I'm not impressed by the ingredients in the Buckeye Nutrition cat food:

Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Wheat, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, citric acid, and rosemary extract)...

etc.
 
 

Well if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

I feed Wellness grain-free canned to my three Himalayan cats - I haven't noticed any differences in the food lately. They still eat it and enjoy it, and I haven't seen anything of concern in their litterboxes. But I'll keep my eyes peeled for anything unusual. Since Wellness changed owners I do admit I've been somewhat wary...

Over the past six months though I've been adding other brands to my cats' diet. In addition to a can of Wellness (now every other day instead of daily), they are fed EVO, Innova, Nature's Variety Instinct and Prairie, and a few of the Natural Balance varieties, in rotation. Though these aren't all grain-free my cats do enjoy them and I've never them healthier or happier. So... if something scares me off Wellness, I'm glad to have other choices.

For treats they get home-cooked chicken or turkey breast (which they LOVE), Fancy Feast once in a while (beef & liver, chicken & liver, or turkey & giblets) or Almo Nature. As a rule I never give them anything containing wheat gluten etc.

Thanks much for the info. So... is this good, bad, or neutral? I've never heard of Wellpet before.

I should have mentioned, my cats are funny with seafood & fish sometimes. Either they'll dive in, or they won't touch it.

The only seafood or fish that they really enjoy is Almo Nature. I give them the plain tuna or salmon in rotation with the chicken drumstick, tuna & chicken, and salmon & chicken varieties - they're never finicky with any of these. Almo Nature isn't for regular feeding, but it's an excellent treat food.

Well, I put out bowls of the seafood CORE the other day. None of my cats were interested in it at all - and my Molly spent ten minutes scratching the floor all around one of the bowls (as if to make a point with me  ) so I won't buy it again. All three really like the Chicken etc. variety however, so I'll continue buying it & giving it to them once a week or so.

I bought a couple of cans of the Chicken / Turkey / Chicken Liver recently. My cats enjoyed it and ate it all up.

I also picked up a couple of cans of the seafood variety but I haven't fed it to my trio of Himmies yet. Sometimes they love seafood, sometimes not. We'll see.

It's great to have another food choice for my three but I won't give it to them every day. Being older cats now (8 yrs +) I'm not sure they should have higher-protein food frequently. They're doing just fine on the regular grain-free Wellness, and others in rotation (Natural Balance, EVO, etc.).

I read on another pet forum that Wellness changed ownership sometime during the Summer.

Is anyone aware of this?

I've not Googled around for info on it.

All three of my Himalayan cats eat Wellness grain-free canned food almost exclusively - I'll give them other canned foods as a treat once in a while, but they do not get any kibble whatsoever.

I haven't noticed any changes in the food itself, the cats still eat it with gusto. But assuming that Wellness has indeed changed hands, I have to admit it's somewhat alarming news...

[5.8 pounds]

Just wondering if you ever got your kitty re-tested again?

Thanks for asking. In the end I decided not to test, as Silky is doing so amazingly well and there's no signs of any problems at all. When I bring her in for a routine check-up in November I'll discuss with the vet.

Since we adopted Silky a few years ago her weight was always stable at around 5.2 pounds - she's really not a big girl under all that fur - she's fine-framed and quite lithe. When she was sick last Spring, her weight had dropped to 4.7. 

Well, last week I weighed her at the clinic for the first time since August, and I was astounded to see her weight has reached 5.8 pounds - her heaviest ever! I'm sure she will eventually hit 6. She LOVES the Wellness food, as do my other two Himalayans (Molly and Kobi) and I'm so glad I switched them all over. Top quality food, delicious and nutritious, cats are thriving - I couldn't ask for anything more.

Here's a little picture of Silky, taken in August. She looks even better nowadays. 

Hi,

Thanks for asking. I forgot to come back and post an update. 

I'll try to make a long story short. Since I posted in April, it was a bit of a roller-coaster for Silky. She was on Clavamox for weeks and weeks but the infection just wouldn't go away. She was finally put on a three-week course of Baytril. It was very, very hard on her, she barely ate and I had to force-feed her, and I was going to take her off the medication after week one. We managed to hang in for two weeks.

At the beginning of July, one evening after I got home from work I immediately noticed that she was woozy and stumbling  around with her head tilted. At first I thought she had a stroke but I soon found out that she had a vestibular episode. There's no way to confirm it but I am convinced that it was caused by the Baytril. Anyway I brought her to the vet - they took her off the Baytril immediately and kept her for a couple of days for observation.

Since Silky didn't make it through three weeks of Baytril I was worried that the infection was still there, and that we'd have to try something else - however while she was in the vet did a urine culture (urine drawn directly from the bladder) and it revealed that the infection was finally gone. Phew. Her blood panel & urinalysis results were totally normal too. Phew again.

