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Hi, this is Rusty's Mom here. I know we haven't been blogging a lot lately. Rusty's been having some problems, he's not been eating much and he's been having a lot of problems with constipation. I think that's why he's probably not been eating much. You can only fit so much in there, and if it doesn't come out, there's not room for more. I've been really concerned and giving him Laxatone, which he loves, pretty much daily and it's helped some, but not really enough, I don't think. The vet told me to give him mineral oil, which I have done, but it's such a fight to get it in him. So, today I finally said, enough is enough. I went to the store and tried to buy canned pumpkin, which I hear is really great for these types of digestive problems, but the grocer told me that they don't have it in stock right now since the pumpkin crop was really bad last year and they barely got enough to cover for Thanksgiving and the holidays. He told me they didn't expect to see it in the store until the end of the summer. Oh, oh, that's not going to help Rusty out. So, I tried second choice. Baby food squash. I bought a jar of that and some Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets. Some of the folks on the CRF newsgroup say that Fancy Feast is what they give their kitties when they stop eating well. I guess the thought is that not eating is worse than giving them a delectable food that they will eat. So, I mixed the Fancy Feast with some squash and gave it to a very tired, sick looking Rusty. He wolfed it down like a starving man! So, I came to a decision today. Rusty has been looking bad and acting weak lately. He's 19. He's starving because he just doesn't much like the k/d food and he's getting constipated eating it. So, I'm not sure how much time he's got left on his calendar, but I think he's going to get Fancy Feast and squash. If it clears up his constipation and gives him some strength to enjoy the end of his days, then so be it. He's resting now, as you can see from his photo above. I'll let everyone know how he does the next few days. Send him some good purrs, I know he'd like that.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Rusty Report
Posted by Rusty at 3:28 PM
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54 comments:
Oh Rusty! We'll definitely send our biggest purrs out to you so can eat and feel better!
We loves you Rusty!! We are going to purr for you! We hopes that you get to feeling better! When Sandusky's constipation gets real bad we end up taking him to the vet for an enema. Not fun for him.
Hello sweet pal Rusty, my sisters and I are all sending you the best purrs we have. I agree with your Mom, you gotta eat so it might as well be what you will eat. We love you Rusty!!! Brian, Sascha, Gracie, Zoe & Dolly
Rusty, we too are sending purrs and universal Light. At 19, we say definitely have your mum feed whatever you will eat that agrees with you. You need the calories, it doesn't have to be premium grain-free or raw at this point.
Kitty kisses from us and smooches and scritches from our human.
Oh Rusty
We are sorry you have been having a few problems, and we hope that this new food will give you some zip and make you feel better. We will keep you in our purrs and just keep on chowing down!
purrin
Abby
You have my biggest purrs comming your way my friend.. Hugs GJ xxx
I hope the squash works for him - we're gonna' purr our hardest that it does.
Please give him a hug from us.
Sending out tons of purrs for Rusty!
Rusty, we are sorry you aren't feeling so good. We agree that you should have whatever you enjoy eating. I, Eric, have always had an on off problem with constipation but mum changed us from dry food to all Stinky Goodness over the last few months and my pooper works much better now. We are sending you lots of purrs.
Sending lots of purrs to Rusty. Great idea about the food - let him have what he wants and it may perk him up. A suggestion - when Chica age 19 gets constipated, I add more water to her food and make it kind of soupy - she gets more water and poops better and eats more. Good luck.
I have a 15 year old girl who has been having problems with constipation. I read somewhere where people were adding a little Metamucil to their cat's food, and that seems to have really have helped her. I just add a little bit, maybe 1/8 of a teaspoon, to her Fancy Feast a couple of times a week. I make sure it dissolves before I give it to her, and she hasn't turned it away. She is not a huge eater anyway and is very picky, so this was the only thing I could get her to eat - she wouldn't eat pumpkin and she hates Laxatone. Anyway, just another option to consider. It's hard watching them get old sometimes, I know. :(
jana (Fuzzy and Zoe send purrs to Rusty)
Poor Rusty! Constipation can be so uncomfortable. At least it sounds like a problem that can be rectified.
That's a great idea to feed him some baby food with meat. When one of my kitties was having digestive problems, the vet suggested we feed her baby meat -- like ham, chicken or beef. Maybe baby food is the way to go -- it's easy to digest, obviously.
It's heartening to hear that Rusty still has an appetite for the "good stuff"!
We're purring for everything to clear up soon.
