Mazy cat's new record!

[otto]

Thank you for your support and kind words!

 

[otto]

I know I have a few threads scattered around about Mazy cat and her struggle with regurgitation, because sometimes there were separate issues that came up I wanted more feedback on.

A quick summary: (well it turned out not to be so quick. If you just want the update instead of the history, scroll down to the stars. )

Mazy was on Hills "prescription" c/d kibble for 6 1/2 years to control urinary struvite formation. Even though I knew kibble was the worst thing for her, she wouldn't eat the canned c/d and it seemed every time I switched her to regular canned, her troubles came back. I do think now, my error was adding water to the canned food, when I tried to switch her. My water is well water, and very high mineral content.

Anyway, her last year on the c/d kibble her problems steamrolled. Daily regurgitation. Hairballs causing other vomiting episodes. Constipation. Dull coat. heavy shedding. Chronic ear infections. The only thing that could be said in favor was that her urine pH was being controlled and no struvite. But at what cost?

Many of you have shared the triumphs and agonies as I got Mazy cat off the c/d (15 months now) and her continued digestive problems. She is now on a combination diet of raw and canned. She can tolerate only ONE brand, one formula of canned. Any variation causes digestive upset. So her canned portions every day are that one brand/formula. She has no trouble with variations in raw, she gets variety of poultry boneless prey model raw meals, and two commercial products. She never has any trouble with those.

The diet improvements (including egg yolk lecithin for hairballs) have eliminated dull heavy shedding coat, the daily regurgitation, the constipation, the hairball trouble, even the chronic ear infections seem to have subsided.

But still, even though it is not daily, the regurgitation has continued, Not every day, or even every week, but still, it's still happening 3 or 4 times a month. And there are other days she doesn't puke, but I can tell she feels urpy.

*****

The latest in a long line of methods was putting her on a 'pulse' routine of pepcid ac. (thank you LDG) Two weeks on, two weeks off. We're midway into the first off side of this routine. So far she is doing okay, it has been 13 days since her last regurgitation.

Also I am very careful to make sure she never goes more than 7 or 8 hours without food.

BUT!

I think (and I know I've said this before) I may have found another answer! For some reason recently there have been a couple mornings I over slept. I panicked when I woke, realizing that Mazy had gone more than 8 hours without food. Normally I would give her a pepcid when that happens, but being that she is in the OFF cycle for pepcid I was reluctant to do that.

Instead I fished out a couple of pieces of PureBites chicken to hold her over while I warmed her pre- meal (always 4/10 (.4) of an ounce of her canned food,with her egg yolk lecithin mixed in). I watched her like a hawk after her pre-meal, and then half hour later after her first portion of raw (also .4 oz) and then a half hour after that her final breakfast serving of .6 oz raw.

Nothing. No regurgitation, not even a crouch that said she felt urpy.

Could it be as simple as this? Just give her a couple of pieces of freeze dried chicken breast after a fast, before the first meal?

Now it IS possible that the steady, daily dose for two weeks (actually it was 17 days, I over shot by accident) of pepcid has given her enough healing finally, that the problem is gone. Being anxious to keep her from the side effects of pepcid, I haven't ever kept her on it steadily for that long before.

But....this morning for example,she went NINE hours between meals, because I over slept. I gave her the PureBites chicken, waited 10 minutes, then proceeded with her usual meal schedule. She had no trouble, no trouble at all.

Time will tell.

I do intend to go another round with the pepcid in pulse mode though, two weeks on, two weeks off, just in case. And I don't intend to push the issue going 9 hours. I have no idea why I slept so long. But I won't let her go that long again.

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• otto
• Mar 22, 2013

 

[ldg]

Gail, one of the first "tricks" mentioned to me by Auntie Crazy in our raw transition for preventing vomiting after a meal when I was running late was to give them a small bite of freeze dried chicken about 10 minutes before the meal. It helps absorb the acid and settle the tummy so the food doesn't come up. It works for us when a meal is late....

So VERY, very happy to hear about how things went this morning!

 

[otto]

Heh. Well, good to know I'm on the right track. It only took me 15 months to figure it out on my own, LOL. Thanks Laurie.

