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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
wrote in message news I'm trying to get my elderly mom to stop giving her cat (with a granuloma like skin condition on her hind legs) Fancy Feast and try Hills low allergen Z/D prescription diet formula to see if it was the Fancy Feast that's the problem. Fancy Feast varieties with meat (and not byproducts) as the first ingredient have been part of what keeps my cat from having linear granuloma. More important has been controlling things like perfumes in litter and on me and my clothes, dust, mold, and cleaning agents. If you have not made serious efforts to control the above, do not put the cat through this. Fancy Feast is high protein, high moisture foods, many varieties with no grain or gluten, which ARE the main food allergens for cats. And, they find it delicious. And dry food is going to suck. Get the cat a Depo shot, control the allergens, and everyone, including your mother will be happy. My cat gets by on two Depo Medrol shots a year, and my vet told me they generally do not see adverse complications unless they are giving the shots more than once every two months. |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
I have to agree that the Fancy Fease is the least of the problems. Most
cats do much better on Fancy Feast because it is better quality food without all the fillers. My mother has a cat with the same problem and I can tell you it's more of a seasonal allergy type reaction and an emotional response. It's a vicious cycle you are creating by causing your mom to have more stress over the cat. The cat cries for it's food, your mom gets stressed this causes the cat more stress which in turn leads to more licking and chewing to itself. I've seen it time and time again with my mom cat. Everytime there is some upheaval in the house or change in schedule she goes to chewing herself and can make herself sore and bald overnight. Every spring and fall she has the same type of thing happen. After almost 15 years of it we have just taken to getting her a depo shot twice a year and if it gets really really bad she ends up on pills and sometimes valium. To keep peace in the house and take the cat for the shots, let her feed it the Fancy Fease and get the carpet cleaned while your moms out of the house. Stanley Steamer can come in and be done in just a couple hours time. Celeste "cybercat" wrote in message ... wrote in message news I'm trying to get my elderly mom to stop giving her cat (with a granuloma like skin condition on her hind legs) Fancy Feast and try Hills low allergen Z/D prescription diet formula to see if it was the Fancy Feast that's the problem. Fancy Feast varieties with meat (and not byproducts) as the first ingredient have been part of what keeps my cat from having linear granuloma. More important has been controlling things like perfumes in litter and on me and my clothes, dust, mold, and cleaning agents. If you have not made serious efforts to control the above, do not put the cat through this. Fancy Feast is high protein, high moisture foods, many varieties with no grain or gluten, which ARE the main food allergens for cats. And, they find it delicious. And dry food is going to suck. Get the cat a Depo shot, control the allergens, and everyone, including your mother will be happy. My cat gets by on two Depo Medrol shots a year, and my vet told me they generally do not see adverse complications unless they are giving the shots more than once every two months. |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
on Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:46:49 GMT, "Spot" wrote:
To keep peace in the house and take the cat for the shots, let her feed it the Fancy Fease and get the carpet cleaned while your moms out of the house. Stanley Steamer can come in and be done in just a couple hours time. and do the upholstry, too. Until you eliminate potential environmental allergans, changing the food is too drastic. -- Lynne http://picasaweb.google.com/what.the.hell.is.it/ |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
"cybercat" wrote in
: wrote in message news I'm trying to get my elderly mom to stop giving her cat (with a granuloma like skin condition on her hind legs) Fancy Feast and try Hills low allergen Z/D prescription diet formula to see if it was the Fancy Feast that's the problem. Fancy Feast varieties with meat (and not byproducts) as the first ingredient have been part of what keeps my cat from having linear granuloma. More important has been controlling things like perfumes in litter and on me and my clothes, dust, mold, and cleaning agents. If you have not made serious efforts to control the above, do not put the cat through this. Fancy Feast is high protein, high moisture foods, many varieties with no grain or gluten, which ARE the main food allergens for cats. And, they find it delicious. And dry food is going to suck. Get the cat a Depo shot, control the allergens, and everyone, including your mother will be happy. My cat gets by on two Depo Medrol shots a year, and my vet told me they generally do not see adverse complications unless they are giving the shots more than once every two months. We've been giving the cat the Fancy Feast flavors without the wheat gluten but they throw every protein source in there (beef, fish, egg) along with the chicken or turkey. She doesn't use perfumed litter and my mom tells me she stopped using perfume a long time ago. The dust and carpet situation might be a problem to clear as I explained in my previous message. The minute I suggest buying a steam cleaner for the carpet, you can just imagine what she says. We've already gotten rid of one bad carpet, but the other one has held up and she refuses to pick it up. |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
Thanks for the suggestions.
