It must have been the food

[Lydia Leftcoast]

After the vet failed to find anything wrong with Kidley (no illness, no chemical imbalances), I decided to try shifting his food around.

I replaced with Katz-N-Flocken with Spot's Stew dry food, which has all human-grade ingredients, and began experimenting with various canned foods from the co-op and independent pet supply store. He ate most of them, except for the Merrick's brand. He wouldn't touch it. His favorites were B.G. Chicken and Quail and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. I also began giving him only filtered water. (I drink only filtered water at home.)

It took a long time for his condition to deteriorate, and I think the recovery will continue for a long time as well, but just now, I saw him rolling around with one of his toys, something he hasn't done for a long time.

He also wakes me up in the morning more often than not. His coat still has some mats in it, but all in all, the rest is feeling silky again.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and input.

[CountAllVotes]

1. Did they check Kidley's teeth?

You never mentioned whether or not they decided to clean them. That could be a problem depending on how old Kidley is.

Mr. Flame was 9 years old when he fell ill. He'd been eating the Katz-N-Flocken which I believe was really not doing him any good at all. He has no more mats appearing. The mats are a sign that the cat is not cleaning itself, something that cats are fastidious about. Mr. Flame is doing pretty good despite the skin cancer. He seems to look good and his coat is good too. I'm sure the teeth cleaning helped a lot as his gums were bleeding.

I hope you can find more answers to Kidley's health problems soon!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. They checked his teeth, but they didn't say anything about them

He wasn't grooming himself for a while, which is why he developed the mats, I suppose (aside from being a long-haired kitty), but now he's grooming himself again as part of his increased vitality. But there are still some leftover mats that I am gradually combing out.

[CountAllVotes]

3. long-haired cat

I didn't realize this part. Long-haired cats tend to get mats and require a lot of care.

All three of my cats are short haired, hence the reason that Mr. Flame became a concern. How does a short-haired cat end up with mats? Well the answer was that he was sick and I didn't realize it and he was not grooming himself.

I'm glad Kidley's teeth are seemingly ok.

I think that Katz-N-Flocken is toxic food after this whole thing.

:shrug:

Lets hope the path to wellness continues and kudos for taking good care of your beloved cat. :)

[rox63]

4. Glad to hear he's doing better!

:)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Update: a miniature kitty stampede

This wasn't a REAL kitty stampede, in which Kidley habitually ran back and forth the entire length of the apartment at streak-of-fur speed, but he did jump off the couch, circle the living room at streak-of-fur speed, and jump back up onto the couch.

Also, I'm gradually combing and trimming the mats out of his fur. The biggest one was handing by a thread yesterday, and I just snipped it off.

He's enjoying his Spot's Stew kibbles and high-quality wet foods.

[CountAllVotes]

6. wow, Kidley is doing a lot better!

That is great news! I'll have to look for Spot's Stew where I live. I see it has a fairly low phosphorus level and the indoor cat formula is lower in fat than many of the other dry foods are.

How much is Spot's Stew (what size bag(s) does it come in?)? Please let me know as I haven't yet re-ordered a shipment of Life's Abundance for my 3 cats. Thanks so much and feel free to PM me the info.

Thanks again and I'm glad to hear this good news!!! :D :D :D

:dem: :kick:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. The Spot's Stew is made by Halo, and the dry version comes in 3 lb. bags

for something like $10. (I don't remember exactly how much I paid for it.)