I haven't written on here in years... Stripe passed April 2013 after a 3 1/2 year battle with CRF. I was blessed to have him for the extra time. His sister Squeak passed last year of Cancer induced anemia. I still have their brother Tsen who is 15, Sho who is 5 and now Yong Gi who is 10 months old. I feel it is time to use this blog for other things now as my life is changing. Want to start giving my opinions on things that I like and dislike when I have a chance/

Stripe Is Doing Very Well! And A New Addition To The Family!

There has not been much to report. Stripe has been doing very well on the regiment but there have been a few changes. He started having an allergic reaction to the Renal Essentials and started to chew his front paws. He also started to vomit the pills up within 5 minutes of taking them so he is now only on the Azodyl (2X a day), 50ml of Pedialyte every other day and a teaspoon of Salmon oil every day.

We had to change his dry food as well. The Nutro Natural food INCREASED the protein to 40%!!! Way too much for his sensitive kidneys! After research and speaking to a wonderful animal nutritional adviser from Felidae (their food's Phosphorus was too high but the person was awesome and gave me a lot of information) I decided to place him on Healthwise from Natura Pet Foods http://www.naturapet.com/brands/healthwise.asp ALL of my cats are in love with this food!!!

I mix it with the Royal Canin Senior and Stripe is thriving on it, maintaining his weight and looking well. I have to take him to the Vet to see where his numbers are but no matter what comes back he is looking incredible to me!

We have added another member to out family. A kitten that we named Sho who wandered in and was dying in our yard. The poor thing was skin and bones, lame in his back legs and starving to death. Now 6 months later he is strong and healthy!!! He was placed on Royal Canin Baby Cat when he came in (he was about 6-8 weeks old) and now he is on Royal Canin Kitten formula. We have not decided what adult food we will place him on just yet.

I will update when there is more news about them!!!

Finally Found A Moist Food ALL Of My Cats Will Eat!!!

I have had my cats, Tsen, Squeak and Stripe from the moment they were born... I actually watched them enter this world and I have had them ever since. One of the biggest mistakes that I made in the beginning was feeding them Iams dry food exclusively and never introducing moist food to them. I read the instructions on the bag and left out the dry food for them to feed as they pleased.

Now I know better...

Kittens learn what is "safe" to eat based on what is introduced to them... Never receiving moist food they would not eat it when I finally decided to give it a try when they were about 3 or 4 years old. I have been in a struggle to find a food that they liked and I never could find one. I have tried everything from the cheapest foods and some of the most expensive ones... None pleased my little furry darlings...

Until now...

When their mother became ill I placed all of them on Natural Balance dry and they loved it. Poor Momma Sut however could not eat it and was placed on Wellness moist until her death last February. Her 3 children would not touch it.

Eventually I placed them on Wellness dry and the Vet that I am currently taking them to said that she did not like the Wellness food and felt that many cats became ill within two years of eating it. Of course I panicked... With Stripe being diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure I changed them (on her recommendation) to Royal Canin Senior (after I told her that I refused to put them on Science Diet Senior dry... I hate the ingredients) and started trying various moist foods.

After going through everything from Science Diet canned (yuck!) to Felidae (love the ingredients but they nibble a little and walk away) I was again about to give up on the hope of them eating moist. Suddenly Stripe decided to boycott the Royal Canin! I have no idea why but he decided to stop eating it and I was desperate to find something for him!

After searching through several Renal Failure sites someone said that they started feeding their cat Nutro Indoor formula dry because it was .80 in phosphorus. High phosphorus in cat foods are one of the things that destroys the kidneys faster. At his stage anything below 1.0 is considered okay. I ran out and bought some and low and behold he is eating it!

But the moist food was still the issue... Now that the cats are 9 years old they really need more moist in their system. Helps keep the digestive tract flowing and gives them more moisture than dry alone. On another site someone said that their cat was starving themselves to death and her son bought home a can of Natural Balance Ultra Formula and their cat began eating and thriving again. I was willing to try anything.

When I went to the store I grabbed a can and did not expect much. I popped open the can and gave each cat a teaspoon to see what would happen. They all smelled it and looked back and forth. Suddenly, they started to devour it!!! I have never seen them eat like that before! After they finished the spoonful they started to beg for more!

All I can say is WOW! If you happen to stumble across this and you need to try a food to get your cat eating PLEASE try this formula! I am completely shocked! They have been eating this happily for two weeks now! Tsen (who always refuses moist) will eat this and lick his plate clean!!!

I also notice a difference in Stripe since he is now eating a half of a can a day of the Natural Balance Ultra... He is not becoming as dehydrated as quickly as before! I am still shooting about 25-40 mls of Pedialyte into his mouth every other day but now I do not have to do it every day!

Amazing stuff! Read about it here!

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/catformulas/NB_CatCanned.html

And the Nutro Natural Indoor Formula here!

http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncccdry-in-ad.shtml

I started giving Stripe the adult formula despite his age because he would not eat the Senior Indoor BTW. Right now I am just happy that he is eating and seems to look forward to eating! I wish I had them on these formulas sooner!

All of the best!

My Chronic Renal Failure Kitty Named Stripe...

When you adopt a pet you have wonderful dreams of feeding them the right foods and giving them tons of love and they will live to be a ripe old age. You imagine a companion and friend that you will watch grow old along with you and will curl up in a ball in his favorite bed at some unheard of geriatric age and drift off peacefully to sleep... I know that has happened for some people but so far it has never happened to me.

