Poppy

We lost Poppy last night. How sad to lose two kitties in one day. I went to pick him up this afternoon.

Hard Day

I did not start the barn kitties on their roundworm or coccidia meds until Friday. Since Cinderella did not handle it so well, I wanted to make sure we would be around for the others once we had given them their first doses. Poppy seemed a little weak that evening, so once I had given the others thier meds and fed them, they went back outside, but Poppy stayed in over night. On Saturday morning, he only ate a nibble. I didn't see Sugar Bear the night before for his first dose, but he came up to the steps for breakfast. I gave him his meds, but also kept him in as he too didn't seem well. On Saturday Poppy had pooped out seven good roundworms and on Sunday morning, eight more. I didn't find anything obvious in Sugar Bear's.

They both were very dehydrated and underweight, only eating a nibble in Saturday morning. They didn't eat all the rest of the day, but I finally was able to tempt Sugar Bear with some smoked oysters that evening. They both were very quiet and subdued the entire weekend...eating and drinking nothing other than the half oyster that Sugar Bear ate. We continued their coccidia doses and gave them extra vitamins, also giving them water by dropper to try and ease their dehydration. They moved around from time to time, selecting a new place to rest...sometimes on top of the heat register. At night we moved them and the kennel with a heat pad into the bathroom. On Monday morning I woke up early--around 4:00 am and went in to check on them. Poppy was out of the kennel sitting on the heat register. With apprehension, I went to look for Sugar Bear in the kennel. His poor little soul had left him some time in the night.

Poppy was still with us, but we had to wait another four hours until the veterinarian's office opened.
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Obligatory Trip to the Vet

So this morning I wake up to Minnie Mao jumping into bed with me about one minute before the alarm goes off. I think that she now knows exactly when it is 7:30 even before the alarm sounds! Except today she did not pounce around playfully tempting me to the kitchen to fill her bowl. Today, she curled up next to me and layed her head down, neck outstretched and stared at the wall with half open eyes. I knew that her worms or whatever ails her is beyond my ability to help. I wish I had thought of the DE weeks ago before this cold snap hit and all the kitties still had a strong appetite. I wish I had the all books and information that I needed to nip any problems in the bud.

I guess the fact that the kitties all came to us at their own timing (we didn't choose them, their feral Mama delivered them here) left us unprepared. In the years since our last kitties left us for kitty heaven in their old age, we have changed our perspective on taking care of OUR health to a more holistic approach. Naturally this extends to the creatures that we are stewards of. But this unexpected gift of kitties means we have a lot to learn for them...and fast.

Fortunately the veterinarian had several openings and we were able to get them in. I also brought Cinderella, with her frostbit ear and conjunctivitis. Our first trip to the holistic veterinarian meant over an hour of driving in very hazardous conditions! It was freezing rain and the roads were a sheet of ice. I am so grateful for DH who drove us there in his 4x4 truck!

I will not go into all the details, but as it turns out, I am very happy to have found the SULLIVAN COUNTY ANIMAL HOSPITAL and will recommend them to anyone in the area looking for holistic veterinary care! The diagnosis for our kitties is roundworms, as we already knew, and Coccidia. We were given enough Nemex 2 to treat all of the cats for roundworms and Albon 5% to treat the kittens for the Coccidia and also a vitamin supplement. (I will still use the DE as a preventative). The two who made the trip with us were given a shot of vitamin B12 to boost their appetite.

My immediate goal now is to learn how to take all of the kitties to optimal health with the food that I give them every day, to build and maintain stong immune systems and to nip in the bud any future problems that might arise with non-toxic natural remedies, so that harsh medicines with possible side effects would rarely have to be resorted to. The ideal would be kitties living on healthy, complete nutrition and thus having strong immunities and their problems will be few and minor.

Another thing I must do is not wait so long in the future to get them to the vet when they are obviously not feeling well.

Conjunctivitis

Yesterday I noticed that Cinderella (one of the wild kittens) had watery eyes and later a little gunk in her right eye. She has not been one that I have been able to handle very easily so I wasn't sure if she was going to let me do anything for her or not. I did have to go to town to pick up the food grade diatomaceous earth (had to order it)for Minnie Mao and all of the others, so I thought I would see what I could pick up for Cinderella. I did find a wash with sterilized water and boric acid. I found this page of conjunctivitis remedies after I got home. The sales girl at the farm center suggested I try terremyacin, but as I am looking for natural, healthier remedies, I went for the boric acid wash.

Looks like there might be some other good options on the page that I found. I cleaned and washed her eye a few hours ago and so far so good. She actually let me wrap her up in a towel and treat her without any fuss at all. Amazing. Animals seem to know when they need help and will let a person take care of them. Even less than docile animals. I have noticed this before and I have always been rewarded with a much tamer critter after they have been nursed back to health under my care. It worries me a little to be on this learning curve for holistic animal care while some of the kittens are having minor problems. I want to do the best for them and yet I am having to hunt for all of the resources that I need. Any holistic vet is really too far away, I still am waiting on the books that I ordered from Amazon.com and herbal and other remedies have to be found, either locally or online.

Round Worms

For several days now, Minnie Mao has been doing an awful lot of sleeping. She has also had a loss of appetite and diarrhia. My first thought was that there was something wrong with the food. I have tried feeding her other things. Yogurt, scrambled eggs with feta cheese, pumpkin for the diarrhia. She did eat a little bit of the scrambled egg, but she doesn't seem to care for the yogurt...or the pumpkin (surprize!)

