I'm posting this in the Death & Dying section because I know this is the forum where more people come to. All of you here love your furkids so much, just like I do - so I know there is no better place for me to get information.
We have two furcats -- Ms. Lucy
(11) & Mr. Yoster (12). We rescued them from a shelter four weeks after our precious girl, Ernie-Bird
went to Rainbow's Bridge (Feb 7,2004).For the first 3 years, we free-fed them (very bad idea, I know now!). Fancy Feast, dry food. They had a buffet of foods from which to choose.
Ms. Lucy came to us with severe IBS, and developed asthma & diabetes in October, 2004. Just this year, she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She also has problems once/month with vomiting. For that, she takes 1/4 Pepcid (2.5mg) every day.
Thank you God, Mr. Yoster doesn't have any health issues at present.
It was because of Lucy's IBS (initially), that I made this decision in February, 2007 to get rid of all the dry food in the house. I had read (and was presented with) lots of information stating that felines are carnivores and cannot digest grain products.
Both kids are eating raw chicken from (http://www.felinespride.com/), some Wellness (no grain), as well as a few varieties of Fancy Feast that are wheat-gluten free.
Now, what happened almost immediately with the above diet change was that Ms. Lucy's diarrhea has DISAPPEARED!! She stopped having severe diarrhea 3 times/day, and is no longer having severe flatulence. Really, this was like a miracle
! Her requirements for insulin (PZI feline) also went down. Our vet had just increased her to 6 units in the morning.....but, with the diet change, her insulin needs have drastically dropped to 0.8 units - 1.2 units in the morning.
What I'd like to know is "what volume of food is necessary for a feline?". Is it One 5.5 oz can/day or two cans??
Because I have always free-fed any cat that I have ever had, I just don't know their true requirements.
Ms. Lucy is 13.5 pounds and Mr. Yoster is 11.5 pounds. I know that Lucy could stand to lose a pound - 1 & 1/2 pounds.
Thank you all for reading my long-winded post
. I sincerely look forward to hearing what amounts you feed your cats.
Wishing you love & peace,
Denise