You may recently come across some information about problems with a kitten’s diet.  This was information that was written as a warning and for discussion among a closed group of vets and was not intended to be more widely available.

As it has now gone out more widely, we wanted to explain the problem more coherently so there is no confusion.

We have unfortunately seen a disease called nutritional hyperparathyroidism in a kitten that resulted in euthanasia of that kitten. This is a disease that occurs when there is inadequate calcium in the diet.

To ensure that you are feeding fully balanced diets the easiest thing to do is to make sure you feed a diet manufactured by a company that is a member of the Pet Food Manufacturers Association. A full list of their members is available on their website but most well known supermarket brands of food are on there. You do not need to worry about checking the contents of diets that are manufactured by companies on their list, as they have to meet the required standards to be on that list. However, always check that it says on the food packet that this is a complete diet. If it says complementary this is just a supplementary food that can be fed as a treat, but an additional complete food still needs to be fed to meet your cats nutritional requirements.

If for whatever reason you want to feed a diet that is manufactured by a company that is not on their list then please consult your vet to check that it is a balanced diet containing adequate essential components, for example taurine, and also the calcium:phosphorus ratio in the diet. This information is unlikely to be provided on the food packets; the manufacturers would need to be contacted for that. Diets consisting solely of high quality cuts of meat will often contain inadequate calcium. The optimal ratio for calcium to phosphorus is 1.2 : 1 to 2 : 1.

The petfoods of concern are being looked into and the matter is being taken seriously. However, because investigations are currently underway any further information at the moment remains confidential.

The majority of diets available are very good high quality diets especially formulated for the specific requirements of cats so this is not meant to worry people. These are just precautions to take to ensure that you avoid the minority of diets that may not reach the necessary criteria.