What I know about Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)

Feline Coronavirus and FIP Diagnosis & Prevention June 2020

Having been in rescue as long as I have, and focusing my rescue work on kitties, I have come across FIP too many times. Now that I am also networking and providing support to other people who foster kitties, this topic comes up a lot, and it is quite disheartening to hear so many things that I know are patently untrue when it comes to FIP. I wanted to take a moment to write down what I have learned from my own experiences, by reading as many articles as I have, and being a part of the FIP community.

I will admit, it had been a while since I had dug deep into the research and experiences of owners and vets so to do this post I started looking for verification from the experts of what I knew to be true a few years ago as well as any new data that has arisen. Some of the information has changed dramatically since the availability of the new "treatment" for FIP, and that in and of itself is unsettling. Too many people are calling this once 100% fatal disease "curable", which I find to be misleading.

What is FIP?

FIP is a mutation of the Feline CoronaVirus (FCoV). It is rare, occurring in shelter kitties at a rate of 0.06% of the population (*) It presents in two ways, wet and dry. Wet fills the abdomen with fluid, dry does not.

What is Feline CoronaVirus (FCoV)?

CoronaVirus in cats generally is pretty harmless(*); it might cause a bit of diarrhea which might need some supportive care such as fluids, but on the whole, there is not much to be done for it but wait it out. Think of it a very mild common cold. FYI: one fact I stumbled on while getting the reference material for this post is something I have wondered for years. FCoV is a pretty fragile virus. Quote: FCoV is a relatively fragile virus (inactivated at room temperature within 24 to 48 hours), but in dry conditions (eg, in carpet), it has been shown to survive for up to 7 weeks outside the cat. Indirect fomite transmission is thus possible, and the virus can be transmitted through clothes, toys, and grooming tools. In organ homogenates, it is even resistant to repeated freezing at −70°C for many months. The virus is destroyed by most household disinfectants and detergents, however. (*)

Unfortunately, the rates of incidents of FCoV is actually very high in shelter and rescue kitties (*), which leads to all kinds of confusion. If you ever hear of feline coronavirus and you look it up on the internet, all you basically find is information about FIP. At least that is what happened to me when I first tried to figure it out. FCoV is actually pretty contagious and I have been told that we should just assume that any shelter/rescue kitty has it.

FCoV mutates into Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)

Occasionally, rarely, FCoV mutates into Feline Infectious Peritonitis. As far as I can tell, we still do not know why(*). There is a really cool video on YouTube that shows what happens after the mutation if you are interested. 

Once the virus mutates, it is no longer contagious. If you have a kitty with FIP, you do not need to be afraid of it giving it to another kitty. Could the second kitty also mutate the coronavirus and acquire FIP, yes, especially if they have similar genetics and similar stressors in their life, but remember, this is a pretty rare occurrence in the first place.

I have been hearing some people talk about Ocular and Neurologic FIP. I found this quite fascinating as I have only ever heard the experts talk about "wet" and "dry" forms of FIP. Looking for information on this I have found that people are using these terms to discuss the progression of dry FIP.  Back in 2002, my cat Kodi (*)  had dry FIP (although we never did the necessary tests to ultimately confirm that) and he started bleeding in his eyes at the end. It was what caused me to realize that his time was at an end. I always assumed that it was due to the damage of his internal organs and not FIP in his eye, but in the end, that is unimportant. What matters is figuring out if when someone suggests your kitty has FIP if that is accurate or not.

Why am I writing this post?

The reasons are two-fold. One to discuss what FIP is and the second is the serious limitations we still have regarding this disease. We still have no definitive way to diagnosis it. There is no FIP test despite what vets will tell you. Researchers are getting closer to figuring out how to definitively say a cat has it, but right now that is only via some very expensive testing and even that is only 96% accurate. There are biomarkers that can "rule in" or "rule out" FIP, but that does not mean the cat actually has it as those biomarkers can be raised for any number of other reasons.

There are many symptoms to FIP depending on how it presents and sadly all of them are generic and can present because of any number of diseases. Some issues that have been misdiagnosed as FIP have been: toxoplasmosis, brain tumor, required a dental, lymphoma, bacterial pleurisy, thiamine deficiency, cancer, worms, cerebellar hypoplasia among others. Most of these have a pretty safe and easy treatment, so when your health care provider is suggesting your kitty has FIP then you really need to either tell them to forget that diagnosis and look for something else or get yourself to a new vet. The experts in the field have a flowchart to diagnose it. I am going to reiterate how rare it is. Only 18% of the samples for testing that had a diagnosis of FIP actually had FIP.  Quote:

"You can only be really confident of an FIP diagnosis if you have a positive FCoV RT-PCR result on the effusion of a wet FIP case, or a MLN FNA or aqueous humour in a non-effusive FIP case." (*)  

These cases are not just people thinking the kitty had FIP, but vets who suspected it enough to refer the case on to this point. 

Are you starting to understand why I get so incredibly frustrated when people bandy about the idea that a kitty is suffering from FIP?  Yes, FIP is a real and incredibly serious disease. FIP can and does happen to kitties everywhere, but simply because a kitten is failing to thrive doesn't mean it has FIP. 

FIP is also a disease that takes time. Kittens are generally not diagnosable before three months. They are only open to infection to FCoV at 5 to 7 weeks when their maternal antibodies start to wean. It then takes time for the body to interact with the virus enough to mutate and then it takes another couple of weeks for the mutation to do the damage required to start showing symptoms. (*) Most cases of FIP occur in cats between 4 and 18 months (*)

But isn't FIP treatable now?

Yes, there are two drugs that have put cats with FIP into remission. Some people call that a cure, but with so little data on the subject it is hard to know. I looked into what it would take to get the drug, and it is basically a black market drug from China that requires almost no oversight. You don't need a diagnosis of FIP (mostly because it is still extremely hard to prove as there is no test for it) and the people selling this drug simply say if you suspect it to go ahead and try it and see what happens. From what I have learned it is extremely expensive (in the thousands of dollars range) and quite painful (the medication stings) and it involves daily injections for weeks if not months and sadly many cats do not survive. Because we generally do not know if the cats who receive this treatment actually have FIP or not, we can not say that those who survive the treatment are cured of FIP. Maybe they had some other condition that they recovered from because of the constant care of the owner while being given this medication. Lastly, since this medication has only been in use a few years (at the time of this post) we have no long term data about what happens to these cats in five or ten years. Do they continue on with a normal life? Is there organ damage? Are cancer rates higher (or lower?)? We simply do not know.  I do know that, at this time, if I had a kitten with a seriously strong suspicion of FIP, I believe I would not give the medication at this time.

In conclusion:

While FIP is a real and serious threat to kitties and it is not something to be taken lightly. If you suspect your kitty has FIP, you really need to work with a vet who is willing to ignore the suspected FIP infection and look for a different diagnosis or work with you to do the necessary tests (*) to figure out if that is what you are dealing with.  If your vet is not willing to go the extra mile for a kitty who they suspect has FIP, you need a new vet.

I have said that more kittens die of a false FIP diagnosis than will ever die of the disease itself, and the experts are in agreement.

Sometimes adoptions don't work out - and that is okay

Hibiscus and Rooibos are back.  They are safe, happy, and adjusted back to the room after just a few minutes. I'm glad they are here.

