2008 Contributor
Okjayhawkgirl
Tulsa, OK

One of the worst cat foods out there

1 star rating

not rich, an animal lover, a pet pamperer, selective about pet food, a cat lover, a cat owner, an animal rescurer, a cat fancier
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Cons
    Dangerous to neutered cats, nothing but filler, poor nutrition, too risky

JUN
19
2008

Special Kitty should come with a warning to anyone that owns a neutered male cat.  Having worked as a veterinary technician for 4 years and having male cats myself, it makes me cringe when someone tells me they are feeding Special Kitty.  This particular cat food, and others of similar quality are known to cause a higher incidence of urinary blockage in neutered male cats.  This condition can only be treated with a VERY expensive surgery or a procedure to try and unblock your kitty, which also very expensive and often times doesn't work.  Male cats have a very small urethra, and can get a mucous plug that blocks the ability to pass urine.  This can occur in any male neutered cat, but occurs more often with poor quality cat food.  Females are not at risk for this to happen, due to their anatomy.

I had a neutered male cat several years ago that got a blockage, and luckily at the time I had the funds to pay for surgery to save him.  I believe it was around $1,500 at the time and that was many years ago, without this surgery he would have died.  Guess what, he ate Special Kitty.  I know it is more affordable than other cat foods, but even moving up a few notches in price will help.  In a perfect world I wish everyone could feed IAMS, Science Diet, Royal Canin or Eukanuba.  Not to say that these foods will 100% prevent a blockage.

When buying cat food, look at the ash content.  Special Kitty has a very high concentration of this, which from what I understand contributes to blockages.  With all the fillers in Special Kitty, you will also see more poop in the litter box.

Don't feel like a bad person if this is what you are feeding, not everyone can afford the more expensive brands and it doesn't mean you do not love your cat.  Just be aware of this problem in male cats, know the signs and do your best.  Remember not all neutered male cats will block if you use Special Kitty, talk to your veterinarian and maybe they can recommend an affordable brand with a little higher quality.

I hope this was helpful and just my opinion.



I_thumb_up Special Kitty cat food is recommended by Okjayhawkgirl

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I_comment_shdw24 Comments about Okjayhawkgirl’s Review

 


jennng wrote on Jul 10, 2009 at 10:07PM

Are you referring the Special Kitty dry food? It is bad and actually any dry is bad for blockages, among other things: diabetes, ibd, renal issues and more. Dry food processed, grain laden and is species inappropriate food and bad for cats in general. Cats are obligate carnivores and require a meat- based, low carb, usually high protein diet. Vets and vet techs are often ill informed about basic nutrition and species requirements. Hills Science diet is actually considered a junky, quite bad diet for cats. I actually think it's quite an unethical situation in relation to the Vet industry. Please do some research other then what Pet food reps tell you and the vets. Look at the web site of an informed Vet Dr. Lisa Pierson @ http://www.catinfo.org
Special Kitty canned is an okay cat food, mainly the ones without gluten, or other grains.
Cats do best on a quality low carb canned food or raw diet.
Please inform yourself about feline diets....Thank you.

Beth52 wrote on Apr 15, 2009 at 11:31AM

all the Good foods listed have 1 or more o f "bad " things listed. By products , all iams is is corn products . first ingredients , look at the first 4 ingredients of food .

JoeBlack wrote on Oct 30, 2008 at 10:16PM

what's ash? I don't see any "ash" in the ingredient of special kitty.

JoeBlack wrote on Oct 30, 2008 at 10:16PM

what's ash? I don't see any "ash" in the ingredient of special kitty.

joyjoy wrote on Jun 19, 2008 at 12:30PM

When I was a girl my cat died of uremic poisoning caused by a urinary blockage. When the vet told us it was caused by the high ash content in his food I checked all the labels. At that time the only one with low ash was Purina. My cats have eaten this brand for almost forty years and never any more problems.