Abby and IBD

I mentioned in a previous post that my first cat, Abby, has IBD (Inflammatory Bowl Disease). When she was a kitten, I fed her dry Science Diet. She seemed all right on it, but as she became an adult, Abby began to gain too much weight. I switched her to Light SD so she would lose a couple pounds (which she did not). She began to have diarrhea several times a day and was miserable. It was about then I started researching cat nutrition. I thought SD was a good food, but now I know better. To start, there is too much corn (none is best). And as a dry food, it is dehydrating. Not good for a cat already losing too many fluids.

I switched all my cats to SD canned, then I looked for an affordable wet food that did not have by-products or grain. Natural Balance seemed to be my best option. Changing cat foods is a gradual process. It needs to be done over several days to several weeks to avoid gastro-intestinal upset. However, through all this time, Abby continued to have the trots. Time to go to the vet.

Over several months and several vet appointments, blood tests, stool cultures, antibiotics, and prednisolone Abby continued to have problems. Her poop firmed up a bit on the steroid, but soon after continued on its watery course. I put her completely on wet food to try to keep her hydrated. I researched the internet to see if I could find something that wouldn't involve steroids for the rest of her life.

I found the answer as I was looking at the cats for adoption on a local humane society's web page. A long-haired calico was given up because of uncontrolled IBD with symptoms similar to Abby's. The shelter changed her diet and she no longer had problems. Fortunately for me they mentioned the name of the food. It is a dehydrated raw food made by The Honest Kitchen called Prowl. I found it at a small family store. I know Petsmart and Petco do not carry it.

Abby is now almost 2 months diarrhea free! I mix in a very small amount of the wet Natural Balance so there is some variety in her diet. She feels so much better:


By the way, in my search for IBD treatments, I read that many people have had success feeding a raw diet. A good place to look for information is CatNutrition.org.

MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!

Reaction to Frontline

I seem to spend a lot of time at the pet store, looking at the cats for adoption. On Saturdays, a rescue group brings in several more cats and kittens, hoping to find homes or fosters for them. Since I have more than my share, I cannot take them home. As I was checking out the kittens (so small!) my husband called me over to look at a black and white short hair. The poor cat was drooling. The saliva was just pouring out of her mouth, and she looked quite ill. I brought over a woman from the rescue group to see her. Immediately the woman knew what the problem was - Frontline.

Turns out that they had just treated all of the cats with Frontline. As soon as she saw the cat drooling, she took the cat to the bathroom to wash off the chemical. I did a quick internet search and found that Frontline is a safe flea prevention. It is supposed to be applied between the shoulder blades or higher up to the back of the skull so the cat will not lick it. I have read that Frontline is so bitter, if the cat is able to reach the application spot, drooling will result.

It was quite alarming to see the amount of saliva coming out of that poor cat's mouth. I am glad that I have indoor cats, and so hopefully will never have to worry about using a flea prevention on them.

MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!

Distracted

I haven't blogged in a while and I don't have a good excuse: the Olympics are keeping me up way too late. We have cable so there are many hours to watch. We TIVO some of them so we don't have to suffer through the commercials. Just in case you haven't been able watch the Olympics, here are some highlights:















MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!

What Breed is Polydactyl

I was at the pet store the other day and I was admiring a sweet white polydactyl kitten. A woman who worked there told me the extra toes signified the kitten was Siamese. I had never heard that before, so I posted the question to a cat forum that I frequent. The answer came back that no, polydactyls were not necessarily Siamese, but they can be found in any breed. In fact, there are American Polydactyl Cats , bred specifically for their extra toes.


Here are some icanhascheezeburger.com images:








(Sorry, some of the lol cats are cut off on the right.) Edit: Fixed it!

MySmartyCat  - Test your cat's intelligence!