On 4/14/2016 4:38 PM, Bastette wrote:
MaryL wrote:

On 4/12/2016 12:41 PM, Bastette wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

Bastette wrote:

One thing you could consider, if you're not already doing so, is to
buy grain-free cat food.

She likes her dry Purina One Indoor Advantage cat food. The first
ingredient is turkey. I don't think a half a cup of that a day is
excessive.

If you don't think it's necessary for her to lose weight - and it sounds
like you don't - then my suggestion about grain-free food is moot.

Actually, a suggestion for grain-free food is excellent, regardless of
weight. Cats are obligate carnivores and do not digest carbohydrates.
Also, cats that later develop diabetes are usually cats that have been
fed a diet of dry food.

I agree, but since Buffy likes her dry food, I didn't want to push that.

That comment was really meant for others on the NG who may not be aware
of the correlation between grains/dry food and diabetes. I realize that
Buffy's diet is pretty well set. Ironically, I have diabetes, and I can
see a direct correlation between carbs and spikes in my BG even on my
own meter.

Licky eats only wet food, except occasionally when I'm out of town for more
than one night (which is quite rare these days). Then I leave some grain-
free dry food for him. That way, if my friend who comes to feed him is late,
he won't get hungry while waiting.

My sister does that same thing. Even though she has a professional pet
sitting service, she worries that something could happen to prevent them
from getting to her house to take care of her furbabies.

One good thing that's happened recently, which might be the result of having
an all-wet diet, is that he no longer has blood in his urine. At least, I'm
no longer seeing little droplets of blood near the litterbox and near his
food dish. He had that problem for *years*, and yes, I brought him to the
vet quite a few times for it. He didn't ever get a blockage, but it worried
me, and anyway, it was probably painful. The vet and I put it down to stress,
because he's a pretty skittish and easily frightened cat. I tried special
diets, but (1) he hated them, and (2) they didn't help. I don't think his
recovery is due to Roxy being gone because I noticed it before that.

That's good news. Years ago, I had a cat that had many instances of
bladder infection, and he did have blockage. The thing that helped the
most--and even completely stopped the problem--was to give him vitamin C
twice a day.

MaryL