Friday Jan 16, 2004

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so, agatha (my problem kitty) and i go to the vet to ostensibly get her fixed. we walk out with a 300 dollar vet bill that does NOT inclued her getting fixed or any vaccinations. she has a bad skin condition that the vet can't diagnose, but charged us 40 dollars for, and MAYBE a heart problem (the ekg was fine, but the vet wants to follow up and give her an ultrasound). all of the tests, that came back negative, were so expensive, and we are not a family that can afford a 600 dollar vet bill every month (they want to see her again in two weeks). I think that it may be a food allergy and "white coat hypertension" , and i want to do everything that i can to make sure my baby is healthy, but how do i say no to the vet? i can't afford these types of bills, and so far the meds i have been giving agatha dont' seem to be helping. she doesn't have any immune system problems, just really bad skin problems. there is nowhere in my area to go to get a second opinion. does anybody have a cat with bad allergies? what can i do?
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politrix:
A (radical vegan) friend of mine had a dog ("Patches the Canine Albino Dancing Circus Bear") who had always had all sorts of problems with a mange-LIKE condition and eventually diagnosed with cancer and given a prognosis of 4-6 months without some $4,800 procedure. "S" (Patches' mom) didn't have the duckage so she started looking around for alternative approaches. She tried the "Raw Meaty Bone" diet for Patches and within two weeks the skin problems were completely gone. In addition, the dog is still around, chasing cats, killing rodents (and a pet rabbit one sad night) and doing other things to mortify her owner, but still... if I had a sick dog I'd look into it.

I remember her saying something to the effect that there's a similar diet for cats. It's based on the premise that you give the animals a diet much much closer to what they have evolved to eat/what they would eat in the wild. Most butchers throw things like bones and stuff away... and with a trip to your local neighborhood butcher you can have them grind up the bones, throw in x amount of meat (there's percentages involved) and haggle on a price that would probably end up being about three or four times what you pay for IAMS or Purina, but at the end of the day, you'd be giving your cat what they've evolved to eat in the first place.

I think "Raw meaty Diet" or "Meaty Bone Diet" would probably come back with a few hits on Google.

oh fuck it... here's a few (I'll do the leg-work):

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/
http://www.freshpetfood.ca/products.htm
http://www.blighparkvet.com.au/news_dec01.htm
(scroll down to GOOD DIET AND GOOD HEALTH)
http://www.raw-connections.com/history.html

I'm not a Vet... I don't profess to have studied the matter. But this is something I'd suggest looking into yourself. Good luck with your cat.

jasechase:
I don't have a cat and my dog passed away two years ago. But she had some similar skin allergy problems and I found and took her to a pet dermatologist in LA. I am sure they have one where you are too. he did a lot of skin tests and found out what she was allergic too and then made a natural serum. I gave her a shot in her neck every month and she never had another problem. you should look into that. Peace to you and your kitty - jase

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