Question:
My cat Murphy is almost 15 years of age now. I've been feeding him Purina's indoor-cat formula for the past year now and he likes it pretty well. Recently though, he's been vomiting undigested food up. I don't think he has a hairball problem as there is no sign of hair in the vomit. Just whole pieces of the food. The poor guy had some teeth extracted almost a year ago and has caused him to not break the food pieces down when he eats. I've watched him eat on numerous occasions and he often just swallows the food. I hate to change food on him (since he's used to it now) but I also don't want the poor guy to suffer any more than he has to. So I'm wondering if I should go to a soft form of dry food. There's a Purina Senior Formula out there that I could try. Right now, he also get's wet food maybe 3-4 times a week as a treat. I have to mush the ones that has chunks in it so he doesn't vomit that up either. Any suggestions are welcome - thanks!!!
Hank
Answer:
I feed my cat RoyalCanin. I know they make a senior formulation, maybe you should try that and see?
Marshu.com | Munchkin Polydactyl All White Cat - Marsh (Marshmallow)

Answer:
Where can you purchase that at?
Answer:
Hank3 wrote: Where can you purchase that at?
Try pet food stores, like Petco and Petsmart. Supermakets usually dont' carry RoyalCanin.
here's a link to their senior formula: http://www.feline-nutrition.com/senior.htm
Marshu.com | Munchkin Polydactyl All White Cat - Marsh (Marshmallow)

Answer:
Thanks RP!!!
Answer:
Purina unfortunately is not a good quality cat food for your kitty. Here's a link on why canned is better.
You don't really need a senior formulation just like you don't need a kitten formulation. In the wild they don't make kitten formula birds. One size pretty much fits all. If you find a good quality cat food it will fit the bill. A high protein cat food will be good.
Here's another link about the foods available at Petco and/or Petsmart
~R
~a beautiful creation by ForJazz
Answer:
Thank you for the additional feedback. I probably shouldn't ask but "9 Lives" canned food is probably not good either is it?I have an unopened bag of the Purina Stuff and a whole bunch of the "9 Lives" canned stuff. I guess I'll donate them and get other stuff. Sounds like an exclusive canned diet is a good option, but I think I want to keep Murphy with maybe one cup of dried food a day (of the good stuff of course).
I deally, I'd like to give Murphy half cup of dried food in the morning and half cup at night. And then use up one can a week. Does that seem ok or shold I feed him less dried and more canned? Just out of curiosity, cats that are one canned-only diets, how many cans do you feed the cat? And I'm assuming the cat will get in the routine of not munching on dried food?
Answer:
I just went to Petco and it is difficult finding premium foods. I think the best advice is just to go to a canned food without fish. The fish can cause problems like UTI/crystals. If you have a Whole Foods near you they have Pet Guard or Lick Your Chops which are really good. I've tried Wellness, California Natural and Lick Your Chops and heard good things about Innova and Felidae. Sometimes some of the other pet stores have better canned foods. I wish Petco and Petsmart had a better selection.
Usually you feed about 1 can a day (5.5 oz) if soley feeding canned. It depends on the weight of the cat. It says on the back of the can. 1/2 a cup of dry morning and night seems like a lot to me but I don't know what the bag says. Usually people who feed both wet and dry do so in the same day.
He will throw up much less (if at all) if you feed him a canned diet because there is more moisture in the canned (less fillers & grains).
Edit: Hey this looks pretty good - Natural Balance Case of 24 Turkey & Giblets canned http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=2363304350&dept_id=%2D2
~R
~a beautiful creation by ForJazz
Answer:
Doeremi - thanks again for the help and advice. I'll start to transition Murphy into a canned-food-only diet. Do you think feeding him half a can in the morning and half a can at night is a good idea? O would it be better to feed him the entire can in the morning and he could finish it during the course of the day? I just want to avoid the onslaught of food in his system...he tends to eat up the wet food FAST
Hopefully Murphy will adapt to the change relatively well. He loves the dried stuff throughout the course of the day. The bag states 3/4 - 1 cup per day I believe. I'll see what the local Petco has today.
Answer:
Half can in the a.m. and half can in the p.m. is what I do when I feed canned. If you have trouble with the canned just grind up some dry food and sprinkle it on top. Just don't leave it out too long - 30 minutes tops. Bacteria tends to grow at a faster rate when you combine the dry and canned food. Good luck.
~R
~a beautiful creation by ForJazz
Answer:
OK - will do Doeremi. Thanks again!!!