Expert: Ali - 8/1/2009

Question
Over the past year our old cat Shy Shy has developed bloat. At first we thought she was gaining weight, but realized it was all in her belly.  It is worse after eating.  She has seen 3 vets and has been thoroughly checked - bloodwork, urine, endoscopy - it is all gas.  We have tried all the usual drugs for motility: cisapride, ranitidine, metaclopramide, erythromicin with little change. We have kept her on metaclopramide and simethicone.  We have tried various diet changes - started with Royal Canine (meat and peas).  Switched to chicken (we cook), tried beef, salmon and are now on buffalo. So far, it is the best. We feed her at least twice per day .. sometimes 3 times if can. We are supplementing with vitamins.  Her bowel movements have been an issue too probably because of the high protein / no fiber.  She is on lactulose and prozyme (digestive enzymes).  She has chronic upper respiratory issues (feral for 5 years in a nasty, damp abandoned building in FL) so for the past year she is on prednilisone and antibiotics daily.

With everything we are doing, her bloat is better.  She had gotten up to 21" in diameter.  Now she doesn't usually get bigger than 18" but she only weighs about 8# so she is a small cat.

We appreciate any suggestions.
Ginger Raspiller
Portland Maine

Answer
Ginger,

It sounds like your kitty has really been through the mill when it comes to her medical issue within the last while. I'm not entirely sure that your kitty is really benefiting from being treated exclusively with allopathic medicine, I think that it might be worth keeping an open mind and considering other treatment options to alleviate this little girl's discomfort and symptoms. In my experience it's quite unusual for a cat to be on antibiotics and steroids for a year or more, that sounds to me like the vets haven't been able to determine with any degree of certainty what's happening with this kitty which is why I think that it's in your cat's best interests to seek out the help of a holistic veterinarian ASAP.

My recommendation would be to find a holistic veterinarian who uses homeopathy in his/her practice. If you aren't able to find a homeopathic/holistic vet who uses homeopathy in his/her practice then I'd recommend that you check out the Ask A Vet segment of this site and contact Dr. Christine Chambreau, she's a homeopathic vet who will do consultations by telephone or internet within the US. Holistic vets aren't any different than vets who practice allopathic medicine exclusively except that these folks have taken the initiative to educate themselves and further their education so that they could treat their patients with a  more holistic approach. Holistic vets are trained in conventional medicine as well as one or more alternative therapies which may include massage, acupuncture, herbal medicine or homeopathy to name a few options.

My veterinarian is a holistic vet and she uses homeopathy in her practice, she will actually use homeopathic remedies in addition to or sometimes instead of conventional allopathic medicine. Initially I wasn't so sure about using homeopathy on my cats, but I have to say that I've seen some amazing things happen as a result of my vet prescribing the right remedy to the right cat at the right time. I actually credit my vet's use of homeopathic remedies in addition to conventional treatments for saving my eldest cat's life - she nearly died as a result of kidney failure caused by eating tainted cat food during the Menu Foods recall. My cat has completely recovered from her kidney failure, today she's strong, healthy, full of mischief and happy, she no longer requires any home nursing care and her kidney values remain right in the normal range.

As for your baby girl's nutrition I'd recommend that you consider checking out the following websites, you may find that they contain useful information about providing proper nutrition for cats. You may find that replacing your kitty's lactulose with pure canned pumpkin (or strained squash, sweet potato baby food# and rather than depending on a pill for digestive enzymes allowing your kitty to have 1-2 tablespoons of plain, unsweetened, yogurt will help get things moving in the right direction. I try to go organic whenever possible when it comes to the baby food, digestive enzymes and pure canned pumpkin #don't buy the pumpkin pie filling, the cat isn't likely to like the spices and she certainly doesn't need the extra sugar given how bad she's been feeling, you wouldn't want to give her anything that might make her vomit.  I don't recommend that you make changes to medications without consulting with a homeopathic vet first, but I see no reason why a dietary change specifically tailored to a well balanced, species appropriate raw diet with the appropriate supplements wouldn't be a good thing for your little girl. www.catinfo.org was created by a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Lisa Pierson to help pet parents understand their cat's unique nutritional needs and her site provides detailed, honest information about nutrition, changing diets when needed and helping a cat to accept a new diet more readily. www.catnutrition.org provides great in depth information about feline nutrition, this site includes a printable hand out that you can take to your veterinarian to discuss dietary changes if you feel inclined to do so. There's a link on catnutrition.org that takes you to the website for Feline's Pride which is a high quality, meat based raw diet that can be ordered online and shipped in Canada and the US. The food is packaged in coolers with dry ice and the company guarantees that if their product shows up completely thawed or spoiled they'll work with you, provided of course that you're there to receive the shipment from the courier, if you aren't and the food thaws and/or spoils it's your responsibility. I'm hoping that a more holistic approach to this kitty's health that's aimed at far more than masking her symptoms will help her to feel much happier and healthier.

It's possible that by changing your kitty's diet, administering homeopathic remedies as prescribed by a holistic vet and making any other changes that are necessary to get your kitty feeling better she'll bounce back and be much healthier and happier. I do think that you should take some time to do some research about vaccines as well, as it turns out studies have shown for some time that vaccinating cats annually or more frequently is harmful to our pets. Excessive vaccines can cause serious problems including weakening the immune system or completely over stimulating the cat's immune system which can result in an auto-immune condition which could cause serious damage to the cat's health. Certain types of cancers are more frequent in cats that are vaccinated yearly or more frequently. There are a number of articles written by veterinary professionals about the dangers of vaccinating too often. If you have any questions, concerns or you'd like me to clarify anything in this answer, please don't hesitate to contact me again, I'd be more than happy to help if I can.