Going RAW (with your cats diet).

Raw diets  are quite popular with some  people, and with many cats.  There are those who believe that a raw diet is the best thing since sliced bread.  Many veterinarians however extol the dangers of raw diets with words of Salmonella poisoning and zoonotic disease potential.

My opinion has changed with my recent study of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  You see, the Chinese have believed for 1000's of years that "you are what you eat".  In  Chinese Medicine, it is believed that different foods and herbs have varying potentials to help keep the body balanced.  Some foods support a deficient condition (like chronic renal failure in an old cat) and some foods are more appropriate for an excess conditions (like some types of cancers).   Balance is an essential key to good health, and our diet is a large part of what keeps us healthy. 

The face is that raw diets are a feline's natural diet.  The healthy gastrointestinal tract of the cat is specifically designed for this diet, with a very acidic stomach and relatively short intestine, allowing a shortened transit time.  This decreases a cats risk of infection from eating a raw diet.  However, a raw diet, being unprocessed, requires a very healthy GI tract to breakdown, and also requires more energy to metabolize.  Therefore, while being a VERY APPROPRIATE diet for the young healthy cat, it is not an appropriate diet for EVERY cat.   For example, cats that have gastrointestinal disease  may not tolerate a raw diet, until the imbalance in the GI tract is addressed.   Cats that have a weakened GI tract due to old age or chronic disease may not have the extra metabolic energy required to break down and utilize an  unprocessed and "cold" raw diet. 

Raw diets, if fed as a sole source of nutrition for your cat, need to be well balanced with essential vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids for health.  Some premade raw diets ARE balanced and some ARE NOT.  Be sure to label read. If its nutritionally balanced, it will say so.  If your inspired to make your own raw diets, do your research thoroughly first, including consultation with a veterinary nutritionist.  How to contact a Veterinary Nutritionist.

When chosing a raw diet, it is best to stick to the motto "feathers and hooves".  This means chicken, turkey, duck, beef, venison, lamb.  No raw fish -there are a variety of reasons for this: about feeding your cat fish.

Transitioning to a raw diet, as with any new diet, should be done slowly, over a period of 2-4 weeks.  This allows the gut's flora to accomodate to the food change.

At my house, my 2 young healthy cats, Posie and Peabody, enjoy a meal of Nature's Variety raw medallions as part of their diet 3 times a week.  My dog Franklin, who I am managing for a cancer condition, has been on an  exclusively raw diet for over 1+ years, and doing very well!  Consider adding a raw meal into your weekly rotation of food for your pet.
Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

Cat Vomit Making You Crazy?

I know how you feel!   I would estimate that up to  1/4 of all cats vomit at least once a week.  Most cat owners accept this as "normal".  Or they believe that if their cat vomits up hairballs weekly, that the cause is hairballs.   Or if their cat vomits right after eating,  the simple answer is that "my cat eats too fast".

First let me say that acute vomiting can be the first sign of serious disease -pancreatitis, intestinal blockage, cancer.  This type of vomiting can be differentiated from chronic vomiting this way.  Acute vomiting is seen with cats that are listless, not eating well or at all, hiding, vomiting multiple times in 24 hours and are always dehydrated.  This type of vomiting is SERIOUS and should involve a physical exam ASAP.  This blog is talking about chronic vomiting:  once or twice a week or less with NO weight loss and NO loss of appetite or energy.

OK, back to my ramblings......Consider this-  Only some cats vomit (hairballs) but all cats groom their hair coat daily.  So, if all cats are swallowing hair daily and the hair is a problem,  why aren't all cats vomiting on a regular basis?
Consider this -all cats eat fast when they are hungry.  People eat fast.  Dogs eat fast.  Eating fast is not a reason for vomiting.  Vomiting is NOT normal, and should not be considered normal by cat owners.

I would like to propose another view of this common problem.  Lets suppose that some cats have a MILD inflammatory condition in their gastrointestinal tract that causes occasional vomiting.  When a cat vomits, up comes (undigested) food or a ball of hair.  The vomiting is the primary problem.  The hair and food  are "along for the ride". 

Inflammatory gastrointestinal disease is VERY common in cats, but can be challenging to diagnose.  Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a common name for a group of GI diseases with similar and variable symptoms:chronic vomiting, decreased appetite, soft stool, gradual weight loss.  Early cases of IBD can  start with chronic vomiting of food.

What can be done to decrease or control mild GI signs in your cat BEFORE they lead to trouble?     Here are some things to consider.

Some cats, like some people have a food sensitivity or food allergy.  If this is the case with your cat, the vomiting will stop when the allergy is controlled.  Hypoallergenic food or limited ingredient foods  needs to be fed for 8-12 weeks exclusively to rule this problem out.  Check out this link for more info on feline allergies:  ALLERGIES

Some cats are indiscriminate eaters -food scraps, grass, house plants, yarn, paper, plastic bags -and any of  this will cause GI upset.  Controlling their access to inedibles will solve this problem.

Some cats require a diet that is closer to what nature intended them to eat (some days I sounds like a broken record).  A trial of high protein canned food and NO dry food for 4-8 weeks is needed to see if this is the cause of the vomiting in your cat.  This is a link to one of my favorite Cat Nutrition web pages:  http://www.catinfo.org/

I have had great sucess in treating many of these "chronic vomiting" cats with herbal formulas  to decrease the inflammation in the GI tract,  strengthening  the health of the GI tract, allowing it to heal naturally  over time. This type of approach is holistic, in that it takes into consideration the previous history of the individual patient and  other related  sypmtoms and patterns.  This information is then used to prepare an herbal formula specific to the individual patient.  Want more information on my latest interest -Chinese Herbal Medicine?- continue following my blog!  I am currently enrolled in the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society's Certification course in Chinese Herbal Veterinary Medicine and expect to be certified in 2012.  And it is an amazing and effective approach to veterinary care.

Until next time, hug the cat for me!
Dr. Maureen Flatley
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