java, don't feel too badly. I also fed Meow Mix long ago, before I knew better.
Cats *do* love it. It's like kitty-crack.
Glad he's doing better.

Sherry

Java-
It is so good to know your cat is doing better now. I agree with you about the
cheap food...because one of my cats nearly died recently and I believe the food
(Fancy Feast) may have been partially responsible. The
vet is still - two months later- talking about "occult tumor", but the cat had
UltraSound which should have shown any tumor occult or otherwise and did not. I
believe the cat had and passed a kidneystone. Cat's  not urinating blood
anymore, is eating well (very well- Wellness food now!) and is friskier than
she ever was before. Importing the good stuff at whatever expense (we are in
Hawaii) is definitely worth it. I can live on tofu, but the cat can't.

www.mimiforsyth.com

which is why i feed my kats science diet, max kat, or diamond kat branded
premium food. cool thing is, max kat and diamond are cheaper than science
diet :)

-agent smith

You might find this interesting: Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease.

"Although we may be a little ignorant of some of the causes of FLUTD we
do know more about the risk factors. We know that the Persian cat is
more susceptible to the disease while the Siamese is rarely troubled.
The disease is seen more commonly in the neutered, indoor, overweight
cat fed on a dry diet. Exactly why each of these factors constitutes a
risk is not clear but it’s probably related to a fat, lazy cat’s bladder
being a bit like a stagnant pool. If we want to help prevent FLUTD we
are ideally aiming at reversing the risk factors. We want a slimline,
active cat who empties its bladder more frequently. Over the past few
years we’ve been extolling the virtues of dried food to help keep teeth
nice and clean and regulate gut function but when we consider current
issues affecting the feline bladder, we’re starting to review the need
for more fluid going into the system to help flush out the urinary
tract. We can achieve this by offering tasty gravy flavoured water or
even reverting to tinned foods".

Many pets can cope with cheap food, but some don't (like my dog), and then
it works out much more expensive.
I totally agree with you, and I've learnt my lesson the hard way; but I do
have a question: in many wet cat foods, in fact in most of hem, there's
sugar. Can that be good for the cats?

Carola

You may be doing the right thing but we have three cats, two males and one
female. We feed them a combinatination of common dry and canned cat food
from the Super Market.

They have had no problems with this diet over the past six years.