BengaLover wrote: » One of my rescue cats had gingivitis, which led to check ups diagnosing feline aids.. Did yours get any bloods done?
lolo62 wrote: » did your cat have any other symptoms besides the gingivitis?
BengaLover wrote: » yes, sniffles and lethargy.. She tested negative for the FLV but positive for the aids.:(
BengaLover wrote: » It was a few years back and the option was her being unwell but alive with a poorer life quality, and constant treatment, so the decision was made to put her asleep, I couldnt justify keeping her alive for my own pleasure, thankfully her sister from the same litter tested all negative so that was great. Those tests are expensive tho, but you get a result within 15-20mins.
Sburke wrote: » Another PS....I crush L Lysine tablets up and sprinkle them on their wet food (health food stores stock it) as it's an anti-viral and good for keeping any flu symptoms at bay. Dose her for 2 weeks with this and then alternate weeks. All of mine have had all their shots but because of uncontrollable events have had attacks of flu at times. Once the virus is there it's never gotten rid of! A bit like cold sores. RevitalAid is also a good tonic for cats....pump some onto their wet food...again, a bit like pharmaton for humans. Sounds like your kitty needs a good tonic, her teeth out and plenty of anti viral meds :-) btw this is purely the voice of experience speaking....I'm not a vet!!
Themadhouse wrote: » Gingivitis can be caused by FIV. I would advise getting your cat tested. But she is so young that even if it is positive its not a death sentence! A friend of mine had a cat that lived a great life with FIV until he was about 20yrs old. It can be controlled but i do hope your cat does not have it. L Lysine is good to keep the immune system boosted, raw chicken wings and thighs are good. Good dental care is also important with it, try soon with a tooth brush. Dry food more so than wet food also. Did the rescue notice this? What advice and back up have they offered?
boomerang wrote: » But even the bit I do to prevent contamination is probably not strictly necessary. Unless you're an infant, elderly or immuno-comprised due to illness I really don't there is much of a risk. Our bodies are pretty good at dispensing with these bugs.
The Sweeper wrote: » To lolo62, try starting your cat with a single raw chicken neck for its evening meal. Be prepared, she may 'kill' it all over again, throwing it around the place and so on. As per the above conversation, you'll need to clean up the space she's in after she's done that. You can hit the neck with a hammer to make it more easy for her to eat (observing usual hygiene precautions). If she'll eat a chicken neck, that means she'll eat raw bone (often the most difficult part of the raw diet - plenty of cats will chew raw meat strips but won't touch bone). If she'll eat bone, you can consider moving to a raw diet (hygiene aspects taken into consideration). That could be a raw, fresh chicken neck every morning (one a day), and for her evening meal, some chunks of raw meat (never mince, they need the chewing action) and twice to three times a week, a small piece of raw liver (a 1.5 inch cube or thereabouts). In terms of how much meat, based on cubes - about 1.5 inch cubes, the kind you'd use cooking a beef stew - try three cubes for one meal. If she won't eat them all, try two cubes. If she's begging for more, push it to four cubes. If you're still feeding kibble, half that down - one to two cubes of meat for a meal. I find a number of benefits from feeding raw - but I can't feed all raw, because my cats just will not tackle raw chicken necks. They were recommended by my vet to keep their teeth clean (in fact, he insisted I try them, and when I discussed how my cats wouldn't have a bar of them he went through how long they can go without food. I fed chicken necks at every meal, morning and night, for three days, and offered nothing else, before I cracked.) Subsequently I feed royal canin oral care sensitive for one meal, and raw meat for the other. I feed tough meat in large chunks so they absolutely have to chew and eat slowly. They get liver occasionally - twice a week maybe, a cube each. I find far less incidence of vomiting after eating (can happen from scarfing down bite-sized food like kibble or processed bits in gravy far too quickly). I also haven't seen a single hair ball in this house - not one, ever. Give it a try, along with L-lysine on her food for a bit (try 1/3 of a 500mg tablet, sprinkled on her food morning and night for a week, so in other words she should get approximately 2/3 of 500mg each day).
