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#1
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Another food question
One of my fosters was found outside very pregnant. She delivered 5 kittens
within a week. She weaned them abruptly at 5 weeks and the next day got sick herself and stopped eating or drinking. She had an Intusseption. The vet did a bowel resection and removed around 11" of Ileum. They sent her home 3 days post op and told me to feed her wet food only for a week and then I could add dry. She had been eating kitten food before getting sick so I put her back on that. Her stool was formed for the first week but she seemed to be hungry all the time. I was feeding her three times a day and she still seemed to always be hungry. After the first week I added a good quality dry food in addition to the canned food and that seemed to satisfy her. However, her stool is more like a cow flop. I asked the vet about it and they put her on Science Diet I/D and Metronidaz for 5 days. They also told me not to give her the kitten food any more. Well that was last Saturday and I haven't seen any improvement at all and she's crying for food all the time again. I don't know what food might be good for her. She needs to gain weight. She had dropped down to 5 lbs. when she stopped eating and has gained some of it back but is still way too skinny (which is why I was giving her kitten food). I need something that is going to give her good nutrition and at the same time satisfy her hunger so she's not crying for food all the time. She can't be adopted out until we get a handle on what to feed her so any suggestions will be appreciated. W |
#2
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Another food question
"Wendy" wrote in message ... I don't know what food might be good for her. She needs to gain weight. She had dropped down to 5 lbs. when she stopped eating and has gained some of it back but is still way too skinny (which is why I was giving her kitten food). I need something that is going to give her good nutrition and at the same time satisfy her hunger so she's not crying for food all the time. She can't be adopted out until we get a handle on what to feed her so any suggestions will be appreciated. W |
#3
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Another food question
Wendy wrote: However, her stool is more like a cow flop. I asked the vet about it and they put her on Science Diet I/D and Metronidaz for 5 days. They also told me not to give her the kitten food any more. Well that was last Saturday and I haven't seen any improvement at all and she's crying for food all the time again. Kitten food is generally regarded as good for all cats. It's usually very high in proteins and extremely high fats. Can you ask the vet WHY? Why to stop kitten food? Something in particular about her condition prohibits high protein and very high fats? Most adult cats would gain way too much weight with kitten food so it is not recommended. If she is a very small cat, then she may not need a lot of weight which might be bad in the long run, that is, too much weight. Again, can you ask your vet about these matters? I think you said she had some resection so perhaps very high fat might be exceedingly difficult to digest since cats don't have long digestive tracts to begin with. Does the vet think she needs to gain weight? It could be she does not like the Science Diet or is she eating that? What is her weight? My cat cries for food all the time. By improvement, do you mean weight gain? Can you weigh her every day if that is a concern? |
#4
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Another food question
wrote in message ups.com... Wendy wrote: However, her stool is more like a cow flop. I asked the vet about it and they put her on Science Diet I/D and Metronidaz for 5 days. They also told me not to give her the kitten food any more. Well that was last Saturday and I haven't seen any improvement at all and she's crying for food all the time again. Kitten food is generally regarded as good for all cats. It's usually very high in proteins and extremely high fats. Can you ask the vet WHY? Why to stop kitten food? Something in particular about her condition prohibits high protein and very high fats? Most adult cats would gain way too much weight with kitten food so it is not recommended. If she is a very small cat, then she may not need a lot of weight which might be bad in the long run, that is, too much weight. Again, can you ask your vet about these matters? I think you said she had some resection so perhaps very high fat might be exceedingly difficult to digest since cats don't have long digestive tracts to begin with. Does the vet think she needs to gain weight? It could be she does not like the Science Diet or is she eating that? What is her weight? My cat cries for food all the time. By improvement, do you mean weight gain? Can you weigh her every day if that is a concern? She had gotten so skinny right before her surgery that you could feel each vertebra when you ran you hand down her back. She was literally all bones. When I first took her to the vet they thought she had a uterine infection but didn't want to spay her then because she was so thin they weren't sure she'd survive the surgery. That's how thin she was at 5 lbs. She is now up near 6 lbs. and isn't quite as boney but still is too thin. The vet agreed that she still needed to gain some weight. I'll have to try to talk to the vet who did her surgery. The vet who saw her Saturday was more concerned with putting her on a bland diet. I don't know why that would be relevant. It's not all that easy getting answers out of the vets for the rescue cats. We're lucky that this cat is alive at all. The original decision when they opened her up was to euthanize (I wasn't in on that discussion). The vet who did the surgery decided to proceed on his own and not charge the rescue group. The vet who operated did say that the ileum in cats is where some of the water is absorbed. Therefore, she could have a problem with loose stool - a lot less ileum, less water absorption. She didn't for the first week thought and that's why I thought it might be food related. I have to go down there this afternoon to do an adoption on one of my other fosters so I'll see if the vet is in today. She isn't a picky eater at all. She scarfs down whatever wet food I give her - dry food too for that matter. She's just plain hungry all the time if she's only on wet. It just doesn't seem to stay with her or make her feel full. I wish these guys could talk. W |
#5
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Another food question
"Wendy" wrote in message ... She had an Intusseption. The vet did a bowel resection and removed around 11" of Ileum. This may be totally unrelated, but.... One of my Wolfhounds had a similarly massive bowel resection, and was extremely sensitive to all foods afterwards. It took us well over a year to find exactly the right food that her system would tolerate without going into hemorrhagic diarrhea. And even after we found the one food she could tolerate even one bite of anything else would set her off. It was constant supervision for the remainder of her life with zero indiscretions. You are still in the early stages of recovery here, and it sounds to me as if you just haven't found the right food yet. If she tolerates the kitten food without diarrhea then I would continue with that. After at least a month of uneventful poos I might try switching her to an adult formula with the exact same ingredients, but I would switch very slowly and be prepared to continue with kitten food if need be. Constant diarrhea is irritating to an already compromised digestive tract, and I would feed whatever I needed to to avoid it. -- Toni http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com |
#6
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Another food question
Wendy wrote: I was feeding her three times a day and she still seemed to always be hungry. It sounds like she is going to be fine... so let her eat as much and often as she likes? I think she stays hungry because her upper bowel is not digesting nutrients (im sure a basic understanding of what her body is doing after bowel surgery would explain just why she cannot absorb all the nutrients) if she was getting the nutrients her mind would stop telling the body to eat all told, with her.. it's about nutrient absorbtion |
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