Author Topic: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!  (Read 5855 times)

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Offline Middle Child

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Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« on: February 10, 2012, 09:56:03 AM »
She is doing GREAT!! bananamiddlechild bananamiddlechild

Her urine pH is hanging around 6.5 no matter what time of day I check, sometimes 6.75.  She's peeing 3 times a day nice healthy sized pees.  No regurgitation in...oh it must be over two weeks now.  Hairball remedy now down to once every three days.

We are still playing around with brands for her. No Before Grain, it seems to raise her urine pH.  She's on a good rotation of Castor&Pollux Chicken and vegetable stew, By Nature Chicken/liver, By Nature beef/liver, By nature organic chicken/turkey, Natural Life chicken/turkey, and Natural Life Lamb.

This weekend I'll be trying her on Weruva steak frites. She won't eat the Weruva chicken flavors, I hope she likes this because it is very full of moisture, you know?  And after that has been (hopefully) become part of her rotation, I will be introducing Nature's variety instinct (to all of them), flavors beef, lamb, chicken. I know I said it is over priced, and it is, but I just have a driving need to keep them on a wide variety, and have at least some of that variety have no carrageenan.

Offline Lola

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2012, 11:20:43 AM »
I sooooo understand your excitement...and relief!  I'm happy for both of you.

Quote
I just have a driving need to keep them on a wide variety, and have at least some of that variety have no carrageenan.

I'm with you on that one as well.   thumbsup1
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Offline Amber

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2012, 03:30:35 PM »
Congratulations! I am so glad you are doing well  :)

Offline Shadow

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2012, 05:25:31 PM »
That is great MC!!!  :D  thumbsup1
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2012, 07:18:50 PM »
Thanks you guys!  Just because I wrote that she regurgitated her first course of her supper. It had only been 7 1/2 hours since her last meal, and I gave her only a small amount, as usual.  She ate it at her usual speed, jumped to the floor and brought it right back up.  bangshead

Offline Lola

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2012, 02:46:38 PM »
Thanks you guys!  Just because I wrote that she regurgitated her first course of her supper. It had only been 7 1/2 hours since her last meal, and I gave her only a small amount, as usual.  She ate it at her usual speed, jumped to the floor and brought it right back up.  bangshead

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Offline Pookie

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2012, 02:59:43 PM »
That happens with Pookie, sometimes, too.  I've decided that it's just one of those things that will happen once in a while, no matter how you try to prevent it.  In his case, it tends to be stress-related (something outside freaked him out, or I got home later).  As long as it's only occasional, I figure he's good, esp. since when he was dry fed, it was literally multiple times a day and night.
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2012, 09:41:12 AM »
Well a lot has gone on since I late updated. I'll try to keep it short. I began to see a pattern with an intolerance for certain foods (I suspect carrageenan, but there is also two foods without carrageenan that she will bring back up, those two have spinach)

So, as much as I believe in feeding cats a wide variety for both safety and to be sure of balanced nutrition, this cat cannot tolerate variety.

I narrowed it down to one food.  Luckily this is a food with a phosphurous/magensium percentage very close to the Prescription c/d, so that is one less worry on my mind.  The food contains no carrageenan, no spinach and nothing else on my "bad" list, with the exception of a menadione bisulfate additiive (synthetic vitamin K) but it is the very last ingredient on the list, so I will have to live with it.

The food is By Nature Organic Turkey and Chicken.  Made in USA with only USA sourced ingredients. So, maybe we're getting somewhere. 

So her routine was:

One food, and one food only. 

Pepcid every morning with her first meal (after a 9 hour fast).

 Proviable (for digestive health) and cosequin (for bladder health) mixed into a later in the day meal. (Still playing with which meal is best for the probiotic)

1 tablespoon of pumpkin a day for constipation and hair balls (now given in only two meals, but it took a long time to get to that point, had to start the pumpkin with minute amounts in every meal, but she now accepts it in half tablespoon amounts twice a day).

I stopped giving the hair ball remedies as these seemed to make the regurgitation worse.