I know a lot of people get really emotional when cats (or pets) are adopted and then returned, but I really think those people are doing a great disservice when they attack people for doing this. Not every match is a love match, not every energy is right for every home, and no matter how you think you know a kitten, cat, puppy or dog is going to act in their new home, it doesn't always go as planned.

Being adult enough to say "this isn't working and we want what is best for us AND the pet" and taking those steps to return the animal and give it a shot at home where it will be a much better fit. Owning a pet is at least a decade long commitment and it should be a complete and utter love match.

I look at this an excellent socialization "boot camp" for these two. I hated that I could not bring other people into my home to get them used to others. I also could not really take them out to "stress" them out to give them that

So not one negative word that they are back with me.  I am sure that they will find their right home quickly and in the end, everyone will be happy. Yes, there are times that "returning a pet" will put the life of the pet in danger, but I do believe that even then it is in the pet's best interest to have that shot at another home than staying in one where it becomes an obligation and not a member of the family.

Making end of live decisions when you aren't facing the end of life

I am the owner of two seventeen-year-old cats. Muffin and Eli are siblings that I adopted back in 2002.  If you have been following this blog with any regularity you will know that Muffin is facing end-of-life issues with her kidney disease. Despite knowing she was in kidney failure I made the decision to have a growth removed from behind her ear and she has been suffering the consequences of being sedated ever since.

She is under the care of a vet and is due to have her blood drawn again to check her kidney values here any time now, but in general, she is doing okay despite several scares. My real dilemma is becoming Eli and he is the reason for this exploration of my feelings on what we are facing.

History:

Eli was a very sick little kitten and trying to get him well I made him very fearful of humans by medicating him and then letting him run away as soon as I was done. I thought "get it over as soon as possible" was the best thing, but it only taught him that we were something to run from and fear. If you have to medicate kittens, hold on to them afterward, soothe and comfort them so they don't only associate you with being held against their will and having something really gross forced down their throat. 

When I made the decision to keep Eli, it was with the knowledge that I would never be able to treat him for anything longer than a couple of days. It would absolutely ruin his quality of life and that is just not something I am willing to put him through.  I made the rational and sound and unemotional decision that if the time came, I would rather release him from his body than make him endure something I *knew* would absolutely ruin his life from a quality standpoint. The few times I had to give him medication made that painfully clear.

While he has mellowed in his old age, being able to pick him up when I want to is still not easy. If I walk over to him with the intention of even patting him he evades me. He will come to me and ask for love and attention, and I am happy to give it to him, but he will not take it under any circumstances. Endure, sure, but he hates it.

What we are facing:

Now that he is 17, I know I am coming closer to whatever it is that is going to make me make that end-of-life decision for him. This week has been a hard one for him, as he has had a couple of instances of stomach emptying vomits (aka five or more in the space of an hour). He is also riddled with many lumps and bumps. Each one I have had checked out are simple lipomas (fat deposits) but they can't be comfortable and who knows what is under some of them.

So, I sit here with a seventeen-year-old cat who could probably benefit from some vet care, but is it in his best interest? Is it in mine? (just so you know, he had bloodwork done a few months ago and he checked out perfectly - he has always had regular exams - I am a firm supporter of regular exams for cats)

I know, this might sounds cruel to some, but I don't believe it is in his best interest. Taking him to the vets is hard on him. Having the vet and the techs examine him and draw blood and samples, it is hard on him. The stress is not good for him and if there is something brewing it can just make it worse.

But now that these moments are happening with a bit more frequency (once a month or so) and I wonder if I am making the right decision. Emotions are starting to get pulled into the decision making process. I am not focusing so much on what is right for him, but what is right for me. I really want to know what is going on. I want to test every lump, I want x-rays, I want answers - possibly answers that aren't to be had - as seventeen-year-old cats are often quite inconclusive..

Options:

I have two options.  Take him to the vet for tests or do nothing. 

*If I do nothing, I know nothing. I can give him fluids and I can give him Pepcid for an old man stomach - which is pretty common. I can give him CBD for any possible anxiety or mild pain he might have from the lumps (that don't really seem to cause him any discomfort from my point of view but since cats are so good at hiding things it would be a "to be safe" kind of decision) and when his quality of life is such that I can't keep him comfortable we can send him off gracefully. (which hopefully is years away)

*If I take him in I have one of two outcomes. I still know nothing except everything still checks out perfectly or we find something. Most of what we can possibly find in an old-man kitty means daily if not twice-a-day care, which I would not put him through. And while I hate to say this, but money is always a factor. Very few people are in the position to say money is not an object to treatment.  If he were three, or even thirteen, there wouldn't be much hesitation, as issues at that age are often easily treatable and take very little time but the chances of that diminish with every year of life. His being seventeen, his quantity of life is a factor. Sure, he *could* live until 30, but the chances of that - even with the absolute best care and the most willing patient - is minimal. 

Decision:

At this point, I am sticking by my original "unemotional" decision made in love 17 years ago to give him the best quality of life I can, even if the quantity is reduced. Back then I was sure he wasn't going to make it to five, let alone ten. I am not saying that emotions won't get the best of me and I'll end up sinking hundreds of dollars for an answer that does not help me.. but if I do that doesn't mean it is the right decision.

Eli is in no danger at this point.. he simply vomits a little more often than he used to and has lumps. This is simply a discussion of end of life issues when you aren't facing end-of-life because they are important. I will probably have a few more over the coming weeks because I believe this is a very important topic and I don't believe there are enough resources out there for pet owners who love their pets beyond reason but yet are not willing (or not able) to "do absolutely everything to force them to live". Choosing to honor the cat and what they are able to do (or what you are able to do for them) is not the wrong decision.

And I still believe that in decisions of "when is it time", that a month "too early" is far far better than a moment too late. I do not want my cats to suffer.. Think of it as forcing someone to leave the party before the house burns down.

In defense of using goat milk for bottle feeding kittens

A while back I did some research to show that goat milk has enough taurine to properly nourish nursing kittens to debunk a myth that keeps popping up.

Now I am running into people who love to tout that goats are herbivores and cats are carnivores so "obviously" the milk is not enough for a carnivore. They also like to trot out the "Milk Compostion - Species Table" (sic) to prove it

So, if you only look at this, I can understand why you might be fearful of using goat milk for neonatal kittens. Mother's milk is 10.9% fat and goat is only 3.5%.  Sounds dramatic doesn't it?

But since we have no source of actual cat milk that we can obtain (other than a lactating mother cat and if you can get one of these this post is mute) comparing goat milk to cat milk doesn't really get us the information we need.  Most people who are feeding kittens are using a commercial milk replacer. In general, most people in the US are using KMR (yes there are others, but KMR is what is you often hear as a recommendation)

So, what is the calorie content of KMR. According to the PetAg website, KMR has 11 kcal/Tbs and crude fat is (min) 4.5%.  This is dramatically less than the 10.9% of cat milk, yet this is the standard for commercial milk replacers that so many people swear by..

