Welcome Hemi

[sphynxluvr]

I wanted to introduce our new little boy Hemi. He is a year old and loves to go for walks in his stroller. He loves batting his springs and crunchy strawberry around the house and spending time on the lanai, taking tails off scared lizards, bird watching and fleece lined blankets. He loves his humans, and cuddle time is the best time. We are trying to transition him to a more adult food, and struggling with diarrhea. Vet says she would like us to avoid "raw choices" due to bird flu. We had our previous sphynx (Mabel) on the Instinct limited ingredient Salmon due to a chicken allergy, and she did very well. Hemi is currently eating Royal Canin Kitten food. Any suggestions would be welcomed, the lair has always come through for me. The vet suggested Hills GI Biome. Would love to hear your thoughts. TYIA.

 

[Yoda mom]

@sphynxluvr , Hi Hemi! welcome to the lair family handsome boy!
melt my heart! happiest adorable Hemi gotcha! he looks like my Tobylove (now 12, I adopted at 11 mos old).
Hemi struck gold in your heart and home. we are here for you!

** did vet do a stool sample check? rule out giardia, crypto or tritri? some vets will treat for giardia in case of a false negative test.

have you added a probiotic like purina fortiflora members use in group?
I know members have shared feeding the hills GI Biome

I keep nutramax proviable- DC probiotic on hand (non rx) for my crew of pups n kitties. used it recently on my pup and within a day no more diarrhea. . I talked with my vet about. vets do sell nutramax forte which is twice the strength.

I am all about feed what works. I cant give vet advice, they often recommend rx foods out the gate, but I have chatted with my vet in the past about trying foods that have worked for my babies in the past.

you said the wellness that worked for Mabel. perhaps give that a food trial if stool sample comes back clear of anything.

I live in FL and don't do raw bcz of hurricane seasons and worrying about getting and keeping food from spoiling in power outages.

I do very very slow food transitions, (even slower than the recommend slow transition) , just adding the tiniest amount and adding a little more each day for 2 weeks and has always helped transitioning. are you feeding wet and dry?

hugs n head smooches! I look forward to pics and tales of sweet Hemi! members will surely chime in. we are here for you! all paws are family!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

What a good looking boy! Food can be so tricky until you find one they can to,erase and love. Some that are very high in protein can be too rich and cause runny poop. We feed Instinct.

 

[sphynxluvr]

☺️. Thank you for the warm welcome. Thanks for the input, much appreciated. The Instinct is not settling well with him for whatever reason. It took me about 5 years to get Mabel's belly figured out, but once we did it was great, until the chicken allergy started, then we were back at square one, luckily Instinct developed the limited ingredient diet and we switched her to Salmon and that worked well. I have been introducing very slowly. I know the drill so to speak.
Clean bill of health from the vet so I don't thinks it's Giardia. I was going to try purina fortiflora, the vet suggested a probiotic to help with his herpe flair ups. Has anyone tried Psyllium husks dissolved in broth? We tried pumpkin, but I haven't noticed an improvement. Maybe I am just being impatient. I just feel bad for him. I would love to post tons of pics, however all my files seem to big for the format here. Not to tech savy, so I don't know how to fix them

 

[Yoda mom]

@sphynxluvr , I recall members using psyllium. i believe @Xandria uses it. hopeful members will chime in. not sure if they mix with broth. I used a pet broth powder on chewy years ago, there is a chicken an a beef, (have to mix with very hot water and let cool. I made a cup at a time and covered refrigerated).

My boy loves a little 100% canned pumpkin warmed for a few seconds.
sharing I have not used the nutramax proviable dc (got on chewy) , with my cats yet, however , very impressed with results with my aussie that was having horrid times with loose stools. I asked my vet about it for my cats if need be since I recently had to change Tobylove's food bcz of his health conditions.

several of us get "file too large".. a member shared a photo resizer app I will tag you in. I am Not tech savy at all. see how I did tobylove's in the resizer thread. I open the resizer app, add photo, pic small option, click download icon and name the photo . the chose it in attach files. we can help.

