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Old March 23rd 11, 02:40 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
jmc[_2_]
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Default 16 yr. old cat constantly throwing up

Suddenly, without warning, cshenk exclaimed (3/22/2011 8:23 PM):
"B" wrote

My cat is 16 yrs. old and for the past several months constantly
throws up. The vet did some blood work and his sugar was a little
high, which she attributed to the stress of the visit. His kidney
function is slowing down a bit and now she wants to take a urine
sample. She has changed his food to a type that can only be bought at
the office and is a gastroenteric formula. The food is not cheap, $34
for a case of canned and $28 for a 6# bag of dry food. I don't know
what to do for him; there are times that he doesn't seem to know where
he is or who I am. Is some of this just part of the "aging process"?


It can be several things but the 'don't know who he is or you who are'
sends a signal of kidney problems to me.

Kidney problems are far more common in Cats fed mostly dry food over
years of time. It doesnt matter that many of the web sites about this
are wacky 'new age', it's a fact shown by stats but even those fed
always wet, can develop problems by age 16.

The only answer having dealt with this many times (I rescue elderly
cats) is to get more water into them then have a vet who actually knows
geriatric cats and how to read bloodwork. Most of the cats I have
rescued have been 14-18 and fed crap like 'purina' until suddenly they
'developed problems the owner could not deal with'. Basic alzheimers
sort of thing.

At this point, I dump a vet who first takes me to the KD dry (or wet)
stuff. My experience is that they know far less than I do (and i am
always into follow vet advice normally but this is the exception if they
do that).

Commmon sense, kidney problems in cats are usually related to not
drinking enough. Over years, this can make it worse and damage the
kidneys. Cats don't really like 'water' that much but an effective way
to get them to drink is by adding a bowl of salt-free broth (2-3 TB)
about 3 times a day if possible. Feeding wet food also helps a good bit.

I agree with one of the posters, that once you learn to read *labels*
much of the 'Fancy Feast' is workable. About 40% of the versions are
grainfree.

Please do NOT take to hairball remedy laxitives. Sure, cats hurl
hairballs at times, but that is a laxitive which makes dehydration worse
if your kitty has kidney issues.


To add to the water bit - I add a tablespoon or two of warm water to
each of Meep's feedings, plus she has a Petco brand water fountain that
she drinks from a lot more than the Drinkwell she had before.

Between those two, she's remained hydrated enough to have almost no
cystitis attacks in the last few years, and despite being geriatric, she
looks great and her kidneys are fine. Still, we do a workup every 6
months to ensure if they start to fail, we'll know about it early.

jmc