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Old August 18th, 2012, 06:31 AM
kittiesandbirds kittiesandbirds is offline
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Cat slight cholesterol

So my cat Phoebe has a bit of cholesterol apparently. She was suffering from a tummy ache but the symptoms first showed up as limping from her right back leg. I at first thought she had hurt herself jumping from a high place or that the horse play with my cats had gotten out of hand early in the morning.

I rushed to the vets and they did x-rays, blood tests ect. The x-rays revealed that she was constipated (colon still normal size) but there were also many pockets of gas that could have caused the pain. She has taken a bit of lactulose each day since and seems better. However the vet told me her cholesterol was just a bit higher than it should be. The number which was just a bit over 9 did not mean much to me and I had a hard time understanding the implications. However her symptoms apparently did not warrant me bringing her in for further tests immediately. The shaved her neck, on both sides. I think they started on one side for the blood tests and for some reason shaved the other side. I wasn't aware they took blood in the neck.

The vet said she would be sicker if it was a pancreas issue. So when will I know to go back. She is back to normal now however lately she refuses to eat with the boys for some reason. She would prefer to starve then eat near them. I have to bring her food to her. I have one cat Tommy who will eat his food then push her aside and eat hers and Nikes if there is left over. He always eats till he vomits so I have started throwing out the leftovers. I think this may be why she won't eat with them anymore.
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Old August 18th, 2012, 08:52 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kittiesandbirds View Post
So my cat Phoebe has a bit of cholesterol apparently. She was suffering from a tummy ache but the symptoms first showed up as limping from her right back leg. I at first thought she had hurt herself jumping from a high place or that the horse play with my cats had gotten out of hand early in the morning.

I rushed to the vets and they did x-rays, blood tests ect. The x-rays revealed that she was constipated (colon still normal size) but there were also many pockets of gas that could have caused the pain. She has taken a bit of lactulose each day since and seems better. However the vet told me her cholesterol was just a bit higher than it should be. The number which was just a bit over 9 did not mean much to me and I had a hard time understanding the implications. However her symptoms apparently did not warrant me bringing her in for further tests immediately. The shaved her neck, on both sides. I think they started on one side for the blood tests and for some reason shaved the other side. I wasn't aware they took blood in the neck.

The vet said she would be sicker if it was a pancreas issue. So when will I know to go back. She is back to normal now however lately she refuses to eat with the boys for some reason. She would prefer to starve then eat near them. I have to bring her food to her. I have one cat Tommy who will eat his food then push her aside and eat hers and Nikes if there is left over. He always eats till he vomits so I have started throwing out the leftovers. I think this may be why she won't eat with them anymore.
Is Phoebe eating OK when you bring her the food? How about water , is she refusing water too? I would made sure she is drinking water. did the vet put your cat on a special diet for her cholesterol? If she is an outside cat maybe she has to cut back on how many mice she eat.
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Old August 18th, 2012, 04:37 PM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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What are you feeding your cat?
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Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs)

Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
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Old August 19th, 2012, 03:50 PM
kittiesandbirds kittiesandbirds is offline
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She is now eating Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal. She used to eat Wiskas and Fancy Feast from Purina. I tried all foods and these are the two things they liked. Now they can't have this anymore. I have to give her lactulose every day now because her bowels were not moving. I forgot to say usually she was drinking ok but the day I rushed her to the vets she would not drink. Now since a couple of days of lactulose she is walking much better and acting more normal.
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Old August 19th, 2012, 03:59 PM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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Kibble or canned?

I would say your biggest problem is her diet. Change to a high quality, human grade meat and you will find a world of difference in your cat. Check the ingredients in the food you are feeding and ask yourself should a CARNIVORE be eating this?

Here is a great link:

http://www.catinfo.org/

My favourite food is Nature's Variety, Instinct canned,

Weruva, Wellness grain free, GO! are all good foods also.

Cholesterol in cats can be high after they eat and an accurate blood reading for it should be done after a fast.
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Cat maid to:


Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs)

Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014)
Puddles RIP (1996-2014)
Snowball RIP (1991-2005)

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey
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Old August 19th, 2012, 04:03 PM
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Loki Love Loki Love is offline
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Our Mr Miyagi had an issue with constipation a couple years back (or so). We've had really good success with feeding only canned food (Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea - he doesn't seem to tolerate any others). He's also on 5 mg of cisapride per day (it just helps keep things moving along). The vet has suggested we try and wean him off of it, but given we have two cats, it's sometimes difficult to tell who is doing what in the box There is no harm in having it, so we'll just keep on it
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Old August 19th, 2012, 06:11 PM
kittiesandbirds kittiesandbirds is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Love4himies View Post
Kibble or canned?

I would say your biggest problem is her diet. Change to a high quality, human grade meat and you will find a world of difference in your cat. Check the ingredients in the food you are feeding and ask yourself should a CARNIVORE be eating this?

Here is a great link:

http://www.catinfo.org/

My favourite food is Nature's Variety, Instinct canned,

Weruva, Wellness grain free, GO! are all good foods also.

Cholesterol in cats can be high after they eat and an accurate blood reading for it should be done after a fast.
She had just eaten before going to the vet. I had to bring the food to the sofa but she did eat. I am glad you told me about the higher reading because it was apparently just a touch too high. I will look into those foods. I started giving her a can of tuna each day. I too thought it may have been a problem that there are not so many animal proteins in their food. Here it's hard to get things because I'm not in the States. I had to order all my bird cages online for instance. I have to find places that can tell me what all the extra charges are going to be in advance. I will ask my vet if she carries these foods but I did not see them. Where I live when I ask my pet shop about stuff they are not very helpful. They basically tell you to buy what's in stock.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Loki Love View Post
Our Mr Miyagi had an issue with constipation a couple years back (or so). We've had really good success with feeding only canned food (Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea - he doesn't seem to tolerate any others). He's also on 5 mg of cisapride per day (it just helps keep things moving along). The vet has suggested we try and wean him off of it, but given we have two cats, it's sometimes difficult to tell who is doing what in the box There is no harm in having it, so we'll just keep on it
I'm having the same problem because I have three cats. I will look into all the foods and see if anyone sells them around here. Do you think I could cook for my cat if not. I want to buy a food processor because Phoebe does like tuna but only if I break it up really small with a fork. She doesn't eat enough for it to make a difference so I need to find some way of getting her to eat healthier. I'll look into the foods.

Last edited by kittiesandbirds; August 20th, 2012 at 07:16 AM.
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Old August 19th, 2012, 06:44 PM
kittiesandbirds kittiesandbirds is offline
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After reading info on the link provided I am sure that I need to do something about their diet. Since my oldest cat Nike developed super colin he has really loved eating chicken. He did not have this interest before. I have been giving him chicken whenever I prepare some for the family. I see there are recipes for making cat food on the link. I'm a bit tired right now but will try to read it over tomorrow. I am pretty sure that I can start by changing one meal for a while and see how it goes. Nike has been hospitalized twice with his super colon so I have to be very careful with him. He has to take the lactulose each day and also another tube that worries me because it has Vaseline in it. I always wondered about this stuff. I like that he is running around and looking healthy and we had to listen to the vet because we had no idea how to save him. He did not have surgery but had enemas when hospitalized. Phoebes problem was not as severe because her colon is still normal size.
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