|
Post by brownrexx on Mar 14, 2017 13:40:33 GMT -5
A vet had told me that having food available all the time is not their natural way and not the best for their health. I took him at his word. In multiple cat households where the "parents" work all day and go away on weekends it is better to allow the cats to graze at will as long as they are not overweight. When we only had 2 cats and tried feeding them regular meals we had one nibbler and one gobbler. One would gobble down her meal and the other would nibble a few bites and then walk away. If we left her meal out the other one would eat it and if we took it away then the nibbler didn't get enough to eat. We finally gave up when the nibbler became too skinny and looked bad. Now all 3 cats are a healthy weight and it is so much easier for us.
|
|
|
Post by binnylou on Mar 14, 2017 14:44:37 GMT -5
This is why I really want her on dry food. We'd like to take some overnight trips...I've considered boarding her, but she would hate that. There are dogs at the vet's and she hates dogs.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Mar 14, 2017 15:21:12 GMT -5
One cat travels with us and the other two stay home with plenty of food and water for up to 2 nights. If we go away for more than that we use a cat sitter who visits once a day for $16 per day. She feeds them their wet food and cleans their litter boxes. She even texts us videos of them so that we can see that they are OK.
|
|
|
Post by binnylou on Mar 16, 2017 23:12:21 GMT -5
I give up...she wins...It's a good thing I'm done raising kids. But she still loves me. She's curled up, sleeping next to my feet. Better order more of that canned cat food.
|
|
|
Post by OregonRed on Mar 19, 2017 12:39:03 GMT -5
I trained my 3 - 5 cats to eat from their own set spot on the floor. they would stand there and wait til the food was put down and eat. - didn't have the nibbler cat.
I fed them twice a day. if 1 didn't finish w/I 15 min. it was picked up (rare!)
this way too, if one needed medicine and the others didn't, or a supplement, only that cat got it in their food.
I fed them a home made cooked food diet at that time. if I was running late, I would use some all natural dry food, put the servings onto a pizza pan and they would all eat off it. it would end up gone.
|
|
|
Post by restless on Mar 22, 2017 11:25:49 GMT -5
About 6 weeks ago we had to change the eating routine drastically in our 3 cat house because 1 cat is now on a very expensive novel protein (rabbit/venison/lamb) limited ingredient diet that is extremely expensive. We are not willing to feed this diet to the 2 other cats who do not need it because of the cost. It took 2 weeks of crying and complaining and misery to get everyone with the program, but now that they are used to it, it works great. All three cats get three small meals per day. They get 10 minutes to eat. Most of the time the cats are done with their food in 10 minutes. If they are not, too bad. The food comes up and the dishes get washed (wet food). There is no food ever left out. The routine works very, very well now...but we had to live through those two weeks of misery to get to this place.
The same thing happened a few weeks ago when one cat injured his eye. He needed eye drops thrice per day in each eye for 7 days. The first day and a half was easy because he was in pain and lethargic. The next three days it was all out warfare between human and cat to administer the drops, but we stuck with the routine and the humans won. Small pile of treats on counter. Eye dropper gets shaken. Cat goes on counter. Drops administered. Cat gets treats. By the 5th day, the cat was trained. As soon as the pile of treats got dropped on the counter and the eye dropper got shaken, he came running and stood politely for the eye drops. Then ran to the pile of treats.
You can win...but you must be willing to live with the fighting, crying, misery, knocking over lamps, etc.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Mar 22, 2017 11:55:48 GMT -5
novel protein (rabbit/venison/lamb) limited ingredient diet I have never heard of that. Where do you buy that? At the vet? I have plenty of rabbits in the Spring if you need a few to make your own and reuben probably has a few extra deer. live with the fighting, crying, misery, knocking over lamps, etc. Ha, ha ha, I know what that's like. We have a special yardstick in the closet that we use for getting cats out from under beds when necessary.
|
|
|
Post by restless on Mar 22, 2017 19:39:59 GMT -5
brownrexx, you can get novel protein limited ingredient cat food online at chewy.com. You can also probably place a special order for it via a pet store you like. You can get it from the vet as well.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Mar 22, 2017 20:16:24 GMT -5
Oh, now I get it. A novel protein is one that the cat has not eaten previously. I had never heard of that before. I was visualizing buying it at a place like a butcher shop not in a cat food can. Having it ready made will be a LOT easier.