Hello Rusty. We heard about you from Cat Blogosphere. Our prayers and purrs are with you for as long as you need them,
Mum has adopted several elderly kitties at one time or another and has found constipation to be related with level of hydration, We don't know if you have renal failure or not, If you don't, maybe your vet could give you some subcutaneous fluids. This has helped failing elderly kitties on numerous occasions, If you are in renal failure, you may need some IV fluids to get you over the hump. Our brother Checkers needed this done when he got really dehydrated, He would go into the critical care/emergency hospital for a day and they would place a catheter in his vein and slowly hydrate him.
We agree with eating whatever you can when you are ill. We are strong believers in being happy when we are elderly,
Our our vet used to give our renal cats Lactulose (Rx) but you need to be well hydrated before taking it.
I'm not sure if you have access to a Whole Foods or Supertarget but they carry a brand of organic pumpkin from California that's a little soupier than the midwestern variety we're all used to but it works just as well for cats. I used a couple of tablespoons full for my brood in both wet feedings and it works wonders.
I'm sending Rusty loads and loads of healing purrs. And purrs of strength for his human, who is obviously doing all she can for him.
Oh, Rusty, we send lots of warm purrs and tail wags.
Rusty, we are sorry you aren't feeling well. We think you should eat what you want to eat...if that's Fancy Feast, then so be it. Actually, there are some FF flavors that are low in phosphorus which is what you want to avoid when your kidneys aren't working so good. Also, we like the idea of adding some water to your food...water keeps everything moving good, if you know what we mean!
We hope you continue to eat and you start feeling better...
Another thought...you could mix the FF and squash with some of the k/d...sort of balancing out the bad food with the good food....
We are sending lots of rumbly purrs and head bumps to you and Rusty!
Oh Rusty, we are sending our very bestest purrs and prayers to you and your mom.
All of us want to add lots of healing vibes and purrayers for Rusty...
Dear Rusty's Mama,
I agree with the previous posts, especially the added water to Rusty's food. It helps a lot with Grayce and her bladder problems...more water in, better hydrated Cat.
My sincere prayers for you and that Rusty feels better. I say give him what he wants. He's over 100 in human years and quality of life is the most important thing at that age!
xx MomKat trish
'Kaika's mom here: I think you may be right about the k/d, and think you made a good decision about what to feed him now. I've used canned pumpkin and babyfood squash, and know that they both work for my kitties. I also couldn't find canned pumpkin at the grocery store when I needed it a few months ago, but I found organic canned pumpkin at my local health food store! 'Kaika and I send healing energy and purrs to Rusty ...
So sorry to hear sweet Rusty isn't feeling well...I gave my senior kitty, Nikki, the water off of canned chicken and tuna when she wasn't eating much (offer the meat as well, but separately from the broth)...Best of luck beautiful boy, we love you...Praying and purring loudly for you...J, Calle, Halle, Sukki
Oh, Rusty, sweetie, we are purring for you. Sounds like you are getting some very excellent noms. That should make you feel all betters.
(((HUGS))) sweet boy!
Purrrrrs and purrayers for you Rusty!!! We bet you love the new food!! ((((((HUGGGGGGSSSS))))) from your TX furiends,
We totally agree with you that you need to give him what makes him happy! At 19 amazing years old he deserves that.
Our baby Michelangelo used to get constipated all the time and would have to go into the v-e-t for enemas, more so the older he got.
We will purr hard for our furriend Rusty!
Jack's vet said to not worry about feeding Jack special food for his kidney health. Jack hates it. The vet said eating is much more important than barely eating special food. Jack keeps plugging along, and, as long as he's comfortable, we hope Rusty does too.
We'z purring fur yoo Rusty. Our mom sez dat eating is better den not eating da speshul foods. Yeah, mixing water in wif da fancy feast and da skwash will help too. After all when we is older we should be allowed to be spoiled! Mom sez if yoo want she will see if she can find some canned pumpkin here and send it to yoo...our big store usually haf some no matter what time of year it is.
We are sorry to hear Rusty is having eating and pooping problems ~ that's no fun. We are sending HUGE big rumbly get well purrs 'cos we want him to have a really good quality of life for as long as pawsible.
We love ya Rusty! Get well buddy.
Rusty, we are really sorry that you have been feeling rough. Your Mum has made a great decision to give you fuuds that you love and will eat. This will help you more than yucky old KD. When you are a senior cat it's more important that you can enjoy life and be comfortable than sticking religiously to prescription fuuds.
