Eggs

[Ash]

Eggs are good for cats and dogs, but how many? Is it good to feed them daily? Weekly?

And which way is best for them, boiled, raw?

[Cleo]

On occasion I'll share some of my scrambled egg with the cats or mix it in their food. Sometimes they eat it, sometimes they don't We do the same for the dog but not on a daily basis and always cooked, usually scrambled. Raw eggs run the risk of salmonella which is any of a genus of usually motile enterobacteria that are pathogenic for humans and other warm-blooded animals and cause food poisoning, gastrointestinal inflammation, typhoid fever, or septicemia.

[Traci]

Eggs are not essential in the cat or dog's diet, as long as they are fed a high quality cat food. Feeding a mere bite or two of thoroughly COOKED egg probably won't do any harm, but don't make a habit of it.

Don't feed raw foods at all to cats.

[Cleo]

I've seen low and high end brand of canned food with egg already in it ... i.e. tuna and egg or beef and egg so the excess and addition of one isn't necessary.

[Traci]

True, there are egg products in many commercial foods (some vet diets too).

I should add that home-cooked versions of an egg and rice (both fully cooked) may occasionally be used as an equivalent vet diet for certain conditions, used on a temporary basis only.

On the other hand, for some cats, if food allergies, for instance, are a problem, eggs might be one primary ingredient to cease in a process of elimination.

[Cleo]

How would you detect a food allergy? Vomiting? diarrhea? Actually I remember way back when feeding Keeks Fancy Feast (because the vet at the time said it was the best) and she itched and itched, scratched and itched for weeks. It was only two flavors at the time and I eliminated the fish ... she stopped itching.

[Ash]

I've seen low and high end brand of canned food with egg already in it ... i.e. tuna and egg or beef and egg so the excess and addition of one isn't necessary.

Well, not here (India). We don't get canned pet food here. We get some dry food brands, the only Western one is Whiskas, plus a few Indian ones.

Since the imported dry food is very costly we can't feed it all the time. And the Indian one isn't of high quality, acc to my vet. So our cats and dogs don't get dry food exclusively.

We sometimes add fish, milk and eggs for the cats, and cooked rice with veggies plus meat/bones or soy granules for the dogs (on advice of my vet). We cook that especially for them, it's not our leftovers. The dogs also get eggs once a week.

My vet said that feeding meat to cats and dogs on a daily basis isn't good. The discussion came up when my friend's dog was diagnosed with more than 60 bladder stones. The vet said this might be due to the dog getting only meat (chicken), never anything else, and drinking too little water. (They changed his diet now, it now includes rice and veggies.)

Any advice on what veggies are good for dogs, and which aren't? Any good recipes?

[Traci]

Fish, (fresh, whole, canned or otherwise) fed in excessive amounts is detrimental to cats. Problems include thiamine deficiency, pansteatitis (yellow fat disease), high levels of unsaturated fatty acids and insufficient amounts of vitamin E and/or K.

Milk..most cats are lactose intolerant, milk (whole or otherwise) can cause diarrhea or constipation, GI tract upsets. If the milk is unpasteurized, it can contain harmful bacteria.

As for the meat, bones, soy and vegetables, I hope you are not also giving this to the cats as well.

If you have Whiska's available, while it is probably not considered a premium brand, it would still be nutritionally complete, and there would be no need to add anything fresh, whole, or raw to the cat's diet.

What are the dog foods available in your area?

What are the pet foods your vet generally recommends to his clients?

[Traci]

Cleo, the symptoms of a food allergy vary. Vomiting and diarrhea are two signs, but also fur-pulling or chewing, scabs or loss of fur in particular areas, open and sore postules around the face, head and neck regions, frequent or prolonged infections (ears, feline acne-like symptoms), and partial or eventual avoidance of the food.

[Ash]

The cats get fish about once in two weeks, not more often. They get milk about 3-4 times a week, not every day, and always diluted with water. It's like a little treat. And yes, it's pasteurised. Once a week they get an egg (one egg for the two of them). Their regular food is Whiskas alternated with another Indian dry cat food brand called 'Sportmix' (twice a day). They don't get the dog food we cook, although one of the cats likes boiled vegetables and if the dogs leave something leftover she will sometimes go and eat a piece of carrot or something.

The imported dog food brands I can't all remember, there are two or three, one is called 'Royal Pet', I think. But that is too expensive for us to feed regularly. My husband is totally against buying it.

The alternative is the Indian dog food brand 'Pedigree' (dry food), which is financially okay for us. But the vets seem to have divided opinions about it. One says it's good, the other one says it's not. She actually squeezed the glands on our dogs' behind when she was last here and said, what came out smelled like undigested Pedigree. That's why she suggested to feed it only sparingly, and cook rice, veggies and meat/soy for them as their main meal.

You have to consider that the majority of dogs in India are street dogs and live from leftover human food and what they find in the garbage bins (same is true for the cats here btw). Our dogs were street dogs before we took them in. To feed dogs a special food and spend a lot of money on it is still very new here, and my husband still frowns on it. I'm constantly haggling with him. Today I literally begged him stop by the butcher and get some liver for them.

I sometimes buy imported treats for them, you know, special dog and cat biscuits, chewy sticks and the like. My husband refuses to pay for it (we have each our own money).