The Cat FAQ/Megathread: like some kind of fecal Harlem Globetrotters game

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Cat FAQ/Megathread: like some kind of fecal Harlem Globetrotters game

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

My 8 year old DSH, Tiva, just got diagnosed with lymphoma. I was reading that they recommend cat food with under 10% carbohydrates by dry weight for cats with cancer, and his current wet food (Purina Pro Plan) is 14%. Any low carb wet food recommendations?

# ¿ Jan 3, 2025 22:58

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# ¿ Jan 19, 2026 05:21

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Thanks for the advice! I'll look into those. Tiva just got his first chemo treatment yesterday and today he's his normal self, running around like crazy and eating eagerly so hopefully he doesn't get any bad side effects

# ¿ Jan 4, 2025 21:33

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Boris Galerkin posted:

My cat eats Tiki food exclusively so I just took a look at the cans. Unfortunately they don't list carb %, but a typical can (both pate and chunks in broth) say something like:

Crude protein 12%
Crude fat (min) 2%
Crude fiber (max) 1%
Moister (max) 82%

I'm not sure if this is suppose to add up to 100% but if it does then that's 3% for carbs at most?

Yeah I went down this rabbit hole to figure this all out -- that's on an "as fed" basis rather than a "dry matter" basis so you have to add up all the percentages, figure out what percentage is carbs as fed, then calculate the percentage without water.

So 3% carbs as fed with 82% moisture (thus 18% dry matter) is:

(3/18)100 = 16.66...% carbs on a dry matter basis

You might have missed the line for ash though which would bring down the carb percentage

# ¿ Jan 5, 2025 17:06

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Awesome thank you, I'm going to pick some up for him

# ¿ Jan 5, 2025 18:23

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Glad to hear your elderly cat made it home! When they get older sometimes leaving them at the vet can really get you worried. Sending you good vibes that it's not a tumor and you have many years to come with the old man

# ¿ Jan 15, 2025 23:55

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

gloom posted:

I've got a bit of a cat feeding challenge. We're switching Merlin to prescription kidney health food. There's a wet one and a dry one.

His response to the wet food has been weird. Right now we're trying chunks in gravy. I dish out his portion onto a little plate, mix in some water warmed in the microwave, and break up the chunks a bit with a fork. He seems eager while I'm preparing it. When I serve it to him, he'll lick and mouth each little piece and then spit it out onto the plate or floor. As far as I can tell he doesn't swallow any of it, but afterward he looks satisfied (shiny eyes, grooming, etc.). Any ideas what's going on?

Fortunately he eats the prescription dry food pretty well, so he isn't going to starve. In fact he seems to like it more than his previous dry food. But it would be nice if we could spoil him with regular wet food, because this diet change means the end of most other treats (including Churu, which he loves). Maybe we need to just take the win since he's happy enough with the new dry food.

For background, he's about 5.5 years old and generally healthy otherwise. He had been eating sensitive stomach Iams dry food up to now, same as our other cat Kali, with Churu a couple of times a week and miscellaneous hard treats every day. He's enjoyed wet food when we offered it to him on special occasions in the past, although he was more enthusiastic about it when he was younger, like age 2-3. We tried a few different brands and varieties over the years. If there was a pattern he seemed to do better with poultry than fish or beef foods.

My kidney cat loved this prescription pate Blue Buffalo kidney care. Like that other poster was saying, some cats just prefer pate to chunks in gravy

# ¿ Jan 23, 2025 15:09

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

How well do the cats get along? Will you have a lot of vertical space for them (cat tree, on top of furniture, window seats, etc.)? How active are they generally? Do you have a litterbox plan? (That last question seems like the hardest to manage tbh)

# ¿ Jan 25, 2025 06:04

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Cimber posted:

snd hlp kitten on lap cn't mv, pls tell wfe i luv her.

Need photo proof of said kitten, this could be a scam

# ¿ Feb 11, 2025 16:19

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

a fatguy baldspot posted:

I’m moving into a new, bigger place soon and I’m wondering when would be a good time to introduce a new cat to my older dude. He’s 8 and has lived his whole life either on the streets or shelters, until 3 years ago when we adopted him. Hes a great cat but obviously lonely - he “meowls” at night and attempts to escape a lot, but we’re on a busy street and I couldn’t bear to lose him. I know the process for introducing a new cat, and we’ll probably be getting a kitten to make it easier for big man.

The wife is inclined to think he should have a bit to get used to a new environment before introducing a new companion. I think it would be best to have the new cat on equal footing in a new environment. Thought I would ask what other people think first. Thanks in advance.

