Tag Archives: feline health

Charger Has Cancer

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This morning it became official. My much loved Bengal cat, my birthday cat, Charger will die of cancer. He suddenly had a bunch of subdermal lumps, three were biopsied — tomorrow a ultrasound scan to see where the cancer originated and then we start a plan for giving him a decent quality of life until we send him over the Rainbow Bridge. I cry as I write this.

He was born Feb. 10 2001 to an unprofessional breeder, sold at 6 weeks to a family who — when they didn’t want him anymore — advertised in the PennySaver to get rid of him in 2002. I saw the ad on my birthday, David called, and the next day we saw him at their house and I fell in love with this big beautiful scared cat and we took him home and he has slept by me ever since then.

My birthday cat, my Valentine cat, Charger I am going to treasure the time we have left together.

Update on Panther — Lessons We Have Learned

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Last year our beloved first cat, Panther developed diabetes. So we learned about injecting insulin and glucose curves. Last fall, he vomited violently 3 times, and we rushed him to the pet emergency clinic on a Saturday night. We learned about pancreatitus (again) and giving subcutaneous fluids.

Panther has had several more episodes of pancreatitus. So we keep an I/V unit with a pouch of Ringers Lactate ready in the closet. We already had one cat chew through the tubing, so the closed closet is safest. When his fur looks bad and I tent his scruff which doesn’t go down quickly — with Steven’s help I give him subQ fluids from 50 to 150ccs at a time. Sometimes once a week, sometimes twice a day.

When Panther meows and makes me follow him, then jumps on the “insulin perch” I know to give him his 1/4 unit of Lantus/Glargine. But only after he eats!

We learned that Panther has a “sensitive” pancreas. That’s the organ that produces insulin and various digestive enzymes. So he eats prescription Hills Science Diet I/D and canned Purina Proplan salmon/fish or turkey and giblets. The canned food is amongst those recommended for diabetic cats.

During this time Panther has willfully downgraded himself socially from top male cat to the bottom of the social scale. So no more energy expended in boxing matches with Charger.

Panther is wise enough to direct us in what he needs and when. And we have become wise enough to listen. That is why he is still alive and experiencing a decent quality of life.

A Little Too Much Cat to Love :-)

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At their annual checkup we found that both Charger and Agile are overweight. We take them in to our vet at the same time, as this saves us one office visit basic fee. When you have as many cats as we do, saving money in this way can be a Good Thing.

We are giving them high protein canned food to replace some of the kibble they eat (similar to what Panther is getting). Charger is a large male Bengal at 19 lb 12 oz. Agile is a broad chested formerly feral feline at 15 lbs. Our goal for the next two years is to get them down to about 18 lbs and 13 lbs respectively. So, much more exercise, combined with having to jump up to platforms for smaller quantities of food is in store for both cats.

Cat Food — Automated Feeders

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There are numerous advantages to having an automatic feeder

  • less anxious or annoyed cats (and dogs)
  • regulated portioned feeding can help prevent or reverse obesity (versus free feeding out of a bowl)
  • feeding times can be specified with some models
  • your cat can be fed without you being there — good for short trips away from home or long days at work

A few disadvantages:

  • you have to keep it very clean
  • prevent ants or other insects from inhabiting the feeder
  • set the times correctly
  • with most models it dispenses only enough to be feeding one or two pets
  • each model presents varying degrees of difficulty being programmed — some are less intuitive than others

Notable for techies in Korea and Japan: Korean mobile operator SK Telecom has created a way to feed your pet using their cell phone feature. I wonder when someone will bring capability to the US…

Then there is the futuristic looking coffee maker sized automated and programmable Perfect PetFeeder is available in the US — for about $499.00US

Or the gravity fed elevated wheeled food or watering stations by Critter Cooler. For about $95.00US.

Having said all that, here are a few less costly models I have seen that you might want to consider:

Petmate’s Bistro Electronic Portion Control automatic feeder

Synchronic’s Lentek PD06G 6 Day Automatic Feeder

Radio Systems’ Petsafe PF5-11 5-Meal Electronic Pet Feeder

Blitz’ 11899 25lb Automatic Feeder

Plus there are a large number of gravity fed kibble feeders by Petmate that you can find in almost any pet store.

For any of these feeders look at:

  • the sturdiness of the construction
  • warranty
  • ease of cleaning
  • ease of emptying and refilling
  • food capacity
  • will it hold and dispense the type of food your cat likes to eat
  • anticipate a trial period for any new feeder
  • be sure the construction does not allow an industrious cat from pawing out additional kibble, or breaking the mechanism!
  • if you return the feeder, let the seller (and manufacturer!) know what went wrong — the pet food industry is a billion dollar market — the best way to bring about change is to provide consumer feedback!

Buying and Safely Storing Pet Food

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With 8 cats to feed, plus the strays that other people discard in my area, I buy our high quality cat food in 20 lb. bags where possible to save money. Then we transfer it to special air tight food safe containers. I also check the expiration date before buying. Eight cats go through a 20 lb. sack in about one and a half months. Overall, buying high quality cat food such as Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Hills, Purina Pro Plan, Nutro, Blue Buffalo, Wysong, etc. can save you money — your cats will eat less and be healthier (thus saving on vet bills).

We are also supplementing with more canned food, especially for our diabetic cat Panther. The canned foods we chose are higher protein, fewer carbohydrates, thus straining his metabolism less.
When you are shopping be sure to check the expiration dates before you buy any pet food or treats.

To read the ingredients on some canned food bring your magnifying glasses (only half joking) — until someone pointed it out — I did not see that Wellness brand foods contains small amounts of garlic which damage the red blood cells of cats and dogs. The label print is tiny!

Be sure that taurine is in the cat food you buy, until it was intentionally added to cat foods, cats were having heart problems from a lack of taurine. The Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research’s article explains this better than I can.

The article “Cats Are Different“by T. J. Dunn, Jr. DVM subtitled “Find Out How A Cat’s Nutritional Needs Are Different From A Dog” is a terrific layman’s level explanation of our pet’s nutritional needs. Read and learn!

Lastly, I found this article and thought you might find it interesting, too: Pet Food Storage Tips, Part One: Dry Food