Adrienne (Idaho) on 06/05/2021
Someone dumped mother and father cat and kittens at our place, but I didn't realize that was what had happened at first. I thought the neighbor's cats were coming over, wouldn't be the first time. By the time I figured out what was going on, that is, discovered the kittens, and started feeding everybody, there were more kittens on the way. So, now I have eleven semiferal cats living downstairs in a bedroom and bathroom. Soon we are going to build an enclosure for them that will give them access to the outdoors without the dangers that come with letting cats run freely when you live on a highway.
Since I have just gone through a blockage of one of the males. I would like to start putting apple cider vinegar into all the cats' water on a regular basis, but I'm not sure how much. Also, it sounds like it would be a good idea to give some to Ollie who just got home from the vet school today where they declared him a miracle cat because his kidney values and potassium levels were off the charts when I got him to them only two days ago!
They said it usually takes at least four days for a cat to start looking better if they are even going to live. It's a very scary condition!! Anyway, he has the usual meds mentioned in some of the other contributions here, like antibiotics, something to enlarge his urethra and some other thing. But, I'd like to also give Oliver some ACV. Can someone with good knowledge of giving ACV to cats with this condition recommend an amount to start with while Ollie is still on his meds? That is, how much to give a cat who is recovering from a urinary blockage, and how much to give as a preventative and health food for all my kitty cats? Thank you!
Replied By Adrienne (Idaho) on 01/26/2022
After calling Oliver a "miracle cat" for surviving his urinary infection, the vet school veterinarian added, "it's important for you to realize it's not uncommon for cats with urinary infection to relapse within a few weeks." Maybe they said that so I could start figuring out how I would pay for another round at the hospital? Whew!! So, what I decided to try was putting apple cider vinegar into Ollie's food instead of his water. Guess what: He eats it, no problem and no relapse! Since I have so many cats now, 14, I do feed kibble, Instinct at this time, to which I add Wellness canned avoiding versions that include salmon because it's what we do every day that shapes our lives, for the most part, and I'm pretty sure the salmon in pet foods is not wild caught. And, even if it was, do we really want to be eating wild caught salmon every day with the mercury they are ingesting....every day? What's really great about this is that I am now successfully adding ACV to all the canned food so all 14 cats are getting it every day. To two 12.5 oz. cans and a little more, I add 1 tablespoon and one teaspoon. :-)