Can someone please help my cat, Jafar? She is a 10.5 year-old Maine Coon cat, spayed and is a lovely red (orange) color with a small white bib. Well, what's left of her fur is still orange anyway. It's falling out, you see. And it's GREASY. I actually have to water bathe her 2 to 3 times a week with the special shampoo from the vet: Keratolux (made by Virbac Animal Health). Some of her bare skin looks slightly reddish or pinkish.
But let me start at the beginning.
Several years ago Jafar had a bad reaction to the t/d. She was vomiting and had the runs. The vet put her on the Low Residue and the problem went away. The last few months she has been loosing weight and having the runs again (huge loose stools). I took her to the vet and she saw a new doctor as her old doctor left my area to start his own practice. The new doctor is young, probably a few years out of medical school. He ran blood tests and didn't find anything. He tested her thyroid and that came back negative. By the time he took blood for the thyroid test she was having the runs 8 times a day!!!
I got desperate and switched her food. I put her on canned Natural Balance Chicken and Liver. A lot of her problems went away. I'm sure she is allergic to all grains and most carbohydrates, including the Sweet Potatoe. You see, her mother - Cattie-Brie - is on the Wellness (which contains sweet potatoe) and it makes Jafar sick.
That was back in September. Since then she hasn't gained any weight. She is constantly hungry!! She screams for food every 2 to 3 hours. It grew so bad she was eating 6 to 8 cans of Natural Balance a day. So I started giving her boiled chicken. I thought it would help her gain her weight back. But it didn't. And she's been eating a TON of cooked chicken drumsticks PLUS the canned food! With the chicken added to her meals, she's down to only 3 cans of Natural Balance a day. She can easily eat 10 chicken drumsticks ... or more within 24 hours. Only the chicken, mind you: not the skins or bones.
So I took her back to the vet. She saw her mother's doctor (who has been practicing meds a long time) and he noticed her intestines were swollen. He said either she has IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or Cancer of the Intestines. I doubt if she has cancer due to her huge appetite!
The doctor gave Prednisolone (5 mg) that she takes once a day.
I read a bit about IBD and noticed that sometimes food allergies can lead to it. It fits her better than cancer does.
My question is, how can I get her to gain weight? What should I feed her? The Natural Balance and the boiled chicken doesn't seem to be helping her very much. She ate it for over a month and hasn't gained any weight. I can feel her backbone, her ribs, her hip bones. Her hip bones are VERY prominent and easily visible. Her stomach and back legs are bare. Her heels are sore and raw. Some of her long fur is in mats - I'm unsure how to remove them. I'll have to have the vet do it.
When she eats chicken her stools are normal: snake-like and pile up like pretzels. They are usually big. She eats so much that her stomach bulges way out (the younger doctor thought she had a giant tumor in her belly and was amazed when it was gone a week later when I brought her in with an empty stomach).
I tried giving her a bit of salmon oil to help with her skin and fur: it seems to give her the runs. I think it also contributes to the greasy fur? Not sure... I only gave a few drops a few times in the canned food.
I tried the digestive enzyme powder reccomended by the natural pet store. It's plant based. I'm not sure if it helps any... The women who recomended it is familar with cat nutrition and has nursed a sick dog back to health.
The other day Jafar ate a few of my other cat's dry kibble - c/d - and she puked it right out. She can't tolerate grain at all.
I guess it's too early to tell if the pills are doing anything. She takes them easily enough, hidden in a small bit of cream cheese. The cheese doesn't seem to bother her and the doctor said that was OK.
I tried the hypoallergermic (sp?) using boiled goat meat but the meat gave her the runs. She didn't seem to like the meat, either.
Her stools are usually very smelly.
So, any ideas on how I can get her to gain weight? Before she was 9.8 pounds. Now she is 6.4 pounds. She can still jump up onto low furniture, she grooms, she looks out the windows, she is alert. Yet it seems the doctor expects her to die soon from cancer. I had a cat that died from kidney failure a few years ago and Jafar is not that sick yet. Plus she has an incredibly good appetite.
