6 year old Morty isn't doing so well

[daftcat75]

Okay, I understand where you're coming from. But is it okay to not give cats their omegas for that long? I've always heard it stressed so much when feeding raw (for example) that you must supplement with fish oil. We can definitely wait, and you're right about healing his gut, but idk what I would use in the meantime. His dandruff is also starting to get really bad.

Please make a post about this concern in the Raw and Home-Cooked Cat Food Forums.

You can at least give it another two weeks. Most cats can eat an unbalanced diet for up to a month (or longer) before it becomes potentially problematic.

When you do start introducing fish oil again, you can use the human grade fish oil capsules. They can be higher quality and maintain their freshness for longer. At least to start, you would poke a hole in the capsule with a knife and squeeze a small amount of oil out into his food for one or two meals a day. If he likes it (and it likes him aka no reactions), you toss the whole pills into your food processor or grinder when making a food batch, and he gets a tiny amount of gelatin bonus from the capsule itself.

 

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Please make a post about this concern in the Raw and Home-Cooked Cat Food Forums.

You can at least give it another two weeks. Most cats can eat an unbalanced diet for up to a month (or longer) before it becomes potentially problematic.

When you do start introducing fish oil again, you can use the human grade fish oil capsules. They can be higher quality and maintain their freshness for longer. At least to start, you would poke a hole in the capsule with a knife and squeeze a small amount of oil out into his food for one or two meals a day. If he likes it (and it likes him aka no reactions), you toss the whole pills into your food processor or grinder when making a food batch, and he gets a tiny amount of gelatin bonus from the capsule itself.

Okay thanks, I will give him longer.

The fish oil he currently has is actually better than human grade and is pharmaceutical grade (although you can find human grade that is also pharma grade). Many human grade fish oils contain a very minisual amount of protein that most people/animals don't react to, but some can. Pharma grade is basically the lowest and purest possible, but it is not ever possible to remove 100%. Nonetheless I will do more research. Thanks for the advice.

 

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Morty Update:

I can't believe it's been another three weeks. Morty is still doing fairly well. I added the collagen powder back into his food (which is technically from beef) and he hasn't had a reaction. I have been holding off on the fish oil and found an alternative, spirulina, that comes from a type of algae, but cats can still absorb the omegas from it. I was getting ready to add it to his diet, but unfortunately the hairballs started again so I held off on that too. I am adding about 1.5 teaspoons of egg yolk powder to his food a day (the recommended dose is .5 teaspoons) but it seems to have stopped working. He isn't having stool issues so I decided to try adding a teaspoon of olive oil a day. He doesn't seem to like it as much but hopefully he'll get used to it. It also adds some extra calories!

Anyway, we just started that 3-4 days ago so hopefully we can get the hairballs under control. It's also warming up here, so it's not surprising he's shedding more. I try to brush him now and again, but he's not a big fan. On the bright side he is now 12.6 pounds! I think that's about perfect for him, but I think it might also be a good idea to add a little extra on in case something happens in the future. If I remember correctly he was 12.8 before the vet and 11.6 after coming home, so he's pretty much back to how he was.

Oh and Po is 14.0. He's on about 200 calories a day and very active but still not losing weight. Maybe we need to cut it back a little more. Goose is 12 pounds! He's gonna be a big cat. He's still only around 9 months.

 

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I'm adding a few pictures so I have a reference for their weight. And also some fun ones

 

[fionasmom]

They are beautiful cats and Morty is just an adorable little orange man.

 

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They are beautiful cats and Morty is just an adorable little orange man.

Thank you, they are both very handsome. I love Morty's little frosting dipped nose the most.

 

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Morty Update:

It's been over a month! We have moved back to mostly raw feeding (with an occasional cooked when I want to introduce a new protein) and I've ruled out pork, venison, duck, chicken and turkey from being possible allergens!! I really thought turkey was going to be a problem, but thus far I'm not seeing any vomiting from it. I never did reintroduce the fish oil, but I think that has to have contributed to a lot of the vomiting. I don't know why he was vomiting up wet food that had no fish oil though, so I think he may have additionally been reacting to some type of preservative or chemical. Who knows. Anyway, the spirulina we're giving him now seems to be okay. I just wish I knew exactly how absorption of those omegas compares to regular fish oil, and how much I should give him to replace it. It's pretty rare for cats to have such a severe allergy to fish so there's really not a lot of information about it out there.

