Thanks, everyone, for your concern about my cat, Gatsby (One Sick Kitty). He seems to be recovering nicely so far. He is still on meds for pain and an antibiotic, and we've switched to a different prescription food. He's getting his energy back, seeming more like his old self. We're not out of the woods yet, as it is common for them to re-block within two weeks after treatment. But we're hopeful that this episode is nearly over.
I've been doing some research on the condition, and it has helped me understand the paperwork from the vet. I'll post a link below rather than go into *the gory details*. Suffice it to say that saving him was an invasive and intense process. And expensive? Man. Yeah. It's enough to make me reconsider my opposition to the HAPPY bill.
What I don't get is why this happened. They're saying it is diet related. This cat was raised on all the age-appropriate formulations of IAMS foods, which is supposed to be a solid company. He first started having trouble last summer, which was eventually diagnosed as idiopathic cystitis, and the vet put him on a Prescription diet. He blocked anyway. Now he is on a different Prescription formula. We have never fed him table scraps or switched in and out of food brands. So what is it about the commercial cat food that isn't good for cats? And why, after all these years in business, haven't the companies fixed it?
When I picked up the special food at the vet's, I joked that it would be cheaper to feed him steaks. Then it dawned on me that his natural food actually is raw meat. So why don't we just feed cats meat? I'll be asking the vet on our followup visit. There had better be a good reason.
* As promised, here are the gory details: The Blocked Cat, at Marvistavet.com.
PS - I accidentally posted this on Maraca first. It's the same post. Sorry.
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Saturday Critters #576
6 hours ago
2 comments:
I am glad he is feeling better. My sister is sick so I haven't asked her. But she suggested with my two males to increase the amount of wet food they eat along with their dry at cats never drink enough water. Ideopathic means that they don't know what the cause is. One cat has bad teeth for no good reason and another allegies..We don't know why. IANS is a good food along with the Science Diet that I use.. I think that meat is too high in protein and domestic cats have come a long way from needed that much protein.. and yes.. it can be expensive..I know.. Michelle
I am remembering when my childhood cat got so sick "they" had to put him to sleep. It was traumatic for me (I think I was 12 years old?). Best wishes to Gatsby.
And if tax deductions on pets would stimulate the economy, they would make sense, but I can't see how they are going to get the unemployed jobs. You write well on this topic. Somebody has to get their priorities straight.
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