My cat recently died a horrible painful death after surgery to fix his kidney stones. The vet said it was the cat food. Purina Indoor Cat Formula has apparently been killing cats off left and right so if you are feeding it to your cat STOP! Use a cat food with no artificial colors. Just want to keep any more cats from suffering needlessly.
2006-12-07 05:28:31 · 22 answers · asked by talarlo 3 in Pets ➔ Cats
I did contact Purina and they said as long as it sells they don't care. They are sick mo fo's
2006-12-07 05:36:56 · update #1
I now make homemade food for my cats and dogs. It is time consuming but it is definately worth it.
2006-12-07 05:47:33 · update #2
It is the artificial coloring in the food causing the problems. All those nice looking little green pieces are full of artificial colors that our cats bodies don't know how to handle. It can't be digested so it builds up in their kidneys. I had routine blood work done on him 3 days before switching food. He was 3.5 y/o and completely healthy. And to Mac, I do use taurine and some of my recipes use grapefruit extract because of the acid. It is a very closely monitored diet that my vet and a few of his collegues helped me to come up with. He is a professor at MU vet school here where I live. He is a very intelligent and well respected man who has been making his own cat food for more than a few years now so he knows what he is talking about.
2006-12-07 18:15:06 · update #3
I am so sorry that you had to lose your cat. That is always so hard.
Purina is made by the Nestle Corporation which is an international company and it is sold world-wide. They also make Fancy Feast, Friskies, ProPlan and all forms of Purina. It is definitely crappy food and people buy it without reading label ingredients and fall for the TV commercials which cost Nestle more than producing the food with cheap, inferior ingredients.
I have a small "mission" here to get people to look at these foods, learn to read ingredient labels to select appropriate food for their cats, and spend maybe 20 cents more a bag for their cat's food. Purina One and Purina Natural are expensive foods when compared with Solid Gold, Chicken Soup or Natural Balance.
There are environmental conditions we cannot know which may result in cats having cancer and urinary imbalance, diabetes, Irritable Bowel Syndrome etc. can be avoided because we do have a choice in feeding our cats.
2006-12-07 05:46:18 · answer #1 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Now this is really scary. That is what our cats eat. I know there are some really bad cat foods out there, which is so sad that some people don't know about. (I didn't 10 yrs. ago). I changed to Purina Cat Chow and then to the Indoor Formula. What is in it that causes the problems? Is it just the artificial colors or is there other things too? I am sure others would also like to know, so please let everyone know. I will not buy another bag of this, and I buy the biggest bag every month. How about the regular cat chow? Now, I am going to have to check out different brands again and hope all 5 cats will accept the gradual change. I am so sorry about your cat, it must have been so hard to deal with knowing you thought you were giving him a good diet and finding this out. He has wings now and is now painfree and running around (or catnapping) with all the other kitties in cat heaven. Thank you for letting us know. I think everyone should write a letter to Purina and complain-if Purina really loves the animals who are making them big money, then this could hurt them financially and force them to make a better food. Thinking of you and cherish your wonderful memories of him. He was lucky to have you care so much for him, and he knows that you loved him as he loved you.
2006-12-07 06:27:59 · answer #2 · answered by momof5felines 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your veterinarian is irresponsible to say something like that. I'd like to know what veterinary medical journal has published studies about Purina Indoor Cat Formula killing cats. I've never heard of anything so slanderous. Dude, some cats, especially males, develop kidney stones and crystals in the urine. Some are just genetically predisposed to kidney and bladder stones; some don't drink enough water, and some need to be on a special low acidity/low mineral diet because of it. Don't blame the cat food alone. Some cats do just grand on Purina. In fact, I had 3 cats die at 18, 20 & 21 and they lived on Purina Cat Chow their entire lives. Purina actually offers a veterinary food formula for kidney problems, just like Hills Prescription Diet and Waltham do. It's up to you and your vet to make sure your cat gets an annual checkup that includes a urinalysis and blood work to detect these things before they become problems. This is especially, especially important in male cats.
2006-12-07 06:01:10 · answer #3 · answered by Alleycat 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Oh, boy. Where to start? ;)
The surgery didn't kill your kitty. Neither did the pet food. He had an inherent tendency for certain types of stones to form in his kidneys. These grow and get lodged and obstruct (block) his urine - so it backs up, poisons his kidneys and blood, and makes him very ill.
Sometimes cats die of this before the vet sees them. Sometimes the vet does surgery to remove large stones- like yours did - but the kidneys are already damaged, or the disease too aggressive, and the cat dies anyway.
This is far more apt to happen in a male cat than a female. For this reason, as male cats get older, many should be placed on special catfoods that are formulated to prevent kidney problems.
