Monday, February 12, 2018

Same Question, Different Answer

It’s been more than a week since I’ve published anything here, I think, and in the meanwhile, Cammie had yet another attack of her allergy. This one was an unpleasant surprise, as it was just two weeks after the last one.

It was a little different this time, so initially I didn’t think it was another of my princess’s episodes. She threw up once on Sunday night, then again the next day. Usually, she is ill three times in quick succession. This time, the retching was more isolated. But eventually, it resolved itself into the normal routine, and Cammie couldn’t keep anything down. She and I went to the veterinary hospital Thursday afternoon.

There, Cammie received an injection of Cerenia, as well as 125 mL of fluid; she was very dehydrated, and the fluid didn’t even make a bump under her skin, it was absorbed so needfully. She was not pleased. It took the doctor, a veterinary technician, me and a towel to keep her in place while she received her fluids. I think this time was especially upsetting to her as it was such a short period since her previous visit.

In the aftermath, I have decided to try for a new answer to this problem. I believe that my girl’s problems are an allergic reaction, probably to fish. (I may be completely wrong in this, but this is my working theory.) I have been feeding her Fancy Feast chicken-and-liver as a soft-food, and Orijen Regional Red hard-food. I think the latter is a very good cat-food, but it does contain the fish pilchard, though only in small amounts. If Cammie’s troubles lie in fish, then it may be enough to trigger an attack. So I have started feeding her a hard-food, Z/D,  that is supposed to be good for cats prone to allergies.

The first obstacle to clear was her preferences. To my surprise, however, she likes the Z/D. She comes forward to meet me when I bring it to her. This may be the novelty of the food, so we will see if it stands the test of time. The second obstacle is my absence during much of the day. I do not want to keep the Orijen from my other beasts, nor do I want to lock Cammie up all day, like Parker. With the limited number of rooms in my apartment, that is not practical, anyway. I have taken to putting a dish of the Z/D on the  top platform of the tallest cat-tree. The others rarely go there, except in the evening (when I will be present to hand out the Z/D, anyway), so hopefully Cammie will have the dish to herself, and eat enough of it to keep her from wanting any of the Orijen.


As for soft-food, the Fancy Feast chicken-and-liver claims not to have any fish in it, but I don’t know that I trust the manufacturing methods of cat-food companies to keep each variety or flavour pure, so there may be danger to Cammie from that direction. But she eats little of it anyway. Her water-consumption is very good - except during her episodes when she can’t keep it down - so in her case, however desirable soft-food may be, it may not be contributing a great deal of moisture.

That is my newest strategy on the food-front. As well, I brought home from the hospital a bag of fluids and the necessary accoutrements for its delivery into Cammie’s system. If she develops vomiting again, I want to be able to give her fluids independent of the hospital, and, possibly, to give her fluids regardless of her vomiting. Though it took three to persuade her to accept the fluids in the hospital, I hope to accomplish this alone: I theorise that her violent reluctance previously was due to the stressful setting. Having me administer fluids at home may be different. Then again, I may be fooling myself. I can call on assistance, but as Cammie dislikes and distrusts every human but myself, that may not solve the problem. We will see about that at the time.

This is where we stand now. Cammie is enjoying her new food, which should be much less of an irritant to her little body than other nutrition, and her consumption of any other food is diminished. If her episodes are the result of allergies, this should help. If not, you’ll be reading more about this sort of thing in the future. I hope not to write its like again.

20 comments:

  1. Oh, Cammie! And you are right; we really have no idea what they are actually putting into cat food, or that stuff is sanitized after each batch enough that fish particulates don't mix with chicken, etc. Here's hoping you are cracking "The Case Of The Cammie Allergies"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would like to think we'll arrive at the solution, instead of this being a serial mystery!

      Delete
  2. I hope Cammie does better with the change in food. I also hope that if giving the sub-q fluids is necessary, that Cammie will be more receptive to you giving them at home. I learned to give sub-q fluids to my previous cat, Punk’n. She was very good when I gave them, seeming to realize the she felt better afterwards. Keeping fingers and paws crossed the change in food will resolve the issues. Linda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did give sub-cutaneous fluids, briefly, to my late friend, Tungsten, but she had so much extra skin that it was easy with her. And she was always polite and well-mannered. Cammie is...a bit different.

      Delete
  3. I hope Cammie will continue to like the new food. I am sure you can handle the fluids at home being that she will be more relaxed than at the vet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. cammie; we hope de new food werkz N ya contin mew ta LIKE it...tell dad if him wantz ta reeeeeeeeel lee give hiz eyez a werk out; even de stuff that readz burd ore beef haz sum fish in it....talk bout lookin at fine print on de can label ~~~~~~~

    .....bye chance one day we waz lookin at sum foodz online, looked up de in greedy antz...sure enuff a BEEF...had.....FISH ~~~~~~

    bee well ♥♥♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder why so much food has fish in it. Is it cheaper than other ingredients? Does it provide a kind of universal flavour? It's rather disturbing.

      Delete
  5. My Dad gives me fluids at home from time to time and it's much better at home. Food, that's always a challenge when allergies are involved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I may have to see how Cammie feels about receiving fluids before she actually needs them, so I will be prepared.

      Delete
  6. Oh poor Cammie. Hopefully by now she's feeling better. I think you may be correct to question the manufacturing methods of pet food companies. Would it be possible to feed Cammie Z/D only? I wonder if she would still get an allergic reaction once she is taken off regular food.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It may come to that, since Cammie is suddenly defiant when it comes to her usual soft-food. She is interested only in Z/D right now.

      Delete
  7. Poor Cammie. I have my fingers crossed that this IS fish-related and that the switch in food will do the trick. I also hope that it won't be necessary to give her fluids, though you're certainly well-prepared if you do have to. N & D are sending their purrs to her!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So far so good - but I don't need to tell another cat-person how that can change...

      Delete
  8. I am so sorry that Cammie has had another episode like this. Sorry for her having to go through it, and I am very understanding of your frustration and determination to keep it from re-occuring of you can. I hope you have gotten to the core of her allergy problem. By the way, what color is their hard food? You may want to see in the manufacturer website if there are artificial colors added. Human sometimes have bad reactions to red food coloring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The food is dark brown; so far as I can tell no chemicals are added to it. Everyone else seems to be thriving on the regular hard-food except Cammie. So far, though, she is eating her new 'medicinal' food.

      Delete
  9. I am sorry that Cammie has been unwell again. I hope the change in diet will help her.I agree with you about the ingredients in food. I used to think I was feeding Eric and Flynn a good quality wet food. When I looked it up I found there were a couple of additives that were totally different to the way they sounded. I can't remember what they were now though, but they weren't good ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems that half the ingredients in cat-food is chemical and the other half not necessary for cats. It's a jungle trying to find a decent food for our feline friends.

      Delete
  10. OH Cammie, I am worried about you. But I know you have excellent nursing care and I hope you will be well. I too, suspect fish as a culprit in causing allergies - I was told Holly's skin reactions may be the result of eating fish.

    ReplyDelete