic-Catch-Grain-Free-6-Pound/dp/B0055EYVCE/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1390590696&sr=1-3&keywords=earthborn+holistic+cat+food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 We don't do multiple feedings, so I can't help you there. I feed both of my cats Earthborn Holistics. My male cat has had some urinary issues in the past, and my older cat has some kidney issues. Switching to this food cleared up the health problems for both of them. I've seen it in multiple pet stores, and you can buy it on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Earthborn-Holistic-Catch-Grain-Free-6-Pound/dp/B0055EYVCE/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1390590696&sr=1-3&keywords=earthborn+holistic+cat+food Thanks for the info. I don't want something I have to order online but I will look for it at PetsMart when I go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Have you considered talking to your vet about putting your cats on a diet of raw meat? Raw is supposedly very good for cat urinary tract health. We've been feeding our two boys raw for 4 years and have never had a single vet visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Have you considered talking to your vet about putting your cats on a diet of raw meat? Raw is supposedly very good for cat urinary tract health. We've been feeding our two boys raw for 4 years and have never had a single vet visit. I second this. Our always-at-the-vet cat with urinary problems is now 100% healthy after switching to raw food two years ago. I was amazed. We have two cats and they were both on multiple medications. Neither require any meds anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 For those who do raw, what do you feed them and how much? I'm intrigued by this as well. When I am feeling lazy, which is most of the time, I feed them Nature's Variety brand food. My feed store carries it and it comes in little 1 oz disks. I feed them 1.5 oz each twice a day. The food comes frozen and I just portion out the bag into single day servings into old sour cream containers and put one in the fridge every day. They get a chicken, lamb, or beef. When I am feeling more ambitious, I buy a few whole chickens from a local farm and grind them up myself. Then freeze in individual portions. This is far cheaper and probably higher quality, but also a pain and really gross. They seem to like the homemade stuff better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 I have read about it but I am not sure I am ready to take that on right now. The cat with urinary problems is fine now but has to stay on his dry food or he will get sick. The original vet didn't even want the other cats on different food or anything else in the house except the urinary diet. Even though I have one that severely obese at 30 lbs the doctor said it was too much of a risk to the other cat. I went to another vet and talked it through with her and she agreed with me that I was really sacrificing one pet for another by not meeting both of their needs. That is when she recommend the diet plan for the cat. He will start that plan tomorrow now that his meds are done. And the overweight cat recently went in due to the problems with the loose poop and not being able to clean himself. So, he got himself a sanitary shave and now I have to clean him everyday, well three times a day. So...he's going on a diet. That vet visit was several hundred dollars so keeping them all on a food that only meets the needs of one doesn't work any longer. They also tend to throw up more with wet food, not sure why. I think they eat too fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I tried giving my cats wet food and every morning I would come down to tons of throw up so now they are back on dry. I have 2 of them on urinary dry food. I have to feed them seperate as the other cats really want that urinary food and some of them are too chubby. My vet did give me the moderate calorie urinary food in case the fat ones get into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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