On Jan 4, 3:33*pm, "Chris" wrote:

a) Cholesterol levels in the body are about 40% by-diet, 60% by
heredity - and that is for a *normal* person. For those who have a
high count, those proportions will shift to as much as 80% by
heredity, diet alone will *not* control such problems.

b) Baby food is by its very nature high in proteins and fat - babies
need to grow. Consider that they shift from whole milk to understand
that concept. Cats LOVE baby food as it tends to be highly flavored,
high in sugars and starches (fillers), and relatively high in fat. It
is *NOT* good for cats, however, as it lacks taurine along with other
trace elements critical to a cat's health. As a people-food treat, not
a bad idea. But as a major part of the diet - bad idea.

c) You can shift to a 'senior' diet food, of which there are several
good sources that are complete nutritionally. When shifting to another
food, make the introduction slowly, of course, but also try warming
the new food to ~90F +/-. This will make it much more appealing to the
cat.

A few truisms:

A cat will not starve before changing to a new food. They are much
smarter than that. However, they will test your endurance. Tell
yourself that this is for the health of the cat and do not give in.

*MIX* their preferred food with the new food, high old-to-new
initially, finally tapering off to no old at all. When going through
this process, vary the new foods as well. Different flavors, different
sources (Purina & 9-Lives as examples, not suggestions) so the cat
will become used to variety.

Good luck with it. But keep in mind that a cat's metabolism is not the
same as yours. They run hotter and burn far more calories-by-weight
than you do, so if they are getting sufficient exercise that 205 level
is not alarming at all. The literature on the subject is only
*conditional* at levels greater than 200 and set the danger level much
higher. The factors have to do with environment, age, weight, overall
health, and activity. Our vet does not even bother with such tests
unless there are other symptoms (starting with obesity and lethargy,
or an unusual diet). But then, we have never had overweight animals -
knock wood - to date. That could change overnight.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA