cat food selection for overweight old cat

[Deleted]

We've adopted a 16 year old cranky old fat cat. Once he stops hissing and growling, he might be nice. Currently, he eats medi-cal food - half a 5.8 oz can of wet in the morning, a 5.8 oz can at night, a bit of dry food on the side (few teeth remain). He's on a mix of low-cal and low-protein. He hasn't actually been to a vet in a while because he gets aggressive and pissed off and doesn't go outside. Again, has been my cat for 4 days, so what we're doing in the future remains to be figured out. I'd guess he's around 20 lb, but I'm not picking him up to find out for a few more days. He is pretty pissed off right now. 

Anyway, is medi-cal really worth buying? Or is there something better and/or more accessible we could feed this guy? We're already transitioning from the dry food he was on to the dry food we feed our other cat (Satori). Other cat currently gets a big tablespoon of Friskies a day. He's not overweight and is 13. Not sure if we can get them both on the same foods, but that would be ideal.

[katietornado]

16! So awesome.

I had never heard of Medi-Cal until now. I looked it up, and the ingredients aren't great. It appears to be made by Royal Canin, which is overpriced specialty food with unremarkable ingredients.

petfoodtalk.com/catfoodreviews/medi-cal-cat-food/

I have three cats, all about 11 or 12 years old. As they get older, we've been transitioning them one by one to frozen raw (this stuff: www.primalpetfoods.com/product/detail/c/7/id/10). The first has done really well with it (he tends to be overweight, with teeth and bladder issues, all of which have improved on raw food).

I don't really have any advice other than to suggest that any food with quality ingredients will be good for an overweight old man. The key is to limit his portions (our fat guy was a free feeder until he got too big; now he eats 5 - 6 pieces of raw food daily). Too much grain will make it tough for him to lose weight.

[Deleted]

Yeah, that pretty much verifies what I've read. If I'm going to be spending $$$, it needs to be on something actually good. This food looks like crap, and it's wicked expensive.

His crankiness is getting better. He let me brush him today! I am a pushover for a sob story - his people are moving to the States, he's an awful car traveller and they're not going to fly just for him, and the 4 year old is really allergic... it's just a perfect storm of "yeah, i can get not taking the cat".

[mich1]

May 20, 2015 20:09:41 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Yeah, that pretty much verifies what I've read. If I'm going to be spending $$$, it needs to be on something actually good. This food looks like crap, and it's wicked expensive.

His crankiness is getting better. He let me brush him today! I am a pushover for a sob story - his people are moving to the States, he's an awful car traveller and they're not going to fly just for him, and the 4 year old is really allergic... it's just a perfect storm of "yeah, i can get not taking the cat".

I really would find out why he is on the lower protein food before making any major changes to his diet.  It has more grains, but there may be a very good reason why he's on this - like he has kidney issues and needs a lower protein food in order to try to keep his kidneys functioning.

[Deleted]

May 21, 2015 15:19:44 GMT -5 mich1 said:

May 20, 2015 20:09:41 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Yeah, that pretty much verifies what I've read. If I'm going to be spending $$$, it needs to be on something actually good. This food looks like crap, and it's wicked expensive.

His crankiness is getting better. He let me brush him today! I am a pushover for a sob story - his people are moving to the States, he's an awful car traveller and they're not going to fly just for him, and the 4 year old is really allergic... it's just a perfect storm of "yeah, i can get not taking the cat".

I really would find out why he is on the lower protein food before making any major changes to his diet.  It has more grains, but there may be a very good reason why he's on this - like he has kidney issues and needs a lower protein food in order to try to keep his kidneys functioning.

Here's what they wrote back:
her -"Re: low protein food. He had a crystals a looong time ago. R last talked to the vet about his food so I added him. I know we gave him weight control because he was cranky if he didn't get at least 1.5 cans a day. R can you let her know what the vet said about food last time you talked about it?"
him - "Basically, the reduced protein is better for older cats because it reduces the stress on their kidneys...which tend to start failing in older cats...kinda like people
In Peter's case, it was more preventative."

[Deleted]

Oh, and these people just offered me a thousand bucks for a year of care for their cat.

So I don't want to chintz out on the food, and will definitely continue with his cat-attract litter. I just don't quite trust this is a brand/formula worth trekking to a vet to buy. We don't live anywhere close to ours.

[mich1]

May 21, 2015 15:24:16 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

May 21, 2015 15:19:44 GMT -5 mich1 said:

I really would find out why he is on the lower protein food before making any major changes to his diet.  It has more grains, but there may be a very good reason why he's on this - like he has kidney issues and needs a lower protein food in order to try to keep his kidneys functioning.

Here's what they wrote back:
her -"Re: low protein food. He had a crystals a looong time ago. R last talked to the vet about his food so I added him. I know we gave him weight control because he was cranky if he didn't get at least 1.5 cans a day. R can you let her know what the vet said about food last time you talked about it?"
him - "Basically, the reduced protein is better for older cats because it reduces the stress on their kidneys...which tend to start failing in older cats...kinda like people
In Peter's case, it was more preventative."

What I'd do is keep him on it for the time being and when you can, take him to your vet and get some blood work done to look at kidney function.  Part of the reason why he may be overweight is that the lower protein cat food doesn't satiate him as well and he needs that extra food.  Kind of along the same lines that a bacon and egg breakfast satiates you better than a bowl of cereal. 

My concern would be the crystals in his urine.  I had a cat that had this and to keep him from being regularly catheterized, I had to keep him on one particular food.  I made a couple attempts at moving him off to something cheaper, but the $200+ vet bills cost more than the more expensive cat food, so he ate it up until the end of his life.

[Deleted]

Maybe I can find a house call vet... it's not worth the trauma to him or me to get him to the vet at this point.

[mich1]

It sounds like he has a good new owner. A new home has to be traumatic for an elderly cat, and I think it's great you took him in.

How is he getting along with your other cat?

[Deleted]

They're doing fine. A few howling matches, but no violence. I think my first cat will take a while longer to get used to it, but they should get along okay in a few weeks (hopefully).