28/10/2024
The following was shared in a feral cat group I’m in. Just a PSA:
Hi fellow cat people
Some of you know I took in 11 of the 2 dozen or so friendlies left homeless at Apache Alazan Courts after the sudden death of one of their cat moms and subsequent eviction of her wife. Most of the others have been taken in by people who on FB who rallied to save the cats. One lady couldn’t foster any cats but brought me a 35 lb bag of Meow Mix, driving clear from the far NW side to my home on the SE side. Another lady living in Stone Oak brought me 4 cases of Fresh Step Crystals litter. There are some wonderful people in this world.
I was so grateful (& still am). I’ve never used the crystals litter because I imagined it would really track and be a mess. Although being able to assess your cats urinary health from time to time sounded genius. I’ve only fed Meow Mix rarely when my prefered brands weren’t available. I don’t like to use it because if they vomit it comes up red & orange.
I guess you wonder where I’m going with this right? I bought a bunch of wire cages hugely discounted on Amazon Day so I could keep the Alazan cats separate or in pairs to monitor their p**p, because a few have bad diarrhea. Before I got the Meow Mix donation the crystal litter was a lovely pure white like snow (aside from the p**p). After a few days there was the expected yellow urine patches. At the time I was feeding Costco’s Kirkland kibble but I ran out & since I had the Meow Mix started feeding them that. Overnight 3 cages’ litter turned bright blue & dark teal! I looked it up on the Fresh Step site which said that color means high PH (alkalinity), bladder stones, UTI, or a “high vegetable diet”. So I thought: Oh crap! 3 of these cats have UTI’s! By the next day even more had blue litter just not as dark. Conveniently by then the huge bag of Meow Mix had run out (I also feed 3 colonies totaling about 30 cats). So I bought more Costco kibble. I also changed out all the boxes with fresh litter. To my amazement no more blue p*e in the litter boxes. None at all. Pure white. And it’s remained so.
So I guess Meow Mix causes alkaline p*e and probably contains little or no meat. I’m sure if fed over time it would lead to urinary issues. Don't feed this stuff - not even to ferals! A feral with UTI or blockage usually just crawls off alone somewhere to die in pain alone. I’m amazed the FDA hasn’t recalled it but I’m reporting it right now. Tell your friends.