Raw diet for FIV+ cat??

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Venita

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Because of Beasley and Twinkie's skin issues, I asked dian to start them on a raw diet. (Twinkie does test FIV+. We don't know if it's from a vaccine, but I doubt it.)

She was all for it until she reminded me:

thought I heard or read or was told that with compromised immune system, raw might not be the best way to go.
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I am thinking I read that too? Sources, anyone? Especially wondering why it might be bad.

Thanks all.
 
Keep in mind that all raw diets are not created equal.

I will pit my par boiled/mostly-raw diet against a bowl of dry food any day in a petri dish war.
 
thanks for popping in dr. L
so I will take that to mean that as long as I at least par boil the chicken, I should be OK/? I do use your recipe. I do not do it when I make it for my guys.raw yolks and livers OK too??

they have been licking excessively and pulling out hair. especially on back legs but beasley has hit his sides also. I have tried
eliminating fish and beef from diet
feed gluetan free. they eat FF
zyrtec
anti itch creme now one with 1% steroids.
fish oil now
humidifier
lysine
medicated for ? fleas

went to vet and he RX AB with no results and agreed with what I tried. no slides taken. does not think. mange,staph or anything along those lines
asked if he had other solutions besides steroids and if not maybe prozac. he RX buspar. this seems OCD to me
they wear e-collar I made, soon as I TAKE OFF, THEY START AGAIN
 
Dian,
One of my friends has been feeding her FIV+ cat exclusively raw, homemade, food for 8+ years with absolutely no problems or complications of any kind. She is the one who taught me to make raw food for Flame when we were battling his IBD and he was Dx with FD and we still make food together on a regular basis.

Her cat was near death within the first year of her life because a Vet Tech thought he knew better than the owner and decided (against her EXPRESS instructions) to give her cat a combo vaccine when she had insisted on PureVax only. Being FIV+, the vaccine threw her body into full blown FIV. The story my friend tells about everything she did, and all she went thru to save this kitty is amazing.

Due to kitty's compromised immune system, my friend does supplement her food with 4-Life Transfer Factor daily and some other types of supplements such as CoQ10. I am not sure exactly all of what she gives her kitty, but wanted you to know that she does supplement with things to support her immune system.

She also has a cat who is NOT FIV+ and both cats eat a raw diet exclusively. I have never seen 2 healthier looking cats!
 
Donna and Flame said:
Due to kitty's compromised immune system, my friend does supplement her food with 4-Life Transfer Factor daily...
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dian, that is the immune supplement I talked with you about some time back. I don't think I sent you any, but I did send some to Stefani for Ahi, and I can see if she has any left if you would like. PM me if you want me to try.

V
 
thanks a lot donna. could ya find out what else she gives??.

so glad to know I can go ahead with raw but we must keep in mind ECID but I have to try something. was just worried cause ya get so many conflicting stories when searching on the net
 
so I will take that to mean that as long as I at least par boil the chicken, I should be OK/? I do use your recipe. I do not do it when I make it for my guys.raw yolks and livers OK too??
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You would probably be just fine if you only rinsed the whole meats but go one step further and par boil the meat.

I just boil for 1-2 minutes and then put the meat in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Also par boil the liver. I am fine with using the yolks raw but......

If you are dealing with allergies, leave out the eggs so that we take that off the list as possible allegens.

(Truth be told....I have been too lazy to use egggs for several years now....bad vet.....)
 
awwww, thanks dr. L. you do not know how much I appreciate your input. just wish I knew what was causing all this. gotta figure it out so adoption happens., BAD VET?? yea, right!! love ya
 
WELL, THE BOYZ WILL BE STARTING RAW TONIGHT. I know they will like it cause I have been giving them a little of my guys but to be honest..................
this par boiling is a PIA. I could not throw out the water that chicken and liver was done in cause I just saw all those nutrients going down the drain. so had to refrigerate that to cool it down. and the chicken I ground had to be put in fridge also cause was warm on inside. so probably took me as long to make #8 as it does #27 for my guys. one good thing is since they do not have teeth, I did not chunk any meat. I have given them chunks when they sit for hours and watch me make my guys food and they just swallow whole. so we will see if this does anything for their skin condition.
wish us luck. also gonna give miralax cause they have a little hard poo even before raw. so may just start once a day and see how that works.
I stopped fish oil in case that might be adding to allergy?? and zyrtec almost done but does not sem to be doing anything.
 
this par boiling is a PIA.
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I could not agree more. I HATE par boiling and am honestly considering going back to what I successfully did for 5 years and just rinsing off the meat.

The par boiling doubles my time....or more.

The reason why I switched was because I used to call Whole Foods Market and get the meat on their shipment day. Then.... got tired of doing that an bought what was in the case....and got more paranoid about bacteria.

But I hate par boiling......

I also use the water that it is boiled in for the recipe but I really don't think that much in the way of nutrients is in the water. We are only doing a light boil.

If I don't use the water for the recipe, the local fox population gets a tasty treat of the skins that I don't use and the chicken water poured over their dry dog food.

Salmon oil....is not hyperallergenic and SHOULD be used for allergies.

(Protein is an allergen....not a fat/oil.)
 
Lisa dvm said:
this par boiling is a PIA.
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I could not agree more. I HATE par boiling and am honestly considering going back to what I successfully did for 5 years and just rinsing off the meat.
WE FINALLY AGREE ON SOMETHING :lol: I just rinse off for my guys but Iam afraid wit twinkie. we will see what happens with raw and if it helps with skin before I decide on boil or not
.
Salmon oil....is not hyperallergenic and SHOULD be used for allergies.

(Protein is an allergen....not a fat/oil.)
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good to know. Thanks so much although in food (recipe)already, I will continue with the extra squirt with at least one meal.
thanks again for all your help
 
I sure hope this helps them both. They must itch so, to be pulling out their fur. Maui had a similar problem - but with her the answer was easy (even though it took 10 years to figure out)! Remove the dry food - whatever is in the dry (no matter what brand) caused her skin issues for 10 years.

Now she eats canned and raw and the skin issues are gone. So, paws crossed raw only for these guys will fix them too!
 
beasley is not caring for it. If I do not mix in FF, he will not eat. twinkie is better. he still gets a little FF but transitioning them to 100%
tryng this but I am thinking this is not the problem or it would be more systemic.
wonder if it is the litter> that is the only thing I have not tried to change. we use Special kitty clumping/ has not affected my 7 and why would both of them itch?
questions
 
I have not read this whole thread but I will always vote for a food allergy...or some enviromental allergy...over litter. Clay is pretty darn inert...not reactive.....so that is not my vote.

I assume that your litter is UNscented.
 
This is kind of OT for this thread, but Dian.. how much Zyrtec do you give? Those are small little pills (I take every night) - so wondering how small you have to cut them for a cat....
 
litter is UNscented.
steph, it is the generic pill so easily cut in half and quarters. it did not seem to do anything so Finished them and we are now done.
the only other thing that could be possible (according to jojo) would be mites. vet never did a skin scraping and just said, no, do not think it is mites. I used frontline + but I hear I should use revolution for mites.
so going to look into that next

beasley remains adverseto the raw. sometimes he eats it but most of the time it is a no go. twinkie seems ok with it. But I do have to use FF to mix supplements in,otherwise they will not eat the raw at all.
 
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