This video requires 2 previous videos for background! For more of a description on Billi’s chronic issues please see the video “Before Ouch, Now All Done”. For the history behind Billi calling wet food “bird food”, please see the video “Bird Food”.

None of our potential IBD/CKD friendly wet foods panned out, each one caused a tummy ouch for Billi. I’m back to the drawing board, but for extra variety in the meantime we have started adding a bit of hot water to the dry food and SHE LOVES IT Unfortunately it doesn’t mask the taste of her fish oil supplement, so I’ll have to keep trying to finagle that.

I always hesitate before posting food related videos, because inevitably comments turn to one of the following topics:

1. I can’t believe you’re feeding dry food, it’s the worst thing you could possibly give your pet!

2. Vets don’t know anything about nutrition, and subsequent vet bashing

3. Raw diets are the best thing you can feed your animals, it’s “natural”

Nutrition is complicated. Period. Nutrition for animals (and people) with chronic diseases is even more nuanced. While this channel isn’t really the forum for in depth nutritional discussions, I would like to preemptively discuss some of those points.

1. It’s not as simple as wet = good, dry = bad. Cats in general are pretty bad at drinking water, so if you have a kitty that doesn’t like to then wet food may be helpful! There’s tons of other ways to increase water intake though, and feeding dry food does not mean your cat will automatically be dehydrated.

2. Please. Don’t.
For those of you unfamiliar with Not One More Vet I’d recommend looking into the movement before you decide to say something you think is smart behind the cover of your keyboard.

3. Raw and homemade diets are not inherently bad, the biggest issues are making sure they are complete and reducing the risk of infectious dosease transmission (namely Salmonella). I’ve unfortunately seen the effects of well meaning owners that had been feeding what they thought was a good raw/homemade diet but it was missing necessary components. See the point above nutrition is complicated. If you decide to feed raw or homemade PLEASE consult a nutritionist before starting.

Food is love. That’s a consistent tenet across all cultures, and applies to our furry friends too. Please no hateful comments on this video, I won’t engage but I will remove you.

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Billi is a female domestic shorthair, she's 14 years old, her favorite word is mad.

Inspiration for learning to “speak” with buttons from Hunger4Words (check her out on IG).

Affiliate link for FluentPet buttons: https://flnt.pt/billispeaks

LinkTree for:
✨merchandise
✨website with FAQs and getting started resources
✨other button options
✨food puzzles
✨Instagram
✨TikTok
https://linktr.ee/BilliSpeaks

Want to learn more about the research study Billi and many other animals are in? Check it out here:
https://www.theycantalk.org/research