“Probably not, no.”

…

“Emily, what is that?!?”

“Fermented tea.”

“Oh…good.”

Rex has been slowly but steadily improving over this past month. I credit the nutritional changes that were suggested by the helpful member of the Rabbits Online Forum, namely Pam Nock, who recommended a regular dose of Nutri-Cal. I also began feeding him a high-quality show feed alongside his regular pellets at a 50/50 ratio.

Without the Nutri-Cal and show feed, Rex loses weight and begins to lose coat condition, eventually leading to baldness. But even on such a high-calorie, high-fat regimin, Rex is *maintaining* a healthy weight and of course he has a much fuller, healthier coat. We still don’t know what, if any, underlying conditions are leading to his requiring such a change in nutrition. My gut is telling me that it’s probably just old age taking its toll. At any rate, I figured it would be good to give an update on the old man.

It’s a discussion of ‘Cystitis in Cats’. Feline Cystitis (also called Feline Urological Syndrome or FUS, Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease, or FLUTD) is an irritation of the bladder and/or urethra [from SpecialCat.com] It’s the same condition that Miko, Scully and Stephanie were all diagnosed with almost two years ago, a condition that has been completely resolved by switching the cats to a raw food diet.

But there’s no mention of raw feeding on the site. Not at all. On the contrary, there are quite a few recommendations for a prescription diet, the most common being Hill’s C/D. Like most prescription diets, this product works fairly well most of the time, but the goal of a prescription diet is to treat the problem and not the overall picture. Have you seen the C/D ingredients list? Brewers Rice. Corn Gluten Meal. Chicken By-Product Meal. Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid). Chicken Liver Flavor.

I’m sorry – I thought we were feeding carnivores.

There was, thankfully, one person who at least mentioned that canned food is much better than dry when treating urinary tract issues. But if you read these kinds of discussions long enough, you’ll find that even with a prescription diet, canned food, increased water intake, etc., many cats will experience regular relapses. They’ll do well for awhile and then have another flare-up. I know from experience just how maddening that cycle can be.

What’s even more disheartening than the dietary advice is reading about drastic options, like surgery. I just do not understand how veterinarians can denounce raw food as difficult and “dangerous”, and in the next breath recommend reconstructive surgery on a cat’s urethra. Am I missing something?

While I do think that a raw diet is ideal, I don’t believe it’s the right choice for every cat. I just wish that it would be more readily considered as a valid option. Until then, discussions like this will likely be frustrating. I don’t understand how people can be downright paranoid about the miniscule risk that my cats will contract salmonella from fresh chicken, but not think twice about feeding their cat chicken-flavored corn.

Whole prey (versus ground foods) is rather contingent upon the cats actually eating whole meat, bones and organs. Many will. I have three that won’t. Miko, bless her stout soul, will eat whatever I put in front of her. But her mom and siblings have slowly been turning their noses up at their food, organ meat in particular. Organ meats like liver are a critical part of their diet and provide key nutrients not found elsewhere – they can’t live only on muscle meat and bone.

Over the past two weeks the food strike intensified, and I became genuinely concerned that their finickiness was going to hurt them. So tonight I got the meat grinder out of storage and mixed up a batch: thirteen pounds of chicken meat (breasts and leg quarters), a dozen egg yolks, and a pound of chicken liver. Not a perfect mixture, but for the next week or so it’s an improvement. For some reason I couldn’t find the Taurine capsules, and we’re out of salmon oil; they’ll have to be added later. The taurine is really only necessary because I didn’t happen to have any chicken hearts. Always good to have those handy, you know.

The cats have never transitioned well to new foods, and I was of course expecting some resistance. I portioned out four plates worth and set them down, spaced generously, around the kitchen. Miko, Stephanie and PJ immediately settled down and polished their plates within just a few minutes. Gone. All of it.

And you know, I actually felt bad to see them wolf it down that fast. I’m sure they liked gnawing on bones, and I loved that they had the opportunity to eat as God intended, but I think even they recognized that the ground mixture provides good, solid sustenance. Scully was the only one who remained skeptical. Not that she’d suffer for a few missed meals or anything.

The cats have been on a raw food diet for over a year now, with fantastic results. Their FLUTD completely cleared up. Their coats have become much softer and shinier. Their teeth are white, their breath is odorless (as are their poops!) and they’ve became much more lean and active.

But this past week, there was something ‘off’ about their chicken. They wouldn’t touch it. This is free-range, organically-fed, antibiotic-and-hormone-free human grade meat. Not cheap stuff, either. But they wouldn’t eat it. I became concerned after their second meal was left alone, not so much as a nibble. And I did what any (somewhat sane) pet mommy would do. I ditched the chicken and bought some fresh meat. After 36 hours of eating only chunks of dehydrated chicken, their special treats, they gladly sank their teeth into it.

I don’t know what it was about that batch that bothered them, but I knew enough to respect their instincts. Four cats can’t be wrong (especially when one *cough* Scully *cough* is such a food fiend).

It reminded me of last year’s food recall when several dogs died of liver failure due to a corn fungus in their food. A few owners told of their dogs’ reluctance to eat the food, how they turned their noses up until hunger drove them to eat it, and it was only in hindsight that they realized what their pets knew all along. I cannot imagine the grief and guilt I would feel if that were my dog.

And now again pets are dying. You do your best to protect them and yet in some twisted irony, that which is intended to sustain them – kills them. The recalls are spreading. I pray comfort to those who have lost their precious companions.

Without intending to sound smug, it does make me glad that I have such a large measure of oversight as to what my cats are eating. I know where it comes from and what happens to it along the way. Even when things go somewhat awry, their senses, honed after generations of carnivores, alert them. A lot of people think raw feeding is inherently dangerous. At the moment, I can’t think of anything that would be safer.