GI issues w/my old maids

Hello all, I'm finally back!!! I've adopted my mom's four furries, and three of them are seriously overdue for a vet visit. Mom was of the belief that unless something was obviously terribly, horribly wrong, they were fine.

I have two older ladies who are having tummy troubles:
Pansy, 13, is overweight and has horrible hairballs. She gorges on kibble and vomits half-digested food about three times per week . Such lovely surprises she leaves me.

Tuxie, 10 or 11, also overweight, is into chomping grass and vomiting clear mucous and grass bits, usually ON the dining table and whatever ppwk I'm silly enough to leave there. She also has some litterbox issues, I believe. I've caught her at it once, and somebody insists on peeing on my kitchen counter or in the sink about twice a week, but I haven't caught them in the act.

SO tomorrow I get to meet Mom's vet (whom she was faithful about taking the DOG to, but overlooked the felines. . .) and hopefully get them cured of what ails them. Any suggestions in the interim?

well the vet is all i can think of since I have no idea if anything is seriously wrong I wont suggest..
what are they eating??

well, that may be part of the problem, but I know it's been going on for a while now. Every time I've come to visit in the last 18 months I've had to clean up at least a couple messes. It's taken me until last week to identify which cat was doing which so I could vet them.

Mom was terminally ill for the last 8 months and she relied heavily on her church to take care of her and the critters - thus, folks would bring in whatever they could get at the grocery store, and usually a different brand every time, with no regard to blending over. Mom had been feeding Iams, but I've seen some pretty cheap stuff come thru here.
I just switched them to Felidae last week, so it's too soon to tell if it's helping (Pansy left me a present last night ), but I'm going to be consistent and change them over gradually, if I ever have to.

When you are at the vets I would ask them to run bloodwork on the 2 older cats. CRF and Hyperthyroidism are common in older cats and can cause elimination problems. It would be a good idea to also do a urinalysis on both to aid in the diagnosis of CRF and rule out a urinary tract infection.

As far as diet goes I would recommend one specifically for seniors. If Felidae has one great- if not you may want to look for another diet or add some metamucil to the felidae. This will help with regularity and hairballs. As far as gorging and puking goes- try feeding smaller frequent meals and avoid free feeding. Wet food may also be tolerated a little better than dry.

Thanks for the reminder, Doc. I knew I'd need a blood panel on these two ladies, and I'm beginning to think my distinguished gentleman, 9yr old Shadow, should see the vet as well, but perhaps next week, when funds are better.

Currently I feed Felidae kibble twice a day, should I feed more frequently or just supplement Pansy with a separate feeding of canned?

Since the majority of my kits are over 8yrs, I was already contemplating the switch to a Sr formula - what do you recommend I do for my younger lady of 4.5 yrs?

I am hoping that the regular brushing Pansy is getting now will help eliminate the hairball issue. As I said, she is overweight and unable to groom herself thoroughly, and her coat lacks luster, so I am going to push for a thorough exam/blood/urinalysis so we can get her back to her ornery self!

most sr formulas will be okay for the younger one or so said my vet

As for the gorging issue, you can also try raising up the food bowl a couple inches. (We have ours on a phone book, as Trent has gorging issues if we don't.) The change in the angle won't allow her to shovel food in her mouth and slows down the eating. It won't hurt for the other kits to eat at this angle, but it does help with any of them who are gorging.

Wishing the babes luck for the vet visit!

Well, both kits were pronounced healthy, but I did push for a blood panel and urinalysis for Pansy. The tech said that for 11 yrs old, Tuxie looks very healthy, if a bit pudgy.

Pansy's UA showed slightly elevated protein and bilirubin, but we should have a better idea when they get the bloodwork back tomorrow or Friday (this is a small, small-town vet, they have to Fed-Ex the samples out ) They did recommend smaller, more frequent meals and are confident that and the hairball remedy should stave off the vomiting.

I may switch vets; they are great folks, but it's a tiny office (maybe 600 sqft) and the fact that they don't do the chem analyses in-house is a bit distressing. I could drive another 15 minutes to the clinic that has my exotics vet and get full-service plus boarding.

Pansy's bloodwork showed nothing significant! Bilirubin was slightly elevated, as was one of her kidney parameters, but ONLY one, and they said it might have been because she was slightly dehydrated (but as much as she's been ill I'm not surprised.)
SO, I think I'll go out in the garage and find last year's phone books, and elevate all the kits dishes!!!!

glad they are fine.. I would try for canned and senior food .. I think Felidea makes a senior

Felidae does make a really good Senior food called Felidae Platinum. It doesn't have any wheat or corn, so it's actually really good for any cats that might be sensitive to the grains. I switched my kitties over a few weeks ago, and they're doing well on it. One of my babies is 6, so she's not quite a senior, but she's still doing fine with the food.

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

Felidae does make a really good Senior food called Felidae Platinum. It doesn't have any wheat or corn, so it's actually really good for any cats that might be sensitive to the grains. I switched my kitties over a few weeks ago, and they're doing well on it. One of my babies is 6, so she's not quite a senior, but she's still doing fine with the food.

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I found suppliers for Felidae Platinum, both dry and canned. One pet shop will even order the cans for me by the case. One 13oz can will feed all five of them, but I have to lock Cinnamon out of the room so they have time!! I'm sure that's how he got so chubby in the first place, so I've brought out the babygate to confine him while the kits eat, and he's not happy about it but he IS slimming down!!