| How 'bout adding some raw egg yolk (no whites, cats cannot digest them)
to her dry K/D? Be sure and check with the vet before doing this to
make sure that it won't compound her problem. It might make the K/D
much more palatable to her, and will help her coat look shiny and
healthy.
Did the blood panel show any abnormal liver function? Was the inflamed
liver diagnosed by palpation or blood work?
Jo
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| Congratulations on Sausha's healthy kidneys! :-) The possibility of kidney
failure is always a worry with older cats so it's nice to know they're in
good shape.
I don't have any experience with liver problems, but I do with K/D. Misty,
who is almost 17, was diagnosed with kidney failure last December, and
has been on K/D since then. Up to that time she had been eating C/D dry
and loved it. I bought canned K/D instead of dry because at $17 a bag I
didn't want to have to give it away if she didn't like it.
I had some problems getting her used to the K/D at first. Sometimes I
had to mix in a few kibbles of C/D or a teaspoonful of Gerber baby chicken
to get her to eat the whole portion. She is eating the K/D fine now and
seems to like the way I fix it, microwaved, chopped up, with some water
mixed in. She laps up the "juice" with bits of food, then waits for me
to add more water to the food that's left. We repeat this process until
she finishes it all. It takes her a couple of hours to eat a meal, as
she takes a 15 to 30 minute break between nibbles!
The funny thing is, the vet said sometimes cats don't want to eat the
K/D because it's unpalatable, but I think it's only unpalatable to those
who *have* to eat it -- all my other cats would dive right into Misty's
dish if I let them!
As an alternative, the vet gave me a recipe for a homemade diet (designed
by Hills, I believe), mainly hamburger and rice. I tried it once, but
Misty preferred the K/D. If you're interested, you could probably get
the recipe from your vet, or I can send it to you and you can check it
with your vet.
Wishing you good luck and many long, happy years with Sausha!
Linda
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| I was sooooo very happy to pick up Sausha on Friday night. The anxiety
a "Mom" goes thru while her baby is having one of these procedures is
really tough. It made me smile when I got into the vets office and I
could hear Sausha talking above all the other animals that were in the
back section in the cages. She looked great!
Re: .1
Jo, .... I asked the vet about the raw egg yolk and he said "No". His
main concern seemed to be around the cholesterol from the egg yolk. He
does a blood test which checks for abnormalities in relation to the
amount of sedation he is going to use. He said the test showed the
liver was inflamed, but not on the serious end. He wants me to put
Sausha on the K/D for a month and then bring her back in so he can run
a more extensive blood panel focused on just the liver. He feels that
the inflamation can be corrected by diet.
I guess that I jumped the gun in thinking that Sausha would go on
strike when I served her K/D. She gobbled it up Friday night, which I
figured was due to the fact that she hadn't eaten all day and was in no
mood to be picky. So Saturday morning I served the dry K/D and she ate
that too! Saturday night I served wet again and she made not a face.
The vet said if she puts up a fuss just to mix 1/2 to 1 ounce of her
favorite food (which of course comes in small little cans) into the
K/D. I did this on Sunday and she cleaned her bowl. So I think we are
going to be okay with the K/D.
He also gave me some mouth wash to use on her gums/teeth. She had a
pretty good gum infection (lots of yellow on upper gums), but when I
picked her up most of it was gone. He also gave her a shot of
antibiotics.
Thanks Linda for all the tips on the K/D, the baby food was a new one
for me but sounds like a good idea!
The worst part of this turned out to be bringing Sausha home to her two
sisters, who growled and hissed and you would have thought I brought a
Doberman into the house...took about two days for them to figure out it
was Sausha...guess it takes a while to get the Vet-Smell off!
...Lori * Sausha * Misty Rae * Freeway
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