04/30 Jasper amps 155, +4.5 70

[Heather and Jasper]

Yesterday's condo

Jasper seems to be perking up some from the fluids He's still not to keen on syringe feeding.

jojo and i were talking. she suggested adding "calorie count" lines to jasper's spreadsheet like we had lynee/max do when max was being tube fed: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pJQhoF5eu2c0z6GypqD-uRQ.

since food is like medicine for the liver, it'll be a good idea to keep track of exactly how many calories jasper is consuming. jojo told me to make sure alex consumed 1.5 times her normal calorie intake when she was so sick last month.

since i doubt the foods available in germany are listed on binky's food charts, you might have to make some phone calls and/or search the web for the amount of calories you're feeding. from jojo... and i quote, "tell heather i said she has to do it." lol!
seriously, i know first hand how hard force feeding is, but jasper's liver needs the increased calories to heal.

Before he got sick, he was eating Felix in jelly (Felix in Jelly Chicken, 76 cal from international food chart)
I've looked all over the web to see to find the calorie content of the German FF, called Golden Gourmet, (what I've been feeding him since he's been sick). but the calories are not listed on the UK site as far as I can tell, nor on the German sight.

I did go to the pet store and ask the owner what the highest calorie cat food he had that I could syringe was, and he sold me some of this Babycat Instinctive and i found some Recovery in my pantry from when Azrael needed to be syringe feed last year (think I'm going to go by vets and get some more today)

Hi Heather

I'm very puzzled by the low iron. Was there any other word but "iron"? Nothing like total, or serum? The iron level seems just too low to make sense--I don't think the result is trustworthy, to be honest. There should be blood cell changes with severe iron deficiency and I don't see evidence of that; the cat's not even anemic. The iron shot he got today shouldn't be harmful but I'd retest the iron before further supplementation as iron supplementation can be over-done.

So about the vomiting -- were any x=rays done? Ultrasound? Is his abdomen tender? Is he pooping normally? Is he nauseous? With prolonged vomiting we have to worry about more serious causes. Was there any testing done other than bloodwork?

Four days is a long time for bad GI upset to carry on. I think he needs more diagnostics (imaging, if he hasn't had any yet); it's time to get to the bottom of this and treat the primary cause. He may need a feeding tube if this doesn't resolve quickly.

Hope this helps, please feel free to respond with questions.

His Abdomen does seem tender to the touch, but not always. he hasn't had a BM since this has started. He's licking his lips as if he is nauseous. I've got some pepcid on order for him at the pharmacy (can't believe they didn't have it in stock, but it was only 2 hour wait time for delivery)

Heather, was it an x=ray or an ultrasound? I don't know how the lining of the stomach could look inflamed on x-ray; maybe she said that because of the bloody vomit.

Did she say the fluid was in the lungs or in the chest? Did they tap the chest to get a sample of the fluid? I am confused on the story now.

It was an X-ray, not an ultra sound. the first vet that looked at it didn't say anything about the fluid in the chest cavity (sorry, should have made more clear, not in lungs) and the second vet, my normal vet, didn't say anything about the problems in the stomach. They did not tap the chest to get a sample of the liquid. I hate to say it, but, my German/Irish vet friend warned me that most vets in the EU do not go as far with treatments as American vets do (makes me want to scream) as we saw with Kate and Lucky last year.


he did want to jump up on his favorite spot in front of the window for some fresh air and sunbeams today, and Azrael joined him to keep him company

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Jasper's numbers are looking better and it sounds like his behavior is getting back to normal.

Any chance of tracking down an e-mail address for the FF/Golden Gourmet people and seeing if you can get a calorie count from them directly?

 

[Monique & Spooky]

Heather try this table for the calorie count of some popular foods http://www.kretakatzen.de/Ernaehrung/Naehrwert2.htm#Naehrwert-Tabellen

the second table is canned foods, according to this Felix Gelee has 835 kcal per kilogram so 83.5 kcal per 100 grams (typical serving size)

Here is food calculator http://www.katzen-life.de/Katzenernahrung/index.htm?harnsteine.htm

Just enter the label for fat, protien, water etc. and it will calculate the kcal/kg and the daily requirement for the weight and activity level of the cat.

Just to add the Felix has 4514 kcal/kg in the dry matter. This site also has the formula used to calculate (like Janet does) all these values. In Germany the label does not have min. and max. what is given is the "actual" or average values. Normally you can use the values on the can.

Here is the formula (hope you can follow it, if you need a translation let me know, I'm rather lazy right now :mrgreen: )

Berechnung des Kohlenhydrat-Gehalts (= NfE) in einem Dosen- oder Trockenfutter

Zur Ermittlung des Gehalts an Kohlenhydraten (wissenschaftlich genau: an N-freien Extraktstoffen = NfE) in der Original-Substanz werden alle auf der Dose/Packung angegebenen Inhaltstoffe von 100% abgezogen.

100% - Rohprotein% - Rohfett% - Rohasche% - Rohfaser% - Wasser% = NfE%

Beispiel Dosenfutter: 100% - 10% - 5,5% - 2,5% - 1,0% - 79% = 2% NfE
Beispiel Trockenfutter: 100% - 30% - 10% - 6,5% - 2,5% - 9% = 42% NfE

Auf Trockenfutter-Packungen ist der Wassergehalt oft nicht angegeben, er kann zwischen 7% und 14% schwanken. Üblicherweise liegt er etwa bei 8-10%. Wo nicht anders angegeben habe ich mit 9% gerechnet.

Berechnung des Nährstoff-Gehalts in der Trockensubstanz

Dazu wird zuerst der Trockensubstanz-Gehalt ermittelt:

Beispiel Dosenfutter: 100% - 79% Wasser = 21% Trockensubstanz (TS) = 0,21
Beispiel Trockenfutter: 100% - 9% Wasser = 91% Trockensubstanz (TS) = 0,91

Dann wird der Nährstoff-Gehalt durch den Trockensubstanz-Gehalt geteilt:

Beispiel NfE-Gehalt im Dosenfutter: 2% NfE / 0,21 = 9,52% NfE in der TS
Beispiel NfE-Gehalt im Trockenfutter: 42% NfE / 0,91 = 46,15% NfE in der TS

Beispiel Protein-Gehalt im Dosenfutter: 10% Protein / 0,21 = 47,62% Protein in der TS
Beispiel Protein-Gehalt im Trockenfutter: 30% Protein / 0,91 = 32,97% Protein in der TS

 

[Heather and Jasper]

Thanks Monique!

I need to go check on the cat I'm cat sitting this week and will look it over after I get back.

 

[Nina and KB]

Nice to see his BGs coming down. Sounds like he's feeling a little better. Thank goodness for FDMB and feline health cyber experts that can help you help him.

 

[jan and Hep and sara (GA)]

Heather,
Glad that he has Azrael to keep him company. Thats so cute. Hope he continues to feel better and that you get to the bottom of whats ailing him.
jan and sara