- Joined
- Jun 4, 2026
- Messages
- 16
1. I have an 11 year old male cat named Melon.
2. He's neutered.
3. He's a long haired tan/orange cat, so maybe domestic long hair?
4. I don't know his weight but he's on the smaller side for cats, he's always been slim.
5. Energy is okay but sometimes he sleeps a lot. Appetite I think seems to be good generally. Mood—he is very affectionate with us at times, he enjoys getting pets daily and spending time together. He will follow the sun and move positions throughout the day. (He's an indoor cat only in a house). For behavior though sometimes he will be in weird moods where he will try to find plastic and attempt to eat it, like plastic bags, plastic straps, plastic safety seals, and sometimes even carpet. It seems to happen the most after he wakes up from a nap and we have to keep an eye on him and always make sure to keep plastic out of reach.
There are times we have not seen him or only caught him after he's already eaten the plastic with failing to grab it out of his mouth in time, and he tends to throw it back up not too long after. He's the first cat I've ever had that has done this.
He's also a very quiet cat, barley meows and when he does it's usually kind of a whisper meow. The only time I hear full on meows from him is when we've gone in the car to the vet and back.
6. He's currently on Purina One 7+ Indoor Advantage chicken kibble.
7. He's been vaccinated with some vaccines, both rabies and a few other shots that the vet has convinced us to get at the time many years ago, forget the names. But however as of the last few years we've decline vaccines other than the state mandated rabies shot and plan to keep it that way.
He's not on any other medication right now but in the past our vet has given him some sort of shots for allergies, but his BEAM went down with them, anytime he would get any shots or vax he wouldn't be himself for days.
8. I bought Honest Kitchen Dehydrated chicken cat food and want to transition Melon to it, but not exactly sure how. Melon currently has a bowl of kibble that's down on the floor at all times, so I'm not sure how to navigate switching to 2 meal times a day instead of down on the floor all day with the Honest Kitchen food, or how exactly to mix the Honest Kitchen hydrate and the kibble together or how much of each.
Melon also sometimes throws up without it being initiated by eating plastic I believe, not super often but sometimes. I've noticed it happen the most when he's sleeping or shortly after waking up, but not always. Sometimes he will also get into plastic eating moods shortly after throwing up too...
Also worth mentioning Melon has hot spots where he gets itchy on his head between his eyes and ears (both sides) and will scratch until they're raw and bleeding sometimes, and he also gets black crusty stuff on his ears and eyes and nose. Around his eyes it will be goo that dries like a brown black color. Our local conventional vet we see has said those things were allergies and has given him a shot for them but we don't want to go that route anymore.
He also has a bit of cloudiness in one spot on one if his eyes.
I'm hoping by switching his diet to Honest Kitchen these issues will improve, and maybe down the line switching to raw food but right now Honest Kitchen is a good stepping stone for us.
How would you suggest I transition Melon from kibble available 24/7 to the Honest Kitchen dehydrated cat food re-hydrated twice a day? And do you have any other insights for me?
@Dr. Jeff
2. He's neutered.
3. He's a long haired tan/orange cat, so maybe domestic long hair?
4. I don't know his weight but he's on the smaller side for cats, he's always been slim.
5. Energy is okay but sometimes he sleeps a lot. Appetite I think seems to be good generally. Mood—he is very affectionate with us at times, he enjoys getting pets daily and spending time together. He will follow the sun and move positions throughout the day. (He's an indoor cat only in a house). For behavior though sometimes he will be in weird moods where he will try to find plastic and attempt to eat it, like plastic bags, plastic straps, plastic safety seals, and sometimes even carpet. It seems to happen the most after he wakes up from a nap and we have to keep an eye on him and always make sure to keep plastic out of reach.
There are times we have not seen him or only caught him after he's already eaten the plastic with failing to grab it out of his mouth in time, and he tends to throw it back up not too long after. He's the first cat I've ever had that has done this.
He's also a very quiet cat, barley meows and when he does it's usually kind of a whisper meow. The only time I hear full on meows from him is when we've gone in the car to the vet and back.
6. He's currently on Purina One 7+ Indoor Advantage chicken kibble.
7. He's been vaccinated with some vaccines, both rabies and a few other shots that the vet has convinced us to get at the time many years ago, forget the names. But however as of the last few years we've decline vaccines other than the state mandated rabies shot and plan to keep it that way.
He's not on any other medication right now but in the past our vet has given him some sort of shots for allergies, but his BEAM went down with them, anytime he would get any shots or vax he wouldn't be himself for days.
8. I bought Honest Kitchen Dehydrated chicken cat food and want to transition Melon to it, but not exactly sure how. Melon currently has a bowl of kibble that's down on the floor at all times, so I'm not sure how to navigate switching to 2 meal times a day instead of down on the floor all day with the Honest Kitchen food, or how exactly to mix the Honest Kitchen hydrate and the kibble together or how much of each.
Melon also sometimes throws up without it being initiated by eating plastic I believe, not super often but sometimes. I've noticed it happen the most when he's sleeping or shortly after waking up, but not always. Sometimes he will also get into plastic eating moods shortly after throwing up too...
Also worth mentioning Melon has hot spots where he gets itchy on his head between his eyes and ears (both sides) and will scratch until they're raw and bleeding sometimes, and he also gets black crusty stuff on his ears and eyes and nose. Around his eyes it will be goo that dries like a brown black color. Our local conventional vet we see has said those things were allergies and has given him a shot for them but we don't want to go that route anymore.
He also has a bit of cloudiness in one spot on one if his eyes.
I'm hoping by switching his diet to Honest Kitchen these issues will improve, and maybe down the line switching to raw food but right now Honest Kitchen is a good stepping stone for us.
How would you suggest I transition Melon from kibble available 24/7 to the Honest Kitchen dehydrated cat food re-hydrated twice a day? And do you have any other insights for me?
@Dr. Jeff
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