I'm also willing to try the BARF diet. I gave her some raw chicken and she ate it. Ick! So she is apparently willing to go that route. It won't make her sick, will it?
So, does anyone have any ideas? I really need help as I'm out of ideas on how to help her gain weight!!
But let me start at the beginning.
Several years ago Jafar had a bad reaction to the t/d. She was vomiting and had the runs. The vet put her on the Low Residue and the problem went away. The last few months she has been loosing weight and having the runs again (huge loose stools). I took her to the vet and she saw a new doctor as her old doctor left my area to start his own practice. The new doctor is young, probably a few years out of medical school. He ran blood tests and didn't find anything. He tested her thyroid and that came back negative. By the time he took blood for the thyroid test she was having the runs 8 times a day!!!
I got desperate and switched her food. I put her on canned Natural Balance Chicken and Liver. A lot of her problems went away. I'm sure she is allergic to all grains and most carbohydrates, including the Sweet Potatoe. You see, her mother - Cattie-Brie - is on the Wellness (which contains sweet potatoe) and it makes Jafar sick.
That was back in September. Since then she hasn't gained any weight. She is constantly hungry!! She screams for food every 2 to 3 hours. It grew so bad she was eating 6 to 8 cans of Natural Balance a day. So I started giving her boiled chicken. I thought it would help her gain her weight back. But it didn't. And she's been eating a TON of cooked chicken drumsticks PLUS the canned food! With the chicken added to her meals, she's down to only 3 cans of Natural Balance a day. She can easily eat 10 chicken drumsticks ... or more within 24 hours. Only the chicken, mind you: not the skins or bones.
So I took her back to the vet. She saw her mother's doctor (who has been practicing meds a long time) and he noticed her intestines were swollen. He said either she has IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or Cancer of the Intestines. I doubt if she has cancer due to her huge appetite!
The doctor gave Prednisolone (5 mg) that she takes once a day.
I read a bit about IBD and noticed that sometimes food allergies can lead to it. It fits her better than cancer does.
My question is, how can I get her to gain weight? What should I feed her? The Natural Balance and the boiled chicken doesn't seem to be helping her very much. She ate it for over a month and hasn't gained any weight. I can feel her backbone, her ribs, her hip bones. Her hip bones are VERY prominent and easily visible. Her stomach and back legs are bare. Her heels are sore and raw. Some of her long fur is in mats - I'm unsure how to remove them. I'll have to have the vet do it.
When she eats chicken her stools are normal: snake-like and pile up like pretzels. They are usually big. She eats so much that her stomach bulges way out (the younger doctor thought she had a giant tumor in her belly and was amazed when it was gone a week later when I brought her in with an empty stomach).
I tried giving her a bit of salmon oil to help with her skin and fur: it seems to give her the runs. I think it also contributes to the greasy fur? Not sure... I only gave a few drops a few times in the canned food.
I tried the digestive enzyme powder reccomended by the natural pet store. It's plant based. I'm not sure if it helps any... The women who recomended it is familar with cat nutrition and has nursed a sick dog back to health.
The other day Jafar ate a few of my other cat's dry kibble - c/d - and she puked it right out. She can't tolerate grain at all.
I guess it's too early to tell if the pills are doing anything. She takes them easily enough, hidden in a small bit of cream cheese. The cheese doesn't seem to bother her and the doctor said that was OK.
I tried the hypoallergermic (sp?) using boiled goat meat but the meat gave her the runs. She didn't seem to like the meat, either.
Her stools are usually very smelly.
So, any ideas on how I can get her to gain weight? Before she was 9.8 pounds. Now she is 6.4 pounds. She can still jump up onto low furniture, she grooms, she looks out the windows, she is alert. Yet it seems the doctor expects her to die soon from cancer. I had a cat that died from kidney failure a few years ago and Jafar is not that sick yet. Plus she has an incredibly good appetite.
I'm also willing to try the BARF diet. I gave her some raw chicken and she ate it. Ick! So she is apparently willing to go that route. It won't make her sick, will it?
So, does anyone have any ideas? I really need help as I'm out of ideas on how to help her gain weight!!
