OT/Pumpkin/cats/dogs

[Guest guest]

Oh, dear, I don't know if it will work on hair balls...I meant when they get

constipated. My daughter has a small dog that used to have that problem when

little. Too much results in too many trips to potty! LOL

Six kitties?!!! How cool! Do you make your own cat food? I did for a bit and one

of them (I have three) wouldn't eat it and figured he would when he was hungry.

Then I learned that cats can and will starve themselves, unlike dogs, and they

metabolize their muscle, fat, etc and overload their livers which then grow

large and fail. We caught it in time but went back to canned and dry food. They

won't eat Paul Newman's organic pet food, Wellness has a testing lab, Wysong was

the least offensive, but ended up settling on Innova...not the best choice, but

that is what they will eat. I sure wish they didn't need meat. I just can't cook

it anymore. My cats are total indoor cats so they don't risk the worms although

the new one had round worms that took forever to dispense with.

linda

 

Angela

 

this is good to know.much rather give them some pumpkin to help pass the

hairballs than the commercial stuff - they don't like it. my kitties get ground

raw pumpkin seeds daily for tape worms, took longer to get rid of them than with

the worm medication ( poisen) but they're not reappearing a week after dosing.

funny thing is packaged raw seeds they ignored, ground up with a bit of brewers

yeast ( for healthy coat and flea control) they eat up.when was drying some

seeds from fresh pumpkin kitties couldn't wait- found raw seeds with tooth marks

all over the place LOL. now dry them in a cold oven - its the only place the

kitties can't get into!!

 

peace and purrs,

Angela

ZsaZsa, Sydney, Junior, Mitts, Shrek and Ghengis too.

 

 

[Guest guest]

when i found out my kitties had ibd (i adopted them as adults and they

already came with it), i did a lot of research on feline diets. the

best thing for them is whole raw meat (meaning heart, organs, and all

ground up into it, with supplements added). i tried feeding them this

(which was hard enough for me to do!!), and wouldn't you know it--

they wouldn't touch the stuff. so after a lot of experimentation, i

found something called doctor's finest great life. it's basically

freeze-dried raw meat made into kibble-type food. kibble will

dehydrate cats, since they get most of their moisture from their food,

so i cover it with water before feeding them. it has worked wonders

for them until recently, when joanie developed chronic diarreha. i'm

trying slippery elm on her to try to fix that.

 

, " linda " <lindai81@c...> wrote:

>

> Oh, dear, I don't know if it will work on hair balls...I meant when

they get constipated. My daughter has a small dog that used to have

that problem when little. Too much results in too many trips to potty! LOL

> Six kitties?!!! How cool! Do you make your own cat food? I did for a

bit and one of them (I have three) wouldn't eat it and figured he

would when he was hungry. Then I learned that cats can and will starve

themselves, unlike dogs, and they metabolize their muscle, fat, etc

and overload their livers which then grow large and fail. We caught it

in time but went back to canned and dry food. They won't eat Paul

Newman's organic pet food, Wellness has a testing lab, Wysong was the

least offensive, but ended up settling on Innova...not the best

choice, but that is what they will eat. I sure wish they didn't need

meat. I just can't cook it anymore. My cats are total indoor cats so

they don't risk the worms although the new one had round worms that

took forever to dispense with.

> linda

>

> Angela

>

> this is good to know.much rather give them some pumpkin to help

pass the hairballs than the commercial stuff - they don't like it. my

kitties get ground raw pumpkin seeds daily for tape worms, took longer

to get rid of them than with the worm medication ( poisen) but they're

not reappearing a week after dosing. funny thing is packaged raw

seeds they ignored, ground up with a bit of brewers yeast ( for

healthy coat and flea control) they eat up.when was drying some seeds

from fresh pumpkin kitties couldn't wait- found raw seeds with tooth

marks all over the place LOL. now dry them in a cold oven - its the

only place the kitties can't get into!!

