Me knows da question on all your minds is…what food is Dezi eating? Right? You all know me was a BB addict. And dat when mommy started this food change me was not a willing purrticipant. She had tried to change meez foods lots of times fru da years, but me wuld always go on a hunger strike till meez bowl was full of da old BB. And fur all of ya’ dat suggested a slow change, she did dat. Do you think us kitties can’t smell sumfin’ different in our plates? Me kuld smell a mile away dat there was sumfin’ new mixed with meez fave noms. And when me did finally try sum of it, well me tummy and bloomers paid da price. You know it’s not just outward change dat kitties don’t do well with. Mommy hadn’t had too clean meez bloomers in months when all this started.
Pull up a chair and get sum coffee, tea or whatever and let us tell ya’ all ’bout meez new noms.
And then finally it happened. Me got on board all da way with da change. OMC Da smell emanatin’ from meez plate was sooooooo amazin’. Mommy you did real good. Me luvs da new food.
Yummm mmmm mmmm Don’t bother me right now, meez eatin’.
I know you do baby and I’m so happy about that. And no tummy upsets or dirty bloomers during this switch either.
No mommy there sure wasn’t. and now when you tell peeps meez poop don’t stink you’ll be tellin’ da absolute truth.
Yes angel you are right. So now that you’ve got everybody intrigued why don’t I explain. I will never know the whole truth about Deztinee’s first 3 weeks of life but when she came to me she was malnourished and close to death. She apparently hadn’t eaten in a while because she didn’t want to suckle and the rescue had been told she was 6 weeks old and eating solid food. A bit impossible without actual teeth. Dezi’s never been a huge eater but the BB was the only thing she would consistently eat. She was terribly picky and always insisted on dry kibble or she wouldn’t eat canned. I know some of you have cats who won’t eat wet food no matter what so you understand part of my struggle. Her favorite treats are freeze dried chicken breasts, but she won’t eat them as a meal. I know, she’s a little…but she’s mine and so we do what we must.
So as you all know if you read our post on Sterile Cystitis, I started researching supplements, foods, pretty much anything that would fix my baby and keep this from ever happening again. And that’s when I came across the Wysong website. I recalled the name from a very long time ago, but had never actually tried any of their products. The more I looked at their website the more I liked what I saw. Wysong makes products for the whole family. They have pet foods, supplements, household products and even products for humans. A few emails later and they were gracious enough to send out a veriety of food for the girls, especially Dezi to try. I had already picked up their urine pH supplement and was hopeful that at least one of the foods would appeal to Dezi.
This is a photo of the Uretic kibble. It is a small star shape.
We received a bag of Wysong UreticFeline Formula dry kibble. Being a diet formulated by a veterinarian with the urinary tract in mind meant we must try it. It wasn’t my first choice for a long term diet, but only because it’s still kibble and ideally I would like to get Dezi away from dry food altogether. But of the foods we received this was the most traditional kibble so it was also the first I offered her. And to my surprise, she picked every piece out from the bottom of her plate and ate them. She left behind the other kibble and then asked for more. Kibble or not, I was thrilled and gladly gave her a whole plate full which she ate up in no time. The real test came later when she used the litter box. No tummy upset and clean bloomers. And she ate as heartily at the next meal. Wysong also makes a Uretic canned food that we got to try.
Wysong Anergen II in bag. Notice the ample amounts of freeze dried rabbit.
Since Dezi accepted the Wysong food so well and her favorite treats are freeze dried I decided to bump up her transition. We also received a bag of Wysong Anergen 2. This alternative protein rabbit formula is part kibble with chunks of freeze dried rabbit. So kibble to make Dezi happy and freeze dried to appease me. This formula is a step in the direction I would like to go in order to eventually switch her to a raw diet. But what did Deztinee think about it?
The freeze dried rabbit is easy to break up into smaller pieces without crumbling but soft enough to crumble if needed.
Oh meow mommy, me luvs wabbit. And me really likes da chunks of wabbit thru out da meal.
That’s a piece of the Archetype in front of the bag. Easily breakable or can be crumbled. Rehydrates in no time.