So you keep eating up the FF and the pumpkin fella.
Large rumbly purrs and love to you
Whicky Wuudler
Oliver
& Gerry
Rusty, we're purring for you and your mom. Your dinner sounds tasty and I am glad to hear you liked it.
Smooches and hugs
Poppy Q
Rusty, we are sorry you aren't feeling very well, furiend. Sounds like you are enjoying your nommy foods of fancy feast and baby squash! We will purr and purray for you very hard and hope you feel better soon.
Purrs are on their way Rusty. I agree with you that sometimes in our life we just have to eat what we want. If it makes him happy then that is what we can all hope for! Best of luck.
We're purring that you feel better soon Rusty! xxx
We are pleased your mom tried to give you fancy feast and squash - there's no point in putting food in front of you if you leave it as you don't like it.
My before cat of 19 years had kidney problems and cystitis and my vet told me to mix a little water in with wet food and she improved and was stable for for quite a long time.
Hi Rusty, I read about you on the CB and I hope you get to feeling better soon.
I have a senior kitty too who will be 19 this year. When she has problems with pooping we give her Tonic Lax which we get from the vet.
Oh we are sad that Rusty is feeling crummy but glad that he ate the Fancy Feast and squash. I am with you on the idea of letting him enjoy whatever time he has left (though I do hope it is a long one!) And honestly Fancy Feast isn't the worst thing he could have. We are sending over lots and lots of get well purrs and prayers and some head scritches and hugs too!
Hugs and snugs to your family at this hard time :-(
xx
We are so glad your Mom found something you liked to eat, and that it helped your tummy troubles. We are sending healing purrs Rusty.
Purrs and prayers are on the way to you. Our Mom stocked up on Pumpkin a few months ago. She can send you some if you need it. She gave our crf kitty Fooz pumpkin and it helped.
Sniffie and the Florida Furkids
Sounds like you are doing the right thing for Rusty. Purrs that it helps and Mom hugs to you at this difficult time.
Rusty we are certainly purrrrrin' for you. If your Mommy needs pumpkin, our Mom will send her a can. Also, Coenzyme Q-10 is working for Tang's poo problems and Tinker's pee problems. Tang takes 30mg once a day and Tinker takes it twice a day in their meals of canned Wellness. Q-10 is in every cell of the body but depletes with age. It really is a fantastic supplement for us furkids and our humans. Still purrrrin' for ya, Rusty...we love you kid=^Y^=
Rusty my friend, we're all thinking of you and hoping you're doing ok. Your mummy is very kind and sensible to give you yummy food.
Rusty is a good boy for living such a long life. We agree. Feed him what he will eat so he can enjoy his remaining time. Our poor ol' Bow wasn't eating much at the end either. Bless their little hearts.
We are sending tons of purrs and purrayers to Rusty.
Luf, Us
Oh Rusty, I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. We are sending many many purrs and prayers to you and comforting thoughts to your mommy. When my mommy's old woofie hit this time, he got to eat everything he wanted. He loved it and thought it was so neat that begging brought a reward each time. purrrrrrrrrrrs to you both
Oh no. We'll be purrin' for you!
Me and my sisters are purring a lot for you Rusty!!!
We have heard that organic pumpkin can sometimes be found at health stores, though mom says she's found pumpkin at stores here (though she hasn't looked in the last month or so. We live in Canada so maybe we don't have the same supply problems?) If you'd like mom to look for some and mail it to you, we could try!
Just checking in to see how things are going. Still sending healing purrrrss to Rusty.
Rusty's Mom, if you can't find pumpkin, maybe a little milk would help. It is supposed to give most kitties the squerts, and that is kinda what you want right now.
Rusty, we hope you are feeling better and we want you to know how often we think of you, purrrrz to you=^Y^=
We've been purring for you, sweet Rusty....and of course, we will continue to purr and purray. xxxxxxx
We haven't visited in a while and hope that you are feeling better by now. On older kitties, the petroleum based laxatives like laxatone and mineral oil just don't work so well. Most of the oldsters at the cat hospital where Teri works use Miralax at 1/4 teaspoon twice a day. It's OTC in the human 'fiber products' aisle. But like Kari said, you want to be really hydrated before you use it. Do you get sub q fluids at home? Our CRF cat Bo got fluids under the skin every day for 5 years and it kept him stable...even getting them 3 x a weeks you feel better
We came by to check on Rusty. Hope he is doing better!
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