Wrong food

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Ash
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Wrong food

Post by Ash »

My friend with the dog who had bladder stones got a 2 kg bag of Royal Canine Veterinary Diet Renal RF16, but his dog won't touch it. So, hearing of Noodle's calcium oxalate crystals he thought I could feed it to her and brought the already opened, but still almost full bag, round to us.

Now, I know better and won't give this to her as her main food, but I suppose a little treat once in a while won't harm her? And all the others (Tommy and dogs) for that matter? Soon the monsoon will start and the bag is already open. With the extremely high humidity the food will start to mould, and it would be a shame to let this obviously high quality and very expensive product go to waste.

So, is a little treat of it inbetween meals, or mixing some in with their regular food alright?
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Traci
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Re: Wrong food

Post by Traci »

Noodles is the cat, right?

So, No.

Dog food is not appropriate for cats.

Cats who are on a restricted diet (or prescription diet) for managing struvites or oxalates should NOT be fed anything outside of the diet, at all. If you do, you risk a set-back or continued problems with crystals, not to mention the hampering of the ability to get them dissolved/resolved.
..........Traci
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Ash
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Re: Wrong food

Post by Ash »

Okay. Yes, Noodle is the cat.

But I can give that food to the dogs sometimes as treats?
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Traci
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Re: Wrong food

Post by Traci »

The problem with the prescription diet is that it contains a reduced protein amount, so it wouldn't be appropriate to feed healthy adult dogs. You could use it as treats, and only give a few kibbles at a time, but by the time you get to the end of the bag, you might already have a bag of rancid food (and depending on when it had been opened, check the expiration on the bag). Also, since changes in the diet often cause diarrhea, you'd have that to contend with as well. Bottom line, it is not in the dogs' best interest to feed a prescription diet for any length of time unless they are being managed for the condition the diet was intended to treat.

Your friend, could have taken the bag back to his vet for a refund or exchange, had he done so immediately after opening the bag.
..........Traci
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Ash
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Location: Asia

Re: Wrong food

Post by Ash »

Yes, it has only 18% protein I think. It still smells good though, but I want to get rid of it before the rains start.

I might keep some here to feed as kibbles, and take the rest and give it to street dogs. The problem with many of them is only that they don't touch dry food at all. I tried before, many only look at me confused. But a few like it. I'll do a round next week, make some of them happy. :wink: It probably still has more protein than what they usually get/find.
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