What exactly is a high-quality diet?

Everything I've read about caring for healthy FeLV+ cats says to feed
them a "high quality diet" to help prolong their lives. Fair enough,
but none of the resources actually defines the term "high quality
diet"; my vet didn't even offer any specific advice.

I could just go and buy the most expensive cat food I can find, but of
course price is not always a good indicator of quality.

Has anybody here gotten solid and specific veterinary advice for
feeding healthy FeLV+ cats? What kind of ingredients to look for or to
avoid; what nutritional parameters?

Theodore wrote:
Everything I've read about caring for healthy FeLV+ cats says to feed
them a "high quality diet" to help prolong their lives. Fair enough,
but none of the resources actually defines the term "high quality
diet"; my vet didn't even offer any specific advice.

"High quality" mainly means a diet wherein meat is the primary
ingredient. There are a lot of foods on the market that have corn or
other grain meals as their first ingredient. Avoid those.

-L.

"-L." wrote in message
oups.com...

Theodore wrote:
Everything I've read about caring for healthy FeLV+ cats says to feed
them a "high quality diet" to help prolong their lives. Fair enough,
but none of the resources actually defines the term "high quality
diet"; my vet didn't even offer any specific advice.

"High quality" mainly means a diet wherein meat is the primary
ingredient.

Upon what do you base this?

Fair enough,
but none of the resources actually defines the term "high quality
diet"; my vet didn't even offer any specific advice.

You might want to start with this very good article:

http://www.catinfo.org/zorans_article.pdf

PawsForThought wrote:
You might want to start with this very good article:

http://www.catinfo.org/zorans_article.pdf

I've already read that one. It doesn't really offer diet advice,
though; it says nothing about FeLV+ cats.

You might find these resources helpful:
http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm
http://catnutrition.org/RecommendedResources.htm

If you are looking for a good high quality commercial food a few brands
that are excellent are Wellness, Innova, Wysong and Felidae. Ideally you
should be feeding your cats canned food. You can read more about that
he
http://catsincanada.com/articles/feeding.html

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
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"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Suddenly, without warning, exclaimed (2/28/2005 8:48 PM):
Ideally you
should be feeding your cats canned food.


Ok, but what can you do if your cat refuses canned food. She'll eat it
sometimes, then suddenly won't touch the canned (but'll still eat the
dry). I've tried switching brands, but to no avail. I just can't tell
from one day to the next if she'll eat the canned or not...

jmc

"jmc" wrote in message
...
Suddenly, without warning, exclaimed (2/28/2005 8:48 PM):
Ideally you
should be feeding your cats canned food.


Ok, but what can you do if your cat refuses canned food. She'll eat it
sometimes, then suddenly won't touch the canned (but'll still eat the
dry). I've tried switching brands, but to no avail. I just can't tell
from one day to the next if she'll eat the canned or not...


Equalizer had the same problem and solved it by heating the food
slightly in the microwave to entice his kitty. I have the same problem
with my cats preferring dry food. I let them both kinds.

Ok, but what can you do if your cat
refuses canned food. She'll eat it
sometimes, then suddenly won't touch the
canned (but'll still eat the dry). I've tried
switching brands, but to no avail. I just
can't tell from one day to the next if she'll
eat the canned or not...

If you are leaving dry food out all day that is part of the problem.
Part of successfully getting a cat to eat canned is to make sure they
have an appetite. A cat that is allowed to snack all day has no reason
to eat anyhing you offer. Feeding scheduled meals 12 hours apart with no
food left out inbetween is the best way to create that appetite. It is
also beneficial because you know exactly what your cat is eating and if
it stops eating because of an illness you will figure it out a lot
sooner.

Second, a lot of people make the mistake of feeding the same thing day
in and day out. This can make a cat picky to where it won't eat anything
else, or where it will get sick of what it is eating and refuse it.
Feeding a variety of flavors is much better. My cats never get the same
thing twice in a row. I have had many cats that were dry food junkies
when I rescued them and absolutely would not touch canned food, but with
time and patience I have been able to transition every single one of
them to canned.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, exclaimed (2/28/2005 8:48
PM):
Ideally you
should be feeding your cats canned food.


Ok, but what can you do if your cat refuses canned food. She'll eat
it
sometimes, then suddenly won't touch the canned (but'll still eat the

dry). I've tried switching brands, but to no avail. I just can't
tell
from one day to the next if she'll eat the canned or not...

jmc

One way to transition a cat to canned food is to first start out by
moistening the dry food when you feed that so the cat gets used to a
moister consistency. You can also make a powder of the dry food by
putting it into a cheescloth for example and lightly smashing it into a
powder with a hammer. Then take that powder and mix it into the canned
food. You'll want to keep using less and less of the powder until the
cat, hopefully, is eating the canned food alone.

Lauren