Anyway, since I brought her home it's been nothing but good news - she is totally back to her old self, she has put all her weight back on (and then some!!!). All the vestibular symptoms are completely gone. Happy days are here again!

I still intend to have her blood & urine re-tested later in August just to make sure that the infection isn't recurring but since she's been acting just fine for a month now, it would seem that it hasn't come back.

All three cats are doing so great on Wellness grain-free canned (with a bit of Eagle Pack, Merrick, or Fromm once in a while for variety) that I know I'll never ever put them on kibble of any kind again.

Best,

Doug

Also I give them a bit of chicken when I have some for myself...

I'm going to boil some turkey & chicken breasts, cut them into small cubes, and freeze them in little batches that can be defrosted every couple of days. I'll give that to them as treats. I'm sure they'll love it - whenever we have turkey for dinner all three of my Himalayans gang up on me and I have to give them bits of cooled turkey to eat OR ELSE (I make sure what they get is without skin, fat, gravy or any fixings of course). They love it. So I'm sure they'll enjoy the treats I'll make for them. Best of all, I'll know I'm not giving them junk to eat.

Silky continues to do fine. She's eating very well indeed, and just being her happy little self. I got the results from the blood test that the veterinarian did before Silky was discharged from the clinic, and to my relief the creatinine & urea numbers now fall well within the normal range. That's a huge relief. But I will have a full blood & urine work-up done in a couple of weeks, to see if the numbers are remaining stable and within the "safe" range. But so far so good!

Thanks - it's so good to know that there are other people who have gone through this before and know what it's been like for Silky and us.

A little update...

We finally brought Silky home last evening. She's very happy to be back, and all I can say is WOW what a difference in her. She acting so much better than when she went in last Thursday morning. Very bright, alert, clear-eyed, sweetly vocal as usual, and happy-scampy. She has a great appetite too, and has been eating with gusto (which is a polite way of saying "like a little piggy" I think).

I switched all three cats to Wellness grain-free canned food, and I add a bit of water to it before putting the bowls down for the cats. Smooth sailing so far, they all love it and are eating well. I'm going to check out a number of pet stores near work today to see if anyone carries Fromm's canned food - one store near home carries Fromm's canned food for dogs only. I'd like to give the cats a bit of Fromm's once in a while as a treat, and for the sake of variety. No more kibble, period.

While checking Silky out of the clinic I explained to my vet that I have explored our food options, and that I had settled on Wellness. My vet had never heard of it before but she agreed that the important thing is top-quality nutrition, especially highly digestible protein.

Just to reassure her that I have made a the best possible choice, one that will be the best for all three of my Himalayan cats, when I pick up a copy of the latest blood & urine test results this evening after work I'll bring a can of Wellness so she can look at the ingredients & content ratings and compare it to Medi-Cal kidney & similar formulas they use at the clinic.

All in all I know we're not out of the woods, Silky will require our keen observation and blood & urine testing for a while, but she definitely hit the ground running as soon as we got her home, she looks terrific and is acting normal, and that's just what I was hoping for.

[Without a clear x-ray of her kidneys (so far) the vet is not sure if Silky really has kidney failure, or if the creatinine & urea numbers are off simply because of the struvite & infection.]

I'm on an emotional roller-coaster right now..

Early last week I brought one of my three Himalayan cats, Silky, to the vet as I noticed she had begun acting a bit quiet. Not in obvious distress, but just a bit mopey and quieter than she usually is. Silky is a seven year old female who is normally a very active & happy little scamp so I noticed her change in behaviour immediately.

The vet did blood tests which revealed slightly elevated creatinine - the result was 204. The vet told me they've seen much higher numbers than that in other peoples' pets. As for urea the number was 18.6. Again, while the number is higher than normal, the vet said that it isn't dramatically high. Even so, the elevations are cause for concern and they've kept her at the clinic.

All other aspects of Silky's blood test revealed very good, normal numbers.

As for the urine test, it revealed a ph of 6, a strong presence of struvite crystals and bacteria, some protein, and some white blood cells. Due to the presence of bacteria, Silky obviously has a urinary infection - so she has been put on a course of antibiotics which will last at least three weeks, and I imagine the vet will re-test her urine and possibly her blood after the antibiotic course has finished. Silky's urine concentration seems a little low at 1.026, but then again I was informed that this isn't a dramatically low number. She is able to urinate freely, there's no obstruction.

The vet gave me a copy of Silky's blood & urine test results, and have gone over everything thoroughly.

Since the creatinine & urea numbers are higher than normal, and since her urine is slightly dilute, the vet is proceeding cautiously and treating Silky as though she has kidney insufficiency / the early stages of kidney failure. Since Silky was checked in at the clinic she's been on her antibiotics, an IV drip, and also eating Prescription k/d or something similar. They've been monitoring her and are satisfied with her response since she was admitted.

