Question: X-ray Sedation For Chronic Vomiting + Heart Murmur (long Post)

[WinterLunaCheese]

Our Friskies state "meat by product" and or "poultry by product" in the one's I'm buying so that'd be animal parts and pieces. In "the wild" a cat would eat most of an animal that they were consuming.

 

[prairiepanda]

Friskies isn't really that terrible. There are far worse canned foods out there, including some of the more expensive ones. If you stick to the pates, you'll be avoiding grains, and you're already avoiding fish so that's good. I personally have no issue with the use of by-products; in the US and Canada at least, the meat by-products can only include edible parts. Sure, that might include things we wouldn't normally eat, but they're still nutritious and still need to fall within AAFCO guidelines. The only thing that really bothers me about Friskies pates is the carrageenan.

You might also consider Fancy Feast. Again, I would stick to pates and avoid fish flavors, but it's higher quality and has more protein than Friskies and doesn't contain carrageenan. Costs a bit more, but still cheap. Fancy Feast would be my first choice for budget canned food. If it's out of your budget, though, Friskies would do just fine.

 

[WinterLunaCheese]

Fancy Feast based on calories my cats need at $0.60 on Chewy or like $0.65 in stores is kind of out of my budget with as many cans I'd need. My 20 lb not fat cat needs average 400 calories based on 20 calories per lb of body weight, he'd need 4 cans of FF Classic Chicken at 98 kcal. The other two could lose weight, so let's say 12 lbs each, so I'd say 2.5 cans each. That'd be minus some calories though. That's $4.80 per day x 31 days (average) which is $148.80. Not to mention my not fat cat refuses larger portions per feeding and Winter throws up if fed too much. That'd require an excessive number of feedings. And, if I fed one and not the others, the others not being fed would whine and cry. I'd rather do Friskies with larger cans and less # of feedings per day (though that's if my not fat cat will even eat half a can at each feeding, if not I don't know what I'll do). I may still end up having to supplement some calories with dry but do much smaller portions also spread out which might be better for Winter anyway, if he doesn't vomit really small portions of dry.

Anyway, I got a quote from a vet on all the things they suggest I do for Winter for chronic vomiting, including EKG, doing a CBC and radiograph (2 views). There's a price quoted for anethesia but I'm seriously hoping that's not even needed. They quoted $888 though total which would be impossible done in one month for me but possible if spread out over months (4-6 months) :/ Winter is my most expensive cat!

 

[WinterLunaCheese]

The quote also included abdominal ultrasound too though but I also want eventually a heart ultrasound done too which they didn't quote a price for.

 

[prairiepanda]

The Fancy Feast definitely does sound pricey for your particular situation. Friskies should do you good, then. If you end up supplementing with kibble to cut costs, I'd suggest you try for a high quality kibble. Even an expensive kibble is usually a lot cheaper than cans in the long run, so you don't necessarily have to go with cheap junk food.

As for the quote from your vet; have you looked into financing at all? There are companies that will cover your vet expenses and allow you to pay it off gradually in monthly payments, and usually let you choose to make smaller payments over a longer period or larger payments over a short period, depending on your needs. There would be interest on it, of course, but it would allow you to get tests done right away rather than waiting to save up for them and possibly seeing things get worse.

That said, you don't need to get all those tests done at once. I would do one test, and use the information from that one to decide which test would be most prudent to do next. Normally I'd start with a CBC and go from there, although if your vet thinks an obstruction is likely then a radiograph or ultrasound might be a better start. If you approach the tests one at a time, you might find a diagnosis with just one or two tests.

 

[WinterLunaCheese]

Yes Friskies seems best price wise and some months I could offer other brands with different proteins as a treat. And, I'm looking at different high protein lower carb grain free options compared to the grain free I'm currently doing.

And, not sure what companies to look into for financing. Care Credit denied me, my credit is really bad. I don't know about other companies or options.

Though yeah, I should start with the x-ray the vet wants to do first, then CBC and go from there. Hopefully I'll figure things out in one or two tests!

 

[WinterLunaCheese]

I meant I'm looking at higher protein lower carb dry grain free compared to the current dry grain free I feed now. I may be able to get away with smaller bags of dry too which will cost less too.