Advise needed ASAP

[vickih]

update on kitty.
has nothing to do with her food.
so this is what the vet (4th one finally figured out what it was). Hairballs. bcause she is a short haired tabby, she cannot cough up her hairballs, so they get stuck in her colon, which means she gets constipated. She eats, poop has no where to go, so she has to vomit. So the vet had to shave her, give her lots and lots of vaseline to coat her stomach, an enema to clean her out, and fluids. I still have to give her the laxatone for the hairballs for a good month of so even though she is shaven, lactulose so she can be regular until her tummy settles and an antacid.
Her poop is really small and soft but that is because she is on raw. Her appetite is great. So when her tummy settles, I have to give her some fatty acids (Omega 3's), and continue the probiotics. I also have her on L-Glutamine right now so soothe her tummy.
So far so good. One day at a time!
THanks all for the support, and talking from experience if you aren't happy with what the vet has to tell you find someone else! This vet was the 4th one in the same practise and he realized what was wrong with her 10 minutes in.

[Auntie Crazy]

Oh, man, I winced when I read your post, Vicki.

Hairballs are not a disease, they are a symptom. Any vet who says otherwise is.... well, I'd run, not walk away from that clinic!

The cat's natural high animal-protein / fat diet is processed much more quickly (not to mention efficiently) than any other "diet" and under normal conditions, a cat doesn't (can't!) swallow enough hair fast enough to outrace that natural stomach emptying time.

(This is feline physiology and has nothing to do with the "type" of cat.)

It's only when fed difficult-to-digest, species-inappropriate products that digestion time is slowed down enough to allow for a hair backup to occur. Accompanying inflammation of the gut from those same products can exacerbate that problem even more.

Before you subject your kitty to a lifetime of laxatives or "hairball" supplements (or, heaven-forbid, food formulas), please read this article: Some Startling New Thoughts on Cats and Hairballs.

Your kitty needs a diet make-over, badly. Maybe some of the articles on the Feline Nutrition Education Society's site will be helpful for you?

Carnivore Digestion and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Your Cat's Nutritional Needs: The Basics

Species-Inappropriate: The Dangers of Dry Food

Diet, Kidney Disease and the Urinary Tract

<<<Hugs!!>>> I hope you see this post!

AC

[Fyreflie]

It's only when fed difficult-to-digest, species-inappropriate products that digestion time is slowed down enough to allow for a hair backup to occur. Accompanying inflammation of the gut from those same products can exacerbate that problem even more.

But isn't this a raw fed cat?

[vickih]

hi,
Ok now I'm freaked out after reading Auntie's post. My cat is now on a raw food diet since November. She was on EVO dry food until October of 2011 and then I transitioned her to Wellness Wet Chicken Formula and now raw. She is still constipated. She did throw up this past Monday and then did a massive poop, but she probably threw up because she was constipated. Since Monday she hasn't pooped again, so I am thinking when I get home tonight, I might find barf and poop. The vet said it will take a while for her gut to heal properly but we are on the right path, so now your post is concerning me.
Am I doing something wrong?

[catinthemirror]

What kind of raw are you feeding your cat? Is it some kind of commercial ground product? It's my understanding that too much bone in a cat's diet can cause constipation (bone is what firms up a cat's stool, so loose stool means too little bone, and constipation means too much). Bone is inexpensive, so companies making ground raw diets might be tempted to add more than the recommended 10% or less bone that cats need (or at least that was my fear when I researched local ground raw pet food, where no one could tell me what percentage of bone was in it). If you're feeding a commercial ground raw product you need to figure out what percentage of bone is in it, and start offering your cat some boneless, plain muscle meat meals to lower the percent of bone she's eating.

If you're feeding her prey model raw, are you sticking fairly close to the 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other organ ratio? If you are, I'd still recommend cutting back on the amount of bone you give her. Some cat's, like my older cat, don't need the full 10%. Also I believe that liver can help soften stool naturally. So if I were you I'd cut back on the amount of bone she gets, and try feeding her some extra liver to help get things moving. See if cutting back on the amount of bone she eats helps her constipation at all.

That's really the only thing I can advice you to try, so if that doesn't help come back and keep asking questions. I'm relatively new to raw, so the only thing I could think of when you mentioned constipation is too much bone. Anyway I really hope your cat feels better soon!

[Auntie Crazy]

Originally Posted by vickih

hi,
Ok now I'm freaked out after reading Auntie's post. My cat is now on a raw food diet since November. She was on EVO dry food until October of 2011 and then I transitioned her to Wellness Wet Chicken Formula and now raw. She is still constipated. She did throw up this past Monday and then did a massive poop, but she probably threw up because she was constipated. Since Monday she hasn't pooped again, so I am thinking when I get home tonight, I might find barf and poop. The vet said it will take a while for her gut to heal properly but we are on the right path, so now your post is concerning me.
Am I doing something wrong?

Sweetie, until you tell us what, exactly, you're feeding your cat, there's no way for us to even begin to answer your question.

AC