>

> peace and purrs,

> Angela

> ZsaZsa, Sydney, Junior, Mitts, Shrek and Ghengis too.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Linda,

commercial hairball medicine is a laxitive, pumpkin should be even better for

hairballs.

tried making my own cat food when just had ZsaZsa - she was totally insulted,

would not eat it! She's always had a 'catattude' thinks she's all that and a bag

of treats. Sydney has to have the ph balanced dry or he gets bladder stones so

they all have that plus a can a day,( one can split between them) and the

occasional can of tuna or salmon when I go to the food bank. ( tell them I'm

vegetarian but still wind up with stuff I can't use, its ok tho', just donate it

back or give to the neighbors) they share my veggies too. Syd loves cooked

broccoli and tomato juice (not mixed LOL), they all love fresh spinach+ romain

lettuce. make popcorn and ZsaZsa will sit and stare at you 'till you drop a

piece. she and Mitts will practicly mug me for a potato chip! these 2 are, of

course, rare treats, not all that healthy for any of us! they all wanted some of

my mock tuna salad- ( garbonzo beans in place of tuna) didn't share cause it had

onions but next time will offer them some before adding

the onion.

mine are total indoor too but Shrek had been outdoors when I first got him. He

and his sister had fleas so bad I gave them a bath, in water, not an experience

I want to repeat! LOL ( did drowned a BUNCH of fleas tho ) that was over a year

ago and I'm still workin' on gettin rid of the fleas! its an ongoing battle. the

fleas carry the tapeworm eggs so have to treat for both. even got desperate and

used some liquid flea stuff ya put on the back of their necks - forget what

brand - they all walked around shaking a hind paw for a week after being treated

and later I read that medication had been recalled 'cause it affected kitties

nervous systems!! never again - natural remedies may not work as quickly but I'd

rather be safe!

can you tell my cats are my family?? <GRIN>

 

peace and purrs,

Angela

 

 

 

who I am is fine, it's just this body that's disabled!

 

middle age = that time of life when we realize yesterday's sex, drugs and rock

and roll are todays memories, prescriptions and golden oldies!

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Angela,

 

Your family sounds so cute. Are you sure they aren't part dog, seeing as

they sit around waiting for a crumb or three? How cute.

 

Shawn

 

On 11/26/05, Angela wrote:

>

>

> Hi Linda,

> commercial hairball medicine is a laxitive, pumpkin should be even

> better for hairballs.

> tried making my own cat food when just had ZsaZsa - she was totally

> insulted, would not eat it! She's always had a 'catattude' thinks she's all

> that and a bag of treats. Sydney has to have the ph balanced dry or he gets

> bladder stones so they all have that plus a can a day,( one can split

> between them) and the occasional can of tuna or salmon when I go to the food

> bank. ( tell them I'm vegetarian but still wind up with stuff I can't use,

> its ok tho', just donate it back or give to the neighbors) they share my

> veggies too. Syd loves cooked broccoli and tomato juice (not mixed LOL),

> they all love fresh spinach+ romain lettuce. make popcorn and ZsaZsa will

> sit and stare at you 'till you drop a piece. she and Mitts will practicly

> mug me for a potato chip! these 2 are, of course, rare treats, not all that

> healthy for any of us! they all wanted some of my mock tuna salad- (

> garbonzo beans in place of tuna) didn't share cause it had onions but next

> time will offer them some before adding

> the onion.

> mine are total indoor too but Shrek had been outdoors when I first got

> him. He and his sister had fleas so bad I gave them a bath, in water, not an

> experience I want to repeat! LOL ( did drowned a BUNCH of fleas tho ) that

> was over a year ago and I'm still workin' on gettin rid of the fleas! its an

> ongoing battle. the fleas carry the tapeworm eggs so have to treat for both.

> even got desperate and used some liquid flea stuff ya put on the back of

> their necks - forget what brand - they all walked around shaking a hind paw

> for a week after being treated and later I read that medication had been

> recalled 'cause it affected kitties nervous systems!! never again - natural

> remedies may not work as quickly but I'd rather be safe!

> can you tell my cats are my family?? <GRIN>

>

> peace and purrs,

> Angela

>

>

>

> who I am is fine, it's just this body that's disabled!

>

> middle age = that time of life when we realize yesterday's sex, drugs and

> rock and roll are todays memories, prescriptions and golden oldies!

>

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

subprong <subprong wrote:

 

Hi Angela,

 

Your family sounds so cute. Are you sure they aren't part dog, seeing as

they sit around waiting for a crumb or three? How cute.

