FOOD WARNING

[tjrusert]

It's been over 9 months since I lost my sweet little love, Foofy. And I still grieve over her. This is not a question but a precautionary story. She was about 10 years old when I noticed that one of my three cats was barfing more often. I wasn't sure which one it was. But I had free fed them Iams dry cat food for their entire lives with some canned food as a supplement. Many ppl had told me that I should upgrade their food so with this new barfing going on I decided that it would be a great time to do that. Because of our busy lifestyle and some health issues of my own, I still wanted to free feed with dry food and supplement with canned food. We live in the country and the closest town is a relatively small one about 10 miles away. So I went there in search of a better brand of cat food. The only thing I found was Blue Buffalo. I had been told by several ppl that it wasn't the best but it was way better than the Iams that I was giving my babies. This turned out to be a fatal mistake. They all seemed to like the food but we didn't use it up as fast as I had expected. I was going to go to a bigger town when it was finished and see what else I could find. Within a month of switching foods I could tell that Foofy had lost weight just by picking her up. So I took her to the vet. They confirmed the weight loss but said she seemed healthy. And they told me to continue the Blue Buffalo. But I wasn't convinced so I immediately went to get her some all natural cat food. I don't remember the brand. She hated it. So I went back to Iams just to try to settle her tummy. As the months went by she got progressively worse. I took her to a new vet. This lady had retired from one of the largest animal hospitals in NYC and had opened a small clinic about a 45 minute drive from us. I took her in about 3or 4 times. This is a world class vet. And the final diagnosis was Inflammatory Bowel Disease. My girl was literally starving to death. Food wasn't being absorbed through her intestines. And why did this happen?  She had a reaction to switching her food. Now I'm not going to blame the brand Blue Buffalo. But I will say that you should really read up on the company. I read some things about the parent company that bothered me. But I can't say that this illness was their fault. Foofy went from a very healthy 10 lb kitty to a very sick 4 lb kitty in just 8 months. We tried everything we could. I cooked for her and the vet tried everything she could think of. She died last June. My warning is this. If your cats are happy and healthy with the food you are giving them, then please don't change it. If you do change their food, please read everything you can about the new food and the company that makes it before you switch. I regret this everyday. It was a terrible way to lose someone you love. I just wanted to tell you all this so your babies don't suffer like Foofs did. Thanks for reading