[amberpep]

Hi to everyone. I'm delighted to have found this forum. I'm a 68 year old lady and I've had cats for at least 40 years .... I just love them. I know totally I am a "cat person" as 2 years ago, at my adult son's urging, I got a dog. She is a little sweetheart, Molly-a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, whom I rescued from a puppy mill, and I love her, but ..... somehow, cats have my heart. Right now I have 2 ..... a red Abyssinian who is 11 and a white cat who is a rescue that my Vet. tells me is a Turkish Van. I don't know ... I just love her and her antics.
Sadly, my Abby has been diagnosed with pancreatitis .... she's on 3 medications, and they helped for several days, but now even though she is still on them, she's showing signs again .... lethargy, hiding, blood in her bowel movements. This just breaks my heart. I got her as a baby - 12 weeks old - and she's been with me through some really tough times .... always there, always loving, always my comforter. She was with me when, after a 40 year marriage, I left my husband, got divorced, rented the upstairs of a house for 2 years, and moved into my own condo. She was always by my side. And now I think she will have to be put to sleep. It makes me cry to think about it.
Thanks for listening to me, and thanks for letting me join your group.
abby

[acerlt]

What are you feeding her? Pancreatitis has everything to do with diet. It may not be too late.

[amberpep]

Hi .....
I've been feeding both she and Daisy, her kitty companion, Blue Buffalo since I heard that was the best for both cats and dogs. I wish my Vet. would have said something about food.
What are you thinking re. food?
abby

[acerlt]

Dry food? Got to get your cats off the dry food!

Most vets never think about food. I don't know why. What the cats eat is the very backbone of their health, you know?

I don't know a lot about pancreatitis, I'm going to do some reading and come back with some links for you.

But dry food is bad for cats.

This site can explain why:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health

[amberpep]

Hi there .... I've never heard that before about dry cat food. I thought it was OK, that's why I went for what I kept hearing was the best.
Why is the canned better for them? I know both my cats gobble it up when I give it to them. Amber (the sick Abby) has it mixed with her medicine and a little dry food and she eats it all.
Today is her last day of the medicines and I suspect she'll go back to the way she was. She's still not herself. She eats, every morning in the bathroom there a puddle of totally runny poop I clean up, and she's just totally lethargic. Every once in awhile she will come out, jump on the back of my my chair and rub her face against mine, or lay her head on my neck. But it seems to wear her out and she goes back to her hiding place. I've put a pillow on an extra bed which she sleeps on. I'm giving her probiotics hoping it would help with the loose bowels, but it hasn't.
It's a sad day.
abby

Hi again .... I just read that website you posted. I am absolutely HORRIFIED at some of the things I read .... i.e. that euthanized cats are sent to a rendering plant and then used in cat food! That is absolutely horrific! I doubt anything with help my Amber now, but I'm thinking of Daisy, my other furbaby. What do you suggest I use. I can't make my own, but what type of food, and brand if you don't mind telling me, would you suggest. Can I mix half and half the dry with the canned?
I also was appalled that Blue Buffalo was one of the companies that would not tell what their proprietary ingredients were. Wow, and this is touted as the best.
Anymore info. you can give me would be great, and also what food do you think I should be feeding. My Daisy is a Turkish Van, at least that's how she appears. Poor Amber, I'm afraid, isn't going to make it. Makes me cry to think about it.
Thanks again,
abby

[amberpep]

My kitty is finished with her meds., still has diarhea (hopefully just from the antibiotic) and she still obviously isn't herself.
What do I do .... what about the canned food? Please give me some advice.
abby

[acerlt]

Any canned is better than dry. Since your cat is suspected now of having colitis (your other thread) read labels and avoid foods that contain carrageenan.

Get them transitioned over to wet (Use a probiotic) and then worry about brands.

[amberpep]

Thanks Gail ..... my Vet. has me also giving her 1 tsp. of live cultured yogurt in her food to help with her gut. She LOVES the canned food and gobbles it right down, so that's a winner for them both. So now we'll see how she does with that and the prednisone 1x a day. I hope my little sweetie gets better.
Thanks again,
abby

[amberpep]

I am so happy .... after 5 days on the prednisone, canned food, and probiotics, she seems much better. I am so glad I talked to the older Vet. She is so wise when it comes to animals. The newer, younger, man was very nice to me, but I just can't afford the things he was saying to do, and the meds. I used didn't work.

I am to call my Vet. Tuesday and she said if this doesn't work, "she has some other things up her sleeve." I am so thankful for these older, more experienced Vets.

abby