Miracle cat

[Gail in Ca]

One week ago my new vet told me that our 6 yr old cat had very damaged kidneys and the prognosis was not good. The ultrasound showed stones and a blocked ureter and the left kidney was atrophied and probably not functioning. He called UC Davis and they finally responded Wed night with,
for $6000 for dialysis and another$2500 for unblocking the blockage and no guarantees that the remaining kidney will even function.
We were in dispair as we can't afford that. The cat hadn't eaten but a few bites in about 2 weeks and was weak, and we had decided that putting him down was the only option. We chose Friday as the day. BUT. on Thurs, a friend called and recommended a homeopathic vet that had saved her dog yrs ago. I almost didn't go, but that old intuition took hold and my daughter and I went to him. We were there for a long time and he was so positive and said it was too soon to give up on our cat. He prescribed homeopathic drops and gave some to our cat, JJ, in his office. I was to continue them 4 times a day. When we got home from the appt, our cat went immediately to his food and ate it!! Dispair turned into hope! He has continued to do well, even jumping up on the amoire, so I know he feels better.
It is truly a miracle. My daughter had to go to college on Sun, so we were so happy that our kitty seems to be healing.
Sometimes typical Western medicine isn't the answer, but who knew that there are vets that deal with other means of wellness!!
I am amazed and thrilled with every day our JJ lives beyond that Friday, which I am calling his new birthday.
Gail

 

[Yaps]

Wow!

Wow!

I am so happy to hears things such as this..we must take care of the children of the furry world....great

 

[catwoman]

Gail:

Yea for JJ!!!!

What are the drops? Are they an appetite stimulant? Or something to actually act on the blockage?
Did the homeopathic vet say anything about doing a follow-up X-ray to determine if the ureter is still blocked?

There are foods you can give for stones. Hill's Prescription S/D is one of them, and you can also give acidifiers in food. All are by Rx only. But the Rxes and Rx foods don't work on all stones.

Our first Abyssinian had 2 bouts of bladder stones. We almost lost her the first time (we spent $1,000+ over 4MO to save her, what with blood tests, tube feedings, Rx foods and finally, surgery. This was in 1985 or 86). Vet tried the S/D; didn't work. He operated, removed stones and actually took her to his home the first couple of days to keep an eye on her.

Eighteen months later, she had another bout. This time I told vet to operate ASAP (this bout only cost about $200 total, including surgery, anesthesia, Rxes, pathology, etc.). Stones were sent off to the University of Ohio vet school, I think, to Dr. Carl Osbourne, a specialist on urinary problems. Report came back as calcium oxylate, which are resistant to the acidifiers that work on other stones. (Osbourne later published a study about bladder stones in cats; Cinnamon was included in his study.)
This was before we got into showing cats. We had been feeding our cats Purina Cat Chow. Vet had us change to Hill's, other brands. We've never had another problem with urinary tract stones, and we've had many other cats since then.
We feed Iam's, Hill's, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Fancy Feast (as treats), etc., a few are Rx only, some regular.

Keep me posted on how JJ does. Sounds like he's got some wonderful humans taking care of him.

 

[Gail in Ca]

He gave us 3 different drops, 1 for kidney repair, 1 for dissolving stones and 1 for increasing appetite. I give him these 4 times a day for at least 2 mos and then I will talk again with him as to long term.
My other vet suggested they were oxylate stones as well, since they were in the kidney. JJ is eating, peeing and pooping so I assume the blockage is less or has dissolved. I look at him and tell him to keep on healing himself and we will handle the rest. I also now have him on Flint River Ranch food, which he began to eat right away with no pickiness, amazing for him! He also likes to drink the juice of fancy feast more than eating the food, so I keep adding water to the wet food for more juice and he licks it up, too.
I also changed to regular litter, no more clumping as suggested by this vet and purified water ( britta) for him, not tap.
He was just playing with his bird toy, doing 'big kitty jumps' and I feel he is more like his old self as the days go by, as I write this, he is chasing our fox terrier up and down the hall, feeling better I thinks?
Thanks for the kind words and healing thoughts. Our Ocicat is getting them!
Gail

 

[catwoman]

Gail:
Maybe the stones have dissolved/moved on down the tract. At any rate, the progress report sounds terrific.
We use regular litter -- clumping litter can be too dangerous. It's like cement mixed with water.