Yes Dezi took to it right away. And again no upset tummy, dirty bloomers or atrocious smell coming from the litter box. I love my baby, but oh my, everybody knew when she went to the litter box. Anyways, I wasn’t finished transitioning her. You’re probably wondering why I didn’t stop or slow way down and just be glad things were going so well. I just figured while she was in the mood to change, we might as well keep going. After all, Wysong had been generous enough to send my final choice; their original raw food diet called Archetype. This formula is designed to emulate the natural diet of felines and canines. They also make one for ferrets. We had the opportunity to try the chicken formula, but I will certainly be trying the other proteins as well, because the Archetype was a great hit. Both Dezi and Lexi love this food. This is a balanced diet that includes the necessary taurine for cats.
Both girls having a bit of Archetype as a treat. they love it.
Archetype is a freeze dried formula that can be served as is or reconstituted with water. It’s easily breakable so it can be crumbled over the top of your pets food, given as a treat or made smaller for those pets that prefer a smaller bite like Dezi. It’s starch free and meat based so those carbohydrates Dezi was getting too much of are no longer a problem. It comes in a variety of proteins like chicken, rabbit, quail and pollock. Because it comes in a bag as freeze dried, feeding your pets a raw diet is made easier for those who don’t have the time to make raw, those who don’t want to deal with the raw proteins, or anyone who would just like a better quality diet for your furry friends.
Oh this Archetype is sum yummy stuffs.
All of the formulas we tried are complete and balanced. Wysong also includes probiotics and prebiotics in all their formulas. Unlike some of the pet food manufacturers, Wysong doesn’t have a prescription line, but they will work with your veterinarian to make a prescription diet for your furry family member if needed. If you are interested in learning more about the reasons for a more natural raw food diet such as Archetype, you can read about it here or many other wonderful sites. Raw diets are wonderful, but they’re not all created equally or balanced. Please do your research before switching. You want to make sure your pet is getting a well balanced diet with all the nutrients they require in the right amounts.
I think that as pet parents we all want what’s best for our 4 legged family members and we’re label reading more and more these days. And I think a lot of us would love to feed our animals a high quality raw diet. But sometimes it’s just not possible for whatever reason, so we strive to do the best we can within our own limitations. We love the Wysong foods and think the Archetype line is a good option for those wanting as close to raw as possible. It is our fervent hope that we bring you more from Wysong as there’s just too much to cover in one post. For us, this works. Dezi has a new pep in her step and is feeling and looking better than she has in a while. We really do thank Wysong for sending us their great products to try.
Meez gunna go eat now. come back fur part 3 to find out ’bout da supplements and stress relieving techniques weez usin’
We sure do mommy. Lexi and me luvved everything we tried. And meez glad you kept pushing me, cuz da Archetype sure is yummy. Me can’t wait to try da wabbit and quail. Hopefully da peeps at Wysong will wanna continue workin’ wiff us and send us more pawsum products to try and to tell everypawdy about. Now everypawdy knows what’s in meez plate. And let me tell ya’, me luvs it so much dat fur da furst time in a long time, meez plate gets emptied at meal time. Stay tuned fur our post ‘bout supplements and stress relief. As you all know we always tell it like it is. Wysong is not respawnsible fur da content of this post. And all yummies are totally da truth. You can connect wiff Wysong on their social media sites: twitter and facebook.
Meowllo and welkum to another issue of Blest Sunday, where we have da oppurrtunity to list a few of our many blessings. We luv our blest Sunday postys so much. As most of you know, last week was a tuff one. We entered da month of November wiff sum unexpected expenses and sum extra expenses dat we just didn’t have da money to cover. We hated to have to ask you our wonderful furiends fur help, ‘specially since it’s right here at da holidays. We know times are tuff fur everyone but we just didn’t know what else to do. Mommy had thought, figgered and re-figgered and just kuldn’t find da money anywhere. She’s already cut any and all extras and quite a few necessities just to manage our normal expenses. So after much thought, purrayer and tears, we came to you. And you all came fru fur us.
Fank you all fur helpin’ us. Our Chewy box arrived wiff our noms, litter and pH testers.
We got our Chewy box wiff our noms and litter and pH testers just in time. Mommy called round ‘bout da tire, but of course nopawdy round here had any in stock. We figgered this wuld be da case, as we had to order da last one we had replaced. While chattin’ wiff one of da cheapest places mommy was told dat ifin she bought 3 tires (which we need cuz they are all rotting) we kuld get a deal and they wuld only cost $60.00 each or we kuld buy da 1 tire dat must be replaced immediately fur $105.00 plus da $22.00 state taxes and fees. Mommy went out on a limb, took a leap of fath, and told them to order da 3. She sed it seemed kinda foolish to pay fur 1 tire what 2 kuld cost.
