Is high calcium cat food safe for my very active 2-year-old cat?

High calcium is not very commonly found in cats on well-balanced cat foods. Potential causes for hypercalcemia in cats include lab error or lipemic blood sample, cancer, kidney failure, bone disease, hyperthyroidism, toxic exposure, supplements, among a few others. I would recommend that you follow-up with your vet about these possible concerns. The vet may recommend additional testing, including an ionized Calcium level, which more accurately evaluates the calcium in the body than total calcium on most in-house blood panels.

Any commercial cat food should have the appropriate amount of calcium and calcium:phosphorous ratio to result in remineralization of the bone. This will not correct any limb deformity or fractures but should prevent these problems in the future. Veterinarians often recommend restricting activity to give the bones time to mineralize, but this often happens quickly ( within a month or so).

I wouldn't advise on giving Calcium supplements to your kittens unless they have a known calcium deficiency, or you risk overdosing their system with Calcium, which can have adverse effects such as weakness, exercise intolerance, muscle wasting, listlessness, muscle twitching, and lethargy. It is best just to give your kitties a high quality kitten food, which has all the nutrients and supplements they need for an overall healthy diet. I hope this helps! Best wishes with your new kitties and don't forget to get them fully vaccinated soon to protect them from common viruses and diseases (i.e. Feline herpesvirus, Rabies). Take care!

As long as your cat is eating a diet that has undergone feeding trials or is formulated to meet AAFCO standards and is eating an amount of food in the range recommended in the feeding directions on the label for his weight, then he is likely getting enough protein. As long as he does not have any underlying liver and/or kidney problems it does not matter how much protein you feed him. Please know that feeding a diet that is higher in protein than cats need does not result in any health benefits. For a healthy cat, excess protein is unlikely to be harmful, either. The extra protein will just be broken down by the body and eliminated in the urine.

Hello and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Although it won't cause any major health concerns right away it is best to avoid letting Sparkles eat kitten food. Kitten food tends to be higher in fats and calories so it can cause an adult cat to gain weight quickly. In general canned cat food is considered much healthier for cats so perhaps you can entice Sparkles away from the kitten food by offering him canned food instead. Good luck with Sparkles and your new kitten!

Properly balancing a home cooked diet for cats is extremely difficult, and is nearly impossible for growing kittens. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they require meat as the staple of their diets. They are also require a careful balance of amino acids, particularly taurine, to maintain optimal health. Nutritional deficiencies can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy, abnormal bone growth, or a host of other problems. I strongly recommend exclusively feeding Pelly a commercial kitten food to provide a proper nutritional balance for optimal growth. Royal Canin kitten food is a great option! You do not need to add additional foods or vitamins while feeding commercial diets. If you decide to feed more home cooked foods, try to wait until she is fully grown, and then only do so under the guidance of a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (including the recommendations found on www.balanceit.com). I hope this helps and that all goes well for Pelly!

Yes, I personally like Royal Canin diets. For her age, just the regular Adult food is fine. ( https://www.royalcanin.com/ca/en_ca/cats/products/vet-products?specialneeds=0ad835cc921d4d0cb3ee61a8cc461fbe&feedingperiod=78.3&filter=643ceeb4-c516-477f-96db-fd7ee1b41ec0 ) She can eat either wet or dry; whichever she prefers and what you can afford. Canned food can be very expensive if that is all you are feeding. You can also feed a combination of both wet and dry if you'd like. Feed her according to the directions on the packaging. If you do both wet and dry you need to make sure you don't overfeed her. She is already at her maximum weight so if you notice weight gain you will need to back off on how much you are feeding.