You may have seen my other thread about my 3 year old Persian guy with recurrent crystals/blockage. I am making an appointment to consult with the surgeon to do “the surgery” (ouch) but I need to put him on dry/wet food to help stop crystal formation.
Hills? Purina? Anybody know which food works best?
Well crapalosis. He blocked yesterday for the third time in a month and has to have the surgery today. I am so worried.
We didn’t go with the prescription food, but crush half an Ammonil tablet into his wet food (Friskies) twice a day. Our previous cat was on something else - started with M? - that did essentially the same thing, but the Ammonil is better/stronger/faster I guess and the tablet is smaller, so less to crush into food. That’s what seems to have kept our Ragdoll healthy for most of his 17-year life, and now the other guy is on the same regimen. Not sure how the cost breaks out in the long run, but we did discover (after about 10 years) that you can get the Ammonil online for a lot cheaper than it is from the vet.
My cat eats TC Feline (a raw food premix) with ground chicken or turkey. He was diagnosed with crystals and IBD. I took him off SD and put on this. No further problems. It’s been about 2 years.
I eliminated dry food.
Ditch the dry food, go for a wet food only diet. My guy hasn’t had that surgery but has had surgery to remove stones. I have kept him on a wet food diet since (he was on a quality grain free wet/dry combo) and not a problem now in 3.5 years.
I tried everything to not have to do the XR diet…it didn’t work. I have three out of 5 cats that had stones, so I bit the bullet and put them all on Hills C/D. No more issues. I don’t love what is in it, but it is better then a blocked cat.
XR diet? Well he is on Hills CD for now and is inhaling it. Went back to the ER yesterday morning because I thought he was blocked again - he was straining to pee and nothing was coming out. Turns out I had been improperly advised re: frequency needed on pain meds. So now we are giving him pain meds every 12 hours and an anti-spasmodic for bladder every 12 hours.
He is now pee-ing. Yay. But pee-ing in places which are NOT appropriate. Not so yay. Giving this a week and then vet will re-analyse urine.
We also bought him a water fountain. His name is Bub. I call it his bub-ler. (Boston accent - Bubblah, which is exactly what they call a drinking fountain.)
Sorry, fat fingers. It is CD. It was early. Royal Canin makes some too.
Update - he is doing MUCH better and still inhaling the CD. YAY! And peeing IN the litter box, nowhere else. More Yay!
Mine is an indoor cat. He has been on Royal Canin SO since 2007 or so, with no blockages. Before that, he blocked twice, once as a 2 year old and once at age 3. He’s 12 now. No surgery required.
He also gets Friskies canned foods in the pate’ variety only (won’t eat gooey gravies or things with cheese, egg, etc.) as well as fish and chicken and turkey meats from the humans’ table. He loves ice cold fresh water, so I permit him and actively encourage him to drink from the sink. I also bought a PetMate (I think that’s the brand) water fountain. I change the water daily, and I don’t use those carbon filters because I just think they harbor bacteria and biofilms. I think getting them to drink adequate water is a large part of winning the battle.
On a humorous note, I tried a Drinkwell Original fountain first, but it didn’t hold enough water for 4 housecats, and I had to buy the optional water reservoir. It’s just a big clear bottle that clips on loosely. Mr. urinary tract cat who loves to drink from the sink would ALWAYS remove the water reservoir from the Drinkwell and roll it around. I’d come home to a flooded room. So, the Drinkwell got packed away for future kittehs, and I bought the PetMate instead. lol
See my update. We do have a drinking fountain, acquired last week, all 4 cats love it. But his condition took a turn for the worse and he is having his surgery this morning. I am SO worried. Not to mention $$$$$$. Thank God for Care Credit.
I had a cat that needed surgery for that problem. He remained very healthy until his kidneys failed at 14.
As far as recovery, he should be back to his normal self in a couple of days.
We got rid of the crystals 100% by switching to high quality wet food. EVO 95% meat was very good. The second we let our cat have even a bite of dry kibble, the crystals would return.
[QUOTE=sk_pacer;7995731]
I had a cat that needed surgery for that problem. He remained very healthy until his kidneys failed at 14.
As far as recovery, he should be back to his normal self in a couple of days.[/QUOTE]
Thank you very much for this information. He has blocked three times in the past thirty days, so anything but the surgery wasn’t an option. He is eating CD canned food and some CD dry - I think I am going to take him off the dry altogether. He’s in surgery as I type.
Is he just getting the bladder cleaned out or is the opening being made wider so that he won’t block?
Thinking of you and kitty.
Grayaraabpony - they are removing his penis and making the opening larger. Poor baby. We tried everything they recommended and after 3 blockages in less than a month our vet feels this has to be done, and done now.
So sorry you and your cat are going through this. Jingles!
Poor guy. Jingles and let us know when he’s out of surgery and in the clear.
Just out of curiosity, what is the after care for a surgery like that? Are there stitches? Glue?
[QUOTE=JumpQH;7995892]
Poor guy. Jingles and let us know when he’s out of surgery and in the clear.
Just out of curiosity, what is the after care for a surgery like that? Are there stitches? Glue?[/QUOTE]
I have no idea. It will be a, ah, learning experience. Thankfully one of my FB friends has experience, I think as a tech, and has kindly volunteered to answer any questions. But my vet practice is great - state of the art, 242/7, very very nice folks. They ALL love this cat.
One of my two girls had crystals and UTI; not as bad as boy kitties, lol. They both eat predominantly wet food, but like some crunchies overnight. So they get the Royal Canin SO; no problems now in 18 months. Because they only get maybe 1/2 cup to play with, it lasts a pretty long time so the cost isn’t making me nuts.
Hope the surgery goes well, poor fellow! Jingling for you
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