I have noticed that the outdoor kitties have also lost their appetite at about the same time. Due to the change in weather, maybe? I still had not ordered Dr. Pitcairn's book...until tonight. Minnie Mao has been really good about always using the litter box. Well, tonight she lost it and had a little diarrhia accident, and guess what? There was a dead roundworm, about two inches long in the mess. I had tried the garlic on the kittens for worms, and they have not been displaying any symptoms, or so I thought. Only the outside kitties had diarrhia off and on. Until a day or two ago, Minnie Mao had nice healthy looking stools.

So first thing tomorrow, I go to town to pick up some food grade Diatomaceous Earth. Here is a good site that I have found on holistic care for animals. There is enough info out there to support DE as a good approach to make the intestinal tract unhospitable to parasitic worms that I feel very good about this over using poisonous worm treatments.

I have also ordered Dr. Pitcairn's book and a couple of others tonite. And I know of a brand new veterinarian around here that I may work on with the idea of holistic care as opposed to driving an hour and a half each way. We'll see.

Veterinarian Found?

So I found a potential veterinarian for the kitties through the searchable database at the AHVMA website. It might take me an hour to an hour and a half to get there. But for the lifetime of all these kitties, maybe it would be easier to try to convert a more local veterinarian! Ha! Actually having a holistic veterinarian is important enough to me to make that drive.

Disclaimer, etc.

I suppose that I should post a disclaimer should anyone happen to find my journaling and make the mistaken assumption that I am writing from any position of authority on cat health (not likely). I am just a traveler seeking to be kind to myself and my wards in this crazy world of chemicals, GMO's, and various other adversaries to good health (natural and man-made) that we live in. If you should make a decision to treat your animals in a certain way because of anything I have written here or linked to or.... then that is entirely your choice. I am not making any recommendations to anyone.

That said, I thought I would post the ingredients of 'Wellness Kitten Health--Holistic Nutrition for your Growing Cat'. This is the best processed food that I have found according to what I have learned. Better would be to make my kitties' food from scratch using ingredients of the same standard that I use for myself. As I read up, I will be making what I hope are even better choices, but for now this is the brand.
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Wellness Kitten Health

Deboned chicken, chicken meal, rice, ground barley, ground rice, chicken fat, (preserved with mixed tocopherols (a natural source of vitamin E), natural chicken flavor, salmon meal (source of DHA, Docosahexaenoic acid), chicken liver, cranberries, tomato pomace, olive oil, chicory root extract, cranberry extract powder, cranberry fiber, flaxseed, potassium chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, niacin, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), thiamine mononitrate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, beta-carotene, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D-3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B-12 supplement), choline chloride, minerals (zinc proteinate, zinc sulfate, iron proteinate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganese sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, yucca schidigera extract, dried kelp, chondroiten sulfate, glucosamine hydrochloride, lactobaccillus plantarium, enterococcus faecium, lactobacillus casei, lactobacillus acidophilus, taurine, rosemary extract.

*Wellness uses ethoxyquin-free protein sources.

Wellness and Wellness logo are registered trademarks of Old Mother Hubbard, Inc.
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I think there is still too much grain, although rice and barley are better than CORN! The big problem with almost all other brands is that corn is used as a filler. Cats do not need corn and from what I have discovered as I am learning to take care of my own health, is that waaaay back when, the Mayo Clinic released a paper stating that corn is found to be universally contaminated with Fusarium ? fungus, a known carcinogin, and others including Aflatoxin. (I will insert links when I find them again). It is my understanding that these toxins cannot be killed with heat. Corn alone is not good for cats-- throw in fungal toxins and you are just setting your kitties up for disease by feeding them this garbage!

Another huge problem is that many cat and dog food brands include yeast in the ingredients. This is supposedly good for the B vitamins and in some places you will find yeast recommened in the diet to repel fleas. Yet yeast is also a fungus and is known to cause all kinds of problems in people-- and by my reasoning also in animals.

I will pick apart the ingredients in Wellness as I learn more. I may find that even my 'best pick' will give me reasons to go to an entirely homemade diet.

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Natural Health for Minnie Mao

It occured to me as I have been studying ways to raise my rescued kitty,Teeny Tiny Minnie Mao, for a lifetime of good natural health, that it would be beneficial to keep a journal of my findings.

We were not looking for another cat at this time...my last beloved babies lived to sixteen and eighteen years. We have been without cats for about 4 years now (other than the feral cats who make friends with us). I did the best I could for my Sabrina and Angela with the knowledge that I had. I really felt proud of the fact that they lived almost their entire lives on Science Diet and Iams kibble with occasional canned food of those brands for a treat. I also took them to a traditional veterinarian and tried to keep up with all the usual vaccines. BOY, DID I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN!

I am now in search of a homeopathic veterinarian. I think that will be pretty much an impossible find in my area, but I have not given up hope.

There are books that I need to add to my shelves...one is Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats

We have things that need to be taken care of right now. Since my rescued kitty is from a feral cat litter, she and all of her litter mates need to be treated for intestinal parasites (worms). Also the Mama Kitty, the daddy Rocky and Tommy Tiger--the one young tom who has also been hanging around.

I have been giving all of them Wellness brand of cat and kitten food which is the best I have found according to what I have learned so far. This has been kibble mostly for the kittens and adult cats still outside. One thing I have changed is to add water to the kibble so that they are well hydrated (or more hydrated) and because several of them have been suffering with diarrea, I have added a bit of psyllium husks to the blend.

Dr. Pitcairn is supposed to have a natural herbal remedy for the parasitic worms in his book. I do not yet have the book, but from what I have read this involves pilling the cats with a blend of certain herbs after a fast, which is an unlikely option for the outdoor feral cats. I have read some about the success that others have had with feeding the cats garlic and I think I will give this a try.

More to come as I find more info...