Noms

 

Food does not come in a pyramid for Mishka, just - Noms or Antinoms. (nom = sound cat makes head down in plate of  yummy food "nom nom nom") Strangely curcumin extract. ground eggshell, the appallingly black fulvic minerals, and Dr Wheatgrass extract which all cause my human child to gag are acceptable cat condiments.

Noms - fish, roast chicken, roast lamb, mashed pumpkin, Kraft cheeseslices,whey powder, raw egg yolk, grass and wheatgrass even though this sometimes makes her gag or even throw up (the kitty equivalent of alcohol? so nom i don't care about hangovers?)

Antinoms -raw meat, beef, ascorbic acid, spirulina, glandular, Hills a/d, chicken liver, beef liver, liver powder, liver flavouring, did i mention liver?

Tish's list is of course the complete reverse - except for spirulina - evil green pond sludge which no one except me thinks is acceptable. Mishka will reject the entire plate of food if it contains a particle of antinoms the size of a nailhead.

So of course a raw diet is just what the doctors Addie (FIP research), Lipkin (virus hunter) Kremer (HIV expert below) ordered for our purebred princess. Ziwipeak (airdried meat - fits into the definition of a raw diet as it avoids high/low temp processing ) and raw eggyolk are the closest she gets to a primal diet.

The experts mention L carnitine which is the one amino acid I thought a carnivore would have trouble being deficient in. Turns out we can cook the nutrition out of anything; 

" dog and cat foods are extremely low in free L- Carnitine levels as compared with that found in raw ground beef. Most pets are maintained strictly on commercial pet food diets and are thus kept chronically deficient in L- Carnitine. " Lack of Carnitine causes muscle weakness including heart disease. http://meowmeowmom.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/the-carnitine-conundrum/

Carnitine is easy to get as a powder - but the acidic form has a sour taste which cats loathe. If you cannot pill a cat who won't eat raw try QUINICARN chicken flavoured powder Supplement For Dogs & Cats "Supports Body's Defense Against Physiological and Metabolic Stress" cat dose 250 mg daily

Kremer's Nontoxic AIDS Therapy and Prevention

I am slowly reading a scholarly work on HIV/AIDS by Heinrich Kremer, 'The Silent Revolution of the AIDS- and Cancer-Medicine' A complete summary of the book is available online - http://www.aliveandwellsf.org/kremer/ it has the lowdown on what kicks a system from th1 to th2 and how to prevent that; makes so much sense, like a universal theory of disease. I cut to the healing section yesterday. it has some reccomendations which may translate well to cats. the key is to avoid oxidative stress and support the glutathione levels in the body; FIP cats have low plasma glutathione. it is why dr addie wants us to add arginine to the diet for FIP as a couple of teaspoons of raw red meat a week - again i'm researching precise dose levels for supplemental powders as Mishka won't eat raw ( so much cheaper and easier if she would just eat the meat raw! Amino acid supplementation is fiddly - stuffing up ratios causes much more harm than good.)

NAcetylCysteine NAC another key antioxidant in the glutathione chain may also be useful both as treatment and preventative.
"N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a chemically modified form of the dietary amino acid cysteine. Cysteine and NAC contain sulphur, which is key to protecting the body from damage by oxidation. Other sulphur containing antioxidants include alpha-lipoic acid and glutathione. Glutathione levels are considered the most reliable indicator of the body's resistance to oxidation, and NAC plays a role in glutathione metabolism. While touted by many supplement manufacturers as a precursor to glutathione, NAC probably has more of a sparing effect. That is, it neutralises oxidants in place of glutathione, allowing glutathione levels to be maintained." http://www.manorvets.co.uk/pet-sub-sub/972-n-acetylcysteine/

Where iz my cheezeburger?

 " A great many things in my life would be different if only I could open the door to the refrigerator. "~ Henri, le chat noir

 

 Grains and carnivores - not a happy mix

It is nice to have Mishka back to normal - hunting around the house in the wee hours for snacks ... bang bang bang at 4 am opening cupboards, finding her in a pile of kibble ....

oh crap - waiting for the sound of puking

She was vomiting again on tuesday evening / wed morning. Perhaps it was a bit of plastic from chomping into the loaf of fruit bread on the bench, or the bread itself.  Thankfully settled by midday but for many hours I thought it was all over though she is stronger; still playing with me after 4 chucks! took five to take her down a bit, and she remained well hydrated. Previously one or two chucks made her a limp fur rag. She was examined and cleared by our vet for continued treatment, so drained again wed pm and perked up straight way as usual - so we put it down to scoffing kibble accidentally left out for the other cat on top of the illicit snacks. We are not serving even a  mouthful of this junk food even as a treat anymore though she does miss it since Friskies Indoor was all she ever ate when she came to us.

Mishka wasn't particularly fippy belly leading up to the vomiting so it caught me by surprise. Might be magical thinking but let's pretend the fluid is slowing down marginally. After a week we only drained 465 mls. The time before we took off that much after only five days. No hairball has come up, and also no grass yet even though she has also scoffed her nommy new wheatgrass today which astonishingly seemed to make her feel better almost immediately.

Firstly i stopped the curcumin and pentoxifylline cream since they can both upset the tummy with no difference in Mishka's constitution except she is happier ( the pentoxi cream was was getting increasingly unsettling applied even just twice daily instead of the required three. i wasn't going to renew the prescription as it hasn't made huge inroads into her disease for the emotional cost - just tried replacing it with curcumin as the anti-inflammatory. We haven't missed the prednisolone.

Curcumin extract suggested by a friend was originally rejected because i thought it would be hard to dose ( not true ~ she likes the flavour or ignores it but it stains fur pink! ) and I have read it may be immune suppressive although possibly in away that is ok For starters it hammers the TH1 and TH2 systems even handedly  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1810449/ 
Too many long words - waiting on comment by Dr Norris. We can't get Thorne brand Curcuvet in australia but herbs of gold sell an easy to get product containing the same bioavailable Meriva extract Thorne uses.

And still waaaiting for the customs clearance to get PI - come on Santa!