I think your wife is right, but I do get where you're coming from -- the idea is that it's neither cat's territory and that might make it easier, yeah? But I think your cat would be better off if he had the time to adjust instead of doubling up on disruptive events to his life. Either one is a pretty stressful event to a cat on its own.

We just introduced a second cat to our 8 year old boy. We did the whole "Jackson Galaxy" introduction (he's a cat YouTuber but he's got a very thorough guide to introducing a second cat). The whole process felt long and silly but let me tell you, it worked flawlessly. They get along great now, they just want to be near each other and they play all the time!

# ¿ Mar 15, 2025 16:29

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Yeah totally normal, just keep everything low pressure and she'll settle in!

Also please post photos. Love calicos! Mine passed last September, she was an outstanding cat and I miss her

# ¿ Mar 17, 2025 16:38

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Doubtful Guest posted:

Sabetha (from The Lies of Locke Lamora because I'm a big ole nerd!)

Great name! Also great cat!

# ¿ Mar 18, 2025 17:15

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Wow Tendi looks like my cat a lot!

# ¿ Apr 6, 2025 22:29

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

I lost my beautiful amazing cat 2 days before my birthday last year and I still miss her every day. We also lost one of our ferals that we'd "had" (read: been feeding and sheltering and loving) for 8+ years a few months later. They're incredible and give us so much, I figure I'll be missing them forever. It gets easier to smile at the happy memories though!

Sorry for your loss :sympathy:

# ¿ May 1, 2025 00:19

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Oh no I'm so sorry to hear about Luigi. It's so hard. Somehow even 20 years doesn't feel like enough time!

# ¿ May 6, 2025 15:18

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Chas McGill posted:

My 16yr old boy is in stage 3 kidney disease. He's on renal wet and dry food (PRO PLAN VETERINARY DIETS NF Advanced Care Renal kibble and mousse). He's got a water fountain. We were taught how to administer subcutaneous hydration by the vet and he seems to tolerate it surprisingly well. Wondering if folk have any other tips to help his comfort levels or if there are any particularly palatable kidney friendly foods out there.

His appetite comes and goes and he still has some strength for play. For some reason he loves going up and down the 60 steps from our place to the bottom floor. Anyway I guess I'm just venting as there's not much to be done with kidney disease. It loving sucks.

Yeah it does loving suck, I'm so sorry. My kidney cat Kiely had 3 long years past her diagnosis, I hope you have some good time left with your boy.

Her favorite was Blue Buffalo renal formula, both the wet & dry, although I did eventually transition her to all wet food to maximize hydration. It's a prescription food and it smells god awful but she loved it. When she started getting less interested in food towards the end, I'd puree it with a spoonful of chicken baby food to like a churu consistency, and that kept her eating it.

Best of luck to you and your cat!

This was her on the left, with her best friend and life partner Oscar.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2025 03:56

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Oh no so sorry to hear that :sympathy:

Sounds like you made the right call for him & gave him a lovely last day. We never get enough time with them

# ¿ Jul 18, 2025 21:05

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

I had a lot of luck with Blue Buffalo prescription renal food, wet & dry, for my cat with kidney disease. Sometimes the vet will have samples they can give you or they can sell you a single can, I recommend trying all the options because one can just click for the cat.

Also fluids while I get it's intimidating at first is really easy to do at home.

Best of luck! Also your cat is beautiful!

# ¿ Aug 5, 2025 06:15

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Hope everything goes well! Sending good vibes to you and the mama cat

And def share kitten pictures :3:

# ¿ Oct 10, 2025 22:03

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

Pixelante posted:

Kittens are coming!

Neighbour is mad because kitty has forsaken the lovingly prepared box with blankets in favour of my goddamn cat crate that was borrowed when we kidnapped her off my porch a couple weeks ago. Good thing it's plastic and can be hosed off when this is over.

Best of luck! I hope it all goes smoothly! :catte:

# ¿ Oct 29, 2025 03:02

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

I have a probably overpriced cat tree from Mau but the cats love it and I like looking at it, so I'd say it's worth it. It's also sturdy enough for our two, who are both fairly large cats (14 & 16lbs).

# ¿ Dec 8, 2025 00:32

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# ¿ Jan 19, 2026 05:21

soap.: Jul 15, 2007; Her?

So wonderful you caught it so early! I hope Rexie responds really well to the treatment

# ¿ Dec 30, 2025 17:37

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Cat FAQ/Megathread: like some kind of fecal Harlem Globetrotters game