Cat Food Allergies - Signs and Symptoms That Your Cat is Allergic to the Food You Are Giving It

You cannot exactly tell you that you are giving him or her the wrong type of food. In fact, your cat may not realize how the food that he or she is eating is making him or her uncomfortable. According to studies, cat food allergies is very common among cats in the country. There are many types of cat food being sold in the market today that does not really sit well the stomach of some cats. Most of these foot that cause allergies are meat based products such as those that are made out of beef. In some cases, it containing fish and dairy products could also make your cat sick.Since your cat will not be able to tell you that the food you are giving him or her is making him or her sick, you better be alert to the signs and symptoms of food allergies. You quick attention to the condition of your cat may well save his or her life.Signs and SymptomsAllergies may be manifested in the dryness and flaking of your cat's skin. If you notice that your cat has flakes and that it constantly scratching itself in some parts of its body, it would be wise for you to investigate the cause of this behavior. Experts believe that there are certain ingredients that can cause allergies that may lead to balding of your cat. If you don't want your cat to lose its beautiful coat, you better switch to another type of food and see what happens. In most cases, cat allergies symptoms disappear once you discontinue giving your cat something that caused the allergies.Another sign of cat food allergies is the loss of appetite on your cat. In some cases, you cat may experience irritable bowel syndrome where your cat will have loose stools or constipation. If you notice that your cat is less active that he or she used to be, observe your cat for a day and note the way he or she defecates. If your cat does not eat much, strains when passing stool or pass loose stool, you should take your cat to the vet at once. Cat food allergies can have some serious on some cats so make sure that your cat is okay by taking it to the vet immediately.

Caring For Older Cats - Nutritional Cat Food

Older or senior cats need and deserve special dietary consideration. They are like us in that things don't always work as well as they did when we were younger.As our cat ages, food moves more slowly through the digestive tracts. The older cat also has a slower metabolism than when she was younger. Quite often the stomach and intestines don't do quite as good a job of digestion and absorption which can lead to malnutrition.Unfortunately our older cats taste buds will start to fail so food doesn't taste as good as it used to. If your cat as lost interest in eating I suggest talking to your vet about some taste enhancers. These can entice our senior feline friends into eating again.Older cats need less protein in their foods otherwise it could cause strain on the kidneys and liver which may already have deteriorated due to age. Protein for older cats should make up around 30% of the meal instead of the 40% you would feed a younger cat. However, do make the proteins of good quality food such as very lean red or white meat, fresh white fish plus some well cooked green vegetables. I would avoid carbohydrates or starchy foods as these can be harder for your older cat to digest. Too much of these can also cause diarrhea and other problems. Make sure your older cat has a diet which includes increased fat levels to provide for sufficient energy for your cat to move around easily.Quite often the older cat's teeth are worn and they can develop gum disease. For these reasons it is kinder to feed them on soft moist foods. You can try adding a spoonful of tinned to some dry food to make easier to eat and it could also cut costs. Alternatively you can soak some dry food in warm water or a broth to make a change in diet. Remember that wet food has more smell and taste which can entice the older cat to eat.I am lucky as we have rain water for drinking but I would suggest having a soft water for your older cat. He doesn't need and can't digest all the chemicals that usually come from a tap. Why not buy your cat some bottled water. It will last at least a day or so and to me is well worth the small cost involved. Keep an eye out for constipation if your cat is not drinking enough.As your cat ages start feeding it smaller meals more frequently. This will put far less stress on the aging digestive system. I would also suggest adding a vitamin-mineral supplement to senior cat's diet daily. I recommend discussing this with your vet.Old age is seldom kind. It doesn't matter if you are human or feline; things start to go wrong when we get older. The best thing you can do for your aging cat is to make sure that his diet provides enough nutrition for his needs, that he has somewhere comfortable to sleep and enough cuddles to make him feel wanted and loved.

