So yesterday Linus had another trip to the vets. He was due his annual MOT and boosters and it also gave us the opportunity to see if there was any difference in his kidney values.
He got a clean bill of health and his boosters, then we turned our attention to his kidneys. His weight was exactly the same as it was back at the end of December and so were his blood values. This is good news as it means he hasn't got any worse. So the plan is to re-check his blood values in 3 months time, in between now and then I need to weigh him regularly and if there is either a sudden or a gradual creeping change in his weight to take him back in.
He is now fully on his new diet and eating it with great enthusiasm. All the tins and pouches say he needs 3 of them a day but as I feed him dry as well he is getting 1.5 tins/pouches a day so, theoretically, he is on a half and half dry and wet food diet.
Just in case anyone is interested he is getting the James Wellbeloved Senior (Fish) dry food. The wet food is a random tin or pouch from the following
Fish4Cats: Salmon Mousse for Cats, Trout Mousse for Cats, Tuna Fillet With Crab, Tuna Fillet With Salmon, Tuna Fillet With Seaweed & Sardine and Mackerel
Sainsburies Delicious Collection (Ocean Fish)
Natures Menu Country Hunter Duck and Pheasant
James Welbelloved Grain Free Senior (Lamb)
For treats he is getting Fish4Dogs Superior Adult Complete Small-Bite. We got a free sample of this with the first order from them and Linus loves them.
There were other foods out there that he tried and either rejected or ate without enthusiasm. Applaws (wet ad dry) & Wainwrights. He also rejected the one Hills chicken free renal diet. I have listed them so if anyone is looking for chicken free cat food then they know that these options are available, just because Linus doesn't like them doesn't mean another cat won't.
Friday 26 January 2018
Saturday 13 January 2018
Kidneys
2017 was, in some places, a fairly stressfull year and by Christmas I had hoped it was all over. But in the couple of weeks running up to Christmas I noticed that Linus was drinking more than normal. I left it over Christmas as it could have been due to me having the heating on more so I wanted to observe and check he really was drinking more and it wasn't my imagination.
It wasn't my imagination, so when Hilda went to the vets for her annual MOT and vaccinations between Christmas and New Year Linus came along too to get checked out. My initial thought was Diabetes, Fluffy was diabetic towards the end of her life and while this felt similar it wasn't exactly the same so I wasn't totally sure. Hilda got a clean bill of health and then we turned our attention to Linus. After explaining what I had noticed the vet thought similarly to me and, after giving him a quick all-over check, took a urine sample to check.
The various bits of analysis took a couple of minutes and the good news was that it wasn't diabetes. Just about everything else was also normal, the bad news was that it was a very dilute sample and the specific gravity was way below normal. One blood test later and the results were in, Linus is in the early stages of kidney failure. What was needed now was a change in diet. Sounds simple enough but Linus cannot have chicken so the task of finding a suitable diet was handed over to one of the vet nurses.
I took the vet nurse something from Bothams Bakeries in Whitby as a thank you as I knew the struggle she was going to have searching for suitable Linus food. I have spent years reading the ingredients of every new cat food on the market, usually with great dismay. It no longer surprises me to discover that in a 'fish' cat food the first ingredient on the list is usually either Chicken or the dreaded "Meat and Animal Derivatives". So to find a selection with no chicken and also very strict limits on protein, ash and phosphates was not going to be easy.
We are both pleasantly surprised to discover there was more options than we thought, there was only one specialist renal food (which he won't eat) but between us we have found 6 different dry foods from 4 manufacturers and good collection of tinned and pouched foods from 5 manufacturers. So Linus is now enjoying a smorgasbord style buffet dining experience of dry food and a random daily sample of different 'wet' foods to try. The idea is we can work out which ones he likes and settle on those for his future diet.
So far we have discovered that some 'wet' foods are actually very dry but the addition of some water makes them palatable (to Linus not me!). In addition to the specialist renal food one of the dry foods has also been rejected by Linus so until the remaining 3 samples arrive from the manufacturer he is on two different dry foods. He isn't keen on mousse style wet food, I think it must be the texture, he eats it but not with any enthusiasm and doesn't ask for more when it's done.