Photo resizer link

@Cleopatra Beers , I saw your share this easy to use resizer link. Thought I would share with group as many of us get " file too large "message. hugs of sincere appreciation . Thank you! I was looking for an easy to use, free resizer https://jpegcompressor.com/ @mariasmagic1 , here you go...

sphynxlair.com

also, members do screen shots and share . I am not techy and really not good at screen shot shares , so I used the resizer app instead

 

[Letitia]

We have had good luck with Koha Limited Ingredient Duck. They also have some other Limited Ingredient proteins. Hope you can find something that works! It's definitely a process!

 

[sphynxluvr]

Thanks everyone! Love all the input. I ordered the purina fortiflora, I will see if that helps, meanwhile I will try some warm pumpkin , what a great tip. . Tried the resizer, I will add the two I was able to resize. Thanks again, This place is the best.

 

[Yoda mom]

@sphynxluvr , awh!!!! melt my heart!!! so happy you were able to resize and share. Hemi is sooo cute.
are you in FL? looks like my FL pool lanai my Raven loves hanging out in and chasing lizards. my nakids prefer inside.

all paws crossed, keep us updated! hugs n head smooches from my crew.

 

[nudebea]

Hello Hermi is such a handsome boy! I hope you manage to sort out is tummy issues

 

[Toa and Ross]

Congratulations with Hemi! What a handsome cutie he is.

 

[sphynxluvr]

@sphynxluvr , awh!!!! melt my heart!!! so happy you were able to resize and share. Hemi is sooo cute.
are you in FL? looks like my FL pool lanai my Raven loves hanging out in and chasing lizards. my nakids prefer inside.

all paws crossed, keep us updated! hugs n head smooches from my crew.

Yes! We are on the west coast near Sarasota. Love it!

 

[sphynxluvr]

Happy Holidays! We are still battling severe diarrhea. Stool sample showed he is positive for Coronavirus and CDEF, one normal gut bacteria with very high levels. I don't recall which one. Hemi has been on forti flora SA (6/16/2025), Since September he has had two 10 day rounds of metronidazole. We tried tylosin for about 3-4 days but he started itching a lot so the vet said to stop it. We just finished a 30 day round of metronidazole. He was eating Instinct Limited ingredient Salmon (8/16/2025), the vet asked if I would switch to the Limited Ingredient Rabbit (11/6/2025), which I did, now we are back to the Salmon (12/1/2025)as he is refusing to eat the rabbit. He must be uncomfortable because he walks around meowing usually before he uses his litter box. I am at my wits end. He is so sweet, and I feel absolutely helpless. The vet we use has 4 sphynx cats and I really value her opinion. I feel like she is treating Hemi as she would treat one of her own. I know that coronavirus needs to run its coarse, I worry about FIP. Has anyone dealt with coronavirus? Is there a time line? Is there something we are missing? We have done 2 PCR tests and a full panel of bloodwork. He has good days and bad days and all I want for Christmas is a solid bowel movement. Would love to hear what you all think. TY.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Hoping someone can share their experience.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Yoda mom]

@sphynxluvr , awh hugs... I am glad you have an sphynx experienced vet that treats Hemi like her own. we are here for you. so sorry for the continued challenges. deep breath, you got this. brainstorming here:

1. wondering if a little 1/2 teaspoon of 100% pure canned pumpkin (no spices in ingredients, always check label), would be helpful? I use it for years with my crew of sphynx, bengal, and pups. My Tobylove sphynx liked the pumpkin warmed a little in the microwave for a few seconds,( finger touch to check temp not too hot ). has been a game changer for stool health here over the years. my pups get it everyday. you can ask your vet if it would be beneficial.

2. My vet recommended in the past Nutramax DC proviable,non rx I got online at chewy, for my crew when they had stool issue.I gave it to my Boo pup and it helped within a day or two. There is a stronger rx version called Nutramax Forte. maybe ask your vet about if it would be beneficial to try instead of the forti flora SA?


also, some have found the royal canin rx hydrolyzed protein helpful. I know food transitions can take upwards of 12 weeks to settle, been there with my bengal cat with IBD who is on "budesonide " prescription med that helps her.
you can ask your vet if a round of doxycycline antibiotic would be beneficial?



hugs n positive vibe head smooches to Sweet Hemi. all paws crossed your get your xmas wish. please keep us updated often.

tagging @srkdvmmom , for her experience and suggestions