Jimmy's not well

[jennielynn1970]

How is Jimmy doing??

[Emeraldgreen]

How is Jimmy doing??

Thanks for asking about Jim! He is doing pretty well. The very rapid breathing that he was doing hasn't happened since that day and I think it must have been the wood smoke outside. But, he does have breathing issues and if it's not asthma, it's something and I want to get to the bottom of it so I can treat it properly.
I went and bought a big bag of Good News kitty litter which is an equivalent to Yesterdays News pellets. We haven't opened it yet though because we had 2 showings today because we're selling our house and my husband was concerned that the new litter might not be as effective (re: the smell) as the usual scoopable kind. So, we agreed that first thing tomorrow, we're switching them over. The lady at the petstore told me to mix the scoopable and the pellets together for a few days and slowly switch them over because the two litters are so different and it freaks them out if you just switch from one to the other. The reason I'm trying the new pellets is because I read about the dust from the scoopable getting into the lungs and lining the lungs and getting into the digestive track causing problems. I want to switch them not only for them but for us too since we clean the boxes a couple of times a day. I can only imagine how much of that crap we've breathed in.
I've taken Jimmy off wet food for the most part and he seems to feel better. His coat looks better and he's making less trips to the box. But....I want to start him on the Transfer Factor (that I ordered for Tiger) too when it gets here and I'm going to have to mix it in with wet food. My hope is that the TF doesn't have much of a taste and then maybe I can mix a capsule into a small amount of wet food for Jimmy each morning.

[jennielynn1970]

I read about the dust from the scoopable getting into the lungs and lining the lungs and getting into the digestive track causing problems. I can only imagine how much of that crap we've breathed in.

I've actually bought some of the masks that you can put over your mouth and nose to use while cleaning litter boxes. I've been freaked out by the amount of crap that I breathe in while cleaning boxes. I mean, it sounds gross, but have you ever noticed the dust in your nostrils after cleaning, or the gray crap that is tissues as well. I try to use the least dusty scoopable litter possible, but there is still dust.

I've tried pine litter and the newspaper litters, but my guys hated them. I have been mixing in the Dr. Elsley's Senior cat litter, which is crystal like, and it's been working pretty well also.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm glad to hear that Jimmy is doing better and I hope that the new litter will help. I've now switched to nonscented litter and I've been using Dr. Elsey's Ultra Precious Cat Multi Cat Scoopable Litter in my uncovered boxes and Premium Choice Extra Strength with Baking Soda Crystals Scoopable Litter in my 2 covered boxes. They're both virtually dust free and when I blow my nose after I scoop there's no dust in my nose or grey stuff left in my kleenex. I've noticed a huge difference and they both control the odor and my cats love them.