Goat milk? One Tbs is 0.5 fl oz. and goat milk has 21 calories per ounce, so it is pretty much equivalent calorie wise. Since goat milk is 3.5% fat and KMR is 4.5% fat, we are still in that same range.. especially when you consider that a lot of kittens become constipated on KMR and the first thing people recommend to combat that is to dilute the formula, so they have fewer grams of fat and fewer calories per ounce. Kittens might need to eat a little more goat milk vs KMR reconstituted as directed, but that doesn't mean it is bad or lacking. And if you are diluting KMR with three to one instead of the two to one, ounce per ounce goat milk wins calorically and on fat content (but again, you just feed the kitten a little more and they get what they need)

Lastly, I really want you to know what you are feeding when you are feeding a commercial milk replacer, so take a look at the ingredient list of KMR.

If you look at the other popular milk replacer in the US, Breeder's Edge, their % are also not in line with the milk composition chart of cat milk. This one has much higher percentages.

Both products uses cow milk as a base despite people who save kittens being immediately warned to not feed cow milk because the lactose is hard on kittens. Goat milk naturally has lower levels of lactose than cow's milk (10% less) and it has smaller fat globules as well as higher levels of medium chain fatty acids.  The smaller globules mean easier digestion. Goat milk also has 89% less Alpha A1 Casein*  which is notoriously hard for humans to digest; is this important in cats? Well, I honestly do not know, but when you feed cow milk the cats react to it and have diarrhea and left untreated can lead to dehydrated kittens that are under nourished.  When you feed goat milk you generally get well formed stools (unless the kitten has parasites) and they thrive. They are very fat and happy..

I have heard, in defense of commercial products using cow milk, that overly processing the milk makes it easier for the kittens to digest. The fact that there are so many cats out there that owe their lives to KMR bears that out. My thoughts on that is that the health communities for every species are touting that fresh is more nutritious and overly processed food is hard on the body.

As for the idea that "no vet recommends it" that many detractors will say, I have talked to people who have said their vet does recommend it. Is second or third hand knowledge enough to "prove" anything, no, but then again hearing that "no vet recommends goat milk" is just as useless because chances are no one has talked to all of the vets. You will hear that "no vet recommends raw food" but we know that is not true as several vets have websites out there talking about recommending raw food. Then there is the consideration of liability. If a vet recommends that you use KMR and the product fails your kitten, KMR takes on that liability. If a vet recommends goat milk, the vet takes on the liability. There is no "goat milk for kittens" company who has done the research to share with vets that commercial companies do, nor is there a "big goat milk company" who is willing to step up and take that on.  Does this mean there is risk? There is always risk, but I do not believe more than any other product. Every cat is different and there is no doubt that some kittens might fail to thrive on goat milk just as some kittens fail to thrive on commercial milk and some kittens fail to thrive on their mother's milk.

In the end, I'm not telling you that you should not use KMR or Breeders Edge. If that is what you are comfortable with, by all means, I will support you fully in that. I will absolutely be your champion for feeding a hungry kitten. I just want to defend the choice of using goat milk for motherless kittens and address some of the misinformation I have heard out there.

The tools I use to make giving my cat fluids easier

What does a hanger with a twisty hook, a sweatband headband, and a bunch of canned food have in common? They all help me give fluids to my cat without a lot of complaints.

Muffin started developing kidney issues a while back and we want to make her as stable as we can so I have recently started giving her fluids. She has never been a fan of the building fluid bulb when getting subq fluids in the past, so I wanted a way to distract her.  The easiest way to distract her is with food, but the feeling of the fluids would get her walking around to get away from it and it would dislodge the needle. This would result in contamination of the needle and fluids all over the place.

The solution?  A headband. I don't remember where I got it but it was the perfect size to fit around Muffin's middle. I've used it on a few of my cats and it works well for the smaller members as well as the larger ones.

I then take the fluid line and fresh needle and feed it under the sweatband to get her used to it. She walks around while I put a can of food on a plate for her.

I am able to slip the needle into her and start the fluids flowing while she was eating. She gobbled the food down so quickly she was done before the fluids were. Fortunately, she is able to walk around and still receive the rest without risk. The pressure of the headband distracts her from the bulb of fluid forming under her skin so she doesn't try to remove the needle or lick her back.

The hanger? It makes it easy to hang the fluids from a high point so that gravity helps the fluids flow faster. I can put it on the door, or the curtain rod, even on the curtain rod or the cat tree, whatever is convenient and it keeps the front of the bag visible to me so I can see how much fluid she is getting.

I hope my tricks help you if you ever have to give fluids to your cats..

Pedialyte, is it safe for kittens?

When people who rescue kittens get together to swap 'war stories' several things come up over and over. Pumpkin for diarrhea, Lysine for immune support, and Pedialyte for hydrating kittens with diarrhea.

For the past year or so there has been a huge warning against Pedialyte because someone realized that it has zinc in it and has declared that this is toxic to kittens. So now when someone mentions Pedialyte inevitably someone pipes up that you shouldn't use it because of this.

I first started hearing this with the caveat that they had recently changed their formula. I wrote to Abbott, the makers of Pedialyte and asked them directly if they had changed their formula recently and they told me they hadn't.

So, that part of the story was false, what else was false? Is there zinc in Pedialyte? Yes. According to the label, there is 7.8 mg per liter. According to the Pedialyte website there is 2.8mg per 12 fluid ounces. This breaks down to 0.23mg of zinc per ounce or 0.0078mg per cc (or ml).  When you are dealing with neonatal kittens you are usually giving it by the cc

So, those are impressively small numbers, but what exactly is the nutritional requirement of zinc for cats? Surely if someone was tossing around that this is toxic it must be an issue, right? Well, the minimum recommended daily amount of zinc for kittens (and it happens to be the same for adult cats as well) is 75 mg per kg. A one pound kitten is 0.45 kg so their minimum daily requirement is 33.75mg

Okay, fine, they seem to be able to handle getting up to 147 ounces, just over 18 cups - or two cups over a gallon - of Pedialyte before we start running into the zinc levels that reach the minimum requirement, but what about adding zinc to the food they are getting, surely there is all the zinc they need in whatever you are feeding, so would adding just a little more run into toxic levels??

Well, according to the AAFCO - that sets these guidelines, the maximum zinc that should be fed a cat or kitten is 2,000 mg.

So, should we be worried about the zinc levels in Pedialyte when we are trying to hydrate kittens or cats. No. You are more likely to cause the kitten to die of water toxicity than zinc. Even oral electrolyte solutions that advertise having zinc in them still only have 7.8 mg per liter.

If you are still uncomfortable with it, you can totally make your own oral hydrating solution for far less money than Pedialyte. All you need is 1 quart water ¾ teaspoon table salt 2 tablespoons sugar. Some recipes add baking soda, using the same measurement as the amount of salt you are using.

Now, as always, I am not a vet, nor do I play one on the internet. I am sharing with you what I know, what I have learned and what I have read. You are encouraged to take this information and do additional reading on the matter, double check my math, or have a discussion with your vet.

What is CBD oil and why would I give it to my cat?

I have six cats and, by veterinarian standards, they are all seniors (Skippy is nine if you can believe that). My three oldest are 16 years old and Muffin has been dealing with arthritis for several years now. I have tried many things over that time to help her. We started with Cosequin. I have tried Adaquan, increasing the amount of fish oil she takes, MSM, and hyaluronic acid. The Cosequin and the Adaquan seem to give her the most help but she still takes a long time to walk up a flight of stairs and she goes down the stairs two feet at a time and is quite reluctant to do so.