We took Stripe (one of my 3 cats) to the Vet on May 6 and she basically said that he looked really good and his heart was strong, lean muscle, eyesight fabulous, etc. We were doing a 6 month follow up to confirm that everything was alright since his Creatinine levels were at 2.4 October 2008 and we hoped that since his teeth had been pulled and the infection eradicated that he was back to normal or a bit more stabalized.

The Vet called and said that it was great news and that everything in the blood work was normal except one thing... His Creatinine levels were now 3.0. I was a bit shocked to be honest. So she told me to come get the SubQ fluids and give it to him 2-3 times a week for the rest of his life. Needless to say I was devastated.

She said the food that I am giving him now (Royal Canin Indoor Senior and various Premium Senior Moist) are perfect for where he is and that she did not want to put him on a prescription diet because all of his vitals are normal except that. She claims that he lost weight but all of us swear that he has gained weight. She also said his urinalysis was completely normal. We changed to this doctor because my friend Jo has had a lot of success with her cats under her care.

I asked how it happened and she said "chemicals" or cancer and it is definitely NOT cancer because of his other vitals. I asked about carpet cleaners and she said it was a possibility. She told me that sprays, cleaners, etc. can damage the kidneys because the cats walk on the carpet and then lick their paws. "Even if you walk behind your car and step in some anti-freeze, travel a little in the house and they step in it their kidneys can get destroyed."

In my house I use NOTHING but natural cleaning solutions. Simple Green, Vinegar and Water, Dr. Bronner's Soap, etc. I can not take any of my cats there because I would not want to stress them with change, take the companionship away from my Mother, and we are in various stages of renovation... Not a good place for a cat.

We just lost our precious cat Xindi February of this year and we are still coping with her loss. We found her under the bed 3 hours after we went to visit my Mother and returned. We have NO idea how or why she passed. She was only 5 or 6 years old.

We lost Stripe's mother Sut last February after a year long illness. I am shattered by her passing because I really thought that she was doing well. It seems so much harder to take when you truly believe that they will be fine and then they spiral downwards.

But in my mother's home (where Stripe lives) she uses carpet cleaners, sprays, lysol, etc. It may not be the reason for his illness but if anyone reads this PLEASE start to use natural solutions and possibly save your dog and cats life! I also wonder if the Iams that I fed them for the first 7 years of their life may have had something to do with it. They said the dry was not tainted but I am starting to wonder.

I did nothing but cry when I heard the newa and I don't think it is fair. I read stories about people who have cats that live to be 18 and beyond and yet mine don't seem to live beyond age 9 despite the fact that I give them the highest quality food available, neutered and spayed, do the litter boxes EVERY day (sometimes 2x a day), fresh water 4-5 times a day, brush their teeth, clean their ears, comb them EVERY day, keep them in the house and never allow them out, etc. I am doing everything that experts say is the right thing to do and mine continue to get sick and I don't know why!!!

I know people who treat their cats like absolute SHIT and their cats are in their teens and have never been to the Vet. I had one person laugh at me and tell me that their brother-in-law feeds his cat Friskies and the cat was 15 so I was stupid to waste the money on quality food and treats! I am starting to wonder if she was right......

It just doesn't seem fair. It really doesn't seem fair...

I asked the doctor about the prognosis and she said she USED to say 2 months to 2 years but now with the high quality foods, home administered SubQ fluids and supplements some cats are living 5 years or more with this. She also recommended Fish Oil (which I take myself) and said that it helped some cats with this and even though there is no cure that we can try to slow down the process.

I immediately went online and found a Vet on YouTube that suggested more canned food with low phosphorus like premium senior foods (I am feeding that already). Nutra Sea or a high quality fish oil. And there is something that he said he can not understand why more Vets don't recommend... it is called Azodyl. I can get it online.

He said thatAzodyl is the best thing out there and can possibly double the chances for life expectancy because it is a probiotic that helps breakdown proteins and makes the kidneys not have to work as hard. They call it natural Enteric Dialysis. I immediately sent for some and he is on it now.

http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/pages/pro_azodyl.html

I sent for Renal Essentials from http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/default.aspx a place that I bought some products that I believe helped Sut in her last days. I ordered that before I saw about the Azodyl.

Best price for both are on Amazon.com however.

I know nothing is a miracle but I want to give him the longest, healthiest life possible. I want those 5 more years. I owe it to him for all of the love and happiness that he has given me so far.

We are supposed to take Tsen and Squeak to the Vet next month and I am praying that they are okay. They are all from the same litter so I worry about losing them back to back but at the time they were born I could not give them away.

After these guys pass I really don't think that I can take adopting any more. I get TOO attached and TOO emotional with them. It would be SO different IMO if Stripe was 15 or 17 and she said these same words to me. When my dog Sargent passed one month shy of 18 I cried, and I still miss him, but I could understand that. He lived 5 more years beyond his life expectancy for a dog of his size. But age 9 for a cat just seems too young...

Again it does not seem fair... I swear that I am afraid to be happy because every time I do something else kicks me in the teeth. So now I am going to try whatever I can to keep Stripe happy and healthy for as long as God allows...

I have thought about creating a blog for some time but never actually pursued it... But alas here I am. I always wanted a place to talk about whatever came to my mind and somewhere that I could share my various interests.

I have been told that I am one of the most complex and hard to understand people... I am starting to think that my friends were right!

One of the problems is that I am never what others think I should be, nor am I what people believe that I appear to be. I like my diversity even if it leaves people with confused looks. How can you like organic gardening AND play video games? How can you be patriotic AND love to learn and read about foreign countries? How can you be a Geri-Goth AND a Republican! LOL

If this has peaked your interest then journey with me as I uncover and discover me... Maybe you will discover some things about yourself!


Strange word that I discovered today :

Onychophagist - person who bites their fingernails.