I have an aversion to the word “resolutions”, for whatever reason, so instead I try to come up with goals for the year ahead – preferably with steps toward achieving them.
Posts Tagged ‘cats’
Goals for 2009
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Human nutrition and health, Life of the Lintee Bean, tagged cats, diet, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley, vegetarian on January 5, 2009| 4 Comments »
Vets and pet food
Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged cat food, cat nutrition, cats, dry food, feline nutrition, IBD, pancreatitis, raw food on December 11, 2008| 4 Comments »
This post has actually been a work-in-progress for some time, but a phone call today pushed me to try and finish it. That phone call took place with the internal medicine specialist treating Studley. The specialist has diagnosed Studley with pancreatitis and IBD, based on an ultrasound performed Tuesday. Today he got back the results of Studley’s GI lab, and expressed some confusion that while he KNOWS Studley has IBD (based on the ultrasound results), his GI lab results (cobalamin and folate) were normal.
I do NOT generally openly disagree with most vets (to their face). I’ll express my opinions to my regular vet, who acts very open to my ideas and thoughts – but I’ve learned not to waste my time and breath on many vets who really don’t care what I think about anything. They just want me to do what I’m told. However, today for whatever reason I felt the need to tell this specialist my suspicions on why Studley’s results were normal. I told him I had worked with many cats with IBD, adopted and fostered, and I fed all my cats an “IBD friendly” diet. This diet had eliminated symptoms and normalized GI lab results for the other cats I’d worked with – and my thinking was, if Studley was fed this “IBD diet”, and it’s treated these other cats with IBD, it made sense to me that it’d also treated Studley, without my knowing he even had IBD.
Canned cat food – which one?
Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged canned food, cat food, cats, feline nutrition, IBD on December 10, 2008| 13 Comments »
Another of the “frequently asked questions” I get is *which* canned food to feed. Well, in general the answer is simple – look for one with little-to-no grains, fruits, or vegetables. You want something as close to “mouse in a can” as possible. Poultry and/or rabbit is best – as these are closest to a cat’s natural prey. (Cats don’t naturally hunt, kill, and eat cows, sheep, fish, or swine – they do consume birds and rodents.)
Generally, there are compromises to be made. Canned foods that contain higher-quality ingredients generally also contain higher amounts of vegetables and fruit, and are also generally higher in fat than the canned foods that use more byproducts and “meat” of undefined origin. Personally, I don’t object too strongly to byproducts and lower-grade meat. Cats would consume the entire carcass of their prey – they wouldn’t spit out the kidney, for example. However, I do want SOME muscle meat in their food, and for some cats (particularly some with severe IBD), “meat” of undefined origin isn’t an option. “Meat”, when the source isn’t identified, is most often beef or pork – and some cats don’t tolerate beef or pork.
Some people want a more specific list of brands and flavors. I’m always reluctant to do that, as brands and flavors change in ingredients and availability and I’d rather people learn to look at labels and exercise judgement. However, here’s a list of my current “favorites”. These are the canned foods I almost always have at my house, for my own adopted cats and fosters:
Recommended reading
Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged behavior, cat food, cats, feline nutrition, raw food on December 5, 2008|
People often ask me how I’ve managed to accumulate so much information on feline health and nutrition. The answer is relatively simple – I READ, a LOT. I read a lot of information on the internet, studies in journals, books, etc. So, after sifting through countless websites and books and magazines, I’ve definitely got a few favorites.
My absolute favorite informational websites are listed among the “widgets” in the column to the right on the home page… particularly, FelineOutreach.org, CatInfo.org, CatNutrition.org, YourDiabeticCat.com, and FelineDiabetes.com. (A majority of the resources/references in the Feline Outreach educational section has been collected by me, over time.)
But, if you are interested in real hard copy books made out of paper – I recommend:
- Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer Stronger Life, by Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins
- Whole Health for Happy Cats, by Sandy Arora
- How to Get Your Cat to do what You Want, by Warren Eckstein and Fay Eckstein
- Raising Cats Naturally, by Michelle Bernard
- Not Fit for a Dog, by Drs. Michael Fox, Elizabeth Hodgkins, and Marion Smart
Medication frustration, part two
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Feline nutrition and health, tagged asthma, cats, pilling, Studley on November 30, 2008|
I wrote earlier about my current medication frustrations.
They continue.