I had been looking for something "more" but there aren't good options for chronic pain in cats. There are opioids like Buprenex - which are not long lasting and has to be dosed multiple times a day and can be sedative - and a few nonopioid options that can have harsh side effects.

I have been hearing more and more about how helpful CBD oil is for pain. I should probably tell you that I am a total teetotaller.  I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs. I don't see the point in it and since most of these things are harmful to your health long term... well anyway, I am a teetotaller. I tell you this so you might understand what it took to get me to try this and that I don't support this lightly.

My research on CBD led me to many things that it is supposed to help or cure. It was starting to feel a bit like the "coconut oil" trend that it would fix anything.. or people would at least start to attribute it to cure everything anyway.. but the research I saw on pain management was quite compelling. It also helps with seizures, anxiety, cancer, and it reduces inflammation.

Researchers think that CBD interacts with receptors in your brain and immune system. Receptors are tiny proteins attached to your cells that receive chemical signals from different stimuli and help your cells respond.

The human body contains a specialized system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is involved in regulating a variety of functions including sleep, appetite, pain and immune system response. The body produces endocannabinoids, which are neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors in your nervous system. Studies have shown that CBD may help reduce chronic pain by impacting endocannabinoid receptor activity, reducing inflammation and interacting with neurotransmitters (*). 

Cats and dogs also have an endocannabinoid system and with CBD becoming easily available and the research on CBD is finally being done (although sadly it is still hindered in the US due to federal restrictions that are so restrictive they make no sense what so ever) - a lot of vets are even prohibited from prescribing it, but there is some information on CBD for veterinarians out there too. CBD oil made from hemp (with the low THC levels) is currently legal in all 50 states so buying it online should not be an issue. Some lawmakers are trying to change that both for easier access and for less access so your mileage may vary.

So, from my reading on the subject, I realized that CBD should help Muffin's arthritis as well as Eli's anxiety and might even help Jack feel more comfortable. As time went on, I wondered it if might help Fleurp's anemia (since we don't know the cause but prednisolone helps her) and Skippy's overgrooming/fur loss (since I don't see him overgroom) and possibly his rhinitis, so I added them into the mix as well. Even if it didn't help them with their specific issues "they" say CBD is still good for the healthy since it helps fight general inflammation, which researchers are finding is far more harmful than originally thought.

When I decided I wanted some I quickly realized I was totally out of my depth. I had no idea what I didn't know and wasn't sure what I was supposed to be looking for so I found a CBD group on Facebook for pets. It was very active and had a lot of members so I just followed along with the questions and read as much as I could with special interest in those posts about cats. I found the same questions popped up over and over.

• Will CBD help my cat with their issue?
       Depending on the issue - very likely
• How much CBD should I give?
       1 to 3mg per 10lbs is the general recommendation You start low to see how your cat reacts
       Start with once per day, to make sure your pet is okay with it and increasing from there.
• What is the best brand of CBD?
       That is a very subjective question. Every member of the board had their own opinions

There are several types of CBD oil. CBD oil made from "hemp" and CBD oil made from "cannabis" / marijuana. Because of the laws in the US, purchasing CBD oil from cannabis with the higher concentrations of THC is only available if you are in a state with recreational marijuana laws. Humans can get them if they live in a state with medical marijuana laws, but from what I have read a vet cannot prescribe these.

Hemp-derived CBD has minimal amounts (less than 0.3%) of THC which is the active ingredient in cannabis that causes you to become high. Cats and dogs have a low toxicity threshold for THC, but most cases of overdose come from the animal consuming the whole plant either fresh or dried. Higher levels of THC (over 0.3%) seem to have a synergistic effect on the CBD making it work 'better', from what I have read. It is recommended if you are dealing with tough cases or cancer to try to get a full spectrum CBD oil with THC which is made from marijuana. I have not gone that extra step, but I am considering it. If you want to learn more about higher concentrations of THC, I recommending joining a support group for CBD oil and doing a lot more reading on the subject

There is also some confusion about labeling because of regulations and lack thereof. Some companies call CBD oil "hemp oil" but that is confusing as there is also an oil made from hemp seed called "hemp oil". Some companies call it a tincture. If you are unsure of what you are getting, you can usually find some feedback by searching the internet for pages that are willing to go further in depth for you or support groups in places like Facebook (and there is much more to learn about CBD, I am only touching on the things I wish I had known when I was looking into it). For what it is worth, at this time, Amazon will not sell CBD oil.

There are also two general types of CBD: isolate and full spectrum. There are a few reasons to try isolate; one it has no taste (the isolate I bought tastes like the carrier oil) and there is zero THC so if you are at risk of being drug tested you will not come up positive.

Full spectrum CBD includes other cannabinoids and terpenes which can help. The full spectrum oils I have purchased all taste very grassy. Some were much stronger than others. I believe the theory is the stronger the taste the more "full spectrum" it is but my cats refused to consume the very bitter ones. When picking an oil, you want to find one that has independent testing and makes the labs available to you.

I started with Treatibles, on the recommendation of a friend and because I had met someone who then started working there, which comes in a 90mg bottle. I liked it because the carrier oil is grapeseed whereas most CBD is coconut oil based (one company said because it makes it easier to give transdermal). After that, I have tried several other products and I have yet to settle on one brand. Ideally, I would like a product that would not use coconut oil as a carrier oil, would be full spectrum with some good grassy notes but not overwhelmingly so. Right now the closest I've come is CBDistillery (it is coconut oil based) but I have several others to try.

I have moved on to human versions of CBD because they are *generally* higher quality and they are most certainly available in higher concentrations which often leads to lower prices. The 90mg bottle of CBD from Treatibles was $34 where the human version 500mg bottle at a different company was $35. You just want to avoid those oils with flavorings since they come in flavors like orange, mint, or chocolate.

CBD is weird in that they label the bottle with the full amount of CBD in it.  So a 1 ounce CBD oil that is 90mg has 90mg of CBD in it, if you drank the entire bottle you would get 90mg of CBD. A 1500mg bottle has just that.  So if both bottles are one-ounce you have to use a lot more of the 90mg bottle to get the same dose as one drop of the 1500mg bottle. But a two-ounce bottle of 1500mg has oil that is half as concentrated as a one-ounce bottle of 1500mg. You want to read the labels of anything you want to purchase to know for certain what you are getting and then what an appropriate dose would be.

When I started giving the oil I mixed it in with meat baby food. My cats LOVED it. My problem with that was I could not be sure how much CBD each cat was getting. Some cats were more aggressive at licking the spoon and the bowl than others. If I had one cat, or even just two, I would probably still use this method. I started buying higher concentrations of CBD so I can dose just one or two drops (Jack, Fleurp, and Skippy get minimal amounts - actually it didn't seem to help Fleurp and Skippy so I no longer give it to them - and Eli and Muffin get higher concentrations) and I have found that a freeze-dried salmon treat soaks up the oil easily. Once again, my ideal use would be to be able to dose them directly in the mouth because there is better absorption if you can get it on the gums/inside of the mouth/under the tongue (how I dose it when I've used it) but I want my cats to love getting medication whenever I can so this works for us.

