Relief

Good News Patrol:

I passed my course from last semester! I start another class with the same professor tonight "Literature & the Visual Arts: Iconophilia & Inconoclasm."

Byron News:

Byron's thyroid panel came back conclusively hyperthyroid so he will start on daily meds tonight. He will have his blood redrawn in three weeks. At that appointment we'll decide whether or not to biopsy his skin (in case it was related to the thyroid problems) and schedule an ultrasound for his kidneys. He's eating much more as of yesterday, which hopefully means he'll put some of his weight back on. The big guy was down to 12.6 pounds on Saturday (usually keeps an average of 18 pounds).

If any one has suggestions on diet modifications that have helped your renal compromised cats or those with thick intestinal walls, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm pretty categorically opposed to prescription foods (science diet...) because of the byproducts and preservatives but will hear you out even if they are included in your suggestions.

Comments

[Sarah]

Well done with your class! Are you working toward a degree?
I don't know much about cat health, but I'll be sending good thoughts your way and hope Byron shows some improvement when he gets the new meds in his system.

[Debby]

Congratulations on your class! The new one sounds really interesting and I'd love to hear more about that. What sort of art/novels will be discussed?

I don't know very much about kidney issues, other than that you need a low magnesium food. Ph seems to be important, and as cats get older, it's a good idea to have them eat the low magnesium food anyway, to ward off problems. As to thickened intestinal walls, do you know if he's officially IBD, or some other diagnosis? With Charlie, the meds are the crucial thing to keeping the inflammation down. He's on prednisone and metronidazole/flagyl, which are both human medications. For the longest time, he was on a simple protein diet which we could only buy at the vet store. The thinking is that you have them eat a new protein, something they theoretically haven't been exposed to and are therefore not allergic to: duck, venison, rabbit are some of the foods my vet has. In our case, he flat out refused to eat it after a while, so we are gingerly experimenting with the really good pet food store food. He's eating some sort of fish blend food right now; the brand is California Natural. It supposedly has none of the byproducts and things in it that other foods might have. There's also one called Wellness that's supposed to be good. Both of these are also low magnesium, and might work for Byron. Sometimes a thickened intestinal wall can also be a food allergy. I've seen lots of cat food marked "no grain," which I'm assuming means that cats have wheat allergies, but I have no experience with that so I'm not sure.

Sorry for filling up your comments space. I hope this helps!

[Debby]

One more thing: Diann at Knits with Cats has a kitty named Maya who was difficult to treat. They found that mixing canned pumpkin in with her regular food really helped her intestinal troubles. She goes through periods of not eating and then will eat again (frustrating). Also, I meant to say that there are recipes for healthy pet food floating around the internet, if your preference is to make the natural foods for Byron yourself.

[Betsy]

Byron is not a kitty I would want to pill every day! I'm sure he'll get used to it, though. Have you tried those soft treat pill pockets? Or do you have another food wrap that he will eat?
I hope the thyroid meds help and he bulks up again.
I think the girls are on the same dry food that Byron eats, Evo? They love it. I would think anything that is natural and high protein would be best, instead of the aforementioned and always pushed by vets Science Diet, etc.
Also, you could consider going raw with his diet. If you have not Read the Natural Cat by Anitra Frazier, both Michelle and I recommend it and it has good info about cat nutrition.
Tessa is sick now and we are both going to have to take time off to take her to the vet. Poor little bit, I think she ate something she shouldn't have.
Congrats on your class and the new one sounds really interesting, you should post your reading list so I can pretend I'm in college again :)

[Greeley]

Byron is really easy to pill! I just open his mouth, throw the pill inside, and hold his muzzle closed for a second until he swallows. I may get some of the pill pockets or the med as a transdermal gel for when I need a petsitter. He's a really calm cat at home. I can give him a shower, groom him, clip his nails with no protest at all.

I'd love to go raw with him but it just doesn't work with my situation right now. We don't have the freezer space and my schedule is too varied to feel comfortable switching away from prepared food. I'll check out that book. Sounds great. I'm mostly interested in what minerals, fat, protein levels, etc. are ideal for renal problems.

I'll post the syllabus soon.