Common Male Cat Trouble

In the field of Emergency Veterinary Medicine, one of the most common problems I saw was the male cat unable to urinate. It is more commonly known as being 'Blocked' or Feline Lower Urinary Disease. There is no absolute specific criteria as far as age, gender, or breed. The main common thread between almost all cases I have seen has been diet. More specifically, its effect on the urine PH. There are other reasons for inability to urinate, like trauma or even genetic deformity. What I want to talk about is being unable to urinate due to crystal formation.It may sound a little different from what I said before. PH versus crystal formation, but they both go hand in hand. If the PH is too alkalotic or too acidic, it can encourage crystal formation. As the crystals form they do not necessarily stay in the bladder but travel down the Urethra to the penis. At any point along the line, a build up of crystalline debris can cause an obstruction. This blockage in turn leads to an accumulation of metabolite waste and can cause renal failure.If this happen, some of the things you the pet owner may notice would be, frequent trips to the litter box, but with little to no results. You may see blood in the urine or small drops around or in the litter box. You may hear him cry out as he is pushing to urinate. This is usually a very painful time as he has a painfully distended bladder. Think about it, have you ever been somewhere without a bathroom and you really had to go. Feeling like your bladder will burst at any minute. Now multiply that feeling times a thousand and that is what he may be feeling.The difference of course is he is not purposely holding urine in. In very unfortunate cases, if not treated or treated to late, the bladder can rupture.But a far more frequent result before a rupture, is cause by the fact that he is not eliminating the waste from the body that is normally passed when he urinates. A build up of these waste materials, as I previously mentioned can cause renal failure. It can also result in an extremely fast heart beat. This is known as bradycardia. The causes of this hyperkalemia and pain. Lets go back for a minute to the fact that he is not eliminating his metabolic waste. One waste product is potassium. Hyperkalemia is in fact an excessive amount of potassium in the blood. you may be asking why the blood and not the bladder. Well if too much is in the bladder it can cause, essentially a backlog in the body to a point of excess in the blood.If the feline was at this point, which many emergency technicians have seen, they may be presented to the clinic in lateral recumbency or laying on their side. With an extremely high heart rate the risk of cardiac failure is increased. He would be considered a critical case. The prognosis at that point is very guarded. This is indeed a very extreme case, where perhaps he has been blocked for possibly six or seven hours. Now that is not to say that he could not get to this point in a matter of one to two hours, but it can usually be more than two.The main thing once the DVM has evaluated him is to get treatment started as soon as possible. The main thing that will need to be done is the actual unblocking. Because this is painful it will be done under anesthesia. That is assuming he is not one of the critical cases. If he is very critical, he may not be a very good candidate for anesthesia. This is something the doctor for your case will take into consideration when they formulates a treatment plan. Another thing they will consider is his medical history. If he has any issues or history of anesthetic difficulties, any medications he may be on, any other medical problems he may have and age. These are only a few of the things you will be asked and are necessary information for the doctor.If all is fairly straight forward, the doctor will formulate a plan and implement it. It will most likely include IV fluids for Diuresis, Pain management, urinary catheterization and collection set, Blood Work and urinalysis, possible antibiotics, and hospitalization for maybe three to five days. At many emergency facilities before any treatment is started, (unless he is very critical) the doctor and in some cases the technician will go over the plans and cost associated with the treatment.The owner needs to always be aware of the treatment costs. With that said, I don't want you to think that every clinic is all about the money. The staff at emergency clinics first priority is the pet. They have chosen this field because of the passion for helping, and empathy and compassion towards all creatures. But all pet owners should be aware that emergencies happen, and it is your responsibility to be prepared. It is true that most day clinics, while having a client relationship with owners will set up payment plans, But at two in the morning when they are not available, it is important to have a backup plan.The last thing I want to discuss is after treatment is done, and he is now urinating on his own. The urinary catheter has been removed and his blood work is looking more normal. When he is discharged from the clinic. The doctor will write up and discuss with you instruction to help prevent this from happening again. There is no guarantee that this will not happen again, but with a diet change and monitoring it will be less likely. It is important that you, the owner, follow the instructions given to you. As I previously mentioned the doctor will want to adjust the urine PH, and make the bladder a little less inviting to crystal formation. Mainly this is achieved through diet change. They may put him on a commercially available diet or a prescription diet that you can only get through a veterinarian. In any case it is important to stick with it and not change it. In most cases your male cat will be on the new diet for the remainder of his life, which hopefully will be many more years.I hope this article has helped. I have only touched on a few informative highlights. If you have any questions, you can call your local veterinarian or the next time you take your pet in for a check up bring it up. I'm sure they will be happy to answer any questions you may have.