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10 de julio de 2017

Kitty Fur Balls: B-Gone!

A decade+ ago, 2 newborn, sibling kittens, inner city-abandoned, were rescued by our caring police, turned over & nurtured through infancy by our local vet hospital. Sisters Silky & Sahsa adopted us, full of excitement & endless purring, when they were just 10 weeks old. They slept, ate, played, were perfectly potty trained, got spayed / had all their shots, & have filled our family with love & laughs, while gracefully growing into their 65 yr old human equivalency years. Our child (now adult) has progressed through elementary, middle school, HS, & has just graduated (away University) Magna Cum Laude with BA degree (while working continuously through all 4 yrs, straight A's/ Deans list); & has immediately secured well paid employ. Naturally, we believe our cats enhanced & supported these successes (!) 😀We've always fed them highest quality, grain free food (dry), w fresh water every day. We live in Upstate NY (country / suburbs). They're indoor, short haired, dark torties. Over the past few years, especially during Spring thaw into Summer heat & humidity, they've been hacking up loud, frequent, & (mostly) non-productive attempts to upchuck the fur plugs amassed in their complex, multi-stage, digestive innards. ("Complex" compared to humans.) Upon observation, cylindrical "plugs" of densely compacted fur are obvious, once expelled- Not stinky, not gross, not mixed w anything gross, just saliva.I googled around a bit, & quickly learned that these fur plugs are just *exactly* as commonly described by vets- cylindrical shaped, tangled masses of fur, (1-2" long), compressed into this shape by the intestines, not gross at all, just fur coated with a little bit of spit (not vomit). Apparently, the fur is supposed to pass out the other end (in much smaller amounts, little by little) into the litterbox, before it ever reaches such a large, tightly compacted, defined mass of fur- And, IF cats need to throw it up, it's supposed to dislodge & be expelled within 1-3 (-ish) attempts. Ongoing, "unproductive" upchuck attempts, are a warning sign that your cat's digestive system is at extreme peril of complete blockage, is a medical emergency- potentially life threatening & may require immediate surgery- So, unbeknownst to me, my cats' recent years of endless throwing up small-large amounts- sometimes of entire meals, other times just of frothy spit- were life-threatening warning signs! It seemed that they'd go on for a week-10 days, until finally expelling (vomiting) up a fur plug. Seriously, they're unmistakable by size, shape, composition. 🙀. Cause to begin with, is excessive fur & Velcro hook-like tongues- They just swallow way too much of their own fur, when grooming.I should add here, that as much as we love our cats, I alone support my family / pay the bills. I've owned pets in the past, & have learned the hard way, that as much as we love our pets, I'm not a billionaire, not going to sacrifice our family's entire financial security (& my own future retirement), on vet fees... That being said, I'm not heartless, I certainly don't want our furry family members to suffer, unnecessarily.Google to the rescue again- I very quickly id'd *exact* symptoms, & was surprised to learn what an immediate, urgent, lethal condition this was (cat trying, unsuccessfully, to cough up a fur plug, from so deep inside their digestive systems).P-R-E-V-E-N-T-I-O-N is the key to alleviate suffering & avoid unnecessary early death by excruciating intestinal blockage.A few frequent recommendations stood out as totes feasible- i.e., mixing a teaspoon of canned, mashed pumpkin into their food for added fibre, to help them poop out accumulated fur (tip: freeze individual portions in ice-cube trays, thaw as needed- ingenious!); And or, mixing a small amount of healthy oil into their food (ie, up to 1 teaspoon/day leftover meat juices/oils, olive oil, fish oil, etc.). Yay Amazon! Reviews astutely warned against starting w too much all at once- 1 poor reviewer fed her tiny dog a teaspoon per meal to start with, he suffered severe diarrhea & dehydration for 2 weeks... I certainly wanted to avoid torturing my cat's. In fact, our cats can pick out a fraction of a pill in a mound of yummy tuna, so I was very wary wether they'd eat food with this at all. So, I bought this small 8 oz bottle to begin with (even though price wise, larger bottles are a fraction of the cost per. ml.).1st day- Opened/unscrewed bottle, shook contents well, pumped standing oil in dispensing tube, back into bottle, re-shook, & re-pumped freshly shaken oil into their dry food- Just 2-3 drops. They sniffed, they liked, they gobbled! (It has NO strong fishy smell). After a few days- 1/2 pump onto food, mixed well. They loved it! I did a few days of 1/2 pumps, all OK. (Trick is to watch color & consistency of poops- If too much oil is given, stool will be lighter in color, looser, & supposedly buoyant in water). All was OK. I moved up to 1 full pump daily for several days, then 1.5, & now 2 (allowing several days each). We're at 2 pumps/daily (2 cats: 11 lbs & 14 lbs). Directions on bottle indicate this is the proper amount for our little fur monsters, they like it, their fur is soffft, bowel habits ok. For now, it seems their stools are noticeably less dry, I imagine must pass easier/more comfortably. I'm a far cry from their age (65!), but for now, at the very least, I have to imagine pooping easier is a nice comfort, at their age! We'll need to wait a month or 3 before we can discern wether there's any intestinal benefit, though. I don't want to overload their systems, by increasing the dosage- Ill stick with the manufacturer's recommended daily dosage. It's just SO easy to mix it in their food! I keep the bottle in the fridge with a zip lock bag. It stays liquid, & doesn't solidify. They love it, no adverse effects, now we wait to see if it helps. Next time, I'll buy the larger bottle! 😻Ver más

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