What A Nightmare!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi everyone. Although I haven't been posting this at all, 5 of my 6 cats have been either having diarrhea,vomiting or both. They've also been having days where they're lethargic and all they want to do is sleep and they refuse food.

I've been feeding them Nature's Variety Instinct dry in the Rabbit and Duck and also a variety of different flavors in the canned. The kittens have been on Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken and I when I started mixing in some of the Rabbit & Duck dry with it, they started having bad diarrhea. Now that they're back on the Natural Balance they're doing much better stool wise. I was also able to get 1 can of pumpkin from my mom because I couldn't find any in the stores.

The reason I think it's the dry food that's causing them to be sick is because Pearl eats dry exclusively. I was feeding her both the Innove Evo and some of the Instinct Rabbit & Duck because I wanted to convert her to Nature's Variety. I ran out the other day and she ate only the Instinct. She became lethargic and also had diarrhea.

I've haven't heard about any recalls on this food but I tried calling the company and I had to leave a message because they were busy helping others. I also e-mailed them about it. I called the store where I bought it and I can return it without any problems. I'm now just going to be feeding everyone the Natural Balance to see how this goes. I hope that others out there aren't having the same problems and I hope that all of my cats will be able to remain healthy again. Thanks for reading.

[Pinot's Mom]

Tracey, I'm so sorry you're all going through this! Did you ask your vet to see if they know of any problems? They might know just at the front desk instead of having to ask the vet. Keep us posted!

[Randi]

Oh Tracy, what a thing to go through, for all of you. It does sound as if it's the new diet they have been on. Why did you change it?

I'm glad to hear they're all doing better again. Keep an eye on them - and give them some kisses from me.

[cassiesmom]

I'm glad to read that they're doing better, too! ((HUGS))

[katladyd]

I am sending GET WELL WISHES to all your precious babies.

[Taz_Zoee]

Oh dear. That is not happy. I hope you can get everything under control. It's not fun having one sick kitty, but 5! I hope the Natural Balance works and gets everything coming out okay.
Hugs to you and all 6 fur babies.

[Barbara]

I'm so sorry to hear this!
For diarrhea, I can really recommend to give them no food at all for 12 hrs. In many cases this will be enough- if not go for 24 hrs without food.
I can see that this may not be ok for the babies but definitely for the grown-ups. It helps their intestines to calm down.
I don't believe in dry food too much as it is mainly based on cereals which is hard for a cat to digest.
I hope very much you get them back to health and happiness soon.

[RICHARD]

PET FOOD RECALL!

Just saw this....

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/0...all-expands%2F

[RedHedd]

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/

I also subscribe to Petsumer Reports

Tracey, it's probably the changing of the food that's causing the problems.

[Laura's Babies]

Before you take that back to the store, be sure you keep a sample of it and freeze it in case you need a sample. I would also record any numbers on the package the food came in that could identify it. Also take pictures of the package and the numbers on it.

Once you return it to the store, there goes the proof that you bought perhaps a "tainted" lot of it.

[catmandu]

That is sad when those so called "Premium Foods" are Not Safe
You pay a lot of money and Our Pets get sick
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[cassiesmom]

Tracey, how is everyone today? (((HUGS)))

[lvpets2002]

Sorry to read this about your babies.. Tracey I know you like those Brands; However you may need just to stick to Purina Brands.. I feed mostly Purina Brands && have not had any of these problems with my babies.. Huggss & Prayers Tracey & Babies..

[astrid]

I'm so sorry to read about this, I hope all the babies are feeling better today
Good thoughts and prayers for you all, God bless you.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone. Yesterday was such a long day and I just didn't have time to log back on to PT. I ended up taking both kittens into the vet yesterday because Blaze's right eye was looking awful. They had an appointment this Sunday so I was lucky that my vet could squeeze us in. She looked at their eyes and said that they both have URI's but it's a mild case and they only need eye drops 2 times a day for 1 week. Hopefully this will do the trick.

They've also been very gasy and one of them was still having mushy stools. I wasn't able to get a stool sample so from the looks,smell, and gas problems my vet thinks that they have coccidia. Some of my other cats may have caught it too so we're treating everyone with Ponazuril. Alani and Blaze go back in 2 weeks for recheck and I'm supposed to bring in a stool sample. She said that usually you need to treat everyone again in 2 weeks time so I guess I'll receive more of the medicine then.

Since both kittens also had giardia when they were in the rescue group my vet did a snap giardia test on one kitten and luckily it came back negative. My vet also said that since they've been dewormed with drontal 2 times that they don't need any more deworming meds. The vet that gave them their kitten shot a few weeks ago said that they need to be dewormed at least 4 times. I think she just wants my money. I did give in and have them dewormed for roundworms with their second kitten shot but I won't for their third.

How much do you think they weigh? I was kind of shocked by their weights because they still feel so light weight to me. They're a little over 13 weeks now and Alani weighs 4.5lbs and Blaze weighs 3.7lbs. I think that Alani is going to be a big boy. Last night I spent a lot of time cleaning the bathroom where they've been staying and it was trashed this morning. It looked like they had a major cat party and litter was every where. They also knocked over their water bowl into their dry food so it was a major mess this morning. Now I'm letting them out in the main part of my condo all of the time and tonight the bathroom was so much cleaner.

My vet also told me that I needed to scrub all of the litter boxes with a bleach solution and also put fresh litter in them. I need to keep them as clean as possible. I decided to buy new litter boxes and I just threw out the old ones. They were very old any way so they were due for new ones. I also put litter box liners in until I know for sure that everything is fine with the kittens.

Nature's Variety said that they've never had any recalls on their kibble before. I returned everything tonight and I bought another bag of Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken dry food. Ziggy still won't eat any dry food. Pearl is picking at it but she's always been a picky eater. Both Storm,Sky, Alani, and Blaze love it. I'll continue to feed the adults Nature's Variety canned food unless they start having problems with this too. The reason I changed my adult cats diet was because Procter & Gamble took over Natura Pet Products which include Innova Evo and I don't trust this company. Ziggy was also gaining too much weight on the dry even though I don't free feed. The dry is very high in calories. I hope that everything will return to normal and stay that way very soon.