"Spot" wrote in news:Jh0gh.7087$Li6.3057@trndny03: Subject: Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP! From: "Spot" Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.anecdotes I have to agree that the Fancy Fease is the least of the problems. Most cats do much better on Fancy Feast because it is better quality food without all the fillers. My mother has a cat with the same problem and I can tell you it's more of a seasonal allergy type reaction and an emotional response. Unfortunately, this cat seems to have it all year round. I wonder if my mother's anxiety and depression compounds the problem as the cat sees and hears her in her moods. I truly believe animals can sense this (as a major anti-depressant commmercial currently running on TV shows). After almost 15 years of it we have just taken to getting her a depo shot twice a year and if it gets really really bad she ends up on pills and sometimes valium. So you would suggest the Depo Medrol? Does your cat seem out of sorts for the first 2 days after the shot? Ours hid under the bed for a day and seemed sad. She came back to herself after 2 days or so. How was the Valium? Have you tried any anti-allergy pills like Chlortrimeton (half of a 4 mg pill)? To keep peace in the house and take the cat for the shots, let her feed it the Fancy Fease and get the carpet cleaned while your moms out of the house. Celeste She's never out of the house except for a trip to the supermarket and the baker! LOL! How else do you think she manages to make all these phone calls?! |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
"cybercat" wrote in :
If you have not made serious efforts to control the above, do not put the cat through this. Fancy Feast is high protein, high moisture foods, many varieties with no grain or gluten, which ARE the main food allergens for cats. And, they find it delicious. Fancy Feast is like crack for cats! I don't know what they put in it, but all cats seem to love it. And dry food is going to suck. I'm not going to keep her on a strictly dry food diet. It's the Hills Z/D prescription low allergen wet and dry food. I may just have to give her the Fancy Feast canned food with the Hills z/d and see how she does if she won't eat the Hills canned food. At least she'll be free of wheat glutens in her diet. I just don't like changing dry foods because it takes a while for their digestive systems to adjust and you have to change slowly. I'm just wondering if I should just go back to Purina Pro Plan already and let the Depo Medrol shots take care of the situation. |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
wrote in message ... "cybercat" wrote in : If you have not made serious efforts to control the above, do not put the cat through this. Fancy Feast is high protein, high moisture foods, many varieties with no grain or gluten, which ARE the main food allergens for cats. And, they find it delicious. Fancy Feast is like crack for cats! I don't know what they put in it, but all cats seem to love it. Well, good, because it is good for them. And dry food is going to suck. I'm not going to keep her on a strictly dry food diet. It's the Hills Z/D prescription low allergen wet and dry food. She is still going to think it sucks compared with FF! I may just have to give her the Fancy Feast canned food with the Hills z/d and see how she does if she won't eat the Hills canned food. At least she'll be free of wheat glutens in her diet. Where was the wheat gluten coming from? It is in a few varieties of FF but not all. I just don't like changing dry foods because it takes a while for their digestive systems to adjust and you have to change slowly. I'm just wondering if I should just go back to Purina Pro Plan already and let the Depo Medrol shots take care of the situation. Have you addressed the dust, chemical, fragrance, mold, etc. issues? Honestly, why feed her dry at all? It always contains more grains, and they are the chief allergens. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
#8
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
On Wed 13 Dec 2006 07:10:45p, wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