Anyway, no more random vomiting! Sadly, we can't seem to get rid of the hairballs. He's eating two teaspoons of egg yolk and two teaspoons of olive oil a day now. I'm also brushing him daily (which he hates) but we are still getting about one a week, sometimes two weeks. He's still having normal stools although he was a bit gassy the other day . Most of those hairball pastes they sell all contain fish oil so those are out of the question.

He's still having occasional breathing issues but hasn't had an asthma attack in a long time. Adding a bit of l-lysine to his diet really seems to be helping. I know people usually give it to cats with herpes, but I read on one of the IBD websites that it can help cats with allergies as well.

I've been looking a lot into bone for IBD cats and I'm having a tough time finding much information. The ibdkitties website lists bone in some of their pages, but then it lists freeze-dried bone and eggshell calcium in others. I'm going to do more research on this. Ideally, I would like to go back to the Hare-Today 80/10/10 chubs. They're so much cheaper and it takes me a significantly shorter time to prepare it. But if it's not good for him we will just keep at what we're doing. I just need to do more research.

I would also like to have a canned food in his diet, but sadly that's probably not going to happen for a while. If he is reacting to a preservative or gum or something that's going to be a long battle to figure out and I think for Morty's sake it's just not worth it. I will of course keep some in the house in case of emergency.

Other than that, he's doing really well. I'm so happy for him! I honestly never thought this day would come.

 

[daftcat75]

I would discontinue the use of olive oil for hairballs. I'm not sure where that advice came from. But hairballs are a combination of hair and fat. It's the fat that binds the hair into a ball. Egg yolk works by emulsifying the fat and making it easier to pass. But then olive oil is just adding fat back in. So my suggestion would be to skip the olive oil. If he's still having hairballs after a month, take him back for an ultrasound. Hairballs can be an early sign of IBD.

 

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I would discontinue the use of olive oil for hairballs. I'm not sure where that advice came from. But hairballs are a combination of hair and fat. It's the fat that binds the hair into a ball. Egg yolk works by emulsifying the fat and making it easier to pass. But then olive oil is just adding fat back in. So my suggestion would be to skip the olive oil. If he's still having hairballs after a month, take him back for an ultrasound. Hairballs can be an early sign of IBD.

There are dozens of pages suggesting olive oil when you google hairball remedies...something about it being a laxative and lubricating the intestines. But anyway, I was planning to stop it either way. It's not working and Morty's back up to a good weight now so I don't think the extra calories a good for him. Plus that may be what's making him gassy!

 

[daftcat75]

There are dozens of pages suggesting olive oil when you google hairball remedies...something about it being a laxative and lubricating the intestines. But anyway, I was planning to stop it either way. It's not working and Morty's back up to a good weight now so I don't think the extra calories a good for him. Plus that may be what's making him gassy!

I know it's out there. I just don't think it's great advice. Hairballs aren't stuck in the gut where a laxative or lubricant might work. They get stuck in the stomach. The reason they come up is because they become too big to pass into the gut. Adding fat to the ball just doesn't seem like a great idea. I think there is a lot of questionable folk remedies that keep getting passed around. Egg yolk might be making him gassy as egg yolk, besides emulsifying fat, also stimulates the digestive contractions. It can also be a powerful laxative. You may find that cutting the olive oil might also mean you can cut back on the egg yolk. But one thing at a time...

 

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I know it's out there. I just don't think it's great advice. Hairballs aren't stuck in the gut where a laxative or lubricant might work. They get stuck in the stomach. The reason they come up is because they become too big to pass into the gut. Adding fat to the ball just doesn't seem like a great idea. I think there is a lot of questionable folk remedies that keep getting passed around. Egg yolk might be making him gassy as egg yolk, besides emulsifying fat, also stimulates the digestive contractions. It can also be a powerful laxative. You may find that cutting the olive oil might also mean you can cut back on the egg yolk. But one thing at a time...

Thanks for the info, I will definfitely give it a try! One question though, isn't egg yolk also a lot of fat?

 

[daftcat75]

Thanks for the info, I will definfitely give it a try! One question though, isn't egg yolk also a lot of fat?

It's not all fat. It also has a lot of water and protein. Olive oil is nothing but fat.