 

[ldg]

Gail, I thought that was something you knew about and already did (or had tried). :anon: I'm so sorry it's not something ever suggested.

 

[otto]

Well, as it turns out, just now looking back in this thread, I've found that the suggestion of giving a couple of bites of freeze dried chicken before a meal has been given before, but was overlooked. On the first page of this thread Carolina mentioned it. When I read and answered that I was focused more on the fact that I never let Mazy go more than 8 hours without food. (She always gets that small pre-meal of .4 oz). And except for those two times recently, I haven't. But even at less than 8 hours, because of Mazy's particular circumstances, I think the freeze dried chicken pre--meal-snack is going to be standard for her now. I'll just have to watch her weight, and maybe cut back by a tenth of an ounce on her daily canned portion.

 

[ldg]

Although... now that I think of it, you may want to consider continuing to pulse the pepcid. Lazlo didn't have the same clear problem as a result of acid build-up (frequent vomiting), but he wound up with ulcers. The small bites of food before a meal may stop her vomiting, but they don't prevent the acid build-up. This isn't to say she will also develop ulcers, I think it's not a common problem. But just something to think about.

 

[otto]

Oh yes, I am going to keep on with the pepcid in pulse method, two weeks on, two weeks off, for some time to come, thanks. Mazy is at 14 days regurgitation free and counting. Her longest span is 16 days.

Last night after her final meal of the night she burped, and then stiffened as if she was going to go into the puke run. She still has that reflex, that ANY discomfort, even a burp, will cause her to bring everything up. I happened to be right there though so I snatched her up and put her in the bathroom, Queen Eva went too (she likes this Game :lol3. All this happened in about three seconds.

I shut the door and let Mazy work at opening it. It only takes her a minute or two to get the bathroom door open, but it gives her something to think about instead of hurling, and the feeling passed. After that, as is our normal routine, she settled on my chest as I read on the couch and burped two more times, but let the burps come up without needing to bring up anything else. Whew.

 

[otto]

Me and my big mouth. Right after I wrote that last night she regurgitated a lovely meal of turkey breast. However there was a huge wad of hair in it. Her last regurgitation 14 days ago was also her evening prey model raw meal, and it also contained hair.

Not the typical hairball shape, so the lecithin is keeping the fur from wadding, but still, she is not passing her fur enough, even with the daily egg yolk lecithin (1/2 capsule daily).

Once every two weeks is..not bad....I wish I could just learn to accept it maybe. But it still upsets me and makes me feel sad and discouraged for a few days, until I see she is back on track.

I wonder if I should increase the lecithin to 1/2 capsule, TWICE daily.

 

[ldg]

For the two boys that have more trouble with hair, I give them 1 capsule of egg yolk lecithin daily. Didn't occur to me to feed 1/2 twice a day - that might be better. :dk:

 

[otto]

Thanks Laurie, I think I will increase Mazy to a capsule a day. I give it with her first food of the day so it has a chance to work right away on any fur down there. Since I suspect she has a big bath overnight usually....she may bathe during the day when I am working too, so I was thinking, the other half with her first supper meal. She is shedding heavily. Not quite the way she used to, on the bad food, but still, just petting her brings a lot of fur off (my hands are like sandpaper, so tend to pull a lot of fur anyway)

Today I took a real chance....knowing there couldn't be much fur lingering after that big mat she brought up last night, I gave her a meal that consisted of .95 oz all at once! It was 6 nuggets of Stella&Chewy's duck&goose, re-hydrated (.8 oz), .1 oz each fresh (previously frozen) chicken gizzard pieces and chicken heart pieces. I watched her carefully as she ate, and when there was just a bit left (.05 oz) I could see she was slowing down, she stopped to take a breather and I took it away from her. It would have been a whole ounce, if not for that.

Mazy has NEVER eaten that much at once, not to mention that much, and kept it down. That Stella&Chewy's is very easy on the stomach I think, and it doesn't create a bulky feeling either, I don't think.

I was thrilled to see her eat it and keep it down. Sunday is experiment day, extra day, mostly raw day. They usually split an egg yolk on Sunday too, but somehow in my excitement I forgot about it. They do get egg yolk in the Rad Cat, though.