So far the vet hasn't been able to evaluate the size / condition of her kidneys through an x-ray. They did take a couple of x-rays but Silky's kidneys are impossible to see clearly as she's holding on to her poop, which is blocking the view (I saw the x-rays for myself, and yup - she's definitely holding back). She's not constipated however, she has had a few smallish bowel movements, but she's just been very reluctant to finally let it all go. I imagine this is because she's in a strange environment and not a happy camper over it. Tomorrow morning the vet will give her a laxative to clear her out, then the second x-ray will be done.

I've visited Silky a few times since she went to the clinic, and she's doing very well - she's not acting droopy at all now, and seems completely normal. Vocal, lots of purrs, good appetite, bright clear eyes. She's obviously not happy over not being at home, but this is normal.

At home Silky's main food has been Eagle Pack kibble, with some Science Diet Nature's Best mixed in, for the sake of variety and interest. But... normally every evening she and the other cats have been given some canned food, normally Fancy Feast, which they love as a treat. Silky also loves Whiskas Temptations snacks, and has eaten anywhere from half a dozen to maybe twenty per day. The vet is certain that Silky's struvite crystals are from the Fancy Feast and the Whiskas treats, even though they didn't form the majority of her diet. Some cats are just prone. And now I can kick myself for ever giving her that stuff to begin with...

In any case, the vet is pretty sure I'll be able to bring Silky home tomorrow (I can't wait!). Of course I'll continue the antibiotics and Silky will be put on a restricted diet - likely k/d, but I'll go with whatever the vet prescribes at check-out time. Just as important, I'll cut out the Fancy Feast and Whiskas treats immediately. No more, no way. Silky's restricted diet will be tricky as my two other healthy Himmies can stay on normal food (but I'll definitely cut out their canned Fancy Feast & snacks too). I know I'll manage, but I wonder if anyone else out there has experience with managing restricted- and unrestricted-diet cats simultaneously.

Without a clear x-ray of her kidneys (so far) the vet is not sure if Silky really has kidney failure, or if the creatinine & urea numbers are off simply because of the struvite & infection. I too am wondering if the struvite & bacterial infection might be making it seem as though she's in the early stages of kidney failure, when she really might not be. Any ideas anyone?

Although I'm glad to see that Silky is acting like her normal perky & sweet self again, of course I'm upset that she has these problems, and I do worry about her long-term health - especially her kidneys of course. But I am determined to do everything right, and give her the best care possible every step of the way.

Sorry for the length of my post; I thought it would be better to give as many details as possible.

Thanks for reading, and for any tips / info / advice you might be able to share!

The vet was able to see Silky this evening. I got three doses of Advantage - Silky has been treated, as have Kobi (Seal Point Male) and Molly (Seal Tortie Point). I've heard that Advantage is extremely effective, so I feel better now.

Tomorrow I'll vacuum and clean thoroughly - and then when I go to the pet store in the morning to get some more Eagle Pack kibble (which they love, and are doing just great on), I'll buy a couple of nice new pet beds. I threw Silky's bed out this morning after I saw the flea on her leg, and now with her favourite bed gone, and no access to our bedrooms for the next 24 hours, she's just beside herself. Poor little poo.

I'll watch for a reoccurrence over the next month and if need be, I'll treat them again.

This has been quite the crash course for us!

Thanks for your comments!

I've gone over Silky from head to toe, and there's no sign of the flea, and no sign of droppings anywhere - thank goodness. Silky's a blue / cream point so her fur is white over most of her body, and it would be easy to spot anything unusual. Still, she's going to get even more attention than usual throughout the weekend!

As for my other two Himalayans, they're darker in color (the male is a Seal Point and the other female is a Seal Tortie Point) so it will be a bit more of a challenge to examine them as potential problems won't stand out as they would on Silky, but I'll be as thorough as I can.

I was thinking of a flea collar for a couple of days (until I bring them all in to see the vet this Monday) but no, I just can't put one of those things on them.

You can bet I'll be vacuuming a few times this weekend - and the bed Silky was in when I spotted the flea on her hind leg is now in the garbage.

We have a pretty large squirrel population this year - I think I'll start live-trapping them tomorrow (just in case they're bringing fleas around outside the house), and releasing them a few miles away in the woods. A few years ago I trapped a lot of squirrels (40+) over a two month period as they were wreaking havoc in our bird feeders, and they ruined our neighbors' soffits. So I figure I'll give this year's squirrel bunch a new career in a new town starting now, and hopefully reduce the chances of fleas hanging around & also keep our bird feeders from being ravaged once the Fall food gathering & hoarding begins...