My name is Karen and my Cats name is Leo.  Leo is 11 and is diabetic.  Thankfully, he does not need insulin.  I test his blood on a regular basis just to monitor his progress.  Currently, I have switched him to Evo 95%.  He also needs to be losing weight, which is not an issue since he is eating lo-carb food.

 Thanks!

Hi Karen,

Thank you for your introduction.  We welcome you to the Only Natural Pet Store community.

Regards,
Only Natural Pet Store

Hello, my name is Holly and I have 3 cats, all rescues.  A 2 yr old boy Moo, 1 yr old girl Bindi, and an almost 5 yr old girl Polly I adopted from a shelter about 2 months ago.  Polly has chronic diarrhea and is overweight and I'm trying to figure out what I should feed her.  She was fed Science Diet for the prior 7 months at the shelter, before that I'm not sure but I know she was free-fed dry.

 Hi!  I'm Ari, and my two cats are Tchoupitoulas (Choppy) and Tangelo.  Choppy is a Hurricane Katrina rescue cat (hence the New Orleanian name).  He was bone-thin and plagued with skin problems when I found him, but with the proper holistic/human grade diet, he has become a beautiful, muscular cat with soft, shiny fur.  

Tangelo is an orange kitten from upstate New York.  I got him from a shelter in July 2007, when he was only six weeks old.  He is growing steadily, and is a wonderful, affectionate cat. 

I'm Patti, mother to Buddy, former stray cat who our vet thinks may be about 5 years old. Buddy appeared on our front step a week after we lost Moke, who was our first kitty in the family. Moke had serious health issues, and unfortunately, so does Buddy. Buddy is on heart medication and has been hospitalized for blockage once. He HATED staying at the vet hospital, but we closely monitor him and feed him food appropriate for cats with urinary issues (Wysong's Uretic, freeze-dried beef/chicken sprinkles, canned chicken - which we crush his medication into, and the occassional can of one of Merrick's kitty entrees). I manage a holistic pet supply store and am always seeking natural pet info. I was a customer of ONP before I knew I'd be managing a store that is very similar!

Patty,

Do you mind if I recommend a book to you?  It is called "Your Cat" and the author is Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins.  Dr. Hodgkins goes into a great amount of detail about the pet food industry and the type of foods that cats were "designed" to eat.  She also operates a website relating to feline diabetes.  The book, though is applicable to all cats, though and she has many case studies from her own practice.  The book also goes into kidney diseases.  The book kind of opened up my eyes and showed me what I needed to be feeding Leo and it was NOT what the vet was selling me.  That is why I stick with the Evo 95%.  It is one of the best foods on the market for diabetic kitties.  Did you know that Merrick has a new line of foods called "Before Grain"?  ONP sells it, I think.  It is meat, but no vitamins or supplements and therefore not a complete diet.  If you are already giving Buddy an occasional can as a treat, you might think about trying a can of the "BG".

Of course I don't mind! Thank you for pointing me to the book - I am going to get it as soon as I can. I know what the vet sells is awful.... everything by the Hill's Company is awful! But I'm always up for more knowledge, particularly anything that will help my little Buddy, who is our furry child. And of course, being in the business that I am, I want to give only the best information to my customers so that their pets can be as healthy as they can.

 Thanks!

Patty,

 I purchased the book from Amazon.com.  I actually took some of the material from her chapers relating to feline diabetes and gave a speech for Toastmasters.  The speech was very well received.  Have a good weekend, and give Buddy a scratch on the head for me.  We are visiting family for the weekend and have one of the best pet sitters that I have ever used.  Leo loves her too!