Yes, I have used my cat's CBD. I have suffered from headaches for decades and I had one that was killing me and I had a bottle of CBD that my cats would not consume due to the strong taste. It helped me quite a bit and I am a fan. Even if you don't have a reason to take it, it will not hurt you to try it so you know how it tastes before giving to your cat. I have done some readings on contraindications and there are some but most of them are abated if you take it a few hours before or after the medication you might be taking/giving. I hope one day CBD becomes more and more acceptable and one doesn't have to go to a skeezy "smoke shop" (to be fair, not all smoke shops are skeezy, but I have found that cannabis products are generally sold at shops that have catered to the 420 set so they have that type of feel to them - please don't tell  me they aren't all that way, I know that) to buy it locally. While I have found it in my local natural food store, it was only one brand and it was priced quite high vs the online stores I've searched.

Want to learn more? Check out the following links I thought were helpful.

• CBD oil beginners guide from CBDistillery
• CBD oil user reviews at cbdoilusers.com this website also has a number of coupon codes for companies they have affiliated with or who see the value in this type of site.
• A round-up of the laws concerning medical marijuana

Lastly, disclosure time: The effectiveness of CBD Oil has not been evaluated by the FDA for treatment of any health issues. The information on this page is designed for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care, or even your own research as this is intended as a primer - a place to start if you want to learn about it. While ideally, you would have a discussion about CBD with your vet before using it (or doctor if you want to use it), remember that many vets and doctors have their hands tied or they might come with their own prejudices against marijuana. You do not need a prescription to get it

Have you tried CBD oil? Do you have any other information you think would be helpful or see any inaccuracies in my article? I am totally open to feedback..

Should you feed kittens goat milk?

When you spend any time with a group of people who rescue orphaned kittens, you inevitably run into the question "What is the best milk for feeding kittens?"

Everyone has their own opinions. In the US there is KMR, Breeders Edge, and PetLac for commercial options and "kitten glop" and plain goat milk for homemade options.

I started using goat milk a few years ago when my friend asked me what I was using and told me how wonderful goat milk was. She had been using it a while and had great success with it. I was so reluctant to try it prior to this because while I heard it provided everything a kitten needed, I could find nothing on the internet or in any literature I could put my hands on that could confirm this. Having someone I trust tell me that it worked was enough for me. The next time I had a litter of kittens that needed to nurse I went out and bought some goat milk and tried it.

I kept the commercial stuff on hand on the off chance that it didn't work for me, but the kittens immediately started to thrive. I initially started with refrigerated Meyenberg goat milk because that was easiest to obtain. Having gone dairy free for a few months prior to this time I knew that it was available at my local grocery store and my local mega-mart. Once I was done with that I bought fresh raw goat milk at my local health food store, preferring that to the ultrapasteurized product. I will use either product. I have talked to many in rescue who have used both the canned and the powdered goat milk that is available in the cooking section of most grocery and mega-mart stores and they have had great success with those as well.

So I share my experiences with goat milk and how kittens grow fat and happy and have very good stool (provided they don't have parasites - which most kittens have) and inevitably someone comes along and tells me I am killing my kittens by feeding them goat milk or that I am doing severe long-term damage by feeding goat milk to kittens. They believe that goat milk does not contain taurine, an essential amino acid necessary for cats because they can not produce it themselves.

So, does goat milk have taurine? Yes. It does. Loads of it. What I had a very hard time proving is that goat milk provided enough taurine for kittens. I could not find a single source that told me exactly how much taurine is generally in goat milk, nor could I find how much taurine was in the commercial kitten replacers.

Wanting to have hard facts to share with people who won't take my word for it (and I am completely okay with that, I want people doing their own research) I decided to go directly to the source. I emailed PetAG and asked them directly how much taurine is in KMR. I received an email reply that said the taurine content in powdered KMR is 40 mg/100 grams (or 11.34 mg per ounce)

Now, how to determine how much taurine is in goat milk. Since the FDA doesn't require labeling of taurine content in food, I reached out to the popular goat milk provider in the US, Meyenberger, and the reply I received said there are approximately .075 milligrams of Taurine per ounce of the goat milk. I contacted Answers Pet Food who also sell goat milk and they say that goat milk has 2mg per ounce. So per 100 grams 0.2625 and 7mg respectively. A study in Italy of goat milk says there is 6.55mg per 100g. Another study puts it at 6.90 mg/100 g

So goat milk does provide less taurine than KMR, but how much do kittens need?

In 1982 I. H. Burger and K. C. Barnett determined that the requirement for taurine was 10 mg/kg bodyweight/day. So a four-ounce kitten (a newborn) would need 0.11kg*10mg=1.1mg per day.

So, if you are feeding the kitten approximately 48 mls (1 ounce =30 ml), which is the midline recommendation for newborn kittens, then the kitten is getting 1.2 milligrams of taurine. (0.075 mg of taurine per ounce *1.6 ounces) on the low end and 3.2 mg on the high. (2mg of taurine per ounce*1.6 ounces) both are well above the 1.1mg per day requirement as stated.

Is more taurine better? yes and no. Taurine is very important for so many different aspects of the body so having enough is very important but taurine is water soluble so if you feed more they simply urinate it out.

If you are concerned and want to err on the side of caution you can easily add in powdered taurine which is available at most health food stores or vitamin stores, as well as many online retailers.

I am happy to entertain any additional studies or information you have if you want to dispute my belief that goat milk is a complete and nutritious substitution for kitten milk for a kitten who does not have a mother to nurse off of or as a supplemental feeding if she is having a hard time keeping up with their demands. Personally, I prefer a source of raw (minimally processed) goat milk as I believe that the nutrients are higher and are better absorbed, but in reality, even ultra-pasteurized goat milk makes very fat happy healthy kittens.

Cat Owner Questions: What is this black lump in my cat's ear?

Several of my cats are prone to getting these types of black bumps in their ears. I have had a vet look at them several times and each time I was told I didn't need to worry about it but they never really explained to me what they were and what I could do to prevent or get rid of them.

So just what are these black growths in my cat's ears and what can I do about it?

These small black or purple bumps or growths are usually just a cyst. They form over the cerumen glands in the cat's ear that produce cerumen aka "ear wax" to help keep the ear cleaned out. Sometimes those glands become impacted and the gland keeps producing wax which produces those little bumps you will see.

Why do cats (and us humans) even have earwax/cerumen? Earwax has several important jobs. First, it protects and moisturizes the skin of ear canal, preventing dry, itchy ears. Second, it contains special chemicals that fight off infections that could hurt the skin inside the ear canal. Finally, it acts as a shield between the outside world and the eardrum. When dust, dirt, and other things enter your ear, the earwax traps them so they can't travel any further.¹

What can you do about the cysts? Getting an ear cleaner and cleaning out your cat's ear on a routine schedule can help. If regular cleanings don't help, or if you decide to do nothing - because admit it cleaning cat ears is no fun - the cysts can start to block the cat's ear and causing excessive wax build up or even blocking the ear altogether. If they get bad, your vet might prescribe a medicated product for their ears. Jack had one that was causing him to rub his head a lot and the vet prescribed me an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal ointment (Maxi-Otic) that cleared them up pretty quickly.

So you don't really need to worry about finding one or two, but you'll want to keep an eye on it. If you want to clean your cat's ears it should help but if it doesn't and they keep showing up you will want to talk to your vet at your cat's next checkup.

Cat Owner Questions: What is this black gunk on my cat's nails?

