4/5 Darcy AMPS 244, +3 225, +6 140, 8.5 286, + 350, PMPS 360

Suzanne & Darcy

Suzanne & Darcy

Member Since 2020
He bounced yesterday (I could see it come on the previous evening) but today is a little better so far. Darcy has had very liquid diarrhea for the last few days. I have no idea why or where this came from. I stopped giving him the Cosequin, but he still has diarrhea. I was hoping that glucosamine/chondroitin was what was causing the diarrhea. He never had diarrhea from the Cabergoine (not even in the beginning, so I don't think that's it). I guess it could be the BFF food with the lamb in it. Unfortunately, they all like that food and I have a lot of it so somebody's going to have to eat it. If I call the vet about it, they will probably give me a 5-7 day course of Metronidazole for him.

Yesterday, the little rescue kitten's other abscess burst (the one that the vet drained) and a massive amount of puss came out. She no longer looks like she has a huge hunchback (he shoulder blades are visible, and she's feeling a lot better now and is walking better. The vet said she had a fever of 104.3 on Saturday morning. I think that's all gone now. Problem is she has diarrhea from the Clavamox. I think I'm going to have to switch to straight Amoxicillin.

Yesterday's: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...3-5-169-ate-meal-4-5-196.245660/#post-2772614
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
Great numbers but sorry to hear about the diarrhea. Have you ever tried slippery elm and S. boulardii as a remedy instead of antibiotics? https://www.foodfurlife.com/my-cat-has-diarrhea---what-do-i-do.html#/
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Yes. I have a humongous bag of slippery elm bark and a bottle of S. boulardii here. I can try that for Darcy maybe. I hate to make the "tea" and syringe it in Darcy... so I may just take some empty gelcaps and my teeny weeny itty bitty micro measuring spoons and fill the gelcaps (since it's a lower GI problem and not something like mouth ulcers). With diarrhea that is this frequent and liquid, I'm not sure that slippery elm will work, but it can do no harm. With the kitten, I just need to quit giving Clavamox. I like the idea S. boulardii, but I never actually had it work for me in a cat or a human (me) yet. I tried it and finally gave up... of course, I finally figured out the my body doesn't like dairy anymore... now I just take digestive enzymes for dairy and eat all the dairy I want :-) With all the antibiotics Darcy has been on recently, he may benefit from it (also will have to gelcap that as it's human dose Jarrow s. boulardii. I had re-started his Proviable DC probiotic just yesterday.

Thanks for the reminder about this!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes. I have a humongous bag of slippery elm bark and a bottle of S. boulardii here. I can try that for Darcy maybe. I hate to make the "tea" and syringe it in Darcy... so I may just take some empty gelcaps and my teeny weeny itty bitty micro measuring spoons and fill the gelcaps (since it's a lower GI problem and not something like mouth ulcers). With diarrhea that is this frequent and liquid, I'm not sure that slippery elm will work, but it can do no harm. With the kitten, I just need to quit giving Clavamox. I like the idea S. boulardii, but I never actually had it work for me in a cat or a human (me) yet. I tried it and finally gave up... of course, I finally figured out the my body doesn't like dairy anymore... now I just take digestive enzymes for dairy and eat all the dairy I want :) With all the antibiotics Darcy has been on recently, he may benefit from it (also will have to gelcap that as it's human dose Jarrow s. boulardii. I had re-started his Proviable DC probiotic just yesterday.

Thanks for the reminder about this!
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If nausea is not an issue maybe you can mix the SEB into his food? I rehydrate the powder with George's aloe, add water and then mix it into Ruby's food. She doesn't mind the taste. Much less traumatic than pilling or syringing. It might help "bind" things up.
 
Nice +6 Mr. Darcy has there. :cool: Come back to blues again soon, Mr. Darcy!
So glad to hear the kitten is feeling better than she was. Sending vines for solid poop for both kitties. It really is such a dance to get the perfect poop.
 
