Reddit reviews The Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats

I make my own cat food. A few years ago, my 18 month old cat nearly died several times from bladder stones, and our vet was not able to diagnose the cause (usually a cat will be overly acidic or overly alkaline, mine was neither). A prescription diet did not resolve our issues.

A friend told me about the success he was having with the Whole Pet Diet. It has multiple recipes for food and treats that are all natural.

I have been making a batch of "Spot's Stew" since fall of 2007, supplemented with a couple extra livers, occasional fish oils, flax seed, and a little bit of higher quality kibble.

My cats are the picture of health, and their coats are very nice - they don't shed like other people's pets I meet. Their waste smells less, and their vet check ups have been clean, including blood work.

I spend about $8 a week on food, and it takes me about 3 hours to complete a batch.

One thing no one in this thread has mentioned yet is that unlike other mammals, cats cannot synthesize an amino acid called taurine - they must get it from their food. Taurine largely comes from liver, but that can be dangerous for cats, as a high protein, fatty diet can severely tax their kidneys (which are already prone to failure.)

The one thing I do differently from the Whole Pet Diet is exclude garlic. I used it for years without issue, but there is some evidence that it can cause a form of anemia in dogs. I decided I'd rather not take the chance of my cats developing Heinz Body Anemia.

Good luck! We take these animals into our homes, the least we can do is feed them properly. It's our choice, not theirs.