New Pet Store on Highland?

[eredien]

Hi there! I moved back to Somerville after 6 months out of town, and saw that the place that used to be Your Move Games is now a pet store called "Bone Appetit." Has anyone shopped there? Do they have mostly cat and dog stuff as their website suggests, or do they have stuff for other pets, too? How are their prices?

The two main things I would love to buy at a local pet store are:
- Scoopable cat litter
- Insects for gecko food

I would really rather support local pet stores, but don't like Big Fish Little Fish because, well, their animals have looked really sick and sad every time I've ever been in there. I used to go sometimes to Stinky Kitty's up in Ball Square, but now that my cat's on prescription food for her allergies, they have nothing I could really use except for the occasional cat toy. Animal Spirit is ok, and close to me, but kind of expensive.

It would be great if I could get some crickets/mealworms for my leopard gecko without constantly running to petsmart in Alewife on my bike as fast as I can once it starts to snow, so the insects don't freeze to death on the bike ride home.

Comments

[eredien]

Thank you for the suggestions about good cat foods, everybody, but as I said my cat can only eat prescription cat food so unless you know somebody around here that sells Royal Canin HP hypoallergenic prescription dry cat food in bulk...I've looked and can't even find it online. It really seems to be a vet-only item. :(

(My cat tears out all her hair and smells awful on any other food, even the premium-quality stuff I had her on before she was diagnosed).

[eredien]

I have had good experiences with Angell for my gecko, but I basically have to take a half-day off work whenever I want to get there. I may get a second opinion for my cat if the current vet can't figure out what's wrong with her skin the next time I take her in. Thanks for the suggestion.

[witchdogtor.livejournal.com]

You asked for scoopable litter and insects for your gecko, and I'm sorry that I can't help you there. You're not looking for a new cat food, but I urge you to look into a food more appropriate for feline nutritional needs. I understand that your cat has a food sensitivity and it was hard to find anything that didn't cause a reaction, but - as you know - cats are carnivores and require the amino acid profiles found in animal meat. I'm a pet herbalist who has worked with a nutritionist, and I see a ton of pets with food sensitivities that can be resolved with a more appropriate diet (cheaper and more accessible, too). When reading the ingedient panels of the "prescription" diets, it's clear that they are comprised mainly of cheap fillers, with a couple of key ingredients near the bottom to suppress symptoms. Royal Canin' HP starts off with rice, soy protein isolate hydrolysate, chicken fat, natural flavors (huh?), and powdered cellulose. There are so many things wrong with this that they have to add DL-methionine to offset the certain urinary issues caused by the fact that your carnivore is eating nothing but grains. These "veterinary formula" companies spend more on marketing than actual nutrition, and a good vet will identify the trigger and get your cat on the correct species-appropriate formula.

[eredien]

I *totally* agree that cats should have meat+taurine, etc. in their diets. I was sad that the first ingredient in the prescription food was rice and not meat, but I would have been sadder to have my cat continue harming herself and stinking up the house. When I adopted my cat, the humane society didn't know she had food sensitivities, and neither did I--I fed her Blue Buffalo with *great* results until about 6 months in she started tearing all her hair off (poor naked kitty) and her litter smelled worse than any cat I have ever smelled (and I used to work in a vet kennel, so I know how bad sick cats can smell)!

When my cat goes in for her next vet appointment, I will ask them for another recommendation of perhaps a different hypoallergenic cat food, and more tests. I've brought her to two different vets, and gotten a variety of possible diagnoses, but from all my experience and what I've been reading, there are a lot of reasons why cats might tear out their hair, and it's a hard problem to fix; even the vets themselves seemed a bit stumped. I know they want my cat to be as healthy as possible; I could see they were frustrated that the previous tests came back pretty much negative for specific problems.

In the meantime I am trying to reduce her stress and make sure she gets plenty of love, playtime, and water, as I know that urinary tract infections are a problem w/cats generally, anyway. She loves her kitty fountain.

Thanks for your suggestion.

[witchdogtor.livejournal.com]

If she was fine on Blue Buffalo until 6 mos in, it sounds like they added something to the formula that triggered her sensitivities. It happens all the time, and a common culprit with dogs is chicken fat. Unfortunately, they have up to 6 months to even change the packaging to reflect the change, but calling the company to ask is a good place to begin. Then you know a trigger and how to avoid it in a new food choice.

I have a lot of respect for vets, but it's so frustrating that they get little to no nutritional training, except from the reps of Hill's Science Diet, Royal Canin, and Purina. It baffles me, really. I deal with so many dogs with food sensitivities which the vet doesn't understand and just puts the pet on these crappy "prescription" formulas when, in fact, switching to a good single-source, novel protein food alleviates the issue (and provides far better nutrition).

Feel free to email me at canis_major@mac.com if you'd like to dig deeper into resolving her issues. Best of luck.