Please help! My approx 10 yr. old (she came to my friend as a stray) cat's troubles began in August `03 when she started vomitting more & more. Took her to the vet. Vet suspected food allergies. Had me choose between Hill's Rabbit & Peas and the Z/d formula. Chose the Rabbit & Peas. She ate it, but after a while I noticed she still seemed very hungry- became an aggressive beggar. And was losing weight.
Tried the Z/d formula.. well, that started diarrhea!
Took her back to the vet. Thought it may be hyper-thyroid since she was eating and not getting full. In the back of my mind I tended to disagree. Felt that the low allergen foods were so stripped down, there was nothing to keep her full. Had tests done for hyper-thyroid, along with leukemia. All came back normal.
Vet went back to thinking it was allergies. Ok, had the test done. Told me to feed her Science Diet Hairball in the meantime to help control the diarrhea. That helped at first. And helped her put on weight. Tests came back 4 weeks later and concluded she is allergic to wheat, rice (highly), corn, potatoes, soybeans, sugar beets & eggs (slightly). Got a printout of brands of foods not containing these items that would be acceptable.
Tried 1 dry and 1 canned kind.. both of which had her vomitting within hours. Also tried Hill's Duck & Peas and she will NOT touch it!
My husband is fed up.. basically with the messes on our 3-yr old carpet. I finally gave in and made an appt. to have her put down on Friday. She is lively & playful- not any sign of pain, so it is SUPER hard.
PLEASE any ideas- it's a last ditch effort. I was thinking of trying Steve's frozen/freeze dried foods today. Anyone have any luck with that?!
Kitty with food allergies- nothing's working!
Re: Kitty with food allergies- nothing's working!
Our senior kitties deserve the very best care we can give them. Your kitty has given you 10 years of love, comfort and joy, why would you want to put her down over a health issue that she has no control over?
Talk to a new vet right away, and rule out other potential causes of illness before assuming this is dietary or allergy related specifically. Senior kitties are prone to a variety of illnesses, one such that demands to be ruled out is potential IBD...if your vet didn't look for this, he wasn't being thorough.
There are MANY veterinary diets available for a variety of health problems, a thorough vet would tell you it can take up to 4-6 weeks to know if the selected diet is achieving results or not. During this time, it's a good idea to form a process of elimination with other factors, mainly, ruling out other secondary or unrelated causes of illness. She could have a bacterial overgrowth problem in the GI tract, she could have inflammation or even a mass developing somewhere. She could have secondary problems as a result that need further investigation. Frequent vomiting should be a red flad to your vet to investigate further and utilize further diagnostics to confirm the problem. Allergy testing is not an exact science, there are flaws to even the most specific testing.
If dietary modification is considered again with a NEW vet, then discuss your options in the types and brands available. Should you decide to feed an off-brand or home-cooked diet on your own, I strongly advise you only do this on a certified feline nutritionist's advice and supervision only. First and foremost is ruling out secondary health issues as outlined above.
Please, don't give up on your kitty, she is begging for your help, .... you can replace the carpet at some point...you cannot replace your kitty.
Talk to a new vet right away, and rule out other potential causes of illness before assuming this is dietary or allergy related specifically. Senior kitties are prone to a variety of illnesses, one such that demands to be ruled out is potential IBD...if your vet didn't look for this, he wasn't being thorough.
There are MANY veterinary diets available for a variety of health problems, a thorough vet would tell you it can take up to 4-6 weeks to know if the selected diet is achieving results or not. During this time, it's a good idea to form a process of elimination with other factors, mainly, ruling out other secondary or unrelated causes of illness. She could have a bacterial overgrowth problem in the GI tract, she could have inflammation or even a mass developing somewhere. She could have secondary problems as a result that need further investigation. Frequent vomiting should be a red flad to your vet to investigate further and utilize further diagnostics to confirm the problem. Allergy testing is not an exact science, there are flaws to even the most specific testing.
If dietary modification is considered again with a NEW vet, then discuss your options in the types and brands available. Should you decide to feed an off-brand or home-cooked diet on your own, I strongly advise you only do this on a certified feline nutritionist's advice and supervision only. First and foremost is ruling out secondary health issues as outlined above.
Please, don't give up on your kitty, she is begging for your help, .... you can replace the carpet at some point...you cannot replace your kitty.
..........Traci
-
Guest
Re: Kitty with food allergies- nothing's working!
I know, I know!! To me, it's only carpet but my husband is the one who can't get past it. We've gotten in several huge fights over this. I just feel pressured for time on this.
I even tried to explain to him that it takes SEVERAL weeks to see results, but he won't even hear of it.