On the above regimen, she was still regurgitating every three days.  I find this unacceptable. Looking closely for a pattern, I found that she skips a bowel movement every three days.  In spite of the pumpkin, she is still having trouble pooping.  So, I had added in mineral oil.  It took a while to work out the proper schedule for mineral oil.  At first, she would have a BM an hour after getting the dose.  But then, even after one dose, she still wouldn't go, so I had to dose her two days in a row.  So now, mineral oil is going to be every three days, two days in a row.

I also think that these regurgitation may sometimes simply be a burp coming up. If she could only learn to let the burp up, instead of fighting it and causing herself to bring it all up instead of just the air.

Today will be day 4, without a regurgitation, if we can get through it. She just had a poop, 24 hours after the last one.  It was pretty big, unusually so, for a cat who went only 24 hours ago...which also concerns me.  I fear megacolon, and if I see many more of that size, I am going to have to get her in for a bowel x ray.

Offline Pookie

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2012, 11:29:59 AM »
Wow!   :o You really have your hands full with this kitty, don't you . . .

 grouphug grouphug grouphug grouphug grouphug grouphug grouphug

I wish I had some advice or words of wisdom that would help.  All I can offer are (((((((HUGS)))))))

You've probably already answered this before, and I apologize but I forget:  is raw an option at all?  I'm wondering if she'd be better able to tolerate that, and then you'd have more control over what's in her food.   :-\
« Last Edit: February 28, 2012, 11:33:58 AM by Pookie »
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2012, 12:08:40 PM »
Thanks Pookie, yes I do.  And you know what?  I blame five years of feeding that Hills c/d kibble. >:( I will not castigate myself for it, because I felt I was doing what was best for her. But now I am living with the consequences, and hope and pray she can recover and go on to live many years with no problems at all.

I am not against raw feeding, but it is not an option for me at this time.  I have no local source for commercial raw, and I just don't see myself doing it on my own. I'm just too afraid of messing them up. It's not about the schedule, since I already schedule feed.

 But...I just can't bring myself to get started. Fears such as: I have read that constipation is a frequent problem with raw fed. I already have two dealing with that. I have read that bone causes vomiting.  I am already dealing with vomiting.  I fear giving her a diet too high in phosphurous and magnesium percentages, since she is prone to struvite. It's just too much for me to cope with.

I do occasionally offer them little slivers of raw off of something I am cooking, usually a bit of chicken liver or heart, (from a whole chicken) and only one cat (not this one) will even recognize it as food.

Some things maybe someone will have feed back on:

~Would it be better to continue the pumpkin in small amounts throughout the day, rather than only twice a day? That large stool this morning really frightened me. Pumpkin fiber isn't bulk forming fiber, so it shouldn't matter, but still...

~anyone have any opinion on the best time of day to give the probiotic?  Perhaps the last meal of the day (10:45 pm), rather than the mid-evening meal? (8pm)

~ is it better to give the pepcid in the morning, when the stomach is empty and already building up acid, or should I try it at bed time, so it can work all night perhaps preventing acid build up during the 9 hour fast?

** I can't remember if I said this before but:  if this were any other cat I would have had her to the vet already for every possible diagnostic test. I usually prefer to rule things out than start slow.  But not with this girlie. She has zero tolerance for any kind of messing about, and stainless steel cages make her berserk.

Offline Pookie

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2012, 12:49:29 PM »
 grouphug grouphug grouphug  You were doing what you thought was best.  That's all we can do.

I can definitely relate about the raw--I have the same fear that I'll mess him up, that's why Pookie only gets raw as a treat (gizzards, hearts, and a whole-prey mouse).

As to your questions, these are just my thoughts:

- I'm thinking that large bowel movement wasn't so much the pumpkin as what was already in her, and the pumpkin helped her body move it along.  As to the timing/amounts, I'm really not sure but I think you're ok with 2x/day so that a significant amount can continue to help "move things along."

- Pookie gets his probiotic in his breakfast.  That's more for my convenience than anything else, as that way I know he's already gotten it and if I'm late getting home, I don't have to worry about him barfing it up because he's upset with me.   :(

- Pepcid -- I think it depends on how well it works for her after 9 hours.  I know it's supposed to work for 12 hours, but with cats, who knows?  You can try it and if it works, then go with it.  I just really recommend giving her a B12 supplement, well away from when she gets the pepcid, to make up for whatever she won't be absorbing from her food as a result.  Just my 2 cents.   2cents

Again:   grouphug grouphug grouphug
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #11 on: February 29, 2012, 01:01:43 PM »
Thanks Pookie. Do you recommend a for-cat brand of B-12?  I can't remember if you mentioned the brand you use in one of my (many ::))threads about this cat.

