Handling Kitty Health Challenges in a Multi-Cat Household

Lily

Lily

Things are peaceful in kittyland here at the Fry household. I’ve been under the weather this week and the cats have taken advantage of the opportunity to snuggle with me in the cozy blankie on the couch. Sometimes they fight over who gets to cuddle with Mommy, other times they all surround me—pin me down, make me too hot…

I’ve made a few changes in their routine. Lily, at only 4 years, is losing kidney function. She’s in the beginning stages of kidney failure. So she’s on a special kidney support diet. Max, 15, is experiencing the same condition. Only for him, it’s age-appropriate. Sophie (9) is healthy and should not have the special food prescribed for Lily and Max. So feeding the cats has become an interestingly creative endeavor.

Sophie won’t eat if anyone’s watching her. We assume this is a habit she brought with her from life on the streets when she was young. Max (also formerly feral) eats canned food only when he thinks he’s stealing it from one of the girls. Lily has no qualms about eating her food and their food. While Sophie and Max engage in their quirky dining habits, she’ll clean their plates for them, if I don’t keep an eye on her.

When we learned of Lily’s condition, we started her on the canned kidney support food. We kept kibbles in the mix because we can’t get Max to eat enough of the canned food. It is the prescription kibbles diet for cats with kidney problems. I did research and discovered some other things I thought might help Lily. My vet agreed to pumpkin for her digestion, probiotics and fish oil supplements. I also consulted a holistic vet who suggested some things we should add to her diet. At first, Lily didn’t seem to notice we were doctoring her food with supplements. She ate what we put in front of her. After a while, she began to protest. She’d eat a few bites and then head out to find where the others were eating and barge in on their meals.

It became a challenge to get everyone fed three times a day. When I realized that Lily was leaving more of her food than she was eating, I decided to try something else. It is important that she eats. It is important that she eats the prescription cat food. So I decided to stop the supplements, which she was objecting to and she is getting only the prescription food now.

She seems to be thriving. We’re keeping a close eye on her, of course, but it appears that she is eating better, playing more and the twitching, which is what led to us to have a blood panel on her, which is how we discovered she is in kidney failure, finally seems to be minimized.

We will keep you posted. It appears that Lily’s life will be shortened because of this disease, but we will continue to do whatever it takes to keep her happy and healthy. She is a dear creature. Such a comfort and a delight.

Lily and Sophie

Lily and Sophie

Of course, she is the inspiration for some of the cat characters in my novels—Catnapped and Cat-Eye Witness. These are the first two in my Klepto Cat Mystery series. They are on Kindle only. If you are a reviewer or you would like to review these books, contact me and I’ll gift you a Kindle copy. If you enjoy a good mystery involving cats, purchase copies of these books for your Kindle. They’re only $2.99. Check out the great covers by artist Bernadette Kazmarski

Catnapped: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

Cat-Eye Witness: http://amzn.to/1bJiq0x


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