Year of the Cat

Layla snoopervising as I do some school work on my laptop.

Layla's been doing OK since the last time I posted about her.  She had a brief spell last week where she didn't want to eat very much, but her spirits remained high and her appetite has since improved tremendously.

Unfortunately, it does look like the ear infection which caused her stumbling last month has come back.  Her ears are horribly itchy and they seem to be hurting her, too.  Thankfully, she is not wobbling all over the place like she did last time, but she does seem to lose her balance a little bit when she shakes her head.

I have no doubt that it will be cleared up again with another round of antibiotics, but what is worrying me is the source of the infection: I, personally, think it's being caused by build-up in her ears as a result of a food allergy.  That would mean that the food she is eating is indirectly causing the infection.  I'm not sure if this is really possible, but it's my best guess, because nothing else has changed that would cause the infection.

Her current menu consists solely of Royal Canin Veterinary Duck & Green Pea kibble.  This is not my first choice at all; I would have preferred for her to eat EVO 95% Canned Duck exclusively, but her intolerance to wet food (likely an allergy to the thickeners) rendered that impossible after her nose blew up from it.  Royal Canin does not cause her digestive or respiratory problems as some other foods have, but it does seem to be making her ears awfully itchy.

My next step will be to call the vet on Monday and ask him what I should do.  One option could be re-trying one of the kibbles we sampled over the summer (perhaps Natural Balance); it's very possible that because she was eating so many different things at the time, not all of them were making her sick.  Another option might be taking Layla to a special nutritionist, who might have alternative feeding suggestions.  Or, maybe he'll simply opt to do another round of antibiotics before making any diet changes.

In the meantime, she's hanging in there, and certainly plenty fiesty - as evidenced by the demanding meows she bellowed up to me this morning, asking for her breakfast!  My most important goal of all for 2011 is to keep that happiness in her for a long, long time.