I saw your conversation with @Marina & Chico about raw feeding on Summer's thread but didn't want to hijack her thread, so thought I'd let you know that instead of buying raw ground meat from the supermarket (it's meant to be cooked, and so can harbor bacteria) you can buy ground meat from a raw pet food purveyor like Raw Feeding Miami and have it shipped to you. Because Miami is pretty close to you, the meat will arrive frozen and it's much safer than buying from the supermarket. I got a shipment from them packed in dry ice and everything was still frozen. The prices are very reasonable, like ground boneless chicken is $7.00 for 2.5 lbs: https://www.rawfeedingmiami.com/collections/chicken/products/ground-chicken. Even with the shipping, it's cheaper than commercial food, and you can just add EZ Complete. This is what I do and it's SO easy! I also buy meat from Hare Today, though they are in PA, so shipping will take longer and be more expensive for you: https://hare-today.com/.
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
If nausea is not an issue maybe you can mix the SEB into his food? I rehydrate the powder with George's aloe, add water and then mix it into Ruby's food. She doesn't mind the taste. Much less traumatic than pilling or syringing. It might help "bind" things up.
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Darcy is super easy to pill. Just pop it in and that's that! But mixing into food is a great idea where I wouldn't even have to make up a capsule. I have tried mixing the powder straight into food before but it does make it thicker and a little gummy. What is the proportion of aloe/water/slippery elm that you like to use?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Darcy is super easy to pill. Just pop it in and that's that! But mixing into food is a great idea where I wouldn't even have to make up a capsule. I have tried mixing the powder straight into food before but it does make it thicker and a little gummy. What is the proportion of aloe/water/slippery elm that you like to use?
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When I've used it to manage Ruby's nausea, I mix 1/8 tsp SEB with 1/4 tsp aloe and form a ball and swipe it into her mouth before she eats, following the dosage provided here: https://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.or...es-slippery-elm-bark-powder-instructions.html. For diarrhea, I would skip the aloe because it can be a laxative, and use ⅛-¼ tsp (I guess it depends on how big Darcy is) with a tablespoon of water then mix it in food or even baby food as per the CKD site: https://felinecrf.org/holistic_treatments.htm#seb_dosage.
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
I saw your conversation with @Marina & Chico about raw feeding on Summer's thread but didn't want to hijack her thread, so thought I'd let you know that instead of buying raw ground meat from the supermarket (it's meant to be cooked, and so can harbor bacteria) you can buy ground meat from a raw pet food purveyor like Raw Feeding Miami and have it shipped to you. Because Miami is pretty close to you, the meat will arrive frozen and it's much safer than buying from the supermarket. I got a shipment from them packed in dry ice and everything was still frozen. The prices are very reasonable, like ground boneless chicken is $7.00 for 2.5 lbs: https://www.rawfeedingmiami.com/collections/chicken/products/ground-chicken. Even with the shipping, it's cheaper than commercial food, and you can just add EZ Complete. This is what I do and it's SO easy! I also buy meat from Hare Today, though they are in PA, so shipping will take longer and be more expensive for you: https://hare-today.com/.
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Awesome!! Thank you sooo much for the recommendation. I think I will try it. Yes. I felt bad about hijacking that thread... and also about bumping it up.... next time I'll PM. But thanks again for that recommendation!! I'm excited. I have talked with Dr. Lisa and even had a consult with her (about CKD and IBD) a few years back... we talked a little about raw feeding and she said that for her own cats she does that short amount of cooking to cook the outside of the meat and then she grinds it... but I don't really want to grind my meat.

How long do you think of a transition period it would take to switch them over to raw food? Do you have less poop and is it smellier or less smelly?
 
