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- Jan 18, 2018
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Hello all! I am new to this site but have been reading the threads in search of various info for some time. I have been having a difficult time with my kittens diets and was wondering if anyone had suggestions. I'll try to keep my summary short ...
I have a 16mo old female kitten who suffered from constant itching and mowing of her fur.
I'm having a tough time with her diet because All commercial food and supplements cause her to itch and become very inflamed to the point she stops moving and sleeps hidden away most of the day. It got so bad that we had to take her to the emergency in October where she stayed over nite, was given fluids, they ran tests and gave an ultrasound (due to what I know now was perennial pseudo-cyst her left kidney). They said there was nothing they could do about the pseudo-cyst and sent her home with antibiotics.
Lucky for us the fluids and antibiotics seemed to work, her conditioned improved to the point she began eating and moving again. But she also was still itching profusely. And she stopped eating her wet food. I began adding bits of cooked bison to her wet food to encourage her to eat but she would just pick it out and leave her Ziwi canned food in the plate.
Fast Forward to the beginning of December- I began feeding her Plain Cooked Ground Beef (grass fed 90/10 lean) because she has stopped eating her canned food. Once I began this she stopped almost all scratching, her hair grew back, she gained weight, got stronger and she was running and playing again!
I knew this was a complete imbalanced diet but is was a start. Since then I have been struggling with trying to introduce supplements, organs, calcium etc. to her diet. Which has been a very delicate situation because everything causes her to become inflamed again.
I've had to separate each part of her diet and slowly ease in organs, supplements etc. to keep her from getting inflamed again.
1. I'm at the point now where I feed her cooked beef, different cuts. (she's allergic to most other meats and fish). I've also tried raw, which she eats with no problem, But it inflames her so that's a no go for now.
2. I give her Only Natural Pets Ultimate Daily Vitamin Bites (she's supposed to get 4. Shes up to 1 1/2 per day. But I'm sure she'll get to 4 with the next month).
3. I give her Grass Fed Freeze Dried Beef liver treats as her organs (as close to the 10% requirement as I can). (The Freeze Dried Liver calculator said to give her approx. 6g for the amount of food she currently eats approx 6.5oz per day) shes eats about 2-3g so far. Again, I'm sure she'll reach her requirements with the next month or so.
4. I give her 4 drops of salmon oil ever other day. For now, until she can handle more.
5.Calcium is an issue... I used to give her ground eggshells (ones i ground myself and then Pet's Friend EggShellent Power) she does not respond well to it. Now I give her Animal Essentials Seaweed Calcium. If I give her too much calcium she become inflamed, so I've been giving her about 1/3 of the required calcium amount that is required. She's building up to the ratio requirements, BUT i know THIS IS BAD. Of course now she's decided she does not like calcium in her food. So she's hesitant to eat the meat when the calcium is in it, but I know she need it AND this isn't even close to the amount that is required.
I've tried to come up with treat that I can put the calcium in with the Freeze Dried Liver and a little water. But She does not like it. Does any one have a suggestion on how I can begin incorporating the required amount of calcium into her diet?
So sorry for the lengthy post. I am appreciative of anyone who has read this far and has any suggestions. Thanks
I have a 16mo old female kitten who suffered from constant itching and mowing of her fur.
I'm having a tough time with her diet because All commercial food and supplements cause her to itch and become very inflamed to the point she stops moving and sleeps hidden away most of the day. It got so bad that we had to take her to the emergency in October where she stayed over nite, was given fluids, they ran tests and gave an ultrasound (due to what I know now was perennial pseudo-cyst her left kidney). They said there was nothing they could do about the pseudo-cyst and sent her home with antibiotics.
Lucky for us the fluids and antibiotics seemed to work, her conditioned improved to the point she began eating and moving again. But she also was still itching profusely. And she stopped eating her wet food. I began adding bits of cooked bison to her wet food to encourage her to eat but she would just pick it out and leave her Ziwi canned food in the plate.
Fast Forward to the beginning of December- I began feeding her Plain Cooked Ground Beef (grass fed 90/10 lean) because she has stopped eating her canned food. Once I began this she stopped almost all scratching, her hair grew back, she gained weight, got stronger and she was running and playing again!
I knew this was a complete imbalanced diet but is was a start. Since then I have been struggling with trying to introduce supplements, organs, calcium etc. to her diet. Which has been a very delicate situation because everything causes her to become inflamed again.
I've had to separate each part of her diet and slowly ease in organs, supplements etc. to keep her from getting inflamed again.
1. I'm at the point now where I feed her cooked beef, different cuts. (she's allergic to most other meats and fish). I've also tried raw, which she eats with no problem, But it inflames her so that's a no go for now.
2. I give her Only Natural Pets Ultimate Daily Vitamin Bites (she's supposed to get 4. Shes up to 1 1/2 per day. But I'm sure she'll get to 4 with the next month).
3. I give her Grass Fed Freeze Dried Beef liver treats as her organs (as close to the 10% requirement as I can). (The Freeze Dried Liver calculator said to give her approx. 6g for the amount of food she currently eats approx 6.5oz per day) shes eats about 2-3g so far. Again, I'm sure she'll reach her requirements with the next month or so.
4. I give her 4 drops of salmon oil ever other day. For now, until she can handle more.
5.Calcium is an issue... I used to give her ground eggshells (ones i ground myself and then Pet's Friend EggShellent Power) she does not respond well to it. Now I give her Animal Essentials Seaweed Calcium. If I give her too much calcium she become inflamed, so I've been giving her about 1/3 of the required calcium amount that is required. She's building up to the ratio requirements, BUT i know THIS IS BAD. Of course now she's decided she does not like calcium in her food. So she's hesitant to eat the meat when the calcium is in it, but I know she need it AND this isn't even close to the amount that is required.
I've tried to come up with treat that I can put the calcium in with the Freeze Dried Liver and a little water. But She does not like it. Does any one have a suggestion on how I can begin incorporating the required amount of calcium into her diet?
So sorry for the lengthy post. I am appreciative of anyone who has read this far and has any suggestions. Thanks