In the forty some odd years I have been a cat owner, I rarely see this addressed. It pops up from time to time and people make wild assumptions as to what this build up on their cat's claws can be. Often it is thought to be the accumulation of fecal matter from the litter box when they poop or cover it up. People often are highly turned off and disgusted by this type of build up.

So what is this black gunk on my cat's claws? What if that gunk is brown? Does the color of the gunk make a difference?

Not really. That brown gunk on my cat's claws is a build up of oil and skin cells from the cat. I wouldn't doubt that there is some litter box dust in there, but it is not poop or fecal matter. The color seems to depend on the color of the cat.

Should you clean it off? You can. If your cat is older and has mobility issues it might be hard for them to groom it properly and scraping it off will help. I have read that you can also use a baby wipe if you have one handy (unscented, organic if you can, cat-friendly would be better) and that helps remove it but don't be surprised if your cat reacts like you are doing something painful. It is a weird feeling for them and the quick and the claw base are both sensitive areas.


Please note: no cats were harmed in the taking of this photo but Skippy was not amused with me in the least.

Do you have any random questions about cats? Throw them in the comments and I'll see if I can find you the answers.

Cat vs. Dog at the Pet Store

I went into a pet store the other day and I was moved almost to tears at the floor space devoted to dogs vs cats. I was intending to take photos of only the treats at this store. I didn't take photos of the food which was pretty evenly split. I also didn't take photos of the dog toys which took up several isles on their own.

dog

dog

dog

dog

dog

dog

dog

cat

As you can see the cat treats don't even take up one full section of an aisle. The rest of the aisle has medications and nail trimmers etc. Yes, the store had some cat trees, some toys, some litter boxes, but it was overwhelmingly "dog".

Now, I accept that there is and should be different products for toy breeds vs medium breeds vs large breeds, but that does not account for the nearly 14 to 1 ratio of treats.

I see this over and over in pet store after pet store. I am presuming that they aren't there because they don't sell. But are they not buying them because they aren't available or are they not available because no one is buying them? I couldn't buy anything there because my cat has dietary requirements that eliminated all of the treats on display so in my case I didn't buy anything because they weren't available.

Let's work on the 'they aren't available because no one is buying them". Go out and buy something for your cat. Go out and buy something for someone else's cat. Go out and buy a whole bunch of stuff for the shelter cats in your area. Let's communicate to pet manufactures that cats deserve just as many goodies as dogs already have!

A look at FeLV aka Feline Leukemia

When you spend any time around cats without homes, you run into the illnesses that affect them. Most of them are described in acronyms; FIV (Feline immunodeficiency virus), Felv (Feline Leukemia), FIP (Feline infectious peritonitis), Feline coronavirus (FoCV), just to name a few. Today I want to take a look at FeLV commonly known as Feline Leukemia.

Jack - exposed and diagnosed with FeLV in 2003/ FeLV- in 2004

Feline Leukemia is unlike leukemia in many ways, so the fact that they have the same name is very misleading. Leukemia is cancer of the body's blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.¹ Feline leukemia is a retrovirus, a virus that changes their genetic characteristics, that can cause tumors (mainly lymphoma), bone marrow suppression syndromes (mainly anemia), and lead to secondary infectious diseases caused by suppressive effects of the virus on bone marrow and the immune system.²

FeLV is less common now than it was twenty years ago. The experts believe it is due to better testing and proper management of cats who are found to be positive to prevent them from spreading the disease. There is also a vaccine for FeLV that is 80-90% effective so if your cat is free roaming and comes in contact with a FeLV+ cat their chances of contracting the disease is greatly reduced.

Our knowledge of FeLV continually evolves. When it was first discovered, many assumed it was an automatic death sentence. Unfortunately, many vets and shelters still subscribe to this philosophy thinking they are saving the cat from a painful death and preventing the spread of the disease. But with the information we now know, euthanizing a cat simply because it tests positive is happening far less.

We do know that the virus is communicable and that cats pass the feline leukemia virus to other kitties through saliva, nasal secretions, urine, feces, prior to birth from an infected mom or after birth from her milk, through bite wounds, via grooming of each other, and by sharing food dishes and litter boxes.³ It was once thought that the virus was quite hardy and that it would survive in the environment for a long time but they found out that it can only survive a few hours at most.³ and some people believe that it only lasts a few minutes.⁴  So if you come in contact with a FeLV+ cat, it would be highly unlikely that you could bring that virus home to your cats.

We also know that cats who do test positive can live long happy healthy lives⁵. Not every case of infection is active. While we can't say for certain they will survive their normal lifespan, we can't guarantee that for any cat. My cat, Kit, passed away at age nine from cancer. My other cat Ollie passed away from vaccine-induced sarcoma at age eleven.

As something to consider, there has been some work with FeLV and Vitamin C⁶. Dr. Wendell O Belfield had some pretty interesting success stories regarding FeLV and FIV and vitamin C. I know that the veterinarian community as a whole is not convinced that it helps, but read Dr. Belfield's book, you will find it fascinating. If you are willing to think outside the box, it might help you as well.

In defense of dry food from a raw food feeder

I hate that I feel the need to write this post. I hate dry cat food. I think it is harmful to cats and I really really wish that it would be taken off the market and go away.

But...

I know that it exists and exists for a reason. I know that a lot of cats eat it and eat it exclusively and a lot of cats refuse to be transitioned off of it. I know that dry food is cheap. I know that a lot of owners have a hard time buying their own food and still find it in their hearts to buy cat food instead of kicking the cat out of the house. I know that dry food is convenient. I know that it is easy to put down a big bowl of dry food that will feed a cat for a couple of days if they have to run out of town overnight or if they have erratic schedules or they just want the convenience of their cats having access to food.

I know there is a demand for dry food. I accept that. While there is a chance that a cat will live a shorter life because: dry food increases the risk of diabetes, kidney disease, and cystitis; the cat will have a life because it is eating now and there is no knowing which cats will have problems. (Yes, I fully accept the fact that cats can live long lives on dry food, just as I accept the fact that George Burns lived to 100 drinking and smoking cigars regularly)

So..

I recently recommended to someone in a raw feeding group that they feed their new kitten a few meals of dry food so that their kitten would recognize that dry food is food.  In the group, I was slapped down for such a "reckless suggestion" because many people who are raw feeders think that dry food is the devil, that it is toxic, and that it is killing cats - and I don't necessarily disagree.

But...

We do not live in a vacuum. Even the most prepared among us can run into situations beyond our control. What if there is a situation where you have to evacuate your home like a hurricane or a fire. The argument was that you can always find 'something' to feed your cat that isn't dry but I think that is a very narrow view of what can happen in an emergency situation. Then there is the possibility that the cat escapes from the home and is picked up by ACO and is brought to a shelter. There are reasons a cat might be subject to eating dry food no matter how prepared you think you are. If the cat does not recognize the food as food, the cat could very well end up in a medical crisis.

I am not saying that I want everyone to feed their cats dry food, far from it. I am saying that I believe that every cat should be introduced to as many different types and flavors of food as possible when they are young. They are designed to be open to learning which foods are food as kittens and once that window closes convincing a cat something is food is very hard and you want your cat to be as open to new foods as possible so they don't end up with digestive upset or worse not eating at all if the worst were to happen. My own cats, who were fed a wide variety of foods as foster kittens, transitioned to raw food without a blink of an eye while my older cat who didn't was much harder to transition.

