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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO
Created:Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5089
Total number of notes:60366

533.0. "VITAMINS FOR KITTY" by VIDEO::USHER () Fri Mar 27 1987 18:48

Has anyone heard of Dr. Wendell O. Belfield, DVM out of San Hose?
I just read a book of his entitled "The VERY Healthy Cat Book.  Dr.
Belfield prescribes high or megadoses of vitamins - particularly 
Vitamin C.  Dr. Belfield is affiliated with various holistic/
orthomolecular associations.  What he says in book basically is
that cats do not get enough Vitamin C which may be the cause of
the various illness's they seem to get.  Rats and mice manufacture
more C than cats do and there is no supplementation in any type
of cat food on the market (not sure about the IAMS and the such)
this based on cat food testing done back in the 1950's and still
holds.  I have my cat on 500 - 1000 milligrams of C each day and
this was recommended by my vet.  I sent away for a phamplet on
Dr. Belfields multivitamins which you can purchase and it seemed
a little high - 3000 milligrams per tsp according to the weight
of the cat (the per weight may drop it down a bit)  Not sure..
 
My question is - has anyone heard of Dr. Belfield out there and
does anyone have any further info they know about supplementing
cats?                                                                          
    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
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533.1I know him!!!!PUZZLE::CORDESJAFri Mar 27 1987 20:4538
    I have heard of Dr Belfield in San Jose.  He treated my dog for
    an illness that all the other vets said couldn't be cured.  I had
    been advised to have the dog put to sleep.  Prince (the dog) had
    lost the use of his hind legs and control of his bodily functions.
    Dr Belfield gave him an injection of megavitamins (and a large dose
    of B vitamins) and Prince started improving within a few days.
    
    He is not 100% cured, he illness was very serious.  He is a healthy
    happy dog that can once again walk, run, jump and play.  He is able
    to control his bodily functions for the most part.  When you think
    about how he was before the injection it seems pretty amazing that
    no one else thought of this treatment.
    
    I have also heard that Dr Belfield can reverse Felv positive cats
    but this is hard to substantiate since a cat can test positive one
    time and test negative the next.
    
    As for the vitamin supplementation, I give my cats vitamins in their
    meals about 3 times a week.  It depends on what I feed them.  If
    I am feeding a cat food that I know is balanced nutrition then I
    do not supplement it. (science diet, tami ami, iams)  But I
    occasionally give them meat or other treats that I add Kitty Bloom
    vitamin mineral supplements to and also Kitty Bloom Kalmac (calcium).
    
    I also give vitamin C to my cats every day.  I use the vitamin C
    powder and give a 1/4 tsp a day mixed in with there food.  According
    to several of the nutrition for cats books, the use of vitamin C
    supplementation is unnecessary since cats manufacture adequate amounts
    of vitamin C in their bodies.  I use vitamin C as a urine acidifier.
    Two of my cats suffer from FUS and the acidified urine helps to
    prevent urinary crystals from forming.
    
    If you have any questions you would like me to ask Dr Belfield please
    let me know and I will ask them.  I currently am not using him because
    I moved to Morgan Hill but I drive by his office every day on my
    way to work.
    
    Jo Ann (former San Jose-ian who couldn't stand the over crowding)
533.2Vitamin C does help!!25172::BLUBAUGHMon Mar 30 1987 18:0124
    I had never heard of giving my cats Vitamin C until a couple weeks
    ago.  My oldest cat, Underfoot, developed cystitis when I changed
    her food from "Friskies" to "9-Lives Crunchy Meals".  Within just
    a couple days of changing to this new food, she was going to the
    litter box every 2-3 minutes.
    
    The vet told me to give her 500 mg of Vitamin C per day to control
    the acidity of her urine.   That seemed to help her, until I was
    able to get her to the vets for an exam.   She also told me to get
    her off of ALL DRY FOODS!!   The ash content is extremely high in
    "9-Lives Crunchy Meals" and most other supermarket dry cat foods.
    
    She's doing a lot better now....I still give her the Vitamin C every
    day because the vet told me that the C will keep the problem from
    coming back, and the Vitamin C doesn't do her any harm.  I also
    changed her food to "Science Diet" because of the low ash content.
    
    So, unless you want to spend $73.05 on a vet visit (like I did), I'd 
    suggest continuing the Vitamin C and feeding them anything but
    supermarket dry foods!!
    
    I hope this helps.
    
    Kel
533.3JoAnn, I sent him a letterVIDEO::USHERMon Mar 30 1987 21:0010
    If you happen by Joann I would greatly appreciate you asking him
    to read the letter I sent him regarding my cats strange blood profile
    which the people at Tufts cant seem to figure out.  I sent him my
    cats charts and medical records hoping he might have an answer or
    some kind of insight to my cats problem (letter from Maynard, Mass).
         
    If you could I'd really appreciate it.  (The letter was sent about
    1 week ago)
    
    thanks, cathy