Need suggestions on a New food

I have a 9yo neutered male cat that needs a food change. He's been on
Hill's Prescription Diet CD/S dry food (for struvite crystals/stones)
for about 7 years. He's always hungry but he doesn't like his food
anymore, he prefers eating the regular cat food. The vet said I could
try another brand for urinary problems or let him go back to regular
cat food. The problem is that I believe he may be allergic to
something in his food (possibly corn). He sneezes, has a thick
discharge from his eyes, sheds like crazy which he never did before,
and he vomits occasionally. Neither vet can find what causes these
problems. He had a blood test and that came back fine. He stays
indoors and there's nothing inside that would be causing these
reactions except his food.
So I would like to find a cat food for his urinary problems and for
what appears to be either a food allergy or sensitive stomach.

I've looked at IVD, Hill's Prescription Diet, Waltham, and Nature's
Recipe brands but wasn't particularly impressed with any of them. I
think I'd like to stay away from the Hill's if I can. Nature's Recipe
and Waltham's don't look to good for his particular problem (but I'm
no expert), so that leaves me with IVD. There were three of those that
I looked at which were the Therapeutic Control (for struvite and
oxalate stones), Therapeutic Neutral (for gastrointestinal disorders),
and Limited Ingredient Diets (for adverse reactions to food).

Anyone have any suggestions on what food I should feed this poor kitty
or what foods/brands I should stay away from?
Anyone have any comments on the IVD foods I mentioned?
Can I feed him a mix of say the Therapeutic Control and Therapeutic
Neutral or would that be bad?

I will be feeding him dry food only as he gets spoiled and behaves
very badly when I feed him canned food. The vets made a few
suggestions but said the choice would have to be mine. I'm just
looking for other people's opinions, experiences, and greater
knowledge to help make my final decision.

Thanks

I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation. Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams. Another good
brand is Innova but my cats prefer the Wellness.


-MIKE

I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation. Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams. Another good
brand is Innova but my cats prefer the Wellness.


-MIKE

"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation. Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams.

Just curious, why do you say Nutro and Iams should be avoided?

Another good brand is Innova but my cats prefer the Wellness.


-MIKE

"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation. Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams.

Just curious, why do you say Nutro and Iams should be avoided?

Another good brand is Innova but my cats prefer the Wellness.


-MIKE

From: (Mike)

He's been on
Hill's Prescription Diet CD/S dry food (for struvite crystals/stones)
for about 7 years. He's always hungry but he doesn't like his food
anymore, he prefers eating the regular cat food. The vet said I could
try another brand for urinary problems or let him go back to regular
cat food. The problem is that I believe he may be allergic to
something in his food (possibly corn). He sneezes, has a thick
discharge from his eyes, sheds like crazy which he never did before,
and he vomits occasionally.

Hill's does have a lot of corn in it. There's Wellness, or there's one called
Precise. Then there's also Nature's Variety, Innova, Felidae and Pet Guard.
You probably won't be able to find these foods in a regular pet supply store,
but rather in one of the smaller ones, or at a health food market like Whole
Foods. Remember to switch him over slowly by adding a very small amount to the
new food, gradually increasing the amount of new to old, until you have all
new. I would highly recommend a canned diet for him if he's had crystal
problems.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: (Mike)

He's been on
Hill's Prescription Diet CD/S dry food (for struvite crystals/stones)
for about 7 years. He's always hungry but he doesn't like his food
anymore, he prefers eating the regular cat food. The vet said I could
try another brand for urinary problems or let him go back to regular
cat food. The problem is that I believe he may be allergic to
something in his food (possibly corn). He sneezes, has a thick
discharge from his eyes, sheds like crazy which he never did before,
and he vomits occasionally.

Hill's does have a lot of corn in it. There's Wellness, or there's one called
Precise. Then there's also Nature's Variety, Innova, Felidae and Pet Guard.
You probably won't be able to find these foods in a regular pet supply store,
but rather in one of the smaller ones, or at a health food market like Whole
Foods. Remember to switch him over slowly by adding a very small amount to the
new food, gradually increasing the amount of new to old, until you have all
new. I would highly recommend a canned diet for him if he's had crystal
problems.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 09:28:07 -0500, "Judy"
wrote:


"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation. Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams.

Just curious, why do you say Nutro and Iams should be avoided?

Both have switched to 'least cost formulation' which is when
the proportions of the ingredients change with market prices. Not a
good thing. Nutro used to be very very good, but they've gone way
downhill recently. They've also got a *lot* of corn and corn products
in their food -- something that causes a lot of problems in cats.



Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 09:28:07 -0500, "Judy"
wrote:


"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation. Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams.

Just curious, why do you say Nutro and Iams should be avoided?

Both have switched to 'least cost formulation' which is when
the proportions of the ingredients change with market prices. Not a
good thing. Nutro used to be very very good, but they've gone way
downhill recently. They've also got a *lot* of corn and corn products
in their food -- something that causes a lot of problems in cats.



Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

"Orchid" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 09:28:07 -0500, "Judy"
wrote:


"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
I would let him "behave badly" for a while and get him on canned food.
The extra water in the canned food helps prevent crystal formation.
Try
Wellness chicken or turkey flavors. Avoid Nutro and Iams.

Just curious, why do you say Nutro and Iams should be avoided?

Both have switched to 'least cost formulation' which is when
the proportions of the ingredients change with market prices. Not a
good thing. Nutro used to be very very good, but they've gone way
downhill recently. They've also got a *lot* of corn and corn products
in their food -- something that causes a lot of problems in cats.

I understand about the corn and the problems it can cause, but as ---MIKE---
was suggesting a canned food such as Wellness, I got the impression when he
said to avoid the other two, he was meaning their canned food.

The dry portion of my cats diet comes from Wellness and the canned from
Nutro and Iams as she can't stand any of the Wellness flavours.