I basically followed the tips on the Food Fur Life website for transitioning: https://www.foodfurlife.com/how-to-transition-to-ezcomplete-fur-cats.html#/. Ruby was eating commercial wet food that I portioned out on a scale anyway, roughly one ounce per meal, so I would put .75 oz of Weruva in a bowl and .25 oz raw for a week, then .5 oz/.5 oz the next week, then .25 oz/.75 oz, until you have 100 % raw in the bowl. Ruby took to it immediately and loved it so much that she was eating the raw and leaving the cooked by week 3 so I skipped week 4. :)

Poops are less smelly and she's gotten more constipated because they add gums and thickeners in those commercial foods that help things move along but we're working on that. :eek::rolleyes: But nausea and vomiting is MUCH less frequent now and I think her BGs have gone lower and more stable now that any inflammation caused by the guar gum and stuff in the commercial food is gone. I'm also no longer feeding her chicken or seafood that might have been causing tummy problems, and I've introduced more novel proteins like duck, bison and venison, all of which she seems to enjoy.
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
I saw your conversation with @Marina & Chico about raw feeding on Summer's thread but didn't want to hijack her thread, so thought I'd let you know that instead of buying raw ground meat from the supermarket (it's meant to be cooked, and so can harbor bacteria) you can buy ground meat from a raw pet food purveyor like Raw Feeding Miami and have it shipped to you. Because Miami is pretty close to you, the meat will arrive frozen and it's much safer than buying from the supermarket. I got a shipment from them packed in dry ice and everything was still frozen. The prices are very reasonable, like ground boneless chicken is $7.00 for 2.5 lbs: https://www.rawfeedingmiami.com/collections/chicken/products/ground-chicken. Even with the shipping, it's cheaper than commercial food, and you can just add EZ Complete. This is what I do and it's SO easy! I also buy meat from Hare Today, though they are in PA, so shipping will take longer and be more expensive for you: https://hare-today.com/.
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That's actually very nice information, i will tag @Summer and Susie for her to check around if this is an acceptable option for her as well.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
How long do you think of a transition period it would take to switch them over to raw food? Do you have less poop and is it smellier or less smelly?
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We follow this transitioning schedule, it is quicker and it works for Chico but if you already know that Darcy is more sensitive to raw maybe go the slower schedule recommended by Katherine.

Chico has much less poop, he used to go 2 times a day, now he goes once in 1.5-2 days. The stool is much less smelly :)

We switched to homemade due to diarrhea and it helps a lot, we are still not where we want to be but it is gradually but noticeably getting better and better. The grinded is good for mixing it with the EZ complete but consider mixing some chunks as well for a different texture. Chico loves them and it has an additional benefit of teeth cleaning effect.
 
Marina & Chico said:
That's actually very nice information, i will tag @Summer and Susie for her to check around if this is an acceptable option for her as well.
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Thanks for tagging me on this, Marina. I am considering the EZ Complete so the Miami link could come in handy. I'm not sure I want to go completely raw. I think I would cook her chicken, turkey first. At least in the beginning. Good gosh my dogs would go nuts if I switched Susie to fresh meat. Good thing that can't get near her food!
 
Marina & Chico said:
We follow this transitioning schedule, it is quicker and it works for Chico but if you already know that Darcy is more sensitive to raw maybe go the slower schedule recommended by Katherine.

Chico has much less poop, he used to go 2 times a day, now he goes once in 1.5-2 days. The stool is much less smelly :)

We switched to homemade due to diarrhea and it helps a lot, we are still not where we want to be but it is gradually but noticeably getting better and better. The grinded is good for mixing it with the EZ complete but consider mixing some chunks as well for a different texture. Chico loves them and it has an additional benefit of teeth cleaning effect.
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Darcy doesn’t have too many teeth left! . He likes to gum and crunch freeze dried raw chicken treats though. Seriously though, thanks for all of this helpful information.

I do have a concern, though, about feeding raw food to my FIV+ cats (I have 2).
Thanks @PerfumedCatMom too!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Darcy doesn’t have too many teeth left! . He likes to gum and crunch freeze dried raw chicken treats though. Seriously though, thanks for all of this helpful information.