Me knows you’re all on da edge of you’re seats wonderin’ how me be duin’ now dat we have da testers fur meez urine, right? Da furst thing mommy did after openin’ da box, and me usin’ da pawdee box of course, was test meez urine. And da results are in. Meez urine is……………At a Normal pH range!!! WooHoo It’s working!!! Meez new diet, increased hydration and all da purrayers are working. You can read part 1 of our series on Sterile Cystitishere, and this week we’ll be talkin’ ‘bout meez new food and supplements and da steps we are takin’ to relieve any stress me may be havin’ so stay tuned.
Now we wanna say a Meowsy big Thank you to everypawdy who donated and helped us. Fank you awnty Jean and unkle Bill, awnty Ellen, awnty Belinda, awnty Karen, awnty Jaqueline, awnty Victoria, awnty Debra, scout Anonymous, awnty Anonymous, awnty Theresa, and unkle Mike. Weez so purreciate your help. We also wanna thank all who purrayed fur us as well. Purrayer changes things. And we wuld ask you to keep da purrayers comin’.
We also wanted to tell you all ‘bout da Winnie’s Wish auction. As you know weez not have money to donate and therefur usually have nuffin’ to donate. But a while back we became reviewers fur The Natural Pet Company at amazon.com. Occasionally they send us a product fur free to review on amazon fur them. They make sum gweat stuffs, you might wanna check ‘em out. anyways, they recently sent us a pawsum box of toys. We took fotos fur da review and have donated it to da auction to help raise money fur da kitties in need.
We are Blest today and always to have your luv and furiendship and a home of our own wiff a luvvin’ mommy and each other. As you go about your day, take a minute to stop and say thank you fur da blessings in your life.
Well here we are a few weeks after meez diagnosis with Sterile Cystitis to tell ya’ da truth as we have found it. We told you then what we were told by da VET. We told you dat this was very common ‘specially among cats who eat Blue Buffalo foods and dat it was caused from too much protein in da diet. Yep we wrote it as we was told, but we also included dat mommy wuld be duin’ a lot of little research herself. Just didn’t seem right dat an obligate carnivore kuld be eatin’ too much protein?.
Meez sure glad you don’t believe everything your told mommy. Me just wuldn’t like eatin’ salads and cereals.
No sweety you sure wouldn’t have, nor could you survive on those. Quite frankly I’m sick and tired of hearing from vets and pet food companies that cats, who everybody knows are “obligate carnivores,” need less protein. And I’m tired of pet food companies including so many ingredients in their foods that cats don’t need, can’t process and that could literally kill them.
Me thinks we oughtta ‘splain what dat means. Wikipedia says Obligate means by necessity. And Carnivore means flesh (meat) eating animal. In plain human English dat means Cats MUST eat meat. So how is it dat me kuld eat too much meat?
Pull up a chair, get’cha’ a cup of joe, tea, or whatever you dwink and let mommy tell ya’ how it is.
That’s just exactly what I wanted to know baby, and one of the many reasons I like to research everything myself. And the biggest thing I found in my research was not the amount of protein in cat foods but the amount of carbohydrates. High carbs can cause inflammation in the bladder and thus bring on a bout of Cystitis. Your grain free diet was full of them as are many cat foods regardless of quality or price, grain free or not. Pet parents almost need to become scientists to understand the labels on their pets’ food. The photo on the package is rarely indicative of the actual ingredients in the bag or can of that food in your cabinet. You can read the Truth About Pet Food for more information about what’s in your pets’ food and the FDA regulations, etc. Again, there are many other places to gather this information and you need to research and decide for yourself what is fact and what is fiction.
The ingredient list of the food Dezi was eating.
Ingredients on the Hills bag the vet recommended below:
Sterile Cystitis can be called a myriad of things such as, Idiopathic Cystitis, Urinary Tract Infection, and others. Anything having to do with the lower urinary tract is put under the umbrella of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. Altho’ Sterile Cystitis is NOT an infection.
Sterile Cystitis is a condition that can affect both cats and kittens, male and female alike. The first occasion of Cystitis often occurs in young cats between the ages of 2 and 6 years old. The name implies an inflammation of the bladder of unknown origin with no infection present. In other words, they don’t really know what causes it. And altho’ there’s no infection, the cat is most likely in pain.
