STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I don't think any commercial toilet cleaners, even the eco-friendly ones, should be ingested.  You could skip chemicals all together and just use baking soda, but then I'd be more worried about Rocks catching some serious germs.

I'd say ten flushes after cleaning is probably a good precaution.  Our kitty will only drink out of a trickling tub faucet - is that something you think you could try converting Rocks to?  It's all the rage, you know ....

needsfashionadvice wrote:

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One of my cats and my dog are also toilet drinkers...almost exclusively.   I just clean with regular cleaners and flush like crazy afterwards.  I hate that they drink out of there but they seriously won't drink anything if they can't have it out of the toilet.  I've tried to convert my kitty to a slow running faucet but she wont' have anything to do with it.  My husband found this that we're thinking of getting lol.  I'm not sure it would fool them though.

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The little tiny toilet is just too much!  As for natural cleaning products, maybe check out the method products as previously recommended.  Pets are so weird - my cats are obsessed with drinking out of water glasses!

My cat was obsessed with water (literally would stand under the shower faucet after a shower) and especially the toliet water. I couldn't keep his water bowl full. Turns out he is diabetic, and the thirst was a response to his high sugars. This had developed slowly - I had thought it was a wierd obsession. Now he's on two insulin shots a day, but no longer is obsessed with water, and healthier than he's been in years (he's 9). I haven't seen his drink from the toliet in over 10 months (diagnosed 8/06).

If I had taken the time to learn about proper cat diet myself instead of listening to my vet when he told me x brand of wet food and dry food is fine for cats, I wouldn't be here. DRY FOOD is crack - its loaded with carbs - cats are carnivores. Even wet food you have to be careful with - the Iams brand and Science Diet I was feeding were over 20% carbs. Cats should have preferrably less than 10%.

I'll step down off my soapbox, but if you want more information - http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/index.html and http://www.mousabilities.com/nutrition/ and http://www.felinediabetes.com/ . Prevention is the key to feline diabetes...

Hi -

I currently feed all wet food, no dry AT ALL. It took a while (about 4-5 weeks) to transition, in fact spreading out the wet food on a tray and letting it dry out (also putting it in the oven at 250 for an hr helps but stinks!)- helped transition, when they didn't want to eat just the wet food. I also used crumbled up Halo Liv-a-littles beef, lamb or salmon and mixed that in with the wet to give it more flavor. Those treats are just dried meat/fish - which is the best type of treat (very low carb)- there are other manufacturers that are also just dried meats/fish too. They are more costly thsn the treats you find at say PetSmart but IMO worth it. I also cut up boiled chicken for treats/ to mix in their food ocassionaly. Others have used bonito flakes on wet food or just for a snack. In the end, a hungry cat will eventually eat, just make sure they don't go more than 36-48hrs without eating or they can develop hepatic lipidosis. Transition is about trial and error and your will to push them through the transition. I cried often when I couldn't get them to eat initially, begging a cat never really works. But I knew it was the best thing to do for them.

As for what I currently use - mostly a rotation of fancy feast gourmet flavors - beef, beef&liver,beef&chicken, liver&chicken. I also rotate in gourmet chicken and savory salmon (but they have a high amount of phosphorus - so I like to limit each of  them to once or twice a month). I also use FF flaked chicken&tuna as a treat since its 8% carbs. From the Pro-plan line my boys will eat ocean whitefish& salmon and chicken & liver, so I rotate that in too. I found if I tried to feed them the same thing to often - they start to refuse it. I feed them twice a day, sometimes with a small snack of half a can.

I'd prefer for them to eat better quality cat foods like wellness or nature's variety or wysong - but all my attempts failed. Not to say FF isn't good quality- the other's protein sources are better quality. I also tried getting them to eat raw, especially since my one cat is a vomiter and I suspect has some irritable bowel disease. I tried http://felinespride.com/aboutus/mission.aspx but with limited success.

As for information on nutrition - PLease see http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm AND http://catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label for more information and use http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/index.html to help find low carb cat foods that your cat may like and that fit in your budget (cause that's important too!) Generally though - avoid ANYthing with wheat gluten or "gravy" type foods, those are typically the highest carbs wet food.

Once I got my non-diabetic cat on this diet he lost 2 lbs (down from 15lbs) and looks leaner and is more active than ever, despite being 9! My diabetic cat had lost some weight from the diabetes before he was diagnosed, but had been obese originally (17lbs). He now is a healthy 14lbs and at 9 years old - fiester and more affectionate.

Good luck to you. Read all you can, educate yourself, and you're cat will thank you..well... in their own way.