 

Shawn

 

Hi Shawn,

thank you, they are the cutest! part dog?? hmmmmmmmm don't think so but

Ghengis does play fetch - his idea too, jumped up next to me on the couch one

day with a toy mousie - dropped the mousie and just stared at me till I picked

it up and threw it!

 

peace and purrs,

Angela

 

 

who I am is fine, it's just this body that's disabled!

 

middle age = that time of life when we realize yesterday's sex, drugs and rock

and roll are todays memories, prescriptions and golden oldies!

 

 

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[Guest guest]

> Do you make your own cat food? I did for a bit and one of them (I have

> three) wouldn't eat it and figured he would when he was hungry. Then I

> learned that cats can and will starve themselves, unlike dogs, and

> they metabolize their muscle, fat, etc and overload their livers which

> then grow large and fail.

 

OMG, been there, done that, my poor kitty had to be fed through a

stomach tube. I had a book on natural health for cats saying they'd

eat when they were hungry... but she didn't and ended up with horrible

jaundice and a very bad liver problem. She's ok now, but it was a lot

of work, and pain for her, to get through it. I got rid of the book.

[Guest guest]

Probably the same book that I have. What kind of cat food do you use now? I am

bouncing around trying to figure it out. Want the best that I can afford,

without much grain, with meat listed first, without.....on and on and on. And

that doesn't test on animals except for in home trials. So absolutely no IAMS

even if it were good quality..they do horrible testing on animals cutting parts

of their flesh away. Disgusting! I think they are now saying they will change

their practices next year. I am using Innova right now. Wysong and Wellness are

a tad expensive as is Newman's but they won't touch Newman's anyway. LOL And it

is organic!!!!!!!!

linda

" Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very important that you do it. "

Mohandas Gandhi

 

linda's Growing Stitchery Projects: womyn47

-

Amy

OMG, been there, done that, my poor kitty had to be fed through a

stomach tube. I had a book on natural health for cats saying they'd

eat when they were hungry... but she didn't and ended up with horrible

jaundice and a very bad liver problem. She's ok now, but it was a lot

of work, and pain for her, to get through it. I got rid of the book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I don't have much choice... Zoe is on prescription Hill's for bladder

stones, and it's darn near impossible to feed them separately, so they

both get that. Pretty darn expensive stuff too, and I don't think

it's that great... but at least she hasn't had stones in a few years.

[Guest guest]

Bladder stones? Is that the same as Charlie had? He had crystals in his urine

and it blocked the tube. They tell me that female cats rarely get them. Must be

different though. With Charlie they had him on medication for some months after

the surgery. Now we just make sure he gets plenty of water which the easiest and

best thing for him then is canned food which is nearly all water. And it has

been years since he had his last bout too. To the tune of about $900 total.

Can't afford that so expensive canned food it must be. But some of the stuff

they put in cat food is disgusting. Did you know that animal shelters that

euthanize have the bodies picked up where they are then rendered into pet food.

Large cities like LA. I am such a bearer of such news to you all. Ignorance is

only that, it is not bliss. However......

she who has no name (lol)

 

 

[Guest guest]

I dunno.. hers are oxalate crystals, apparently the less common type.

And I already know too much about what goes into things.

[Guest guest]

I feed Innova, Wysong, Solid Gold and California Natural to my cats.

However, I have been feeding Innova's " Evo " for about 4-6 weeks and have

been quite amazed at how soft their coats have become and at how much

younger they all look. My cats are 12, 15, 15 and 16. I also have fed

my shepherd the Evo and her coat got very soft and she also looks

younger than her 13 years. My vet's office said they have been hearing

good things about the Evo. Of course, it's more expensive, but they're

worth it.

 

mrf

 

linda wrote:

 

> Probably the same book that I have. What kind of cat food do you use now?

[Guest guest]

, " Amy " <sandpiperhiker>

wrote:

>

> I don't have much choice... Zoe is on prescription Hill's for bladder

> stones, and it's darn near impossible to feed them separately, so they

> both get that. Pretty darn expensive stuff too, and I don't think

> it's that great... but at least she hasn't had stones in a few years.