If you have a cat that is very prone to this condition, AND he was eating normal cat food, which CAN contribute to the condition in a cat with that problem, he may get the condition and and die. But you can't blame the catfood.
It's like saying you have someone with diabetes, and they get a little crazy one day and eat a few pieces of cake, have an attack and die. The CAKE didn't kill them. The disease did, because they were especially sensitive to the sugar in cake.
As credentialed vet techs, we have to learn a lot about nutrition for animals. I want to tell you two things, and I hope you really listen.
1 - First, making your own food for your cat is NOT a good idea. Cats need very very specific things in specific quantities. There is no way you are prepared to do all that. For just one example: are you adding Taurine? If not, your cat can suffer blindness. The list goes on . . . PLEASE feed a good quality cat food!!
2 - Now, what is good quality cat food? It's a food that carries on its label, somewhere, words to the effect "This product is GUARANTEED to offer the full daily nutritive requirement for adult animals..." or something very similar. Check that the first 2 ingredients are meats or meat by-products ("meat by-products" does not mean anything bad, BTW).
Purina is a good food. It's quality has consistently risen in recent years. It is not TOP quality, but for many cats, it's entirely adequate. I have fed it to my cats for YEARS. Along with Iams and Science Diet on occasion. There is no food coloring contained in Purina of the type which will kill a cat. I promise.
I understand you are angry from the death of your kitty. But sometimes there is just no one to blame - it just WAS.
For everyone out there worried about this, if you have a male cat, watch for signs of straining to urinate, unusually frequent trips to the litter box, yowling/crying when urinating, bloody urine, vomiting food, lethargy (being tired or inactive). If you suspect your kitty is sick, get to the vet fast! Backed up urine can kill fast!
If your male cat is over say 6 or 7, put them on a special diet. Purina makes some. I use Friskies "special diet" soft food for my cat, along with regular hard Iams. He likes both. He is 7. I may soon check into what Iams makes that is lower in sodium for him - a "special diet" formula. I recently put down my 16 year old female cat - - she never had any issue with kidney stones.
2006-12-07 07:06:02 · answer #4 · answered by Mac 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Purina Indoor Cat Formula has been on the market for exactly 2 years. So that formula DO NOT KILL YOUR CAT. However - the Crystals (Struvite or Oxalate) formed in your cats urine by the ash found in ALL commercially manufactured cat food is what you really need to address.
I am so sorry to hear about your cat. My cat suffers from crystal production too - struvites to be exact. the best thing you can do is try to reduce the amount of magnesium ash in your cats diet.
Lots of cat food companies have recognised this problem and are try to fix it - the problem is - when they reduce one type of ash it changes the PH of cat urine and the OTHER type of crystals start to form.
I don't feed my cats Purina. I don't even really like Purina - but they aren't to blame for your cats death.
2006-12-07 05:55:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Our pets need quality pet food. Read the ingredients list and learn what the stuff on there is and what it does (or does not do) to/for our pets. A quick pet food 101. If the pet food contains corn/corn products or by products it is a poor quality food. Do not pay attention to advertising, they all say there food is great. Corn is a filler that can trigger skin problems. (allergies, skin problems, itching and excessive shedding) By products is anything from an animal not fit for human consumption, including cancerous tissue. Quality foods have meat as the first ingredient. California Natural, Solid Gold, Innova and Merrick are a few of the best brands available. If you want to learn more check out: http://www.sagekeep.com/petfood.htm www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359& more=1 http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$PetFoodsByRating?OpenForm
2006-12-07 05:45:27 · answer #6 · answered by Stick to Pet Rocks 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'll have to remember that! I use Special kitty, but I might know someone who uses that. I'll ask. Your poor kitty.
I'm starting to soften food for my 10 year old cat, he's starting to have a hard time eating the kibbles, butr the other two are younger so they still get it straight. I've heard however that any drie food does that to a certain extent because it doesn'tt have enough water, and in the wilds they are used to getting liquid with their meat, so domestic cats don't get enough liquid.
2006-12-07 05:53:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sorry about ur kitty. I use Purina Friskies Chefs Blend. Is that okay. Would you like to share your recipies on that homemade kitty food? Do your cats like it? Good luck!
Happy Holidays
2006-12-07 06:18:00 · answer #8 · answered by Adeline 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wow. Why haven't we heard about this on the news etc? I have many friends with cats. I will tell the cat owners, who I know. Has anyone contacted the Purina Company? THis is tragic and quite alarming. Thanks for the info.
2006-12-07 05:34:17 · answer #9 · answered by Shayna 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good information.
At the hospital we see many cats in dire straight with this same problem or worse, kidney failure etc. But yes it is the cat food. Can you imagine with all the crap, additives and preservitive that we eat what we are doing to our own bodies...food for thought.
2006-12-07 05:32:49 · answer #10 · answered by ActionStaffords 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