Dam Quail

I'm glad to report that Mungo continues to improve. He's been getting neem bark tea once every other day, slippery elm gruel with water chasers two or three times a day, and is eating the Merrick Thanksgiving Day Dinner and Grammy's Pot Pie in turns, with good appetite. He has not been tolerating sub-cutaneous fluids very well, though; he's been bolting on me mid-drip and complaining a lot before and during. I don't know if it's scar tissue at the needle site or irritation around his torso from where the fluid collects under his skin, but I made him a deal that if he kept eating and going twosies and generally lookin' good, I'd tentatively reduce his fluids to every other day... in exchange, he'd have to sit still for two entire units each time and also put up with me giving him extra water by mouth on off days. Dr. M doesn't know about this blog and he'd tear me a new one if he saw that I was easing up on the fluids, but this has become a quality of life compromise. Let's just keep it between us, shall we? And I promise you and Dr. M and the surly orange cat himself that I'll start sticking him every day again as soon as he starts to lag.

Cats with kidney disease need special diets, and while there is an ongoing debate about low-protein vs. regular levels of high quality protein, it's generally agreed upon that the KD diet must have reduced phosphorus, which the kats can't eliminate properly. Generally, this means little to no fish and mostly chicken or turkey formulas of wet food, which are typically lower in phosphorus. Ultimately, it's a balance between what is within the acceptable range of nutrients and what the cat will eat, since inappetance is one of the major problems with feline KD. After Mungo stopped eating the one brand of prescription kidney food he'd been tolerating (Royal Canin LP), I went to a local pet boutique several weeks ago in search of premium foods to try enticing him with, which is how I discovered the Merrick. I'd heard about the grain-free theory for cats, and picked up an assortment of grain-free cans, including Evanger's Turkey and Butternut Squash (which we'll be trying again), Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie and Turducken (former popular, latter Not So Much), and the Merrick Before Grain foods, which contain nothing but the meat listed on the label; I got the BG turkey and quail, and Mungo seemed to go for the quail in such a big way I ordered piles more of it for him from PetFoodDirect. Only basic fat/protein info is listed on the label but I assumed that quail, being poultry, must be like chicken and turkey and thus a good low-phosphorus choice. And you know what they say about assuming... though in my defense, most of you would have thought that too, right? Turns out all squab is not the same.

Last week I requested nutritional data from Merrick on all their foods, hoping to find more suitable entrees to broaden Mungo's culinary horizons so he wouldn't get bored with the few things he was gladly eating. I got a great spreadsheet-style summary of the nutrient breakdown back from Merrick customer service today, and lo and behold the quail is THE highest-phosphorous food in the list! Far and away, too, much worse than the salmon and tuna. I hadn't looked into quail but apparently they have some sort of special need for calcium and phosphorous and have evolved a system that metabolizes these two minerals with high efficiency. Quail breeders feed their stock a diet high in C and P, and the meat and eggs are high in both.

I am still learning how to read all this stuff... the calcium to phosphorus ratio is also important, and you sometimes have to convert As Fed values to Dry Matter using the moisture percentages, and when I get a handle on what the numbers mean (with the help of a slide rule and a box of NoDoz) I'll be sure to share it here. But one thing's for sure, the levels of calcium and phosphorus in the quail are simply way too high for a kidney cat, and really any older cat, to be eating.

Anyway, Mungo started shirking the quail on his own recently so I guess that's good. Maybe his instincts told him he felt crappy after eating it, maybe he just got tired of it. Now I have to find someone locally who's maybe fostering kittens and lactating momma cats, since according to this article the quail would probably be excellent nutrition for those stages of cat life.

Speaking of kitten fostering, lalalaurie over at The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee made my day by posting about poo. Which means I'm not an isolated nut case for writing about Mungo's poo the other day! Still a nut case, just not an isolated one. Small blessings etc. etc. If you haven't visited the IBKC you should do so with all haste. It's one of the few things in life that restores my faith in my own species while completely gratifying my love for Felis Catus. Plus, she has a fantastic eye. The color and composition alone are worth the price of admission, even if you were not subject to incapacitation by a need to Keeeees Eeeeeeet! when you see photos of adorable smalls. And if you're not, what the hell is the matter with you?!? Is freon coursing through your veins?

Tomorrow, Manwich hits the scales. Stay tuned.