Food recommendation

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Baggypants
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Food recommendation

Post by Baggypants »

Hi all!

Can anyone recommend a good high-fibre food - without cereals? I'm trawling through Zooplus without much joy!! I think our crazy Elsie could do with more fibre in her diet as her poo-outputs are always tiny compared to those of her fur-sisters!!
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by Marla »

I wouldn't worry about the size of the stool unless they seem too hard and she's straining to go. I've always thought that a small stool means that most of the food is being digested. On a grain-free raw diet, stools are very small and dry.

We feed grain-free wet foods and didn't worry about fibre until the girls got very old and needed some fibre to soften their stools up. They're now on Natures Menu Country Hunter Chicken which has a little fibre in the form of berries. They love it and it's worked really well for them. 3 of our 4 cats are on it. The 4th one can't seem to tolerate such a high protein diet or maybe it's one of the other ingredients that doesn't suit him, I'm not sure.
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Kay
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by Kay »

you could try RC Fibre Response, which cats seem to like, and I know several posters on here have had a lot of success with it - a daily dose of a malt paste might help too, and cats love it

but I tend to agree that there is not necessarily much to worry about - my Tosker has produced small hard sheep-like poo for years, which the vet finds quite surprising, but he never shows any discomfort and goes every day, so I don't treat him for it
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Baggypants
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by Baggypants »

Thanks guys, I've just been a little concerned lateley as she had a touch of cystitis and she seemed to be in and out of the tray quite frequently until she'd done a poo (even though she wasn't straining to do one on the previous visits) and then once she's done one she's ok. So i just thought i'd perhaps try a bit of increased fibre and see if it helps her. She's fed Felix AGAIL and Applaws dry food - i'm not sure what the fibre content of the Applaws is like...
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Lilith
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by Lilith »

Hi, I don't think you're going to find a completely cereal-free dried food, but I've had good errrm results (or rather the cat has!) with the Royal Canin Fibre Response. My Mouse used to be very very constipated, and the FR was gentle without giving her the runs; her stools bulked up and were soft but still well-formed and no stinkier than normal. She enjoyed the food too - it smelled yeasty, a bit like the old Meowmix, if anyone remembers that far back.

I've only stopped using it because she's on glucosamine/chondroitin joint supplement these days and it has a reputation for causing loose stools; she is about normal on that so she doesn't need the FR.

But having said that, as has been said, cats' motions do differ and a small hard stool can be quite normal for some cats, seen it myself, so if she's regular, and happy enough in herself it might be just the way she is (although yes it does sound as if hard faeces in the gut might have been causing pressure on the bladder - or could it have been that she was straining to pass a hard motion and ending up passing a bit of urine just because she was in the tray and not because she really needed to urinate? You will know her best.)

The Royal Canin is pricey, but it keeps very well. All the best with her :)
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by alanc »

Hi, I just checked on Tilly's food stocks and Lilly's Kitchen Crunchy Nibbles are grain free (at least Fish variety is, I don't have any Chicken variety to hand at the moment).
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by Lilith »

I wuz wrong, I wuz wrong ...well, I wuz right too, in a way.

Recently I ordered a tub of green-lipped mussel powder for my oldies' joints, and bought some Applaws dried, trial packs, to get free delivery. Forgot to unpack it till yesterday - and, surprise surprise, the Applaws is grain free too.

BUT, on having checked their range out, no high-fibre variety, I'm afraid.

If your budget can stand it, might a compromise be feeding both the Royal Canin FR and a grain-free food like Applaws, or as Alan suggested, Lily's Kitchen? (There doesn't seem to be a high fibre variety from Lily's either, sadly. Though I may be wrong.)

How are you doing with her? :)
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by MarkB »

I bought the Lily's kitchen crunchy nibbles once, but they didn't go down well here. Fromwhat I remember, also they aren't complete - the first dry food I have ever seen that isn't.
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by alanc »

Mark Just gone and looked on the packet and it says Lilly's Kitchen Crunchy Nibbles are a complete food, so maybe the recipe has changed. Tilly quite likes it at the moment, but has gone off it in the past. Main problem I have with it is the kibbles are very small, so Tilly hardly crunches them at all! I usually feed her RC Maine Coon as her dry food component which are big enough to give hers jaws some excersise.
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Baggypants
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by Baggypants »

Thanks everyone, actually she seems to be calming down re going in the tray 5 times before actually doing a poo! I've been giving her a good-sized dose of malt paste every day (even if i have to chase her around the house 18 times before she'll have it) and i think this helping to move things along a bit!!

I'm loathe to change their food around too much as I've tried getting them to eat better quality wet food and they just turn their noses up and it all ends up at the local animal charity!!
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by MarkB »

Thanks Alan. I might give it another try. I'm sure it used to be a treat food. I remember being concerned at the time that not everyone reads the small print.

Edit - It says here that it is complementary, so I didn't imagine it! :lol: - maybe they changed it recently? http://www.scampers.co.uk/crunchy-nibbl ... itchen.asp

2nd Edit. I think Lily's in the tube box were complementary, bu the lily's in a normal box that Tesco sell, were complete.
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Re: Food recommendation

Post by alanc »

Just checked on their website and it looks like the complete type in a box is a new variety - unusual for my local pet shop to be so up to date! This variety does contain fiber to assist with hairballs, but not sure how much.
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