Warning About Generic Catfood
By MuncheeLee
@MuncheeLee (132)
United States
July 15, 2009 8:18pm CST
I was at the store after work to get a bag of dry catfood. A woman was buying a bag of the store brand catfood. I warned her it is bad for her cats, which reminded me of what happened to us.
We have bought the generic catfood for years. It was cheap and seemed to be just as good as the name brands. Were we ever wrong!
A few months ago, our older male cat started acting odd. Lethargic, kitty screaming for no reason. I finally found a vet that was close and I took Boo the next morning. He was almost dead. He felt dead (dead weight, no movement of his head, tongue starting to hang out).
I was in tears by the time I got to the vet's. I took Boo back to the exam room. The vet said they'd have to keep him for awhile. "He's a very sick kitty."
I was a mess all day. The vet called me. He said Boo had a blockage and that's why he was so sick. It happens when cats are fed the cheap catfoods...they have a high ash content. They had to flush Boo out and kept him overnight.
So...after a $200 vet bill, we have stopped giving our cats the cheap food. I can't handle the stress of another episode like that one!
Do you feed your cats the generic food?
Did you learn from my mistake?
3 people like this
6 responses
@KrazyKlingon (5005)
• United States
18 Jul 09
Despite the big scare, at least it was a happy ending. Kitty is now good as ever, I hope.
Funny - I remember something about ashes in pet foods, but I never understood why, or what the heck that's for.
1 person likes this
@MuncheeLee (132)
• United States
20 Jul 09
Yes, Boo is Boo again. Complete with girlie meow.
I think the ash may be some kind of filler or combining agent. That's the only thing I can think of.
@KrazyKlingon (5005)
• United States
20 Jul 09
I guess it may take a bit of poking around on the 'net to get answers about the ash situation.
1 person likes this
@Riptide (2756)
• United States
18 Jul 09
I'm glad Boo is ok now! I hope that other people will listen to your advice and realize, that bargain brand cat food can come at a high price. The health of your kitty and high vet bills.
I used to feed Samson whiskas, he loved that stuff, but then he snug into our neighbors house and started evouring their catfood and wouldn't touch whiskas anymore. So we asked what they are feeding their cat and it was called Premium Edge and they got it at a pet store.
So we started feeding him that and he did really well on it. Then one day we had to pick him up some food on the way home from work and the pet store was closed, so we ended up grabbing him a small bag of meow mix to hold him over until we could get to the pet store.
Now that is all he will eat! He will not touch any other dry food!
He is healthy and does well on it too, but I would rather feed him that premium edge again so that way I would know for sure he is getting high quality food.
@MuncheeLee (132)
• United States
18 Jul 09
I think Meow Mix is good, too. Just not the Special Kitty or other generics the stores have now.
Problem is, our cats will eat any catfood we give them. So the poorer quality stuff got eaten just as fast as the good foods.
We are feeding them Friskies now and all is well. Thank GOODNESS!
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
18 Jul 09
Back when we owned a Cat we always fed it the real brands. Even when I was growing up and raised Cats we fed them the real brands. I have heard this warning many times, and think somehow that the Stores would quit making their brands for this reason as well. When in the long run it can save someone from a lot of unwanted Vet bills this is a Good warning for sure.
@MuncheeLee (132)
• United States
18 Jul 09
Thanks!
I'm glad you never had to deal with this. It is a real heartbreaker.
1 person likes this
@unusualsuspect (2602)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I didn't know about the ash content, but I do know that generic brands have less useful nutrition that a cat needs. They use cheaper ingredients and more fillers than the better brands. But even the usual store brands aren't that good. I had always fed my cat Purina chow, but when my son and his wife switched their cats to one of the organic brands, their pets were much healthier. I switched my cat to that brand even though it's more expensive (and I have to order it over the internet and pay postage, too). Comparing the ingredients with Purina, the brand I'm using now has better ingredients and fewer artifical additives.
I don't know if my cat is actually healthier now, but I have noticed that she throws up much less often than she used to. She's about 13 years old and has always been healthy. I'd like to keep her that way as long as possible, so the extra expense is worth it as far as I'm concerned.
I'm glad your cat recovered. It's heartbreaking to lose them, especially before their time.
@MuncheeLee (132)
• United States
18 Jul 09
I can't do that much more expensive.
The generic is only about $1 cheaper. I think our babies are worth a dollar.
It IS sad to lose them before their time. I was so scared. And heartbroken. I was in tears like a loony at the vet's.
Since Boo is technically our son's cat, I would have felt even worse if we lost him. This happened while our son was stationed in the Middle East.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jul 09
Sorry to hear you went through that with your "baby"--Yes high ash content can wreck havoc with cats..anything above 3.5% is considered too high. As for what I feed my "poor deprived kitties"--are you kidding? My spoiled brats only like Fancy Feast, and as far as dry food love the more expensive stuff too that goes for $8.99 for a 3-lb bag...no cheap stuff for them!
@MuncheeLee (132)
• United States
18 Jul 09
LOL! Poor deprived kitties....
I just didn't realize about the ash until Boo got blocked. Then I was 'How do they get away with selling stuff like this?'
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (182175)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I usually dont do that. I think that know I never will. i just use purina or some other name brand cat food. i feel uncomfortable with that stuff ever since the Chinese pet food scare that killed all the pets. That was something that I really got scared about.
@MuncheeLee (132)
• United States
18 Jul 09
I didn't really worry about the scare, but having that happen to us DID scare me. I'm glad you don't use generic. I'm sure your cats are, too.
1 person likes this