My vet did mention IBD- what can she further look into for that? She did have me put kitty on prednisone twice a week. That doesn't seem to help though.
I just keep wondering what damage has been already done to her insides? Am I hurting her more by prolonging thing?
SIGH.....
I even tried to explain to him that it takes SEVERAL weeks to see results, but he won't even hear of it.
My vet did mention IBD- what can she further look into for that? She did have me put kitty on prednisone twice a week. That doesn't seem to help though.
I just keep wondering what damage has been already done to her insides? Am I hurting her more by prolonging thing?
SIGH.....
Re: Kitty with food allergies- nothing's working!
Well, you said the problems actually started last year, but only symptoms you noted were vomiting. While food sensitivity could be part of the problem, I suggest investigating further simply due to her age.
I don't know what diagnostics your vet has done thus far, nor do I know when the last full exam was done. What I strongly suggest is if a complete blood profile has not been done within the last 6 months, to do so immediately.....I suggest CBC, chemistry profile, urinalysis and thyroid function if the thyroid hasn't been re-checked within a year. Since secondary problems can always develop, it is for this reason that bloodwork is essential for older kitties (typically, any kitty over the age of 7 should have this done annually to keep ahead of any underlying health problems). Stress can also play a major role in health problems and developing problems, stress can induce and exacerbate any potential illness. If the environment is by chance stressful, she will in turn be stressed and her health will suffer as a result.
As for diagnosing IBD, the first thing would have been to adjust the diet anyway, to either a hypoallergenic diet, or one higher in fiber, more easily digestible. Prednisone is often used as a temporary recourse when first suspecting IBD, but I'm not sure the dosing you've mentioned is enough. Usually, in first diagnosed cases, pred is prescribed at the highest possible dose per weight and health assessment, then tapered to a lower dose for maintenance and to gauge response (pred must be dosed carefully, monitored explicitly). If after dietary adjustment and combined with pred, no response is noted, then an endoscopy might be useful to detect hidden inflammatory conditions or masses. I'm not saying this condition is actually the problem with your kitty, but it certainly is worth ruling out.
Again, not knowing what your vet has done toward diagnostics/bloodwork thus far, and not knowing the time frame for process of elimination, it's almost impossible to advise further. But, I do advise a second opinion because it could be a new vet could pick up on something more obvious that your current vet has missed, and this might not even be exclusively dietary related.
Have your husband visit the forum, maybe when he knows you are amoung devoted cat lovers, and reads through the forums on how important it is to keep one step ahead of feline health issues, perhaps he will be more open to your suggestions....hopefully, you can come to a compromise, but the unconditional love your kitty has given should be all that matters in getting her the help/treatment she deserves.
I don't know what diagnostics your vet has done thus far, nor do I know when the last full exam was done. What I strongly suggest is if a complete blood profile has not been done within the last 6 months, to do so immediately.....I suggest CBC, chemistry profile, urinalysis and thyroid function if the thyroid hasn't been re-checked within a year. Since secondary problems can always develop, it is for this reason that bloodwork is essential for older kitties (typically, any kitty over the age of 7 should have this done annually to keep ahead of any underlying health problems). Stress can also play a major role in health problems and developing problems, stress can induce and exacerbate any potential illness. If the environment is by chance stressful, she will in turn be stressed and her health will suffer as a result.
As for diagnosing IBD, the first thing would have been to adjust the diet anyway, to either a hypoallergenic diet, or one higher in fiber, more easily digestible. Prednisone is often used as a temporary recourse when first suspecting IBD, but I'm not sure the dosing you've mentioned is enough. Usually, in first diagnosed cases, pred is prescribed at the highest possible dose per weight and health assessment, then tapered to a lower dose for maintenance and to gauge response (pred must be dosed carefully, monitored explicitly). If after dietary adjustment and combined with pred, no response is noted, then an endoscopy might be useful to detect hidden inflammatory conditions or masses. I'm not saying this condition is actually the problem with your kitty, but it certainly is worth ruling out.
Again, not knowing what your vet has done toward diagnostics/bloodwork thus far, and not knowing the time frame for process of elimination, it's almost impossible to advise further. But, I do advise a second opinion because it could be a new vet could pick up on something more obvious that your current vet has missed, and this might not even be exclusively dietary related.
Have your husband visit the forum, maybe when he knows you are amoung devoted cat lovers, and reads through the forums on how important it is to keep one step ahead of feline health issues, perhaps he will be more open to your suggestions....hopefully, you can come to a compromise, but the unconditional love your kitty has given should be all that matters in getting her the help/treatment she deserves.
..........Traci