Think of it this way. When you have hair clogging your drain, do you pour oil or grease (petrolatum hairball products are essentially grease) down the drain or do you use a Drain-O type product? Egg yolk, both with the lecithin (emulsifier) and the choline (stimulates smooth muscle contractions in digestion) is more like the Drain-O than the oil or grease.

 

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It's not all fat. It also has a lot of water and protein. Olive oil is nothing but fat.

Think of it this way. When you have hair clogging your drain, do you pour oil or grease (petrolatum hairball products are essentially grease) down the drain or do you use a Drain-O type product? Egg yolk, both with the lecithin (emulsifier) and the choline (stimulates smooth muscle contractions in digestion) is more like the Drain-O than the oil or grease.

Good analogy. That makes a lot of sense!

I've heard a lot of people say fish oil can help with hairballs too...but it's also a fat so is that also incorrect? I only ask because I wonder if not having it in Morty's diet could be exacerbating the hairballs.

As for the ultrasound, the first one he had couldn't really tell us much and we can't afford another one, so we'll just have to continue doing what we can without a full diagnosis. I think it's likely what he has though....I've never had any short-haired cat get so many hairballs before. Even my old (long-haired) ragdoll Gus Gus didn't get them this often.

 

[daftcat75]

Good analogy. That makes a lot of sense!

I've heard a lot of people say fish oil can help with hairballs too...but it's also a fat so is that also incorrect? I only ask because I wonder if not having it in Morty's diet could be exacerbating the hairballs.

As for the ultrasound, the first one he had couldn't really tell us much and we can't afford another one, so we'll just have to continue doing what we can without a full diagnosis. I think it's likely what he has though....I've never had any short-haired cat get so many hairballs before. Even my old (long-haired) ragdoll Gus Gus didn't get them this often.

Fish oil is an oil. Not so helpful. Hopefully just avoiding his other triggers will give his gut a chance to heal. You might want to add a little unflavored gelatin (0.5 tbsp gelatin per pound of food is what was in Krista’s recipe) into your homemade to help with gut repair.

 

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Fish oil is an oil. Not so helpful. Hopefully just avoiding his other triggers will give his gut a chance to heal. You might want to add a little unflavored gelatin (0.5 tbsp gelatin per pound of food is what was in Krista’s recipe) into your homemade to help with gut repair.

Thanks!

 

[JulietteTruong]

Good analogy. That makes a lot of sense!

I've heard a lot of people say fish oil can help with hairballs too...but it's also a fat so is that also incorrect? I only ask because I wonder if not having it in Morty's diet could be exacerbating the hairballs.

As for the ultrasound, the first one he had couldn't really tell us much and we can't afford another one, so we'll just have to continue doing what we can without a full diagnosis. I think it's likely what he has though....I've never had any short-haired cat get so many hairballs before. Even my old (long-haired) ragdoll Gus Gus didn't get them this often.

Before Juliette, I used to think that only long-haired kitties had issues with their fur. I figured since she was a short-haired cat, I’d have to do little for maintaining her coat. And then a few summers ago, I noticed her back fur felt lumpy as I stroked it. Turns out, she had multiple mats! The mats were super tight, I tried using oil to get them out but that didn’t work. Nothing worked, so I had to carefully snip them out, which was super stressful because of her short fur. I was terrified of accidentally snipping her skin.

Since then, I’ve been diligent with her daily grooming. It’s crazy how many grooming brushes, tools, gloves etc I have.

 

[fionasmom]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FQCWTVY/?tag=thecatsite

 

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Before Juliette, I used to think that only long-haired kitties had issues with their fur. I figured since she was a short-haired cat, I’d have to do little for maintaining her coat. And then a few summers ago, I noticed her back fur felt lumpy as I stroked it. Turns out, she had multiple mats! The mats were super tight, I tried using oil to get them out but that didn’t work. Nothing worked, so I had to carefully snip them out, which was super stressful because of her short fur. I was terrified of accidentally snipping her skin.

Since then, I’ve been diligent with her daily grooming. It’s crazy how many grooming brushes, tools, gloves etc I have.

Wow! Juliette must have some really thick fur! It's crazy how different cats can be. My cat Po is actually the opposite. He has the silkiest, softest fur of any cat I've ever touched. The vet thinks he may have come from a breeder (or more likely, a show-cat mated with a regular tabby).

Morty never has any mats or anything like that, his stomach simply just can't handle the hair.