m: We've been giving the cat the Fancy Feast flavors without the wheat gluten but they throw every protein source in there (beef, fish, egg) along with the chicken or turkey. Vets will always suggest the hypo-allergenic diet as one of the first trials, after flea treatment. It's very hard to stick to, even if she only has the one cat, though that makes it a little easier. I don't agree that wheat and other glutons are the *most* common triggers, though. Fish is very high on the list along with egg, IIRC. Wheat is somewhere on the list for common cat allergy triggers, though, but surprisingly corn isn't. According to the vet dermatologist I took Shamrock to, the most common allergens other than flea bites are atopic - dust, pollen, mold spores. The problem is that there are just so many varieties of all of these. They can tend to be regional and they get into everything and float in the air. In cases of these allergies, the cat would have to live in a bubble to avoid them, so it depends on the intensity of the reaction to really know how to treat. I guess you will hear differing "expert opinions" from every various vet you talk to if you have the luxury of asking a few. She doesn't use perfumed litter and my mom tells me she stopped using perfume a long time ago. The dust and carpet situation might be a problem to clear as I explained in my previous message. The minute I suggest buying a steam cleaner for the carpet, you can just imagine what she says. We've already gotten rid of one bad carpet, but the other one has held up and she refuses to pick it up. I wouldn't buy a steam cleaner if you can just have a cleaner company come in and steam clean it for her. I see specials all the time, and have that done a couple of times a year until I can pull up all of my own carpet and get laminate installed. But, like our dermatologist said, there is still bedding, mattresses, furniture, air ducts, and every surface that you miss during even the most thorough cleanings. FRT, Shamrock hasn't had a steroid shot since finding a low dose of cyclosporine (10mg) that his stomach can tolerate. He had his last Depo shot in July. He still has a few bumps at the base of his tail and one hind leg, and he still gets a little itchy, but nothing like it used to be and he doesn't pull his fur out and bite himself bloody any more. -- Cheryl |
#9
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
wrote in message ... "cybercat" wrote in She doesn't use perfumed litter and my mom tells me she stopped using perfume a long time ago. The dust and carpet situation might be a problem to clear as I explained in my previous message. The minute I suggest buying a steam cleaner for the carpet, you can just imagine what she says. We've already gotten rid of one bad carpet, but the other one has held up and she refuses to pick it up. Sorry, I missed this. Your mom would likely be healthier without carpets, as your cat would. Wood or laminate or tile with area rugs that can be thoroughly cleaned are so much better all the way around. (But old people seem especially to want wall-to-wall. I hate it, it just traps dirt and dust and mold.) Regarding perfume: think also laundry detergent, air fresheners, spray bleach products, and smoke/fumes of all kinds. Strangest thing is, though I was a 25-year smoker, it seizes my lungs up now right away in cold weather. (As is so common, asthma accompanies my allergies.) Then there is the stench of it on people, but that is just a matter of revulsion, not health. (I cannot believe I smelled that way at one time and that people actually dated me and a non-smoker actually married me!) But I digress. I do try not to be one of those pillish ex-smokers, but it is hard. I actually find myself avoiding smokers these days just so I don't have to smell it. The reason I am so adamant about this is because I have allergies too, and find all of these to be irritants that make them worse. Please go with the Depo, and lay off the dry food altogether if you can. Convenience is the only reason I can see for feeding it. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
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Easy way to wean cat off of Fancy Feast and onto Hills Prescription Diet? - HELP!
On Wed 13 Dec 2006 07:22:42p, wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
m: I'm just wondering if I should just go back to Purina Pro Plan already and let the Depo Medrol shots take care of the situation. One of my other cats had bumps that he chewed on until infected, and it dawned on me that he was sampling Pro Plan dry that one of my other cats ate, so I stopped feeding it. He is a dry food junkie, but eats SD Sensitive Stomach, so that's already limited in ingredients. When I discontinued the PP dry, he hasn't had a recurrance of skin problems. PP dry food, like their canned, has wheat in it. For both of these cats (your moms and my Rhett) it very well could be wheat. Worth a try. A good simple-ingredient dry food is California Natural. 50% of mine eat mostly canned food (fancy feast coincidentally LOL) but will munch on a few pieces of CN. -- Cheryl |
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