So you are owned by an Ocicat?? They're great cats, very athletic!
I showed a co-owned chocolate-spotted Ocicat a couple of years ago to a national win in CFA. Her name is Wildtracks Millennium Moon. Check out wildtrackscats.com. Her breeders live near Boulder CO.

 

[tobagotwo]

Uh...I have one of those automatic litter boxes, that works by raking up the clumped litter into a separate holding box about ten minutes after the cat leaves (motion detector).

The cat seems fine and healthy, as far as I can see. She's three, and just had an exam and a shot.

Is there something bad about clumping litter in that circumstance? Is there something I should be watching out for?


Thank you,

 

[Gail in Ca]

Marsha,
Thanks for the wildcat site info, what beauties!! Our JJ is from Caloci breeder in Ca, he is a tawny. He just jumped from the windowsill to a tall amoire and back down to some shelves. This is the boy that was given no hope! He is so athletic, and loves to play and always 'talks' to us as we enter the room he is in. He comes like a dog when called.
We went to a cat show when we were looking for a new kitty and saw many chocolate ocicats, but I really liked the tawny and those black feet!
He had to have 8 teeth pulled in July. Do you hear that ocicats have gum disease problems or is JJ just one of those with bad plaque probs?
MY daughter and I used to show our smooth fox terrier. Do you find cat shows to be political? Dog showing sure is! We felt good about getting 9 reserve wins, only beaten by pro handlers. Our terrier is a Internat'l champion and only needs her majors to be a national ch.
Tobagoto: the vet recommended non clumping litter only. He said the other sticks to their feet , they lick it off and injest the stuff which isn't good for them. Our cat had been barfing every 7-10 days, maybe that was a cause.
I was willing to switch for his health.
Gail

 

[catwoman]

Gail:

That clumping litter does just that -- clumps to everything when it gets wet. Years ago I showed a cat for a friend. Show was in Dallas, so I stayed at my sister's apartment. I had friend's cat in a small cat tent in my bedroom, but my sister's cat sneaked in, was very upset, pounced on the tent, knocked the water bowl around, water got into the litter box (w/ clumping litter) and cat was coated with something that resembled cement). Took 4 baths to get all the litter off his coat. That was 12 years ago and I've never used the clumping litter again.

I've seen a couple of very good tawnys.

I took a couple of cats to a board-certified vet dentist in Dallas, Robert Wiggs, years ago. Dr. Wiggs taught at Baylor Dental School, wrote textbooks on veterinary dentistry and went on to serve as president of the veterinary dentists' association. He told me that, at that time, there were several schools of thought on gum disease in cats: viral & hereditary were two of them.
Sometimes there is hyperplasia of the upper gum tissue that traps food particles. If the vet can trim that away, it helps tremendously. Also, feeding something like Hill's t/d or other dental-type food product is very useful. We have an Oriental Shorthair with bad gums; he gets his teeth cleaned at least once a year, should be more frequent than that. My husband also brushes his teeth with Nolvadent once a day.

On politics in showing animals: I've heard it said that the professional dog handlers are able to finish dogs much quicker, more easily and much cheaper than others. I've visited a number of dog shows, can usually pick out the professional handlers.
As far as cat shows and politics: Nine years ago, I hoped to get a National Win in CFA, and people told me I couldn't because I was relatively unknown and not political. I did, though; my cat (Vassar of Wil-o-glen) got the bottom spot (25th best cat and was best Abyssinian). Part of it was being in the right place at the right time. A lot is the right cat, making sure the cat stays healthy and some is pure luck in picking the right shows.