At Benny's last vet visit (December), his blood work showed that he was nearly anemic. After looking at the past year's worth of blood tests, his iron levels had been steadily declining. Our vet was a bit puzzled, because his other levels (especially kidney) were not terrible, given his age.
I left the clinic dismayed because there was no treatment offered, outside of giving him organ meats as a treat (which he wouldn't eat anyway).
Our friend Connie had a suggestion, something she has used for her Fleurp. It's called Liqui-Tinic 4X, and it's a vitamin and iron supplement designed for multiple animal species.
The ingredients:
Dried Animal Digest, Animal Liver, Potassium Sorbate (preservative), Ferrous Sulfate, Xanthan Gum, Niacinamide, Polysorbate 80, Caramel Color, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Anethole, Sodium Saccharin, Citric Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Propyl Paraben (preservative), Methyl Paraben (preservative), Riboflavin, Vitamin B12 supplement.
Benny is quite picky about "things" added to his food, so I wasn't sure if he'd go for this. The instructions say to give 1 ml 2-3 times per day, (based on his weight) but given that he wasn't super anemic I've been dosing once per day.
Surprisingly he eats the food with this mixed in. We started using it around mid December. . .and recently both Jim and I have noticed that Benny is much more active. He's up on the kitchen table again, has a great appetite and is even playing at times. It took me a while to figure out that it likely is the supplement (because nothing else has changed in his diet/life).
We see the vet again in early February and I am curious at how his numbers will look. At this point, the vet does not know I'm using this supplement but I will bring it in at the appointment and show it to her.
I wanted to throw this out there for anyone who may need it. It may be helpful to some other kitty/dog/etc. You can buy it at a number of places, including Amazon. If you are using it already, I'd love to hear your experience, so please leave a comment.
6 comments:
Whoa, this seems like a great strategy to help Benny! I tell you, the blogosphere peeps have a tremendous amount of knowledge, and just about every single thing that I've tried with my cats, that was suggested as a comment to a post, has turned out to be GOOD INFO!
I've never tried vitamins like these. I think we don't need it right now 'cause our food supplementation is good enough. We're making cats food on our own - it's called BARF (biologically appropriate raw food). You can try, it's time consuming to make it but cats are healthier since we've stopped using can food :)
It sounds like this supplement has really helped Benny! Binga is also pretty picky about what goes in her food, and that's great that Benny accepts this added to his.
I am glad it is working. I may need it for Millie when he gets a recheck. He was slightly anemic, but it could have been from too much thyroid meds which we now reduced.
Sounds like he's on the right track!
I am so glad it is working for you.
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