I do have a concern, though, about feeding raw food to my FIV+ cats (I have 2).
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Ohh, poor Darcy, so i guess the grinded will do :)

Why are you concerned about raw and FIV? i don't have any knowledge on the topic but i am just wondering why would it be worse than the canned food?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Darcy doesn’t have too many teeth left! . He likes to gum and crunch freeze dried raw chicken treats though. Seriously though, thanks for all of this helpful information.

I do have a concern, though, about feeding raw food to my FIV+ cats (I have 2).
Thanks @PerfumedCatMom too!
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Okay, so the burning questions of the day, Suzanne, are how many cats do you have? Was Darcy a stray/feral? What happened to his teeth?
 
Marina & Chico said:
That's actually very nice information, i will tag @Summer and Susie for her to check around if this is an acceptable option for her as well.
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Another concern I have with feeding the raw/partial raw food is that Susie has never shown any interest in anything that is not cat food. Not steak, not bacon, not hamburger, not cheese, etc. I am getting a sample of the EZ complete and will try it with a little ground turkey I will get and we will see if she shows any interest. I'll try to mix a little in her Fancy Feast.
 
Summer and Susie said:
Another concern I have with feeding the raw/partial raw food is that Susie has never shown any interest in anything that is not cat food. Not steak, not bacon, not hamburger, not cheese, etc. I am getting a sample of the EZ complete and will try it with a little ground turkey I will get and we will see if she shows any interest. I'll try to mix a little in her Fancy Feast.
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Start by changing gradually. What we do is we prepare more, put it in jars with the portion for 2 days and freeze the rest. For a start have a jar with less food than what you would feed in a day so that it doesn't spoil. Take it slowly, we will root for you to manage the transition :)

I really cannot advice anything more unfortunately, Chico eats anything we put on his plate (gigantic antijinx)
 
Marina & Chico said:
Start by changing gradually. What we do is we prepare more, put it in jars with the portion for 2 days and freeze the rest. For a start have a jar with less food than what you would feed in a day so that it doesn't spoil. Take it slowly, we will root for you to manage the transition :)

I really cannot advice anything more unfortunately, Chico eats anything we put on his plate (gigantic antijinx)
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Thanks, Marina. You're lucky Chico eats everything. Hope we didn't jinx it. Love the picture of Chico looking out the window. Is that a grass in front of the window that he eats? Can you tell me what it is. With Susie eating fake plants maybe I could have a healthy type grass for her to munch on instead.
 
Summer and Susie said:
Okay, so the burning questions of the day, Suzanne, are how many cats do you have? Was Darcy a stray/feral? What happened to his teeth?
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Oh no. Darcy is/was never a feral cat. He was a foster kitten that we decided to keep because the people who kept trying to adopt him (at the PetsMart) were such losers that we finally just decided to keep him. I mean... people who would come inside and tell us about how their last cat drowned in their swimming pool.... or their last cat was killed by their dog.... or people who said that they'd killed their last two kittens by shutting their heads in doors. We just couldn't take it anymore.

As for the teeth. Darcy had a case of stomatitis a few years back. The treatment for that is a steroid injection and removal of teeth. They removed a whole bunch of teeth the first time (most of them had resorptive lesions on them anyway). Last fall he had another tooth removed. He has his canine teeth (upper and lower) and the tiny incisors, but most of his molars are gone, that's all. He was much happier without those teeth!
 
Marina & Chico said:
Ohh, poor Darcy, so i guess the grinded will do :)

Why are you concerned about raw and FIV? i don't have any knowledge on the topic but i am just wondering why would it be worse than the canned food?
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I just noticed this question. I have always read that it was risky to feed uncooked meat to FIV cats since their immune systems would not be able to handle it if they ingest any harmful microbes.
 
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