Linus is due his annual MOT at the end of this month so I will report back on progress after that.
It wasn't my imagination, so when Hilda went to the vets for her annual MOT and vaccinations between Christmas and New Year Linus came along too to get checked out. My initial thought was Diabetes, Fluffy was diabetic towards the end of her life and while this felt similar it wasn't exactly the same so I wasn't totally sure. Hilda got a clean bill of health and then we turned our attention to Linus. After explaining what I had noticed the vet thought similarly to me and, after giving him a quick all-over check, took a urine sample to check.
The various bits of analysis took a couple of minutes and the good news was that it wasn't diabetes. Just about everything else was also normal, the bad news was that it was a very dilute sample and the specific gravity was way below normal. One blood test later and the results were in, Linus is in the early stages of kidney failure. What was needed now was a change in diet. Sounds simple enough but Linus cannot have chicken so the task of finding a suitable diet was handed over to one of the vet nurses.
I took the vet nurse something from Bothams Bakeries in Whitby as a thank you as I knew the struggle she was going to have searching for suitable Linus food. I have spent years reading the ingredients of every new cat food on the market, usually with great dismay. It no longer surprises me to discover that in a 'fish' cat food the first ingredient on the list is usually either Chicken or the dreaded "Meat and Animal Derivatives". So to find a selection with no chicken and also very strict limits on protein, ash and phosphates was not going to be easy.
We are both pleasantly surprised to discover there was more options than we thought, there was only one specialist renal food (which he won't eat) but between us we have found 6 different dry foods from 4 manufacturers and good collection of tinned and pouched foods from 5 manufacturers. So Linus is now enjoying a smorgasbord style buffet dining experience of dry food and a random daily sample of different 'wet' foods to try. The idea is we can work out which ones he likes and settle on those for his future diet.
So far we have discovered that some 'wet' foods are actually very dry but the addition of some water makes them palatable (to Linus not me!). In addition to the specialist renal food one of the dry foods has also been rejected by Linus so until the remaining 3 samples arrive from the manufacturer he is on two different dry foods. He isn't keen on mousse style wet food, I think it must be the texture, he eats it but not with any enthusiasm and doesn't ask for more when it's done.
Linus is due his annual MOT at the end of this month so I will report back on progress after that.
Friday 12 January 2018
Happy 2018!
A bit later than most people but Hilda and I did spend the first few days of the new year out and about camping, well Glamping. I had planned to try and go glamping in January 2017 on a last minute deal but there were none or none where I could take the dog with me so we tried again this year and booked in advance.
We went to stay in the pods at the Falcon Inn near Cloughton. We went on the 1st January (start the year as you mean to go on!) There were a few other people there who had stayed over Christmas and the New Year but by Tuesday we had the place to ourselves. The pods are about 8 foot by 12 foot and designed to sleep 4, so plenty of space for 1 woman and her dog. They are insulated and come with lighting and heating but everything else you need to take.
There was a heavy frost the first night and gale force winds the second but Hilda and I were snug, dry and warm in our pod. We did plenty of walking and on the last night had dinner in The Falcon Inn and breakfast on the last morning (to save me having to wash up). I can recommend the pods and the Inn.
It's a bit hard to make out bit the slightly darker grey just over the shrubs is the sea (honest!)
We went to stay in the pods at the Falcon Inn near Cloughton. We went on the 1st January (start the year as you mean to go on!) There were a few other people there who had stayed over Christmas and the New Year but by Tuesday we had the place to ourselves. The pods are about 8 foot by 12 foot and designed to sleep 4, so plenty of space for 1 woman and her dog. They are insulated and come with lighting and heating but everything else you need to take.
There was a heavy frost the first night and gale force winds the second but Hilda and I were snug, dry and warm in our pod. We did plenty of walking and on the last night had dinner in The Falcon Inn and breakfast on the last morning (to save me having to wash up). I can recommend the pods and the Inn.
View from our Pod
It's a bit hard to make out bit the slightly darker grey just over the shrubs is the sea (honest!)
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