As a person owned by 4 cats 7 cats if I count the neighbors cats (outside) I can attest to the truth of the Cat Rules. The only one that the cats have not done is drinking water from the faucets. But I do have a tabletop fountain that they love to play in and splash water all over the couch from. Tube mouse and hampering reading is a favorite of 2 of the cats.. one in particular does not stop with just capturing the tube mouse when he gets to the tube mouse he then turns his attention to shredding every tiny piece of TP all over the bathroom floor. Never a dull moment around here. I have some hampering going on right now..the TP attacker is walking back and forth in front of the monitor. Oh yah, it's time to feed them. SEE they have me well trained. :-) If I am a bit slow with the feeding he will go and recruit the "head butter" to climb in my lap and start with the head butting under my chin... OK OK... time for food, rubbing my chin,Pat

My cats were on Royal Canin Prescription Weight Control 38 for years. They were gaining weight on it. I couldn't cut quantity as they were sooo hungry already. I did a lot of reading when all the recalls came out, and decided two things. (1) Most weight control diets are just junk. They decrease protein/fat and increase carbs. Cats do not need carbs. They need high protein, moderate fat, low carb food. FYI - in my opinion the Innova reduced fat CANNED food is higher in carbs that I wanted - and my cats didn't like it. Has a very odd consistancy too. Can't speak about the dry food, though as I they have not had it. (2) And for me, I decided it was time to switch to wet. Two of my cats are eating 100 % canned food. Although my IBD cat just won't make the change and insists on eating at least 50 % dry food. In many cases it is better because it provides needed moisture as cats have a low thirst drive and generally most dry foods are high in carbs. Innova EVO and Wellness Core dry are exceptions - but they are both very high in calories. As for the two companies, I feel the same way about Innova as you did. Plus when I asked them for information about their Innova red can food they kept insisting they were going to send me info and never did - despite repeated emails, phone calls, etc. So, that also left a bad taste in my mouth. Despite that, my IBD cat still gets the stuff in the red can - although it may be time for a switch as I think he is getting tired of it. Wellness is pretty transparent about sharing nutrition information about their food. If you ask them, they will email you a detailed excel spreadsheet listing the various nutrient levels and protein/carb/ratio - already nicely converted to a dry matter basis for easy review. My IBD cat didn't do well on Wellness canned, but the other two have been eating the canned food since May. The IBD cat has been eating some Wellness Core for a while too. Mother two cats were overweight. Since switching them from the lowest calorie dry food I know of (the RC Weight Control 38), they have finally lost weight eating the Wellness canned. Wilson has lost almost 2 lbs - he is now at the point where I need to increase his calories some as he is still loosing weight and shouldn't be. Bo has lost 2 lbs as well and has 1/2 lb to go (he started at 18.5 lbs). They have a lot more energy and have done really well since loosing weight. Bo is 8 years old and he was just running and jumping with Da Bird - something he would never do a few months agao. Good luck! By the way, you may want to check the itchmo forums if you haven't already. There is lots of reading there about both food companies. Good luck!

How I Loooooove these cat stories!! I couldn't help getting a few tears in my eyes but so many more laughs!!! At 73, I can't say I ever remember a time I didn't have at least one weaving in and out of my legs, tail up, meowing either for attention or food. A few even tried to use me as a scratching post !lol My bff in IL takes in rescues, and at the moment has 21 or 22. The 100 yo historic home she bought 9 years ago came with 2 separate garages, one housing the majority of the kitties, the other is used for storage, but she always keeps the big door open a foot at the bottom, and knows *other* critters take part in the 'vittles' also. Sthe has either 4 or 5 in the house, one being a mama cat w/7 kittens, the very start of her rescue 'mission'. She gave away 2 of those kittens(after neutering!),and never stopped regretting it. They have all found a forever home with her. Her vet/food costs are insane, and when I visited in the summer we found worms in one of the litter pans, and in a two day period, took every cat into the vet to be dewormed. That was $400. It's neverending work! Whenever I call she's scooping, feeding, or rocking one of them in the old rocking chair that was moved out to the garage. She also donates to almost every animal organization known to man, even if it's only $5. She's a one-woman rescue shelter, and I wish I were closer to help. We always say we like animals more than people because animals can't help their situatuon, but people usually can.

Hi! He seems good to go today. Eating, drinking, using the litter with no problems. I put a call into the new vet this morning but didn’t get to talk with her until almost closing. Understandable as crazy busy as they are. She said no kidney stones on the x ray but mentioned she couldn’t be sure of this or that without bloodwork or urine analysis. I bit my tongue. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that while he was there. His last labs were good and I was so focused thinking he was constipated. She mentioned his anal glands (that sounds so icky!) were very full. I’m sure that wasn’t helping anything. We talked about food again and she said the grain free ones have a lot of fat, but I’m still not on the cat needs grains band wagon. I’m going to do a thorough sit down comparison of a few dry ones. He was just at our normal vet a few weeks back for an updated rabies shot (indoor only but needs one to go to the groomer). DH took him but I didn’t realized until today his weight was down (same) at both appointments. DH was telling me how vet was pleased about that. This new vet encouraged wet food because of the additional moisture plus I add water. Past few days I’ve been feeding both of them Wellness Core Pate turkey and duck and they very much like it. There’s been no vomiting from it (or in general). The more I thought about it the specialty vet is a few hours away and he doesn’t do well with car rides so I’m tucking that place aside for now and am going to try and stay closer to home. I’m going to contact our regular vet to talk about food and weight and probably schedule another appointment. Neither one seem to have hairballs. I will say their grooming habits could be better so that probably factors in too. :) New vet suggested moving water fountain to encourage more drinking. Going to order one. So much for matching pretty food and water dishes! Thank you for all the thoughts and suggestions! I’m looking into the raw food too and will talk with vet about that as well.