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Old August 25th 10, 05:57 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
tivoglio
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Posts: 8
Default Magic the beautiful guy

On Aug 24, 8:26*pm, Wayne Mitchell wrote:
*tivoglio wrote:
Where he could have
picked up hepatitis is beyond me.


Hi, "tivoglio". *Hepatitis of this type is not due to an acquired
infection. *The bacteria that cause it are always present in the gut,
but due to an inflammatory condition things get out of balance and a
bacterial overgrowth invades the bile duct and liver -- and usually the
pancreas as well. *It's likely that Magic has inflammatory bowel
disease, and also likely that some of his symptoms are due to
pancreatitis. *The three conditions -- IBD, pancreatitis and cholangitis
-- occur together so often that they are grouped together under the
label "triaditis".

The change in diet is a good idea. *IBD seems to be caused by food
intolerance as often as not. *But you may need to shop around for the
right food. *If the i/d doesn't quite do it, try the z/d; and if that
doesn't work, try a limited ingredient diet such as venison and green
pea. *So far, over the last year and a half, the z/d seems to have done
very well for my Will. *Will's attacks were always a little less severe
than Magic's -- no jaundice so far -- but there was a period two winters
ago when they were occurring monthly and becoming more severe. *Since
the switch to z/d, he hasn't had but one severe attack, and the
frequency of mild attacks is way down.

--

Wayne M.


Wayne, thanks a lot for your post. I will definitely put your z/d
suggestion in the priority queue, since Will appears to be thriving on
it. One concern with me is whether or not Magic will eat the z/d. He
appears to like the i/d, at least the dry stuff, but when I try to
feed him a little canned i/d, he just licks the moisture out of it and
leaves it. Does Will eat both canned and dry, or just one?

I've actually heard of triaditis. I downloaded an article about it,
but when I got to the prognosis part, I felt a little ill myself. It
said that over half the cats who have it survive less than a year -
but maybe that's only if they don't receive treatment.

The only time Magic had jaundice was early on, when the attacks
continued for two days and he wouldn't eat and became dehydrated. I
never let that happen again, but when he has a bout, his liver values
really spike.

Does Will take anything like prednisolone? The vet told me that it
staves off inflammation and, unlike humans, cats can tolerate steroids
indefinitely. Also, does Will have a maniacal cravnng for grass? Magic
heads for it wherever it exists, and I'm usually fast enough to grab
him before he munches more than a blade or two. The vet told me to
keep him away from grass since it can harbor parasites and can
irritate his stomach. Thus, the oat grass I let him nibble
occasionally.

The Fortiflora seemed like a good idea - works like Activia yogurt by
adding good bacteria to the digestive system, but since he won't eat
the canned i/d, I haven't been too successful with it. I think I'll
try mixing the Fortiflora with a very small portion of canned Friskies
with gravy, the stuff he used to like before we went to the i/d.

Again, thanks for your input.
Tom