"Bill Graham" wrote in message
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"Cats Whiskers" wrote in message
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"Bill Graham" wrote in message
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"Kelly Green" wrote in message
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"Bill Graham" wrote in message
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"Kelly Greene" wrote in message
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In searching around the web and looking at a cat memorial... the
number of cats dying of renal failure is shocking. Years ago when I
worked in an animal hospital in the city, this was a disease of old
cats. Now I see people losing much younger animals to this disease.
Anyone have any idea why it's becoming so common?

I don't know, but if I had to guess, it would be the food. Cheap,
poorly made food, probably imported from China (or someplace similar)
and with no inspection by our government agency that is supposed to be
doing things like that, but is really just wasting the taxpayers
money. If you really care about your cats (and other pets) you should
feed them fresh fish and chicken and avoid canned "pet food". I have
been told that there is a vitamin that cats need, but I bet you can
buy it separately and add it to fresh meats for your cat. I try to
feed my cats the same food that I eat myself. - At least the meat and
milk. I figure that if it doesn't hurt my kidneys, it probably won't
hurt theirs.

I know the vitamin you mean but don't know where it can be bought.
Duplicating a cats natural diet with raw meat would be difficult as
they eat the entire carcass.
Yes.....I don't feed them raw meat.....It's usually at least partially
cooked.....But chicken is cheap. Sometimes cheaper than cat food. So you
might as well feed it to them. We have a feral male who seldom eats
anything else. I first attracted him into my house by feeding him
roasted chicken....
What about the bones. One could get stuck in their throat or intestines.
Not good.
You have to be careful to not feed your dog chicken bones. Dogs tend to
wolf food down, and small sharp things like chicken bones can do them
harm. but cats are much more careful about what they eat, and chicken
bones won't hurt them at all.....After all, they eat fish, and other small
animals like birds and mice, and they don't get harmed by this. We don't
feed our cat chicken bones intentionally, but if we do, they will leave
the bones in their dish uneaten. It's just in a cats nature to be a
fastidious eater.

It's worth noting that wild-caught boney food is very different to cooked
offerings from humans. Once bones are cooked, they tend to become hard and
brittle, whereas uncooked bones are more bendy and much less brittle. Take
the average fox and his stolen chicken from the hen house, for instance:
he's perfectly able to cope with it. The domestic dog, however, (which is
very closely related) mustn't eat chicken bones simply because they've been
cooked and become brittle. This means they can splinter and tear the dogs
throat and, especially, its stomach. Cats, should avoid fish bones, though.
Very few cats naturally eat fish (too much trouble for the lazy 'baskets'!)
so bones and even large scales can catch in the cat's throat.

Spider