Feline Food

FLINT RIVER RANCH is not qualified to provide medical advice. Each pet owner should rely on the advice of his or her Veterinarian - the professional who best knows your pet's health. The following information is obtained from various sources:

FELINE FUS - The cat's urinary system has the vital task of filtering blood to remove the waste products and regulate the balance of water and minerals within the body. Feline Urological Syndrome (FUS) is a condition caused by an accumulation of fine crystals within the bladder and urethra, based upon a substance called struvite, which is a crystalline compound of magnesium. Professionals don't know why some cats develop the problem and others do not, but it is most common in inactive, overweight, neutered cats and many feel that diet does play a major role in causing it. Others feel that unsanitary cat box litter can also cause the development of certain infections.

The inflammation of a cat's bladder lining and urethra or the formation of urinary mineral deposits is not unusual. At one time, it was thought that the ash in the cat's food was responsible for urinary tract trouble. The latest findings show that ash may not cause the problem; it may occur because some cat foods contain excessively high levels of magnesium and tend to encourage the production of an alkaline urine. Considering that both these points, low ash and Magnesium are important in the prevention of FUS, Flint River Ranch diet is formulated with both low ash and low Magnesium (less than 0.095%).

A history of feeding a poor quality food over a long period of time increases the chance of bladder problems. This even includes quality "homemade" foods that are not properly formulated. Cat food should not be left out in the dish - your cat should be looking for food when the next meal is due. Teach them to eat at meal times. They can be fed twice a day; the amount eaten in 15-20 minutes is about the amount they should be fed at each meal. Adjust the food as you notice an increase or decrease in the animal's weight. Cats, as carnivores, are meant to eat infrequently and fast in between. It is not unusual for cats to refuse their regular food for several days - looking for a change in taste and texture. If your cat has been eating a certain food for a period of time and all of a sudden stops eating this does not mean the food is bad. Take it away for a few days and you will find that they will switch back. Many cat owners know this and keep at a second type of food on hand. The quality of the water is as important as the food diet. Provide your cat with pure water at all times, without chlorine or fluorine.

Crystals are formed over a long period of time. Changing a cat's diet to Flint River Ranch or to any natural food does not immediately cause a crystal problem. We have had customers feeding Flint River Ranch food for a couple of weeks and notice a crystal problem. They are concerned that the Flint River Ranch food caused this problem. This cannot be true; it takes months, even years for these crystals to form. Flint River Ranch products are formulated to help the animal body to holistically heal itself. What does happen - the diet starts a cleaning process of moving the waste products out of the cat's system. Vitamins, chelated minerals and nutrients are first digested in the stomach - then absorbed into the blood through the intestinal walls. For this reason, we encourage any diet change to a natural food be made over a period of time, to allow the cleaning process to happen slowly. Cat's love quality food; the pet owner tends to feed the nutritional food in quantities that are too large - causing the cleaning process, the elimination of waste, to sometimes happen too quickly.

Kittens that have grown up on Flint River Ranch diets - from pet owners that introduced the food properly and have fed Flint River Ranch diet for years - never seem to have a major crystal problem. We have a test group of 45 cats of various ages and breeds that have been eating Flint River Ranch Cat food for over 3 years without signs of any problems developing.

Veterinarians know that crystals, along with other health concerns, are often caused by diet. Changing food, along with antibiotic treatment is usually recommended. As improvement is noted, it is presumed the problem must have been the food. This is not always so. Perhaps in truth, the pet owner should continue with a natural diet as the pet's system is now adjusted to a natural food - the system is now mostly clean. We feel that using a food with chemical additives and low quality by-product ingredients will only create a new environment for the waste material and crystal problem to develop again over the years. Please read the ingredients label on pet foods. Be a concerned pet owner.

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