R/R: Rant: work is stressful lately and I've had a migraine all day. Boo. Rave: My doggie is being super sweet, he just wants to snuggle.
CS/Q: No questions today...AF is still here.
GTKY: What was your favorite TV show as a kid? I loved Home Improvement then, and still do now. I could watch reruns over and over and it's still funny!
@zamora_spin, he's been having chronic diarrhea for a while. The vet was thinking either kitty IBD or intestinal lymphoma...since he's 15 years old we're opting not to put him through the stress of a biopsy or any other invasive diagnostic tests and are just seeing what medications he responds to. I'm really happy he's doing so well on the prednisone!
R/R: Rant: AF is heavier than normal since I needed provera to induce so I feel super run down. Rave: I am learning to use a sewing machine my neighbor gave me and working on baby things.
CS/Q: No questions today...AF is still here.
GTKY: What was your favorite TV show as a kid? My favorite show was Animaniacs
@Augusta108 Ah, ok, I wondered if that was it. So I have a 14 yo IBD kitty. She suffered with diarrhea for years because I did a bunch of testing with a vet and they couldn't find anything, and the few protocols we tried, Forti Flora and steroids, didn't work, so the vet basically told me she probably had cancer but that to find out for sure would take invasive surgery. I didn't want to do the surgery so I just figured, make her comfortable, let her live her life. Well, I switched vets earlier this year and my new vet suggested IBD as the cause (again after ruling out other causes via bw). The vet had me try putting her on a prescription diet, steroids, and a long term antibiotic. That made the problem worse and Freya (my cat) started dropping weight.
The GREAT news was that from there I did a lot of research and found out that a lot of folks with IBD kitties have found that traditional cat food is the culprit. It could be a protein allergy, an allergy to the fillers (cats would not normally eat anything but meat, they would get any plant nutrients they eat through eating the stomachs of prey) or the carageenan in a lot of cat foods, but, whatever it is, regular commercial cat food is often really bad news for IBD kitties. Freya has now been on raw cat food for... I'm trying to remember, but I think four or so months, and she no longer has diarrhea at all. And she had gotten really bad - to the point of not making it to the litter box - before I transitioned her to raw. She is also on a bunch of random supplements the raw feeding people recommended but I am convinced the thing that is helping is the food (fair warning, she did start vomiting more at first, maybe once a day, with the change to raw, I think because they need more acid in their tummies to digest the raw and that can cause a transition period where vomiting is more likely).
As anecdotal evidence of how helpful the raw diet has been -- last week one of our dogs got into Freya's domain. There was a box in there that had a bag of Freya's old food (Purina Sensitive Systems) and the dog opened up the box and the bag. Within 24 hours of that happening Freya's diarrhea came back and I realized the reason was she had eaten some of her old food and it made her sick. I threw the entire thing away and she cleared up within another 24 hours.
Anyway, if you have questions about any of the above, I can point you to some resources on raw feeding/IBD kitties that may really help, feel free to send me a message. Vets mean well but my experience is that they are so familiar with regular, mainstream cat food that they will never tell you to switch to a raw diet but might have you try other expensive options like prescription diets. I buy commercial raw - a combo of freeze dried and frozen - and it is easy to feed.
Re: WTO Tuesday 8/29
CD: 3
WAYDTGKU: PNV, charting, CM
R/R: Rant: work is stressful lately and I've had a migraine all day. Boo. Rave: My doggie is being super sweet, he just wants to snuggle.
CS/Q: No questions today...AF is still here.
GTKY: What was your favorite TV show as a kid? I loved Home Improvement then, and still do now. I could watch reruns over and over and it's still funny!
@Augusta108 glad your kitty is doing better!
@dukestar5 morning runs are the best! Except then they give me a reason to rationalize poor food choices later!
@krashke loved Doug!
@jrm_14 hope you find your debit card!
(edited for typo/incorrect tag)
CD: 6
WAYDTGKU: Clomid, charting, opk
R/R: Rant: AF is heavier than normal since I needed provera to induce so I feel super run down. Rave: I am learning to use a sewing machine my neighbor gave me and working on baby things.
CS/Q: No questions today...AF is still here.
GTKY: What was your favorite TV show as a kid? My favorite show was Animaniacs
The GREAT news was that from there I did a lot of research and found out that a lot of folks with IBD kitties have found that traditional cat food is the culprit. It could be a protein allergy, an allergy to the fillers (cats would not normally eat anything but meat, they would get any plant nutrients they eat through eating the stomachs of prey) or the carageenan in a lot of cat foods, but, whatever it is, regular commercial cat food is often really bad news for IBD kitties. Freya has now been on raw cat food for... I'm trying to remember, but I think four or so months, and she no longer has diarrhea at all. And she had gotten really bad - to the point of not making it to the litter box - before I transitioned her to raw. She is also on a bunch of random supplements the raw feeding people recommended but I am convinced the thing that is helping is the food (fair warning, she did start vomiting more at first, maybe once a day, with the change to raw, I think because they need more acid in their tummies to digest the raw and that can cause a transition period where vomiting is more likely).
As anecdotal evidence of how helpful the raw diet has been -- last week one of our dogs got into Freya's domain. There was a box in there that had a bag of Freya's old food (Purina Sensitive Systems) and the dog opened up the box and the bag. Within 24 hours of that happening Freya's diarrhea came back and I realized the reason was she had eaten some of her old food and it made her sick. I threw the entire thing away and she cleared up within another 24 hours.
Anyway, if you have questions about any of the above, I can point you to some resources on raw feeding/IBD kitties that may really help, feel free to send me a message. Vets mean well but my experience is that they are so familiar with regular, mainstream cat food that they will never tell you to switch to a raw diet but might have you try other expensive options like prescription diets. I buy commercial raw - a combo of freeze dried and frozen - and it is easy to feed.