Hi Malimar's Mum,

What a beautiful cat you have - I too would like to add a little about Kidney failure as did one of the previous Pet Talkers.

I am a retired Veterinary Nurse and am quite dismayed at the level of ignorance in the cat community regarding the correct carnivour diet.

Cats are obligate carnivores (raw meat eaters) and unfortunately we have fallen into the trap of feeding them biscuits and tinned foods which are more convenient to us mainly because of our fast lifestyles today, However these foods are high in salt especially the biscuits, because cats would never eat a buiscuit so there has to be an incentive and that is salt.

Cats in the wild rarely need water, they derive their fluids from their kills (the stomach fluids)! But today we have to give them water because they are so thirsty - and to put it simply their kidneys can's cope with this amount of water, it is a vicious cycle. And this usually leads to kidney failure in our feline friends along with urinary tract infections especially in male cats who have a diet of biscuits alone.

So it is imperative to give your cat raw meats, especially chicken and some fish. They will not be interested in the beef type meats - too strong in flavour. So now because your cat has kidney failure you need to accept the processed foods that the vet has recommended because it has the correct nutrients to sustain your Malimar.

It is a huge task to educate the public about the correct cat nutrition simply because the veterinary profession sell and recommend processed foods because they reap the benefits of animal teeth cleaning and other problems associated with processwed food intake. It may sound cynical but it is a competative world for our veterinary practitioners believe me!

Best Wishes - Sue Kelly.