1. Free Roaming Dogs
2. Please Spay and/or Neuter Your Pets
3. Emergency Preparedness
4. Choosing Your Pets Food
All are very important subjects and need to be discussed. Today I choose to tell you a little bit about one of my cats, Ashes. It would tie in nicely with the food topic so that may be the first draft I finish.
You see about 1 1/2 years ago we took in a beautiful brother and sister duo, Snowball and Ashes. We decided Snowball was not a name that suited this big white long haired moose of a cat so the name Moose was chosen. Ashes the female sibling got to keep her name.
Both cats were a bit hesitant regarding their new home but Ashes soon was up and around exploring. It was not long after I discovered little piddles that had a bloody tinge to them. I started watching every move both cats made. Ashes was urinating, if that is what you would call it, everywhere but the litter box and it was becoming increasingly more bloody. Urinalysis proved negative for infection, Xrays showed no signs of stones, so we went with stress induced do to all the recent traumatic changes in her life. When symptoms dissappeared we all breathed a sigh of relief.
In August of 2008, when we had to put one of our dogs down the symptoms reappeared. This time they did not subside and she was becoming increasingly not herself. She was not properly grooming herself, her fur was becoming matted, and she was having even more problems cleaning after bowel movements.
Along with the vet I made the decision to have an ultrasound done. What was revealed shocked me. The poor little girls bladder wall had been irritated so much by crystals that it was swollen almost to the point of leaving little room inside her bladder for urine to collect. Even on film it looked extremely painful. The vet's treatment plan was a change in diet. From the all natural food I was feeding (and am a distributor for), to a prescription diet. One that contains chemicals, by-products, colorings, and ingredients that are too long to pronounce. I was horrified but decided I needed to follow Drs orders.
Within three days the change in her was astounding. The droplets of bloody urine had stopped. She was once again using the litter box and was releasing a fair amount of urine. She was happy and purring again. A month later a repeat ultrasound showed her bladder wall was back to normal and there were no signs of any crystals left in her bladder proper. I could not believe it. This food that I tell people they should not feed their pet made my girl better. I was very conflicted.
For six months I fed this "yuck" food. Not allowing my other two cats to get any. I thought by then her bladder would be totally healed and she could go back to eating the all natural holistic food that was more nutrious. That was in May of 2009.
Here we are the beginning of June and she is back to full blown symptoms. Very bloody little drops of urine everywhere but the litter box. Luckily I still had a few days of anti spasm medication. It has helped until I get to pick up the "yuck" food from the vet today.
It seems a bit hypocritical to feed the chemical based food that I believe is bad, but I have seen the difference it made. I will continue to feed the prescription diet from now on. It is not fair to put her through this pain again, and it certainly is not healthy to risk bladder damage because I believe natural is better.
My other two cats and one dog will stay with the Life's Abundance as they are all healthy and have no medical conditions that warrant a prescription diet. I will continue to share with others what I learn about pet food, now believing more then ever that what your pet eats does make a difference in their health.
If you would like more information about the foods you are feeding your pet please contact me at ann@annsfurryfriends.com As you can see I will not mislead you for the sake of making a sale. I, like you, only want what is best for your pet. Contact me today