I also do not believe that a few random meals of dry food will harm your cat long term any more than I believe that bingeing on sweets occasionally or going to McDonald's is going to ruin my long term health.

And if you choose to feed your cat dry food, for whatever reason, I hope you don't think I am ever bashing you or looking down on you. You love your cat, you feed your cat. I'm good with that. If you ever want to talk about changing what you feed, I will talk to you about it all day long and help you in any way I can. If you don't, that's fine too. Just show me photos of your kitties (or if you are local, just show me your kitties) and tell me how wonderful they are.

What I know - How to deal with mouthy kittens

One major issue people who foster kittens foster face after the kittens become healthy is the fact that they are often very mouthy. Kittens explore the world with their mouth and it is quite normal that they will inevitably try to nibble and chew on you, but there are some kittens that really enjoy biting you. A kitten that bites can turn into a cat who bites and that can be a serious problem. Learning how to communicate with kittens and letting them know this is not acceptable will help you nip this issue in the bud.

First off, I want to make it clear that they aren't biting you to hurt you, they are biting to play and explore and learn. If you ever watch two kittens playing together you will see it inevitably comes down to wrestling, which involves a lot of biting and 'bunny kicking' with their back legs. It looks like it hurts but they do it a lot so it is obviously quite pleasurable to them. If you spend a lot of time observing their play, you will notice that when one kitten goes too far, the kitten that is harmed will cry out and stop playing. The offending kitten will stop wrestling and gently lick their sibling in an almost "I'm sorry" conciliatory nature.

Extrapolating from this, I created what I ended up calling the "ow method" of communicating with kittens about what biting humans can mean. When I have a kitten that really enjoys chewing on my skin to the point where it hurts, I will say "ow" in a high pitched meow-like tone and I freeze. You know you have the tone right when the kitten stops biting and starts to lick you.

Saying "ow" and freezing mimics the two primary communication tools the kittens employ to keep themselves safe during play. When kittens understand that they have been too aggressive, they alter their play slightly to tone it down a bit the next time. This means instead of biting really hard, they bite mostly really hard. If they are 'told' they bit too hard again, they tone it down a bit more. Changes are subtle but they are there. They want to bite as hard as they can without hurting each other because that is how they learn and strengthen their jaw muscles so when they have to kill their prey they can.

This subtle change will happen to you as well. Once you have the right tone for the 'ow' you'll notice that the kitten might bite you in a different spot, or not bite you quite as hard. After a couple of ow's the kitten might think you are no fun and go off to find other playthings.

Since humans are generally such fun toys though, you will find that they will most likely come back and try again. It might be in a few minutes, or a few hours, or even the next day. Some kittens are obsessive about biting and you need to start the 'ow' method whenever the kitten comes too close to you and starts trying to bite you. Several times over the years I have had very mouthy kittens which end up looking at me as if to ask "just how delicate are you?" which made me feel a bit like a very useless kitten (which is actually okay since I'm not a kitten)

I know some foster homes who choose different vocalizations. Some say "no" and some say "gentle". What is key in all of these vocalizations is consistency. If you start telling the kitten to not bite you and then tell the kitten it is okay to bite you later, the kitten won't know if you just weren't feeling well that day, or if the kitten bit you in the wrong place the first time, and it will set back your training quite a bit.

Knowing how to communicate with your kittens is very important. It is why I let my foster kittens play with my hands and chew on them if it does not hurt or break my skin. I have found over the years that letting kittens know just how hard they can bite you without hurting you is incredibly important. Just avoiding the issue by not letting them play with your hands at all doesn't help the kitten understand that human skin is delicate when compared with a cat's that is covered in fur and you are at risk of a full blown cat bite when the kitty was just trying to give you a warning.

One side effect of feeding your cat raw food

You are going to talk about my poop again, aren't you? -Muffin

One side effect that is rarely talked about when talking about feeding a cat raw food is what happens to the food once the cat is done with it. We don't talk about poop nearly enough when we talk about cat health, which is a real shame as it gives a lot of vital information if you pay attention to it.

Traditional food for cats produces a variety of sizes and shapes of stool. Normally, you aim for a tootsie roll looking stool. Cats fed dry food usually have large stools that have quite a bit of odor. Cats fed canned food usually have stools that are slightly smaller that has less of an odor.

A cat that is fed raw food generally utilizes most of the food so their stool is much smaller and there is very little odor. Generally, you can't smell it unless you get right up close to it.

I use generalizations because every cat is different and you might have a cat that falls outside this spectrum, but generally when you 'move up the food chain' of cat food the stool gets smaller and less smelly because more of the 'input' is utilized so there is less waste to be pushed out and less waste to sit in the colon and let the odor producing bacterias do their thing.

My cats generally poop every other day. I don't keep schedule and I don't watch, but the time I was attempting to collect poop samples for the kittybiome project, most of my cats took two days. Skippy actually took three days to produce a sample and I only got it after giving him a meal of canned food.

This post is spurred by the conversation I was having the other day when I was telling someone else how my cat's poop doesn't stink. I know it sounds like a line, but here at Casa de Gato we do not suffer the stink bombs that most people put up with when their cats use the litter box. Occasionally, we have "klingons" because of the long haired kitties and pieces of poop end up in odd spots around the house... like this one, I found in the hallway

I actually found it when I kicked it when walking down that hall. It left nothing on my shoe, on the floor, on the kitty or on the piece of toilet paper that I picked it up with. It almost has the consistency of freeze-dried raw kibble. This is what it looks like it when I pushed on it.

I folded the toilet paper over on the poop and pushed and you notice the paper is still clean. So I thought I'd smash it.

Knowing what your cat's poop looks like, and what your cat's poop smells like, can help you understand your cat's health. If you notice any major changes in either the look or the smell it is a warning sign that something is changing in your cat. Which is why we should not shy away from talking about our cat's poop.

What I know - Should you give a cat a bath?

I was on a forum the other day where a cat owner posted a photo of her arm. She had recently been on the receiving end of the paws of fury and her skin showed the battle wounds of having business with an angry cat. Her post contained the details of that battle - a bath.

The community was up in arms (pun only slightly intended). Apparently, some people do not understand that there actually times when it is not only necessary to give a cat a bath, sometimes it is absolutely vital and confuse caring for a cat with torturing a cat..

There are a few things to keep in mind when you find yourself in a place where you need to give a cat or kitten a bath. You need to remember that cats have a higher body temperature than we do, so having water that is warm to the touch is important. If you can, keep the room warm as well, this will also help the kitty stay nice and warm.  Kittens more so as they have a very hard time maintaining their body temperature. You want to use as little soap as possible to make bath time a bit easier; the more soap you use, the longer it is going to take to rinse out.

You will understand the importance of knowing that sometimes bathing a cat is a good thing, when you find yourself with an adult cat that, oh say, investigated a bucket of heating oil (that stinks to high heaven) by sticking her feet in it and then shows up in your bed in the middle of the night to tell you of her adventures.

I find it helps if you have a milk crate or a very sturdy laundry basket that you can put into the tub upside down to give the cat some place out of the water to stand while you soap up the important parts.  I will fill the tub up with several inches of warm water, put the crate in the tub, get a large cup that holds 16+ oz of water and then get the cat. I place the cat on the crate with its face pointing away from the exit.. either into the wall or into the corner. Once I'm in position, I will take the cat off the crate and put it into the water. The cat will want to escape, but keep redirecting it towards the wall, do not let it turn around or it will see the exit and fight to leave.

