Friday, June 22, 2012

Leo and Change

So no fish cat food for urine crystals. Want to see Leo's reaction to the removal of his usual fishy dry food and replacement with two, sorta expensive, grain free fish free dry cat foods? Sure you do!

no want....


Do you know how many cat foods are out there?? Boy I sure didn't. And even the employees didn't have a clue what I was asking for. So we sat there forever, Greg, me and two employees, reading every label... Even ones that don't list a fishy ingredient on the front, have fish in it. I was almost set on one, I'd read the label three times before I saw it.. herring oil.. argh!

Finally, we settled on two that were fish free, one was also grain free, the other has peas. I thought we should try one at a time, but before I voiced that, Greg had both bowls filled, each with a different one. Star sniffed one, walked away, sniffed the other, took a bite or two, and left. Leo checked the one he considers 'his dish' and gave me a dirty look. Then he checked Star's dish. Then he took off. I think it's safe to say he doesn't think this stuff is real food since it's not fish..

The good news is, he's taking his medicine really well and has not had any inappropriate eliminations. He's back to playing happily and seems to feel better. Yes, he's still sleeping a lot, but I think that's meds making him sleepy. Last night he was released from 'lock out' by sneaking into our room past Greg and he slept with us all night. Yay! I missed him!

But Greg has this issue with sleeping with kitties who pee indiscriminately.. odd huh? Why wouldn't you want to sleep with someone who peed on two pairs of your shoes and your favorite bat man tshirt... Or the threat that he could dribble on your feet in the middle of the night... What's that to having a warm fuzzy buddy lean against your feet all night??

I tease, but I too am glad Leo is back to peeing only in the litter box! He's loving the extra portions of canned foods (with meds), so now we just need him to get on board with the new dry food. Keep purring and praying that things keep looking up please!!

I love you all for the support and information! It's been very helpful and insightful! Thank you all!!

24 comments:

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

We hope Leo starts eatin the non-fishy dry food soon!

Katnip Lounge said...

Paws crossed! We know just how stubborn kitties can be...

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

We hope Leo decides the fish free food is not so bad after all. If mum gives us something we don't like, we would rather starve than eat it and she gives in first.

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

yep kitties are stubborn.
But we hope Leo does find he really enjoys the new food and that everything works out better.

(((hugs)))
We sure are glad Leo is better.
purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥

The Florida Furkids said...

Changing foods can be challenging. We hope Leo finds one he likes.

The Florida Furkids and Lexi

Cathy Keisha said...

Poor Leo. Big Tym had to eat dry kibble from the vet. It had an incredibly high fat content.

Quill and Greyson said...

Fin was so fussy, it's hard.

Gigi said...

If he holds out for long enough on the dry stuff, does that mean he can count on getting as much Stinky Goodness as he wants, all the time?

Sparkle said...

I'm so happy that Leo has improved so much! But I am with Spitty - hold out on the dry food, Leo, so you will give the wet food all the time!

Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens said...

has anyone mentioned that an all wet food diet is more often then not a better option for a kitty that suffers from urinary crystals? I know that it is easier for us to feed dry, but it really has several strikes against in terms of urinary health (especially for kitties who have problems) in that it is very high in plant based ingredients that cause the urinary PH to increase (making it easier for crystals to form) and it is so low in moisture content and thus leads to concentrated urine so if there are crystals forming they can more easily join together and create bigger crystals that can cause problems.

Trust me, I know how hard it is to do anything that your vet doesn't recommend to help your kitty, but many many vets and many people have helped their kitties with diet change alone.

(check out the catinfo.org link I shared with you the other day. It is authored by a vet who studies feline nutrition)

Katie Isabella said...

Leo, I love you dearly (and Star..that little squint has charmed my mommy, believe me..she loves looking at your picture). Leo darling, do the right thing..love and kissies from Katie Isabella.

Willow said...

Pee issues are always tricky and it is good that there Leo is now going in the litter box. Leo think of this new food as being very spoiled with special tasty food just for you.

Gigi said...

Lovely Leo! What a good boy to be peeing where you should. But you should always retain the Cod-given right to the Pee of Displeasure when the Peeps (or even Star) has Let You Down and Deserves Punishment.

Team Tabby said...

Dear Leo, we hope the new food does the trick. It's good to hear you don't mind the medicine and that it helps. Hope you are feeling better soon!

Mindy
Moe
Cookie
Mike

Unknown said...

Oh Wow!
Me could never ever nots eats tuna! OMG! Poor Poor LEO!!!
Kisses
Nellie

Marilia said...

Hi dear friends!
Have a great week!
Kisses on Leo´s nose

Fur Everywhere said...

Try switching your kitties' food gradually. Switching it too quickly will make them unhappy. Mix 3 parts old food with 1 part new food for a day or two, then half old food and half new food for a couple of days, then 1 part old food and 3 parts new food for a couple of days. Finally give them only the new food. They will adjust a lot better that way.

I hope the kitties' will like their new noms! :)

Oui Oui said...

Maybe if you mix a little wet food at first or soften it with water, he'll like it better? Then lessen then amounts until you don't add any? Kitties can be so fussy! All in all, good news!

mawiesner said...

I have to second what Connie said: please read the information at catinfo.org. www.feline-nutrition.org is also a good reference site. Best of luck with Leo!

Fr. Tom Fish said...

The pet store here will take back pet food that has been opened and tried as long as it's more than 3/4 full. I don't know if the store you have will do that, but it's worth a try :)

Glad to hear Leo is getting back to his usual self. He's so lucky to have two understanding parents who are patient, too.

Take care and good luck, Leo!

Tom xx

Mom Julie thought she was doing the right thing by getting one of the top grade dry cat foods and we didn't like it at all. Stasia threw it up and we turn our nose up at it until she mixed some of the old stuff back in. You might ask the vet if a little bit of fish is okay (like the oil), just not the tuna. One vet we went to was horrified at how people give kitties tuna juice. She said tuna was the worst thing for cats. News to us! (She sees only cats)

Purrs to better health, Leo!!

Brian's Home Blog said...

That sure is some good progress, keep it up Leo!

LP said...

It sounds as though you are on the road to recovery Leo! Hooray! Now you just need to gobble that new fuds up :)

the critters in The Cottage xo

Katie Isabella said...

Leo, how are you today darling?

Gigi said...

You know, Leo, you *do* remind me a little of Gandalf, Pal. Maybe it's that whole greybeard dealio.

The Human and her friend saw 'Hobbit' previews yesterday when they were at the movies!!

Hope you are feeling a little closer to tip-top today.