Gluten Free Kitty In Rural Country?

[Ghuff09808]

Hi there,

I'm a volunteer living in a small rural country in southern Africa. I recently took in a stray cat because he was so skinny. I realized he was vomiting every meal of rhe only cat food brand you can buy here. Through an elimination diet, I found that it was wheat or gluten. Once I removed that from his diet, he quit vomiting. There are no other cat food brands in the country, so I've had him on a cooked diet. Things I can get to feed him are usually protein (tuna, chicken, tinned beef, pilchards, cooked eggs) + whatever carb I can find (rice, papa ( a dish like polenta), or oats).

The issue is lately he is not even wanting to eat these things and has been chooking not to eat. I've cleaned his food bowls, checked that the meat and expirations are still good, and followed him outside to make sure he's not eating anything weird, but he still won't eat.

Do you have any advice? I can't get everything you might suggest, but I can try to improvise or find an equivalent.

 

[LTS3]

A cooked or raw diet is great but it needs to be supplement properly so the cat is getting all of the right vitamins and minerals. In Africa you can probably get organs and liver and bone from a market to supplement meat with. Read these for more info:

Home-Cooked Cat Food Resources
Helpful Resources: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food Forum
Raw Feeding Resources

Does the cat hunt for food?

A vet visit is often recommended but I don't think Africa has very many vets, especially not in a rural area.

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad to see LTS3 's post about balancing with organ meat and bone. That's really important if supplements aren't available. Heart would be particularly good since it contains taurine, which cats need.

Cats don't really need carbs, though, be they from grains or vegetables, so maybe the cat would eat better if he only got meat and eggs?

Another thought: the catinfo.org site has a recipe for cat food that might be helpful to have a look at, to check the basic nutrients that a cat's diet needs. I realize that many (if not most?) of those ingredients might be impossible for you to find but at least this will give you a sense of the nutrient question if you're not able to find consistent sources for a balanced diet with muscle meat, organs, and bone. If you're able to buy bone meal (hmm?) that might make the question of bone easier since Dr. Pierson's recipe can be made with bone-in chicken or with boneless chicken plus bone meal. (Bones are tricky because if they're cooked they need to be ground very finely.)

Good luck! It's great to hear you're taking care of the cat.

 

[duckpond]

It may not be the food. Do you have access to a vet to check him? It may even be that he has so many parasites he will not eat. Or something else entirely, i dont know. But if there is any way you can have a vet visit for him i would recommend it. Best of luck to you both, i hope you can get him better soon.

 

[Ghuff09808]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I took him in when he was very young, so I'm inclined to think he doesn't have parasites since he was eating fine for several weeks before he quit showing interest in food. I think you are all probably right that he isn't getting the vitamins, minerals, etc that he needs.

Its culturally inappropriate to keep cats/dogs/etc as pets here, so there aren't really small animal vets, but there are cattle vets for the government livestock programs so I might be able to quasi find someone to help.

I do however, have access to animal organs, including hearts, so I will try that in the meantime and see if I can't get a family member to ship me nutritional supplements.

Thank you for the help, and if you think of anything else, I welcome more advice

 

[duckpond]

Keep us updated. I am really hopeful that everything will be good with him. That he will feel much better soon!

 

[Willowy]

You can probably find liquid pyrantel pamoate at the pharmacy, as it's commonly given to children for pinworms. Make sure it doesn't have any artificial sweeteners, and give 5-10 mg per kg, a dose every month or 2 should be fine. That should take care of most parasites.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello! Maybe something on this list will help as well to entice your cat to eating;

• Chicken, turkey or beef flavored baby food - make sure it doesn't contain any garlic or onions

• Tuna and/or the juice

• Salmon

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• whole cooked eggs (both yolk and white)

• Try Kitten Milk Replacer, I will post a couple of recipes below

• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat gravy poured over the food

• Pouch cat foods - these typically have more gravy

• goat milk, or low/no lactose cow milk
• unflavored gelatin

 

[Furballsmom]

Here are a couple recipes for kitten milk replacer. There are also Pedialyte recipes on the internet as well.

• 12 ounces goat milk

• 8 ounces plain live culture yogurt

• 2-1/2 ounces lamb baby food

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 tablespoons Karo white corn syrup

• 13 ounces unflavored Pedialyte

• 1 can goat's milk

• 1 cup Pedialyte (or generic equivalent, unflavored)

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 packet unflavored gelatin

• 1/2 teaspoon liquid infant vitamins

12 oz. boiling water
1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and add:
One 12 oz. can evaporated canned milk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 egg yolk

The first two recipes are from easy-homemade-recipes.weebly, last one is from cat-recipes.blogspot

Also here's more info Emergency Kitten Formula, Kitten Glop, How to Make, Recipes - Dogs, Cats, Pets

 

[LTS3]

I do however, have access to animal organs, including hearts, so I will try that in the meantime and see if I can't get a family member to ship me nutritional supplements.

A premix such as EZComplete or UStew would be best as you can just add boneless meat, either cooked or raw, to it along with some water for an easy complete meal. You should check with Customs to see if something like a premix would be allowed into the country.

 

[Willowy]

To address the main problem---him not eating---he has to eat something, at least 100 calories a day, or he'll get very ill. If he's allowed to roam free I suspect he's hunting, and not eating as much at home because it's spring and the hunting is good. But if you're pretty sure he isn't eating away from home, you'll have to do something to get him eating again, even force-feeding him if necessary (look up Youtube videos on how to do this safely).

 

[Ghuff09808]

It's actually coming onto winter in the southern hemisphere, believe it or not!
I am pretty far out, so loading youtube videos on this connection is not really an option. Is it possible that someone could give me a play by play, or do I need to see it specifically?