Calichi

Hi! I have a problem with an abadoned 6 month old cat I'mn fostering- he has calichi, which is an upper respiratory infection causing canker sores and open ulcers in the mouth (And a terrible smell).


I've had many different opinions as to how to cure him. They say to feed him only soft food, since he can't eat anything else. BUT - all he wants is dry food! I'll withhold dry food for a whole day, and he goes hungry, in spite of ground up crabmeat, rare prime rib, baby meat, and every kind of fancy canned cat food there is. Then he gets very weak and he sulks, so I relent and give him some dry food, which he gulps. But after 12 days, his mouth still smells very bad, (although the drooling is a little better, and he seems to have plenty of energy).

Will the dry food hurt him? I'm not sure which will do more harm - lack of nutrition, or aggravating the sores with dry food. He won't eat the soft moist kind either.

I have tried eye droppers with kitty vitamins, small drops of colloidal silver, even golden seal and yerba mate. Nothing seems to make him better. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm at the end of my rope. I wanted to get him to the shelter while he's still a kitten. He's growing an inch a day, and we're getting attached, and I start working 2 full time jobs next week.

Help!!! (Thanks!)

Lin_H

The vet had her on antibiotics, salves, ointments, drops and nothing was really working. So as a last ditch effort, I started giving her two drops of Gse liquid concentrate with her meals. GSE can be purchased at any good health food store and stands for Grapefruit Seed Extract. I had used it in the past for URI and also on my horse when he grew extremely ill with a gutteral pouch infection and pneumonia. In a matter of days, I saw remarkable improvement in the open sores and mouth ulcers and as time went on, the cat improved and got healthy and was able to be adopted out to another home. For me to have Bandy eat anything was progress, so if your kitty wants dry food, give him dry food. The GSE is very bitter tasting so giving it to them is tricky. I mixed it in Bandy's wet food and then added some garlic to cover the smell. I also put a few drops in her water bowl as well, though she wasn't that keen on drinking much water.

I swear by the stuff, and as a sidenote, hubby and i have been taking 2 drops a day for the last 2 years and we have not been plagued with the usual viruses, colds, or me with bronchitis and pleurisy, something I rountinely got at least 3 times a year! A little goes a long way- but honestly, it works like a charm.

It sounds as though your poor feral was really sick. I suppose I should be grateful that PC seems really healthy, except for the smell...

Thank you for the word about grapefruit seed extract. I have chronic pleurisy myself, so we'll both try it! I wondered whether the dry food would make the mouth sores worse, or whether the only thing that would heal them was to get rid of the virus.

I'll try the GSE in the eye dropper with the othe rthings I give him.

Thanks again!

Lin_H