Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Itchy Boy

Kitty At The Vet

Took my cat, Reggie to my acupuncture/natural vet today. Reggie has had NAET treatment for his allergies before with great success, but recently, he has been excessively grooming himself again so thought I'd better take him in to see if he has developed new allergies.

The doctor did some testing and apparently the cat food that had been fine before is now contributing to Reggie's itchiness. So is the basement, where I suspect there may be some molds but that's an easy fix as all I have to do is close the door to keep the kitties from going down there.

The food is another problem. We did find out before that Reggie is sensitive to seafood, so I took him off that flavor. Apparently the dry food I feed is OK, but the canned stuff is now making him sensitive. My vet said the problem is that nearly all the cat food companies are bad about really sticking to what's on the label and it's quite possible they have changed the formula since we last did testing.

My vet is not too keen on just keeping cats on dry food, so he suggested I try some other brands and just monitor Reggie to see how he reacts. The other option would be for me to concoct my own food, but I've not had a lot of luck getting my kitties to eat "human" foods. As a matter of fact the three that eat the canned food are not even too keen about trying different brands other than the ones they are used to.

Guess I will have to visit the pet food store and buy a can or two of some of the other brands, mostly the ones that brag about their reputations to produce consistent quality...etc. The brand I use has a really good reputation, but at this point, any recipe changes they may have made are causing problems.

I suspect I am in for some interesting experimentation here.

Tomorrow, I have to take my car to the shop so they can figure out why the "check engine" light is on. The school students tested it for me and found codes for a gas vapor leak somewhere, but since it was too late in the year, they did not have time to trace it further. There is a good repair garage across the street from school, so I'll drop it off there.

Hopefully it won't be a big problem.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:13 PM

    Cat food roulette! Hope you find a solution for your itchy kitty!

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  2. gas vapor leak would explain any headaches you have had. Good luck with the kitty's diet.

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  3. Dogs, and some cats, typically do not naturally produce the correct enzymes to break down certain foods, like wheat and corn.Here is a good read.
    http://www.thenaturalvet.net/cgi-bin/genesis.exe/allergies.html?sid=6ho5rz1FjH7T3%40Q-56105108390.0b
    Good luck with kitty...

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  4. There is a very good natural pet store (that sells foods) over in Princeton. It is not in town, but by the McCafferty's. Everything is expensive (duh) but they only buy and sell top products. It might be worth your time to go there and talk to someone about cat allergies and food and see what they recommend.

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  5. and you could write to the manufacturer about the effects of them changing the recipe!

    Jean go check out "my journey with horses", linked from my blog.. Jane is singing about her recent lessons with Patrice! i know you'll enjoy ...

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