[wooflife]

Today when I was brushing my teeth my 6 year old kitty (Sparks) jumped into my husband's sink and "assumed the position". This is unusual so I paid attention. He was there for quite some time and when he left there was only a little bit of urine with some mucus in it.

Of course I called the local vet and rushed him in worried about a blockage. I was told that he had an infection, and some struvites in his urine. They gave him an antibiotic injection and of course they gave me a couple cans of Hill's prescription diet to take home.

Those of you who know me out here know I won't feed my cat that crap. Besides I looked at it at home and it was way passed it's expiration!!! I have been feeding him Wellness Core kibble with Wellness pouch cat food thinking we were doing OK. He is pretty picky.

Anyway - I've done some research today - checked out Dr. Beckers Video's etc. And at this point I'm going with an all wet food diet with water added until I have more knowledge. While I know a lot about diet for dogs, I'm way behind on cat food, although I know it's not terribly different.

My cat seems very happy with change dinner got me lot's of kitty love tonight.

I'm looking into a total diet overhaul for him to keep him healthy. I'll home cook for him if necessary - heck I'd even buy him mice if I thought he'd eat them. I have tried to feed him raw but he doesn't like it.

Does anyone have experience with this? I'm very concerned and I don't want my cat to develop FLUTD. I'm also looking into the D-mannose supplement so any experience or info on that would be great too.

TIA

 

[jmm]

D'Mannose helps prevent e. coli bacteria from attaching to the bladder wall. Get the powder form if you want to use this in a cat. Another supplement to help prevent infection is coleus forskohlii. 50 mg three times a day. That stuff tastes nasty so you'll want to have the capsule go down whole.
Did they take an x-ray? Does he have any stones or just crystals?
There is no over the counter cat food that will prevent struvite crystals. If you don't want to do prescription food then you will need to work with a veterinary nutritionist to formulate a diet for your cat. Really this is the ideal diet for FLUTD cats.

You did the right thing taking him right in to be sure he's not blocked. Please never hesitate to do this.

 

[wooflife]

Thanks for the quick response - it's very appreciated.

The vet felt his bladder which she said was about the size of a plum squeezed it for a urine sample. She said his muscles were spasming so at first she just got little spurts and then he relaxed and completly eliminated. She did not do an x-ray to check for stones but said there was a little blood and few struvite crystals. She said she didn't feel any stones yet. She just said we needed to lower the salt, magnesium, ash etc. to keep the ph of his urine lower.

This is the first time he has ever had any kind of an issue and I'm proud of him for letting me know so quickly. I worry about him because he isn't as "in your face" as the dogs when something is wrong - but I move quick when hints at any issue.

I'm not opposed to home cooking since I already do it for the dogs. Everything I've read so far says this has a lot to do with cats not having enough water in their diet so I guess that is where I'm starting, canned food + additional water. Looking into getting him his own little kitty fountain for drinking water as well. (I go so overboard with this stuff).

I will be doing a lot of research into the D-mannos and the coleus forskohlii to see if those are good options.

Thanks again!

 

[jmm]

If he's not having a bacterial component those may not be as helpful as doing something to focus on decreasing inflammation (cystitis). I've heard conflicting reviews over glucosamine being helpful here.
A home cooked diet would be just as moist as canned cat food - but could be properly tailored to reducing the production of struvite stones which no OTC canned cat food will address. Does that make sense?

 

[maltlovereileen]

Don't have any advice, just wanted to send blessings that your kitty feels better soon...

 

[myfairlacy]

Cats can be really hard to homecook for because of their strict dietary requirements. Cats are obligate carnivores and do best on higher protein, low carb diets...and there are certain nutrients that MUST be included in their diet. I'm sure it's possible to do it, but you'll need to find an experienced nutritionist to formulate a diet for you.

Also, it is so important to feed cats a MOIST diet. Cats are desert animals who do not have a high thirst drive. Historically, cats got most of their dietary water from their prey (fresh meat) because water wasn't always available. A cat fed kibble will drink more than a cat fed canned or raw food, but studies have shown that cats fed dry food will consume about 1/2-2/3 the amount of water that a cat fed canned or raw will...this means that a cat fed dry food is constantly somewhat dehydrated. This is very hard on their kidneys and probably one of the biggest reasons cat have so many urinary/kidney problems as they age. The cheap, grocery store high carb diets are the main cause of diabetes in cats. Anyway, I would at least recommend only feeding your cat moist food from now on. I personally feed Natures Variety raw in the morning and canned food in the evening to my cats.

