Hi Sue
Re your vet's assessment of Iams, I honestly don't think fine is good
enough -- and especially for FeLV kitties with their severely
compromised immune systems. And no disrespect to your vet, but many
vets--including my own--have never led me to believe they know or care
that much about nutrition for healthy cats never mind FELV cats. (I'd
say the same for a lot of doctors re human nutrition.)
Iams dry has e.g. chicken by-products, ie, all the chicken parts that
human carnivores would not wish to eat, and corn filler and cellulose,
and since the labels don't say no artificial preservatives, flavors or
colors I have to presume it has those too. I used to feed my cats dry
Iams out of ignorance -- I didn't know there was a whole bunch of
better-quality brands out there. The Wellness dry that I now buy
specifically states on the package a list of things they do not use, and
the list includes meat by-products, corn, cellulose, and artificial
preservatives, flavors or colors.
Kerry
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sue Feldbusch
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 9:15 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: RE: for Kathleen-- I'm new and green.I've rescued and am caring
forDeirdre (FELV+)
I use IAMS hard food and my vet said it's fine for felv+ kitty's.
From: MacKenzie, Kerry N. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: for Kathleen-- I'm new and green.I've rescued and am caring
forDeirdre (FELV+)
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:00:32 -0600
Hi Kathleen
I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to your email till now---welcome
to the group, though I'm very sorry for the reason you've had to find
us.
You won't find a more informed, supportive, caring, wonderful bunch of
people than this one. They've been a total godsend for me!
It's always a shock to discover a kitty has felv. I'm glad Deirdre has
such a caring mom.
I discovered in December 2003 that 5 of the 6 rescue kitties I took in
were felv positive.
I had to go on a crash course, so to speak, in dealing with FeLV cats
and I found that their diet (not surprisingly) is SO important. My most
precious references are this wonderful group and Anitra Frazier's The
Natural Cat Book.
Here's a copy of what I've sent out in the past with the salient
points:
~~Give only filtered water.
~~Feed only high grade/human grade pet food. That is NOT Iams or
Science
diet-type, which has nasty by-products, and which I now know, by no
means represents the gold standard in pet food, but the much higher
quality brands without by-products, additives or preservatives, eg
Wellness, Innova, Petguard, that you find in the independent pet stores
(you won't find these high-quality foods in the Petco/Petsmart chains).
I give mine Petguard wet food (from Wholefoods) and Wellness wet and
dry
food morning and evening.
~~Add these supplements morning and evening to Deirdre's wet food, to
boost her immune system: a 500mg L-Lysin pill (grind first), easily
available from pharmacies/healthfood stores, 1/4 tsp feline enzymes, 1
teaspoon of 'Vita-Mineral Mix' (I'll send you the details separately).
Also, gradually, as I was able to obtain them (not difficult as it
turned out, everything is available in health food stores or Internet)
I
added most of the remainder of the supplements Frazier recommends:
CoQ10, bioplasma, olive oil, cod liver oil and alfalfa (I'll send you
details re amounts). And I give them interferon. Got it thru Walgreen's
(eventually) on my vet's prescription, and he made it up for me.
You will get tons more advice and help from others on the list!
Good luck, Kathleen, and a big hug for Deirdre---she's such a lucky
kitty to have found you! Kerry
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kathy Gittel
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 3:02 PM
To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: I'm new and green.I've rescued and am caring for Deirdre
(FELV+)
I'd be grateful for any and all suggestions you have for diet,
vitamins, and care for Deirdre. I fed her outside and created a
shelter for her in my shed for 1 year when she first appeared under my
evergreen tree eating birdseed. She was about 6 months old then. I
trapped her this January 1st and had her spayed, de-flead, de-wormed
and got her all her shots. She was feral. During the last 3 weeks, she
finally began
to get friendly and is now a total mush melon. I love her. She has
taken up residence in my living room, because I must isolate her from
my other 6 cats to keep them free of FELV.
She has 2 windows, lots of toys, a couch, a special bed and she eats
Fancy Feast wet food and Adult Nutro dried food. I spend at least a
third of my time home with her.
She's extremely spunky, loving and playful. I'd like
to keep her that way for as long as possible. I'd appreciate any and
all suggestions you might have for me.
Thank You
Kathleen Gittel
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