>

 

 

ugh... hill's is awful. my joanie got SO sick from that stuff.

unfortunately, vets get paid to push it. one thing i learned from my

cat's illness is to never trust a vet with nutritional advice (unless

said vet has had proven extensive education on the subject). most

vets-- just like most physicians (and i'm speaking as the daughter of

two physicians)-- get maybe 2 hours of nutritional education in their

entire careers. not the best source for information on the subject.

 

both of my cats have been doing really well on the doctor's finest

product, which i wet down and add wild salmon oil to. i've also just

started joanie on some bromelain/papaya enzyme for her digestion;

we'll see how it goes... she eats like a pig but keeps losing weight.

she also recently started " going " outside the litterbox, so i'm

hoping this will fix the problem.

[Guest guest]

she also recently started " going " outside the litterbox, so i'm

hoping this will fix the problem.

 

 

" going " = urinating??

if so my Syd had that problem. can't remember the book of natural remedies for

cats I got my info from, was in the library where I used to live. but anyway

tomatoe juice ( i made my own from no salt canned tomatoes), and some romaine

lettuce (chopped in food if need be, Syd likes whole leaves ) cleared him right

up. before giving either to him I checked books and internet vet sites to be

sure it couldn't hurt him. don't know if this would help your furbaby but

thought I'd share the info. Syd loves romaine, munches off the greenest part

first and stalks, fights, shreds the rib in the process of eating most of it !

peace,

Angela

 

 

 

who I am is fine, it's just this body that's disabled!

 

middle age = that time of life when we realize yesterday's sex, drugs and rock

and roll are todays memories, prescriptions and golden oldies!

 

 

Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

 

 

[Guest guest]

> ugh... hill's is awful. my joanie got SO sick from that stuff.

> unfortunately, vets get paid to push it.

 

I know.

 

> one thing i learned from my cat's illness is to never trust a vet

> with nutritional advice (unless said vet has had proven extensive

> education on the subject). most vets-- just like most physicians

> (and i'm speaking as the daughter of two physicians)-- get maybe 2

> hours of nutritional education in their entire careers. not the

> best source for information on the subject.

 

This isn't for nutrition, it's for pH management so she doesn't get

bladder stones. Still not great but it seems to have prevented the

need for multiple surgeries.

 

> both of my cats have been doing really well on the doctor's finest

> product, which i wet down and add wild salmon oil to. i've also

> just started joanie on some bromelain/papaya enzyme for her

> digestion; we'll see how it goes... she eats like a pig but keeps

> losing weight.

 

Oh no! Does she have a worm?

 

> she also recently started " going " outside the litterbox, so i'm

> hoping this will fix the problem.

 

Mine did that when she had stones, and when she had a UTI.

[Guest guest]

I had a friend who thought she could make a her cat into a

vegetarian--Yikes--a BIG NO NO!--and she had the same thing happen--her

cat developed a liver problem. Fortunately, the kitty recovered.

 

Amy wrote:

 

> Then I

> > learned that cats can and will starve themselves, unlike dogs, and

> > they metabolize their muscle, fat, etc and overload their livers which

> > then grow large and fail.

>

> OMG, been there, done that, my poor kitty had to be fed through a

> stomach tube. I had a book on natural health for cats saying they'd

> eat when they were hungry... but she didn't and ended up with horrible

> jaundice and a very bad liver problem. She's ok now, but it was a lot

> of work, and pain for her, to get through it. I got rid of the book.

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> I had a friend who thought she could make a her cat into a

> vegetarian--Yikes--a BIG NO NO!--and she had the same thing

> happen--her cat developed a liver problem. Fortunately, the kitty

> recovered.

 

Poor kitty!! But yeah... I knew enough not to make her be veg, but

she wouldn't eat the raw (or cooked) meats I offered. She's mostly

black, so I didn't notice her skin turning yellow with the liver

problems! But she's fine now. Her sister, otoh, is having megacolon

issues right now. :-( This was not a healthy litter at all.

[Guest guest]

> Of course I did the same damned thing and nearly killed Charlie. His

> liver seems to be none the worse for wear now, but it was touch and

> go for a bit. I wish I could put the new kitten on the home cooked

> meals with the raw or cooked meat that they must have, however, I just

> can't bring myself to have to deal with meat so directly so it is

> canned cat food and kibbles.

 

Oh yeah, touching the meat was the *worst*... it was hard enough

buying it in the store. I'm glad Charlie's ok.