 

[harrysmom]

I have two 9 year-old male cats, both of whom have had this issue. I was
also feeding Wellness when the problem developed. I switched my guys
to Science Diet C/D on the doctor's recommendation and the problem
resolved itself. About 3 weeks ago, I ran out of C/D and I was too lazy
and busy to drive the 30 minutes to the vet's office to pick up more
food, so I just bought a small bag and a few cans of Wellness for them...
which was really a stupid thing to do, since the problem came right back.
So, for me, the solution is this Science Diet food. I saw for myself
that it works for my guys.

I had a cat die from being blocked years ago.... in
fact he had a seizure and died in the car on the way to the
emergency vet. That was devastating. From then on, I have
been very vigilant about noticing signs that my cats are
having a problem and running them to the vet immediately
to be checked.

Good luck with your baby.
Debbie

 

[Maglily]

Sorry to hear about kitty, I hope she is feeling better soon.....I don't have any advice either, my cats didn't have any major heath issues until they were in their teens.

 

[wooflife]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I wouldn't have a problem with SD if it was not primarily made with by-products. My understanding is that the SD food actually raises the ph of the urine but has a medicine in it that lowers the PH as well so ultimately the cat has lower urine PH.

Also more meat in a cats diet keeps the urine acidic - so I'm looking for a moist, grain free kitty food.

I might try looking at the natures variety raw food. I haven't tried that one and it's the only one that is sold around here.

I also have Dr. Pitcairns book which has several home cooking recipes for cats with bladder problems.

If I'm incorrect in my new knowlege somewhere please let me know.

Thanks everyone!

 

[CeeCee's Mom]

Cats can be really hard to homecook for because of their strict dietary requirements. Cats are obligate carnivores and do best on higher protein, low carb diets...and there are certain nutrients that MUST be included in their diet. I'm sure it's possible to do it, but you'll need to find an experienced nutritionist to formulate a diet for you.

Also, it is so important to feed cats a MOIST diet. Cats are desert animals who do not have a high thirst drive. Historically, cats got most of their dietary water from their prey (fresh meat) because water wasn't always available. A cat fed kibble will drink more than a cat fed canned or raw food, but studies have shown that cats fed dry food will consume about 1/2-2/3 the amount of water that a cat fed canned or raw will...this means that a cat fed dry food is constantly somewhat dehydrated. This is very hard on their kidneys and probably one of the biggest reasons cat have so many urinary/kidney problems as they age. The cheap, grocery store high carb diets are the main cause of diabetes in cats. Anyway, I would at least recommend only feeding your cat moist food from now on. I personally feed Natures Variety raw in the morning and canned food in the evening to my cats.

In March they had a recall on Natures Variety Raw Food, just to let everyone know who feed this to their babies......(cats)

Important Food Safety Update | Nature's Variety

 

[silverhaven]

My Bichon, Sophie (RIP) turned out to have 5 huge bladder stones when she was about 8 I think. Poor thing, There was hardly any space left. After her operation she was put on Waltham's S.O. Which I think is now Royal Canin. I had her periodically checked after that and she died last year, at 14 yrs but she never did get stones again. I don't know if they have this for cats, home cooking I am sure would be better, but just letting you know.

Just checked, they do have the urinary so for cats. My Bichon loved the food and did very well on it. The ingredients are listed on the site, but I would be surprised if you were happy with them

 

[maltlovereileen]

Is this supposed to be a permanent food switch or just temporary to see if the swelling goes down/the crystals go away?

 

[myfairlacy]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I wouldn't have a problem with SD if it was not primarily made with by-products. My understanding is that the SD food actually raises the ph of the urine but has a medicine in it that lowers the PH as well so ultimately the cat has lower urine PH.

Also more meat in a cats diet keeps the urine acidic - so I'm looking for a moist, grain free kitty food.

I might try looking at the natures variety raw food. I haven't tried that one and it's the only one that is sold around here.

I also have Dr. Pitcairns book which has several home cooking recipes for cats with bladder problems.

If I'm incorrect in my new knowlege somewhere please let me know.

Thanks everyone!

I have been feeding Evo canned food....the 95% venison, 95% duck, and 95% chicken/turkey. This canned food is basically 100% meat and organs..but they say 95% because the other 5% is vitamins and minerals added. Nature's Variety also has a grain-free canned food. I believe that Ziwi Peak also does but not positive about that. I've only seen that one online and never in person.

In March they had a recall on Natures Variety Raw Food, just to let everyone know who feed this to their babies......(cats)

Important Food Safety Update | Nature's Variety

Thanks...I feed mine the lamb. I wasn't really worried about this recall though as it was only salmonella, and in my opinion that's pretty much a given with raw chicken. It's just really important to treat raw pet food (or really any pet food as kibble has bacteria too) as you would handling any raw meat from the grocery store. And you shouldn't feed raw meat to immunocompromised animals, or if there is a severely immunocompromised person living with the pets I wouldn't feed raw either.