Vets make assumptions and all too often give bad or outdated information. We were told Dezi was eating too much protein and that the prescription diets for this condition (like the one for Lexi’s CKD) had a lower protein percentage and would clear up her symptoms. And that a lifetime switch would keep it from coming back.
Another assumption is that stress is a leading factor in causing Cystitis. For cats, stress could be anything. In general (not always) cats don’t like change. They are creatures of habit. Anything out of the ordinary can stress a cat. Boredom can cause stress as much as a thunderstorm or a house full of guests.
You can find a list of “typical” symptoms all over the internet, but I will list them here as well.
1. Frequent attempts to urinate
2. Straining in the litter box
3. Crying out while in the litter box
4. Blood in the urine
5. Urinating outside the litter box
These are the main symptoms that alert to a problem in your cat or kitten’s urinary tract. BUT Dezi had none of these symptoms. Altho’ Dezi went to the litter box 4-5 times a day, she never strained or cried out and there was never blood in her urine. She wasn’t drinking excessively, altho’ she did like to play in the water fountain, thus justifying her 1-2 extra trips a day. When she did use the piddle pads instead of the box, it was always because the box had been used and not yet scooped. If she poops before urinating, she won’t go in the same box. The only time she will do both in the box at the same time is when she urinates first. Yes I know she’s got a few strange quirks, but that’s my baby girl and I love her no matter what.
So what were Dezi’s symptoms you ask? What caused me to think a urinalysis would be a good idea as it’s not really part of the complete exam the vet was offering? Well a lot of you know I lost Lucky to a urethral blockage, and Dezi was mimicking some of the behaviors that he had. So we are going to list them as well because feline health is so important and they can hide an illness so well.
1. Excessive licking/cleaning of the genitals immediately after urinating.
2. Appearance of spraying without actually spraying. Example:Tail straight up, cat backed up to wall/chair/leg/etc. and then tail shimmies/shakes with no urine produced. (This is something both Lucky and Dezi did when they got excited so I never thought it was a symptom of anything other than joy. They would both sometimes chatter at the same time. However, Dezi no longer does this regardless of her excitement level so this is a symptom of a problem).
3. Smaller than normal urine clumps.
Meez harness helps keep da stress down durin’ a funder storm.
With Sterile Cystitis there is also the possibility that crystals have formed in the urine/bladder. There are 2 main forms of crystals called Struvite and Calcium Oxylate. Since this didn’t happen in Dezi’s case we won’t go into them here, but you can read more about them at uvma.org.
With a condition that has no real explanation as to it’s cause, how do you go about treating it? Something you should be aware of is the fact that cats can have this condition and have it clear up on its’ own in a week or two with no treatment whatsoever. Since there’s no infection, antibiotics are not helpful and should be avoided so your cat doesn’t build up a tolerance. If you’ve been alerted that there’s a problem then no doubt your cat is in pain. Since the bladder is most likely inflamed, an anti-inflammatory may be prescribed for 1-3 days as well as a pain medication by your vet. If you suspect anything is wrong with your cat’s health, please see a vet immediately.
In Dezi’s case, there was no infection and no formation of crystals so after a few days of an anti-inflammatory, pain meds and an increase in hydration, she appeared to be doing better. We also began a food change as I personally didn’t like her eating the BB kibble due to the ingredients. (We’ll cover all of this in another post) We have urine pH testers on their way so that we can test her urine pH and be sure, but she is leaving larger deposits in the litter box fewer times a day now and no longer “faux spraying”. She can also leave the litter box without plopping down immediately to clean her genitals.
As you all know, I’m not a fan of prescription diets from any manufacturer since they are all based on the studies done by Hill’s Pet. Instead of doing their own research they rely on old studies performed by a food manufacturer more than a decade ago. Now having said that, you must make the decision for your own cats. I only ask that you do some research before you believe everything you’re told. Vets are an invaluable resource, but even they don’t know everything, and can’t keep up with all the new information and studies. And you know your cat better than anyone. Okay, off my soap box now and back to the known facts.
Cats don’t drink like other species so a wet diet is preferred to aid in keeping them well hydrated. Water fountains are also a good choice because cats like fresh running water. (please clean your pets’ water bowl or fountain regularly.) A batch of cooled nip tea, cooled chicken broth or a few ice cubes in your pets drinking water may also entice your cat to drink more.
