The Puffer Forum

Pandora114 wrote:Acctually with cats: Up the quality of protein. DO NOT limit the portions, just buy better protien. Rule of thumb when buying pet food: the better quality of protien = more expensive BUT when it comes to cats, the better quality protien they're fed, the thinner they are.

My cat *may his furry soul RIP* was the HEALTHYEST when he was eating nothing but mice caught in my apartment, and, canned tuna once a week. That's it. Took him to the vet shortly after moving back in with my mom, got him wormed, and the vet commented how healthy he was, lean, glossy coat, clean teeth with the least amount of periodontal disease he ever saw in a housecat. His health greatly deteriorated when he went on commercial cat food. I limited his intake too, only gave him half the reccomended portion. His bladder got blocked up with crystals, by the time we noticed anything was wrong it was way too late and his bladder broke and he died.

coincidence? Nope.

That's one of the problems with some high protein cat and dog foods, they use a binding agent to carry the protein and help make the more dense food hold it's shape. Usually the binding agent is an ash of some sort, this neutralizes the pH if the urine and they form crystals. My male cat has had problems with them and we switched to a low ash, high protein food and he still was shaped like a soccer ball.

Man, you must really have had a mouse problem!

It's not the AMOUNT of protien, it's the QUALITY of protien. Face it, you can buy a 3lb roast beef for $15 but 3lbs of hamburger costs $5 You get 3lbs of meat regardless, but it's the QUALITY of the meat and the protein in the meat. So, you can get Whiskas from the grocery store, for $10 or you can go to your vet and get a flat of cans for $70 you KNOW you're getting the better food from the vet because they use better QUALITY protiens in their food than Whiskas. You can go to McDonalds for their $1 hamburger, or the mom n pop grill up the road for a $5 hamburger. difference? Meat quality. you know that mom n pop grill is using real meat vs the McDonalds patties which is mostly fillers and biproducts (and not the good bi-products either such as kidney and liver)


yes Pufferpunk, I had a real nasty mouse problem. Had to do with the city I was living in, not my housekeeping skills. rodents a plenty on the escarpment, when it got cold, they came inside the houses. Lived in an old Brownstone apt building...so yeah lots of places for em to go in and nest.

ETA: Tetras and ciclids do perfectly "fine" on flake food. But you cannot argue that they thrive on natural raw foods such as bloodworms, misis shrimp, california blackworms...you get the idea. Puffers could do "fine" on flake food too if it weren't for their teeth, but you wouldn't dare give puffers flake right? It gives them fatty liver and stuff, so you feed them high quality foods, such as frozen/live blood/black worms, home bred snails and the like. You COULD feed em flake...doesn't mean you SHOULD. It is perfectly balanced and formulated for tropical fish needs. Same with Bettas. you CAN feed them the pellets, SHOULD you, knowing they eat worms and mosquito larva in their natural habitats? no. I think all of us on this forum can agree that flake food isn't the best choice for fish, no matter what kind. You want high quality protien, not ....whatever is in the flakes for $3. A months worth of Hikari bio-encapsulated bloodworms = $7 vs a months worth of flake at $2. No contest right?

In Olivers defense, he was a shelter cat for most of his life (about two years). so he didn't get much play time in his cage...but he has lost a little bit of weight since we've had him

Yup, looking at my notes here: High Quality Protien means you feed less because they don't need to eat as much to get what they need (cat's only)

I have noticed that Pookie changes colors alot more often than i thought..He does it after eating, during water changes, and when we give him "too" much attention! Josh pointed out that our bearded dragons kinda do the same thing when they are upset or cold. One dragon is yellow but turns brown at times of stress. I'm still a grasshopper but learning every day lol thanks for all your help guys!

Ever scarfed down a couple quarter pounders from Mcdicks? Your Puffer probably feels the same way lol.

good point!

Just thought that I'd put my 2 cents in:
Dogs are true predators and all predators will scavenge when they get the chance, the overeating is more likely to be the pack thing.
Most of the 'scavengers' ie Hyeanas also predate.

Puffer's struggle getting oxygen when they overeat.

Iliveinazoo wrote:Just thought that I'd put my 2 cents in:
Dogs are true predators and all predators will scavenge when they get the chance, the overeating is more likely to be the pack thing.
Most of the 'scavengers' ie Hyeanas also predate.

Puffer's struggle getting oxygen when they overeat.

dogs are scavengers with predatory instinct. cats are true predators. dogs gorge because of the pack thing, they can't really drag their kill up a tree to gnosh on it at leisure like a cat can

Pandora114 wrote:

Iliveinazoo wrote:Just thought that I'd put my 2 cents in:
Dogs are true predators and all predators will scavenge when they get the chance, the overeating is more likely to be the pack thing.
Most of the 'scavengers' ie Hyeanas also predate.

Puffer's struggle getting oxygen when they overeat.

dogs are scavengers with predatory instinct. cats are true predators. dogs gorge because of the pack thing, they can't really drag their kill up a tree to gnosh on it at leisure like a cat can

I tried not to post back - I really did but I drove to work this morning thinking about this comment and thought that I had to respond otherwise it will go round and round in my head for weeks, I'm such a geek!

Just because a Leopard can drag an impala up a tree does not mean that a dog is not a 'true' predator. I don't think that a Lion or a Tiger will drag a kill up a tree. How do you define the statement 'true predator'?
Foxes hunt small rodents, Wolves in the North American Continent hunt bison and the African Cape Hunting Dog pack(according to the BBC) has the highest kill to hunt ratio of any predator that has been studied.

Fair enough, a Jackal is considered a scavenger however it is still known to hunt.

Mmmmmm all that talk about McDonalds is making me hungry.LOL