It’s become even more difficult to pill Studley. I took him to the vet yesterday (where he got a depomedrol steroid shot for suspected asthma). If the shot works, we’ll begin inhaled meds. In the meantime, his still on some pills for another (behavioral) issue. When I voiced my concerns at the vet yesterday, as I’m not sure the pills are even helping or necessary and incredibly difficult to give him, the vet needed to see for himself by prying Studley’s mouth open and popping down a piece of a treat. Well, sure, looked easy enough for him. In my defense, the vet didn’t have to CATCH him. I’d already chased him around the house to get him and put him in a carrier and transport him to the vet, and was holding him, docile, on the exam table.
(more…)
Plays well with others – or not
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 27, 2008| 1 Comment »
Most frequently asked question I get, absolutely, is “How many cats do you HAVE?”
One of the other frequent questions: “Do they all get along?”
Answer – no, not really. My three girls (Jellybean, Rumpelmintz, and Kitty.com) do NOT like other cats. They have a tendency to whine/growl/scream/cry in other cats’ presence. In particular, Jellybean and Rumpelmintz fear Studley greatly and aren’t keen on Louie. Ralph is Mr. Agreeable and loves everyone and everything. The girls still bop him on the head on occasion – but even for them, it’s hard to not like that sweet little face of Ralph’s.
My boys are pretty good friends, on the other hand. I LOVE it when my cats get along, and groom each other, and cuddle together, and play together…. if there’s anything cuter than my adorable cats, it’s my adorable cats appreciating each other as sweet loving furry beings.
Louie and Ralph snuggling
Fully outfitted
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Louie, Ralph on November 25, 2008| 1 Comment »
I’d written previously about how Louie ruptured an anal sac on September 29. He was isolated in the den, wearing a cone and using paper pellet litter, until October 31 while he healed. (His healing took longer than typical due to his FIV+ status.)
As you can see below, wearing a cone was incredibly TRAUMATIC for Louie.
Louie in extreme discomfort in his cone
Camping s’more
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 25, 2008| 2 Comments »
The cats’ “Aunt Terry” gave them a new pet tent for camping in the kitchen. It’s an adorable pop-up tent – I think she got it at Big Lots.
Jellybean was first to fall in love with it. (At least until what must have been some “blitz attack” because one day I discovered poop in the tent as well as lots of fur tufts nearby – and Jellybean hasn’t really used the tent since.)
Jellybean comfy in the tent
Catnip wake
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cat pictures, cats, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 24, 2008| 2 Comments »
My friend Adrienne suggested perhaps what my blog needs is more pictures of my cute cats. My cats ARE very very cute, in my opinion. Oh, they’re a little rough around the edges, most of them, and they’re not babies (the youngest is about ten years old) but I think they are pretty much adorable most of the time – when they’re not fighting amongst each other or acting as destructive forces of other sorts, or just annoying the crud out of me… they’re VERY cute.
Anyway, a few weeks ago we held a “catnip wake” in honor of Afer, Omaha, and several of our friends’ cats that passed away recently (including Rumpelmintz’s cyber-boyfriend and Studley’s cyber-girlfriend/wife).
The wake started with an assortment of catnip toys. Jellybean did not participate. Catnip toys are not sufficient lure for her to leave her perch on top of the kitchen cat tree and chance proximity to the other cats.
Catnip wake
Medication frustration
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Feline nutrition and health, tagged cats, pilling, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 23, 2008| 3 Comments »
I’m not the world’s best “piller”, but I consider myself fairly adept at medicating cats. Not only have I had (and have) several cats with medical needs, but I also volunteered for a few years in a cat shelter’s clinic. I can pop a pill down an average cat’s throat. For your “more difficult” cat, I’ve learned most of the “tricks” – using a pill gun, “hiding” the pill in food, a bit of cheese, a bit of cream cheese, a bit of real mayonnaise, a soft treat…
You can get many, if not most, medications compounded into flavored liquids or even treats, which can make medicating the difficult cat a lot easier. Some medications can be compounded into transdermel gels you rub on the ear.
Pill Pockets are a handy little trick in the medicating bag. The ingredients make me cringe (corn syrup? pregelantized corn? wheat flour? wheat gluten? starch? soy protean?) However, they are relatively inexpensive, readily available, and easy to use. So, when I found out I’d be medicating my formerly-feral one-eyed wonder cat, Studley, I decided to go with Pill Pockets when cheese failed me. (Cheese “breaded” in freeze-dried turkey treat crumbs did work nicely, but I’m admittedly too lazy to prepare elaborate appetizers for my cat twice a day.)
(more…)
Life of the Lintee Bean 