We’ll be discussing Dezi’s food change and supplements in a future post as well as the stress relieving supplements and changes we are making in our everyday lives so that we can lessen the possibility of a recurrence of Sterile Cystitis or any other FLUTD’s.
Fank you all fur helpin’ us. Our Chewy box arrived today wiff our noms, litter and pH testers.
Well mommy ifin anypawdy was wonderin’ where me got meez wordiness from, they be wonderin’ no more. MOL We know this is a long posty, but it’s full of good infurmation and in human English so it shuld be easy fur everypawdy to read. This post is in no way a comprehensive look at Sterile Cystitis, but is the truth as we have found it.
Well mommy and me shuld be at hers monthy doctors pointment today, but… Notice me said shuld? Dat’s cuz me be right here at home twiddlin’ meez paws with worry while mommy be tryin’ to walk there. She left me home cuz she was fraid sumfin’ bad might happen to me sittin’ on da side of da road in meez stroller while she lay on da street passed out. Let me ‘splain. A few years ago mommy was playin’ da piano fur a small church down da way and one night while dwivin’ there our then car went kerplunk. A lady with a little money attended da church and decided she wuld get mommy a car as hers tithe fur da month. We was and are ever so grateful and da car is new fur us. But da car wasn’t new and had parrently sat fur quite sum time as da tires had began to rot. At da time tho, dat was one of da lesser purroblems with da car and so nuffin’ was done ‘bout da tires and an as is purrchase is just dat.
Me sure hopes mommy gets back afur dinner time.
Last year one of da front tires fell all to pieces and our awnty Anonymous got us a new one. We knew it was just a matter of time, but, well, when your on a fixed income like we are, there’s just not enuff money fur da necessities, much less extras. So yet another tire has fallen to pieces and must be replaced. They run ‘bout $100.00 each and will all need replacin’ in short order. Oh but it dusn’t stop. MOL Da car tags be due too. Mommy’s gotta get those cuz ifin she dusn’t we’ll be in violation of our lease and get evicted. You know how much da manager wuld enjoy dat, so weez not gunna have dat happen. But, da money mommy has to use for dat wuld be da money she wuld normally use fur our supplies. Member we don’t have money fur extras. And by extras me dusn’t mean eatin’ out, mommy eatin’ or buyin’ purresents, me means other necessities.
Course mommy can tell her self there’s no money fur food and all’s good, but she can’t do dat with us. And she NEVER wuld. She’d figure sumfin’ out no matter what dat meant. But me decided to ask fur your help. Sis Lexi and me need food and litter and sum pH testers fur meez pee and sissy’s supplements on top of dat tire. Altho’ we can’t get da tire at Chewy we can get da other stuff, and we have an auto delivery box ready we just need to pay fur it. Da total is $91.76. We posted an update to da Fundraiser and on Facebook Tuesday. And by da time we wrote this posty we had raised $45.00. So ifin you can help, we wuld sure purreciate it.
Luv ya’ sissy. Lubz you too Dezi.
We know da holidays are upon us and dat things be tight every where. And we hate to be askin’ at all, but we’re not askin’ fur purresents or stuff like dat, we just wanna have litter in da box and food on da plate and da ability to get to da (whispers) doctor or farmacy ifin we need to. Hopefully we won’t need da last part but it’s better to be purrpared. Altho’ meez pawdee box depawsits are larger, without testin’ da pH we can’t be sure meez really better.
Me is eatin’ da new food and luvvin’ it, but we need to be sure it’s really workin’. We are gunna be tellin’ ya’ all ‘bout it soon. Let’s just say dat mommy is thrilled. As you know me was addicted to da BB and transitionin’ me off was a nightmare. Mommy wasn’t purrleased wiff da food me wuld eat but at least it wasn’t BB. So when she got da new food she almost had rug burns on her knees from purrayin’ so much dat me wuld eat it. Eever da purrayers worked or da food is just dat good, cuz me put meez head in da plate and didn’t come up fur air till it was all gone. And you know what? Me asked fur seconds. Yep sure did. Never done dat afur, but it was soooooo good. So anyways, like me said, we kuld sure use your help. You can give thru paypal with no fees to our account at: lexi.dezi@yahoo.com, or thru da fundraiser here. Da paypal link takes you to da sign in page. We can also use your purrayers.
Looks like weez’ll be getting’ caught up on Fursday, cuz we don’t know how long it’s gunna take mommy to go to da doctor. Meez goin’ back to twiddlin’ meez paws now.
Service Cats U.S. 