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.

Pabulum Fabulum

I've mentioned my fondness for using herbal support for cats when appropriate, and have also mentioned that this blog is not intended to dispense medical advice and that I'm not a medical or veterinary professional. (Repeat as needed.) I thought I'd explain a little about Why and How I select certain herbs for use.

I learned a lot about herbs when I didn't have health insurance, which amounted to years of my adulthood. I learned that you have to check multiple sources and not accept the first reference to an herb you may find. Look for lab research when available, and know your own limits; if you don't have the patience to read and reason it out, go to someone with experience. The internet has made it much easier to compare differing viewpoints and that's very helpful, if you can distinguish useful warnings from anti-naturopath scare screeds. I apply these same principles to researching herbs and supplements for our cats, and although not all human-safe herbs are cat-safe, in some cases I have found it safe and applicable to use something on Mungo that I've used for myself.

One such herb is slippery elm bark, and (like neem) it is inexpensive, has been used safely on humans and domesticated animals for centuries, and has so far been a good thing for Mungo. I had only used slippery elm myself in throat remedies (I used to get strep throat constantly) but had not realized its value for digestive problems. So Mungo helped me add another useful herb to my list. Since it helps both underactive and overactive bowels, it will be a fine thing to have on hand.

The link provided above will give you all the info you need, but in short the powdered inner bark of the slippery elm can be made into a thin gruel that contains some nutrition, a little gentle fiber, a lot of mucilage (which soothes the tissue it contacts, thus the whole digestive tract), and is not unpleasant to taste. I've seen multiple mentions of it for feline kidney disease, and wish I'd found it sooner.

Although slippery elm is available in capsules very cheaply, these often contain added ingredients, which you don't want. I asked Nature's Way whether the magnesium stearate listed in Other Ingredients (for their brand and others I found) was in the capsule itself or the contents, and got this response;

"Magnesium stearate is used as a flow agent and is mixed in the Slippery Elm. Nature's Way uses magnesium stearate from a vegetarian source."

This makes sense, because the pure, no-additives bulk powder is a bit clumpy, so the mag. stearate probably makes for easier capsuling. I'm sure it's fine for People Purposes, but apparently it is important to use unadulterated slippery elm when making the gruel for pets. I had to look around to find it in bulk locally, but when I did it was very inexpensive, and I was able to get a small quantity. It's not hard to find the bulk powder by the pound online, but a tiny bit goes a looong way and a pound would be serious overkill.

The way I make the gruel is to put a smidge of it in a cook-safe glass measuring cup, add filtered or distilled water, and nuke it in the microwave a minute at a time until it boils, then 30-second intervals for about three more minutes, stirring well with a fork between nukes and adding a little water as necessary to replace what steams off. The slow, long cook and regular stirring with a whisk or fork causes the slippery elm to thicken and expand into a liquid with body to it. Recipes vary on how much powder/water to use, but I am erring on the thin side these days (1/8th teaspoon or less to a quarter cup of water for a small batch) as I believe I made it too thick at first, possibly creating a bulk issue for Mungo. Cats in his condition often have insufficient muscle to move substantial 'material' through their abdomens and ([low bowel motility]+[lots of fiber])=[boa constrictor struggling down a Volkswagen]. (Don't ask me how I know.)

The gruel can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days (up to 10 by some reports), and I find a 1ml dropper to be the easiest way to administer it. I assume shorter storage time as I'm sometimes redipping the dropper during application, but I do wash it out after each use.

I made some thin SlipGruel for Mungo yesterday morning and decided if he wasn't going to eat I'd give him lots of it, as a recovery meal as it's sometimes used instead of as a small-dose tummy tonic. At least he'd be getting some nutrition from it. He got two meals of about 5-6 droppers yesterday, and one this morning. He consented to eat a little of the Merrick Grammy's Pot Pie for me last night, and has done respectable damage to a 3oz can of the Merrick Before Grain quail this morning. He would probably eat tuna and salmon if he had an arrow sticking out of his side as he *adores* fish, but generally he can get down a little quail even if he's having trouble with multi-ingredient, full nutrition cat foods. More on what Mungo is eating in another post.

So once again, Manwich Bounces Back, or seems to be.