I think the pepcid is working giving it to her first thing in the morning with her first meal, for now.  You may or may not remember that her origianl issue was morning regurgitation, and since I started the morning pepcid, she isn't doing that any more.

My Little Cat gets her probiotic first thing in the morning.  But for this cat, I am trying to space things out, so her system isn't overloaded with everything at once.  So she is getting her probiotic at night, last meal.

I am still hoping to keep the mineral oil down to no more frequently than every three days, but I may have to increase it to every two days..sigh.

Oh guess what something that I did not foresee happening...SHE HAS GAINED A POUND! She did not need to gain weight, and I certainly didn't expect her to gain a pound on a grain free low carb 150 calorie per 6 ounces canned food!

I've been noticing the past few days that she was looking a little heavier so I got the scale out last night and sure enough, she is up to 10 pounds.  The other two are exactly the same as the last weigh in.  Good grief!  She is not a big cat, so I am going to have to cut her quantity a bit.  She really should not weigh more than 9 pounds, and 8.5 is even better, for her. She's more active on the canned diet too, so maybe a little of that extra weight is simply more muscle..........

Offline Pookie

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #12 on: February 29, 2012, 01:36:11 PM »
I don't know of any that are just for cats, but ibdkitties.net has a few on the supplements page.  I give Pookie the Superior Source (for humans) and crush up the pill and mix it in Pookie's wet food.  It also contains lactose (milk) and acacia gum, but I use it because it has the fewest ingredients of the supplements I've seen.  Pookie gets the B12 5,000 mcg with B6 & folic acid (the 3 work together).  And overdose isn't an issue -- what the body doesn't use ends up in the litter box.  I think that brand is on the ibdkitties site.

Sorry, I didn't remember the regurgitation was a morning issue.  In that case, I think it's a good idea to give the probiotic at the end of the day, just to make sure there aren't any absorption issues.

For what it's worth, I have a sneaky suspicion hairball season may be starting.  Pookie had one a few nights ago and possibly another one last night.  *sigh*  I'm in the Northeast, so I'm wondering if the mild winter we've had plus the longer days are triggering the shedding.  I haven't noticed more coming off of him when I comb, but . . .  I see canned pumpkin in his future.  So just a heads-up since you're kitty has hairballs -- the season may be starting early.   pullingouthair

Oh guess what something that I did not foresee happening...SHE HAS GAINED A POUND! Good grief!  She is not a big cat, so I am going to have to cut her quantity a bit.  She really should not weigh more than 9 pounds, and 8.5 is even better, for her. She's more active on the canned diet too, so maybe a little of that extra weight is simply more muscle..........

That was my first thought:  it's muscle.   ;D  She's getting more protein, so it makes sense.   grouphug
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2012, 08:12:37 PM »
SIX DAYS WITH NO REGURGITATION!!!!!!!

bananamiddlechild bananamiddlechild bananamiddlechild

She is still skipping bowel movements though.  Every 48 hours just doesn't seem like often enough. But the good news is, even on the days she didn't poop, she hasn't regurgitated either. I've increased the mineral oil to every two days. :(

I've cut her food back by .75 ounces a day.  I don't need her gaining so much weight, especially with her urinary tract problems.

If this trend continues, at the two week mark with no regurgitation I am going to start weaning her off the pepcid.

   


Offline Middle Child

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Re: Update on my newly transitioned to canned kitty!
« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2012, 08:18:33 PM »
Oh, by the way.  I wonder how much this has to do with it.  6 days ago I also changed her 'table'.  She's been eating with an elevated dish for years, but I noticed, even so, she still seemed to be scrunched up a bit when eating. I found an old dishpan that straightens her out much better.  I wonder how much that has to do with our success.

Old table at 3 1/2 inches in height


New table at 6 inches in height

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