When I bathe adult cats, that first initial contact with water is generally the only time the cat is submerged in water. This is the fastest way to get most of the fur wet. When I am comfortable that the area I need to clean is soaked, I let the cat back up on the crate and get the soap. Using as little soap as possible, I lather the area to help loosen the dirt (or oil, or whatever).  I then use the cup to scoop up the tub water and gently pour it on the cat to rinse away the soap and debris.  This can take some time and chances the cat has long since given up on dealing with your shenanigans and really wants to leave. Just keep redirecting the cat over and over toward the wall. If your cat is a bit like a Gremlin when it gets wet, you might want to think about investing in a muzzle, which covers the cat's eyes so it can not see to escape and keeps the mouth closed. This will not protect you from flailing claws, but hopefully, you trimmed those before you started.

Once you are satisfied that the bath is successful, Getting your cat into a nice big absorbent towel will help minimize the distribution of water around your house. Wrapping the cat up will hopefully provide a little security to your cat that the bath is over. Your cat might be so over your shenanigans that it wants nothing to do with you and wants to run off and lick itself to restore some semblance of normalcy in scent and demeanor.  If your adult cat is in good health, allowing it to run and hide is generally okay and will not result in the cat becoming too chilled. Checking on it in a few minutes, offering treats as a bribe will help reassure you that all is fine.

Young kittens and cats that aren't in the best of health need to monitored to ensure they do not become too cold.

I've found that kittens do not want to be snuggled up into a towel, so I will pat them dry, then let them down for a few minutes. They will start to groom themselves to "fix" what I've just done. When they become distracted from grooming - which inevitably happens - I will scoop them back up into a towel and work on drying them and warming them up until they struggle to get down. I'll do this over and over until they are distracted by food and start to eat.

So, yes, you should give a cat a bath if you have a reason to do so. You should keep the kitty as warm as possible while doing it and monitor them until they are completely or at least mostly dry.

Why I feed raw

Time to make the cat food again...

I have talked about feeding raw food to my cats a few times on this blog, I've even done a few 'watch me make raw food' posts because my cats amuse me every single time we make food.

I will admit, this is probably one of my least favorite chores. I would strongly prefer to buy it and leave the meat grinding to someone else, but with the FDA regulations of zero tolerance of bacteria or pathogens in raw food to almost to the point of being insane (they do not seem to have the same zeal when testing cooked commercial foods)  and my cats don't like HPP (high-pressure pasteurization) foods... So, we make it.

We use the recipe from catinfo.org but I do not cook anything. I used to cook the egg whites because of the enzyme in them that inhibit biotin absorption, but with the high amount of biotin in the yolks as well as the biotin in the B vitamins we add, I am not worried about the small amount that is bound up and is unusable because we don't cook the whites.

But why would I go through all of this trouble? Why do I feed raw? Years ago I had one diabetic cat (Em) and two cats who had blocked with urinary crystals (Jack and Eli) while on a 'high-quality premium' dry cat food. Em was on seven units of insulin twice a day because of the food we were feeding. We were originally encouraged to switch her to a high fiber food (W/D) because the belief was that the fiber would slow down the absorption of the sugars in the food and keep a cat's blood sugar stable. It works for humans and for dogs to some extent, but it has been disproven to help cats. Her transition to W/D did not go well, so we kept her on the food she liked, which the vet said was fine. Why no one (of the multiple vets we saw) balked at the idea of giving a cat seven units of insulin twice a day, I have no idea.

I found the felinediabetes.com message board and saw cat after cat enter into remission with a diet change to a low carb high protein diet. I was floored at the idea. By this point, Em had been on insulin for years and I didn't think it was possible. I picked a low carb canned food (Fancy Feast Classics Turkey and Giblets) and put her on that while testing her blood sugar levels regularly. Her insulin need dropped dramatically, from seven units to two and eventually to one. I was stunned. I started feeding Em separately from the rest of the cats and she was fine with that.

Then Eli blocked. So Em was on special food, Eli was on special food and the rest were still being fed dry.

Then Jack blocked.

So we had a devil of a time herding cats twice a day. Getting Em into her bathroom to eat her food, then get everyone else into the basement but Jack and Eli.. well at least not Eli since touching him then was questionable, Jack would follow the food anywhere.. It was frustrating having three feeding stations for five cats.

The more I learned about why the food helped Em, the more I learned in general. When I realized that leaving my cats on dry food would most likely mean that they too would one day end up with medical conditions that would need an Rx food, and that feeding them a low carb, high protein, high moisture diet would mitigate that, I was converted.

My husband and I went to pet food store after pet food store looking for cat foods that had a named meat source (chicken, beef, turkey) and each animal-based ingredient was also named (chicken fat vs poultry fat) and that had no plants in it and no carrageenan.  I was shocked how hard that was and by the fact that some food makers at the time put garlic in their foods.

We finally ended up with the conclusion that making the food was our best option.  I was completely ready to throw in the towel before I even began. I can not stand touching raw meat. I decided I needed to wear plastic gloves to do it and that helped a lot. The fact that my husband is willing to do clean up is another factor that has helped a great deal over the years.

this is relevant to my interests - Fleurp

Getting Em on raw was easy initially. Her insulin need dropped to almost nothing. Sadly, it was about this time that she started developing cancer and she decided she wanted nothing to do with the raw, I speculate that was because she associated the new food with the discomfort that was taking up residence within her.

I was beyond lucky/blessed/super skilled at getting everyone else on it. I offered them ground raw chicken, which they all said was super awesome, so I said, "okay, this is your new food" switching it with the raw food we had made and they ate it. I suspect it had a lot to do with the fact that they were all fosters and had grown up eating a wide variety of foods due to eating whatever was donated to the shelter. (this is why I recommended feeding kittens anything and everything while they are young)

Additional benefits: My cats eat less food on raw.. 2-3 oz per meal vs the 4-6 they used to of conventional food. Their stools are also much smaller and drier and barely smell - unless you collect them and cut them up for research.. then you smell them just fine

Eli and Jack went years without another incident of crystals. Each has had flair ups over the years when stressed (or when Jack broke into bags of dry food I brought into the house for foster kittens). I can't imagine what they would have gone through if I had kept them on regular food.

Skippy, the only kitty we adopted since converting to raw, is in amazing health. He has never needed a dental and his teeth are still very clean - granted he is only five, but a lot of cats start with dentals before this point. Fleurp was mostly raw raised and except for her annual spring anemia (goodness, I wish I knew what causes that) she is in good health as well.  Time will tell if this holds up, but from what I have read and learned, I am guessing it will.

I wonder what happened to Kit and why her cancer popped up so quickly and I have my theory, which I'll probably touch upon when and if I do a year in review post. I know perfect nutrition (and I'm not saying my diet choices for my cats are perfect) isn't a full and complete preventative to disease, so I imagine I'll be facing more difficult situations as the years progress.. but giving them the most highly digestible and least inappropriate diet I can is the least I can do to help mitigate whatever I can.


So, TL/DR, Why do I feed raw? It 'cures' diabetes, It 'cures' urinary crystals, I know what is in it. I know how highly digestible it is because of size and smell of my cat's stool.