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Links on Feline Health

Lynette (one of the founders) has her personal website here, if you'd like to see pictures of her kitties and read their stories. She also has a site about her foster cats here.

Feline Nutrition

The proper nutrition makes *all* the difference to cats. The diabetics may go off insulin. The obese lose weight. The underweight gain weight. The ones with gastro-intestinal disorders stop vomiting and are no longer anemic. The cats with kidney disease are better-hydrated and no longer anemic. Feeding a species-appropriate diet will SAVE your cat's life.

Lynette firmly believes one of her cats, Ralph, is only alive today because she did some research and changed their food. He was being considered for euthanasia as he had no "quality of life". He's now healthy and happy. Another cat was so obese and arthritic he was having trouble standing up. He's now lost 7pounds and *runs*. We often tell people to look at what can be accomplished with food by looking at their pictures.

Please consider feeding your cat a grain-free wet food. Preferably a variety of flavors, limiting the amount of fish. If you can't do all-wet, then please consider feeding at least half their food as canned or frozen raw, and the rest as a higher-quality dry food or freeze-dried raw. Do NOT feed a Lite or Senior food. Those are loaded with grains and thus carbohydrates which exacerbate problems like diabetes and IBD, and recent research has proven they are less effective at treating obesity than a low-carbohydrate diet like a grain-free canned food.

The new low-carbohydrate dry foods do NOT have as good of results treating diabetes and obesity and other medical conditions that wet foods do!

Even with kidney disease (chronic renal failure), where a low-protein diet has traditionally been recommended, research has shown this low-protein diet exacerbates dehydration and anemia.

Feline Diabetes Mellitus

Meow Meow, Ralph, and Mrs. Hippy were all diabetic, but went off insulin. Diet can go a long way toward "curing" diabetes (it can also go a long way toward inducing it), so if you're starving for more information after reading the following - head up to the nutrition links!

Besides our own cats, we've fostered three diabetic cats for area shelters. One stayed with Lynette two weeks and then went to a furever home with an angel of the feline diabetes message board. The other two went into remission while in Lynette's home, no longer needing insulin on a low-carbohydrate (grain-free canned) diet.

Feline Gastro-intestinal Disorders (such as IBD)

Feline Kidney Disease (Chronic Renal Failure)

Cystitis, FLUTD, crystals, etc.

Feline Heart Disease

    Ralph had a heart murmur, most likely induced by anemia, that isn't audible anymore. Afer has a heart murmur. Rumpelmintz has a "bundle branch blockage of the heart" and a deviated axis.

  • Coenzyme Q10

Ringworm

Lynette treats ringworm without drugs! In her experience, drugs just eliminate the problem temporarily - the environment still contains ringworm spores. She bathed all the cats (yes, it's not pleasant) in Lyme dip and/or ketachlor shampoo, and applied ointment on the worst spots. She washed everything she could in bleach and dried on high heat for an extra-long time. She scrubbed floors, walls, & furniture with bleach & water. She sprayed with Pet's Best Rx disinfectant and/or miconazole spray (like they sell for athlete's foot).

Feline Stomatitis and Dental Disease

    Omaha struggles with stomatitis, or inflammation of the mouth tissue. This is one of the most frustrating conditions I've dealt with, as no one seems to know what causes it, or alleviates it. Lynette has had the best luck using:
  • Lactoferrin - Syringing lactoferrin, mixed with water (she uses the Nutricology brand, freeze-dried types tend to clump and not dissolve as well) into his mouth twice a day, attempting to "wash" the mouth tissue and allow him to swallow some, coating the throat. Lactoferrin has microbial properties and is supposed to modulate the immune system.
  • Agaricus blazei mushroom extract - 0.5 cc (or one capsule) orally or in food daily (Lynette prefers the Atlas World USA bio liquid)
  • Chlorhexadine rinse - Omaha hates the mint taste, so Lynette just puts some on gauze or cotton and wipes it across the gums daily
  • Dentals - performed every five to six months to remove tartar build-up

    • Steroids helped temporarily, then stopped. In some cases, it can make the situation worse. The side effects were bothersome (weight gain, chronic infections...) so we weaned him off of it. We tried pulse therapy with antibiotics (Clavamox and Antirobe) but they were unsuccessful.

  • Lymphoplasmacytic gingivitis in a cat
  • Boot's story
  • Plasma Cell Stomatitis by Marvista Vet
  • Treatment and Procedures by Vet Dentistry
  • Feline Stomatitis by All Pets Dental
  • Feline chronic gingivostomatitis by Dr. Addie
  • Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesions
  • Does Dry Food Clean Teeth? by Dr. Hofve
  • Feline Future (this is a commercial site, so the information needs to be evaluated in light of the product being sold and other available information)

Miscellaneous

    Omaha has territorial spraying issues. Lynette is not a behaviorist and doesn't claim to have much insight into feline behavior. Our compromise, of sorts, is that Omaha is confined to the second floor most of the time - and is allowed in the kitchen for meals, etc., but wears pants so that the kitchen isn't sprayed with urine. He doesn't seem to mind the pants, and he can walk about the kitchen spraying to his heart's content (especially by the back door, where I think he senses the cats that roam outside). After trying pants from three different suppliers, our favorite is Joybies piddle pants.

    Dr. Lisa Pierson has some terrific litter box tips at catinfo.org.

    After struggling with "itchy ears" in several cats, that would clear up temporarily with other treatments - Lynette finally was told about Zymox enzymatic solution. It's her favorite ear product by far, and it cleared up the "itchies" for good.

    A good resource on collecting samples for urinalysis: Urinalysis Revisited

FELINE OUTREACH

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