Friday, May 16, 2014

Potassium Necessary for Cats Taking Lasix

Aside from giving your cat potassium supplements-either by pill (we use Sundown Potassium tablets cut into chunks which can easily be given by mouth; we give four times a day to Cooper and to Myrna) or by powder (for pets or for humans. Just make sure it's safe for cats) you can also give your cat a variety of foods to boost potassium.  These foods can be mixed into the cat food, fed by hand or with a syringe, or if you're lucky, the cat will eat something out of a bowl. Here are some suggestions:

Baked potato with skin, avocados, cantaloup, eggs, chicken, applesauce, lima beans, tofu, bananas, peanut butter, and sweet potatoes.

I prepare bananas by breaking them into chunks, lying them in a freezer bag and freezing them, then taking out a chunk each day to thaw. Then I mix that into the cat food.  Myrna Loy, our HCM cat, loves peanut butter. She will lick it off the plate. Cooper will not and spits it out if hand fed.

But I recently thought to check out baby food and voila! Sweet potatoes and bananas come in easy to use jars or plastic containers. And applesauce comes in easy to use single lunch packs (and in baby food but I've chosen to buy the lunch packs so that I can eat the applesauce as well.)  These liquid versions are easily mixed into cat food and both Cooper and Myrna will eat it.  And Cooper doesn't mind being fed sweet potatoes by mouth using a syringe.

Many of these foods also are a good source of proteins, sugars, and fiber.  While cats with heart disease need to watch sodium levels, since the foods are fed in small amounts, sodium will not usually be of concern. But do compare labels.  And some cats may need to watch protein or sugar intake for other health reasons.

Not sure if they will want to try avocados.  Myrna did eat the small chunks of baked potato I mixed into her food. No one is interested in cantaloup.






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