Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi!
    
    I have a sorrel ( I think thats red in the USA) aby called Rolf - well
    it's actually Janeena Orange Pekoe, but I prefer Rolf!
    
    He is 10 months old and has been neutered. He has had chronic diarrhoea
    in the past, but we seem to have solved the problem by only feeding one
    flavour of a particular cat food. We feed him rabbit Whiskas (don't
    know if you have that over there). He is so affectionate and cuddly (a
    bit on the porky side!) and loves to be hugged. He's like a big teddy
    bear! I wouldn't be without him! 
    
    I would get the kitten that you want. I don't think you'll have any
    probs. Perhaps they are a bit sensitive to some food, but its worth any
    hassle. Abys are soooo affectionate, but then, I am a bit biased!!
    
    
    I say GO FOR IT!
    
    
    Lisa plus Pookie, Rolf and Florence.
    

    I'm another biased Aby owner.  I have a neutered male.  He's 20 months
    old and is beautiful.  He weighs 7.4 lbs, very trim and muscular.
    He is a ruddy.  His name is Zula and is my best buddy.  He is extremely
    affectionate and lovable and I would never want to be without him.
    
    He's had problems with diarrhea since I brought him home.  The vet says
    he's fine and the breeder says that his father (who was #1 in the
    country a couple of years ago) has always had his problem.
    
    He seems to be much better now that I have been feeding only quality
    food for the past year.  I feed him only natural food.  Old Mother
    Hubbard canned (beef only) and Fromms dry.  He still has ocassional
    diarrhea but it's not constant.  When I used to feed him supermarket
    food, like 9-lives, it was very bad.  He is a stinker though.  When he
    goes, you know it.
    
    I would definitely get the Aby kitty.  You wont be dissapointed.  He
    has
    brought me so much joy.
    
    Pam, Zula and Ziggy

    
    (OK....Some Aby discussion) I'm a fairly new Aby owner and can give
    some info on my brief experience to date. I have a 5 1/2 month old
    blue male named Bijou. Like you, I was concerned about the diarrhea
    issue so prominently mentioned when talking Aby's.. I looked through
    some of the notes concerning diet and happened upon what (.2) Pam
    came up with for a diet, OMH canned and Fromm's dry food. He had no
    problem with loose stool but did stink to beat the band. (Know what
    I mean Pam !!!!  8^o 
    
      I then happened that he grew tired of this combination and wouldn't
    eat his canned. I tried a few different can/dry combo's and never did
    run into the diarrhea problem. I have now settled on Iam's dry almost
    exclusively and some canned a couple feedings a week. Stick with the
    Aby Jean !!! I'm sure like others here you'll come up with a solution
    pleasing to your new Aby's palette and your litter box concerns.
    
    George

A quality dry kibble has all nutrition that a cat needs.  If you have a cat
that really gets diarrhea often, the first step is to remove the canned food
from his/her diet.  It seems that some cats simply cannot take the canned
food for whatever reason - perhaps it just adds that extra bit of water to
a system that is already well watered and causes runny stool.  At any rate,
your cat will be healthy on kibble alone if need be.  I know because I have
two cats that simply cannot eat canned food - neither of which is Abby....
so, you see, the problem is more to an individual cat's tolerance for
different foods than specific to a breed.  Also, I should add that cats
with chronic diarrhea often have a bacteria in their system that is becoming
more common these days, but because it WAS rare many vets don't know to
check for it....I wish I could remember the name of the bacteria, but
I'm sure one of our noters will...8^}  I read about it recently in a
Cat Fancy, I think....anyone out there know what I'm talking about?

As said, pick a kitten that you can love and then if you have to deal with
a sensitive stomach, your vet can make sure the kitten is healthy and those
of us in this notes conference with sensitive kittens can help you find
a solution.

    re: .3 Fromms - Well, i don't have any Abys, but I do have experience
    with Fromms.  For some reason when my cats were eating it the cat
    box smelled AWFUL!  When Bob goes you always know it, but when he was
    eating Fromms the whole street knew it!   ;-)

Re: Nanc
    
>    box smelled AWFUL!  When Bob goes you always know it, but when he was
>    eating Fromms the whole street knew it!   ;-)
    
   
    You caught me with a mouthful of coffee with that one Nanc !! It's a
    good thing I'm not wearing any white... 8^)
    
    Bijou can get so bad at times that Deb and myself will be on the couch
    in the living room and we can actually see a rolling fog coming from
    the kitchen !!