Re: Dry food/Nina~IBD

[PEC2851]

Nina, Speaking about dry food, IBD etc........... I just got back from vets and I am VERY frustrated. Taylor and Moonshade are my 2 "fosters" that came from the kill shelter in August and were the only 2 surviving distemper kittens. They were rescued in August, so it's been some time now and I am anxious to get them adopted. (I did get Thomas (Charity's grey kitten) adopted last week.Yeah!!!!) However, I still have Timothy, Charity's black kitten, Moonshade & Taylor, PLUS a neighborhood stray wandered to the safety of my barn after being HBC. Needless to say, I took her to vets, thinking that she'd have to be euthanized, as her entire back end was twisted and shattered. X-rays revealed a broken pelvis and her right leg was shattered beyond repair, but.........she was so sweet and a real trooper, NEVER crying out in pain or anything....and she was negative for both Felv & FIV. So, after a discussion w/ vet, I opted for amputation of the leg. I just couldn't bear the thought of putting her down after she fought so hard to survive! She's doing quite well,(can even use litter box~a BIG concern I had), in fact, it was she who had her post-sx. check up today. And now, it seems her "sister" has shown up at my house too!  See where I am going with this??? She is also sweet, but now there's another kitty that I'll have to spay, test and do full vetting on. AND ANOTHER ONE THAT WILL NEED A HOME!! I'm up to my eyeballs in cats here!!  Really, I'm not complaining, just whining. LOL! I've moved to a much smaller home and with my 4 dogs and 5 cats, it's really quite "cozy". I also am on a fixed income now and no longer working. It would just be impossible for me to keep all these sweet cats, much as I'd like to.  I must have a sign on my back reading, "ALL STRAYS WELCOME HERE." But what is a person supposed to do when there's an animal in need??  I've even tried locating the owner(s) of the orange girl and the new tiger... Of course nobody is going to admit they threw their cat out like trash.. GRRRR, it makes me so angry!! I'm wandering WAYYYYY OT here...... Sorry, I tend to do that. Getting back on topic.  Taylor & Moonshade have serious issues with stools. They have been de-wormed, using Nemex and Strongid. Also droncit, since they were infested with fleas when rescued. When their first stool sample was brought to vets, I did suspect coccidia or giardia, but was told it was negative. Needless to say, when the problem was unresolved, after treatment w/ metronidizole, I insisted vet do the fecal...and, yes, they DID have coccidia. So, they were treated with albon.......and albon was REPEATED after no major improvements with first round. So here's my dilemma. Fecal negative today and vet and I discussed IBD, which I thought could be part of their problem a while ago. They've been on the raw food diet.  I have used slippery elm, arsenicum albon, acidophyllus, colustrum w/olive, brown rice and other holistic/homeopathic supplements. The vet wants me to try them on Hill's ID food, and I am not really keen on that idea... Now, I did feed that to Felix, my old man w/ IBD, mainly because he was so old and he must have found it to be very palatible, cause he LOVED it. I also used the supplements, and he responded very well. My concern here is these 2 girls are so young and I just don't want to jump into the prescription diet thing with them... With all your experience with IBD Nina, what should I do for them??  I just feel so bad, I want them to get back on track.....they deserve to have a permanent, loving home after all they've been thru. They are such love-muffins!! Oh yeah, vet also said that if they continue with loose stools, to start them on regime of prednisone AND metronidizole!  Believe me, I am NOT crazy about that idea either. I realize in some instances steroids ARE the way to go, but I just want to explore some more natural, less invasive type things.  Know what I mean?? Anyway, now that I've written a mini-novel, PLEASE give me some suggestions and advice. I want to do whatever possible to get these girls healthy..... Thanks in advance Nina!  (And anyone else who has suggestions!!) Hugs, Patti