One of your kitties must have an allergy. Which one has problems?
Our one cat, Zoie has eaten prescription cat food since age 4 when we discovered that she had kidney stones. The special food kept them from growing and she is now 12.
|
|
|
Post by restless on Mar 23, 2017 6:19:33 GMT -5
Novel protein is no poultry or tuna or pork or seafood. It's quite hard to find. Some rabbit foods contain pork liver or pork broth. You have to read the ingredients quite carefully.
We are not sure what is wrong with the Chairman. He has been throwing up quite a lot for the past year and a half. He has had three exams and two blood tests and urinalysis tests in that time and they don't show anything abnormal. He is going to get an ultrasound soon. We are going to call and schedule it today.
This new diet has not yet made too much difference in the vomiting. If the ultrasound doesn't show anything wrong, it's back to playing with diet again. Some of the food he is eating now does have salmon oil in it. And one has pork plasma. We have tried many things in the past 1.5 years.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Mar 23, 2017 7:40:59 GMT -5
Poor Chairman. It is so sad to have a sick kitty. How old is he?
We had previous kitties who did a lot of throwing up and bloodwork and urinalysis diagnosed kidney disease.
Zoie did not have this type of kidney disease and she did not throw up at all. After being a perfectly affectionate pet for 4 years she had an episode of very aberrant behavior where she growled, hissed and actually attacked me. It was very scary. After the regular vet did all of his testing he recommended ultrasound and we took her to an animal hospital near Philly but I don't remember the name. You may even know of this place. They diagnosed the inoperable kidney stones and suggested the special diet. She was not expected to live as long as she has but she is now 12 1/2 and still healthy.
She never had an episode of violent behavior again. She must have been in pain.
Good luck with the Chairman.
|
|
|
Post by desertwoman on Mar 23, 2017 9:00:28 GMT -5
restless we have had great success addressing vomiting with giving Grace Slippery Elm. 1/2 c water and 1 tsp slippery elm- cook at a simmer until it thickens We used an oral syringe-ful and gave it to her twice a day on empty stomach until vomiting slowed down; then once a day until it stopped completely. We have repeated as needed. But that is rare.
|
|
|
Post by restless on Mar 23, 2017 9:24:53 GMT -5
The ultrasound is scheduled for Monday afternoon. If the ultrasound does not show any problems internally, then we will discuss other anti nausea remedies with the vet, including doing a very strict elimination diet to see if we can pinpoint a food sensitivity and other anti nausea remedies. I'll ask her about the slippery elm, desertwoman. Thanks for your suggestion. The NP/LID diet we have been doing isn't really an elimination diet because he is still getting multiple types of food...venison, rabbit, lamb...and some of the foods contain salmon oil, pork liver, and pork plasma way down on the ingredient list. From what I understand, most cats who have a food sensitivity have it towards poultry and seafood. When all of this first started a while back, the vet actually gave him a shot of anti-nausea drugs administered to cats who are going through chemo. It worked for 10 days. He was throwing up 3-5 times per day at that point. He's down to once per day now and even skips a day to a few days on occasion.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Mar 23, 2017 10:07:28 GMT -5
When our one cat had terrible nausea after a distemper shot she threw up everything she ate and then totally quit eating. We thought that she was dying. The vet had us give her Pepcid AC tablets in those pill pockets. She ate them and it really helped. She is fine now but I am never letting them give her another distemper shot.
|
|
|
Post by restless on Mar 23, 2017 13:50:44 GMT -5
The Chairman has been on and off Pepcid for the past 1.5 years. We stopped them at the vet's direction last week, as they are not really working. We are nervous about anything terrible going on inside of him that the ultrasound might uncover. We'll find out Monday afternoon.
I would be happier, despite the inconvenience, if we need to do some more radical diet experimentation.
|
|