I got this email from Laura — not the first time someone has been concerned about Thailand as a source of Weruva.

I emailed a while ago regarding my cat’s recurring UTI issues.  Thanks to your advice, I switched to Weruva and my cat Leo has been doing great!  In fact both my cats love the Chicken Soup.  They both eat 1/2 a can (5.5 oz) twice a day… is that too much?  If I try feeding them less, the both sit in the kitchen and meow loudly for more.

My other question is, bought a case of Weruva to minimize the number of trips to the store, and the label on the box indicated that it was a “Product of Thailand”.  I thought that this food was manufactured in the US in human-grade facility.  Are the food and factory standards in Thailand comparable to the US?

I’d love your opinion on this.

First of all, let your cats guide you in how much food they need at each meal. The CAT CHAT® rule is that you give them as much as they will eat in about 15 minutes and then pick up the dish. So even if they can eat an entire can apiece, that would be okay. In all likelihood, once the excitement and novelty of eating real food wears off, their appetite will stabilize and they will probably want only half a can at each meal.  However, cats will not over eat (like people and Labrador Retrievers do!) so there is no downside to being generous with the wet food, especially when it is as good a quality as Weruva.

Secondly, I don’t know whether you are aware that you can get Weruva from Pet Food Direct, who also gives a 20% discount to my listeners. You need to put CATCHAT20 in the coupon code box — and you can also order a mixed case of Weruva with an assortment of flavors. They also now have a less expensive line of food called BFF (Best Feline Friend) which is fish-based, so you’d only want to use that a couple of times a week since fish is not the most desirable protein source for cats.

Lastly, your concern about the safety of food coming from Thailand is a worry I have heard about before.  I think we’re all pretty suspicious of ingredients and foods coming from China, but Thailand is a completely different country, with very little in common with China except that they are both in Asia. Thailand actually has much more restrictive regulations about what can go into pet food so their standards are higher than the U.S. standards for pet food. There is a letter in my blog from David Forman, the founder of Weruva, explaining to another customer how the Thai food industry follows the British rules and regulations, which are apparently more stringent and cautious than our own.  Here is David Forman’s answer on the cat food made in Thailand issue. Standards for pet food in the United States are pretty lax, while countries like Thailand use the British code which is much more strict.

It’s so great when a nice person like Marisa calls into CAT CHAT® with a feline issue and winds up changing her dog’s whole diet! I love being worshipped by America’s smart dogs and cats for sending them to Spot’s Stew!

I was the person who called in to Cat Chat® yesterday with the pregnant feral cat outside her house – thanks for taking my call. After I spoke with you I took your advice and contacted Alley Cat Allies – visited their website and requested information about “friends of feral cats” in Texas and I am still waiting for their response. As of tonight I have moved her to the garage. She is NOT happy about it… but at least she is safe. I will keep you updated on the situation.

On a side note, I want you to know how much my two pets have benefited from me reading your two books (The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible). Both of my pets (one dog and one cat) had a 2 UTI within months of each other. I happen to stumble upon your radio show one evening and heard you preaching the canned food word! I switched them over to high quality canned food shortly after and they haven’t had any such problems since! Glenn (my dog) would dedicate his life to you, if he knew you were responsible for him eating his delicious Spot’s Stew each day!

Thanks so much, Marisa

The Dog Bible

d

This lady really took my nutrition advice to heart and I’m gratified. Putting a young dog on Platinum was also really brilliant, as it will protect her joints as she ages.

Tracie -

I picked up your book at the library the other day, and have been reading parts of it that pertain to us and our 2 year old Shih Tzu! Her name is Cinnamon, and she is a pure bred that overall has been a great dog. After listening to you on Sirius the past year, we have changed her diet from Avoderm (which wasn’t that bad), but now she eats like a princess. Her diet consists of chicken, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, rice (not all at once), but she really enjoys the variety, and never turns her nose up to her food anymore. And for breakfast, we make scrambled eggs, cottage cheese or yogurt! I also want to thank you for recommending the Platinum Performance, we got her started on it a year ago, and she is very energetic. My husband takes her running. She is for sure a “large dog” in a small dog body, because she loves to run for miles!! I want to thank you for changing her and our life too!

My questions are:

1. Cinnamons yearly shots are coming up (Bordatella shot) and a fecal one (not sure if this is a shot), but I wanted to know if the yearly shots are necessary for a 2 1/2 year old dog? We don’t take her to kennels, or dog parks, just walks in the neighborhoods?

2. We have noticed in the past week or so she has been peeing ALOT more, and she has a gooey matter coming from her girl area down there. After listening to you, I assumed it could be a UTI, and so my husband called the vet today. They asked we bring in a urine sample to test it. I think what threw my husband off was today, she went pee in the middle of the kitchen on the rug. She has never done that before! Anything “natural” we can do to cure this UTI, or should be take her in the vet for a check up?

I hope you can help out, we haven’t had one health problem with her since we have started the all natural diet and again “THANKS”!!!!

PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks,
Page, Charlie & Cinnamon from Seattle

Dear Page and Family -

I am delighted to know you love my radio show and The Bible, but since you do, why don’t you BUY a copy of The Dog Bible and you’d have all the info you need right at your fingertips?? It would have told you that OF COURSE those symptoms show that darling Cinnamon needs to get right to the vet — but by now that urine test will have shown a UTI and she’ll be on antibiotics. Remember to give her a few spoons of yogurt every day hours before or after her pills and for a week following the end of the tablets to protect her digestive tract from the medication.

As for yearly vaccinations: Noooooooooooo! Never yearly. The Dog Bible explains why — as do loads of postings on my blog and website Q&A. And absolutely not the Bordatella. Please keep a copy of The Dog Bible by your bedside so all these important answers will be right where you need them! And then you’ll get an autographed bookplate, too.

Tracie