Cat with urinary issue and protein issue

[Xanthoria]

Ok 14 yr old Abyssinian. Been on canned Purina UR St/OX for ages which was great until he stopped being able to digest the protein. Vet put him on dry Royal Canin Urinary SO/Hydrolyzed Protein which is $$$$$$ and now he won’t eat.

Husband has been adding a little can juice from his old diet in to get him to eat it, but his poo is runny and he’s losing weight.

Vet is useless. I’m considering trying just cooked chicken breast while shopping for a second opinion because cat it miserable and this cannot make it worse (?)

Any other suggestions?

[Simkie]

Have you tried pepcid? It’s my go to when they’re inappetant and it usually helps.

Hills Z/D is also hydrolyzed and apparently tasty. I can’t say I’ve ever had one refuse. Maybe worth a shot?

If you’ve treated the belly with pepcid, it may also be worth adding zofran and or mirtazipine. I try hard to make sure they’re not ulcery (pepcid) or nauseous (zofran) before adding an appetite stimulant (mirtazipine), though.

[CanadianTrotter]

I had all of my cats on the dry Royal Canin Urinary SO since I almost lost Ralph to a stone blockage when he was 5yrs old. He’s now 15 and I had the vet do a full blood panel and urinalysis a few months ago. His bloodwork came back perfect and no sign of crystals in his urine.

This is a new vet since I moved and she prefers the dry Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets UR Urinary St/ Ox Feline Formula over the dry Royal Canin Urinary SO. Ralph never complained with the RC but when I switched him the the Purina his appetite increased and he’s gaining a bit of weight which the vet said he could stand to gain a pound or two. His muscle mass is good, he’s just getting “old man” skinny.

The vet said it was overkill to have all five of the cats on prescription food and suggested Purina Pro Plan Dry Cat Food, Urinary Tract Health, Chicken & Rice. They all had a urinalysis done and no crystals, so I took the vet’s advice. Regular urinalysis to check for crystals will be continued as they always have been.

[Xanthoria]

Have not tried pepcid - what’s the dose?

The vet did say that we could do a homemade diet as an alternative to the royal canin but didn’t give us any details on that. So if you know of an optimal diet for a cat that not only has urinary issues, but also apparently some protein issues?

Failing that we will try the appetite, stimulant, and anti-nausea as well, of course!

[Simkie]

@Xanthoria

Have not tried pepcid - what’s the dose?

2.5 mg once to twice daily for a “normal” sized cat. I like the generic famotidine from Walgreens. Lemme get the link…

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-acid-controller-tablets-original-strength/ID=300434348-product

You’re looking for the “original strength” 10 mg version. Pretty much everyone sells a generic at this strength, but the Walgreens option has tiny pills, so once you quarter them, they’re just super easy to pill or drop into food. If pilling, I like to cover with a little scrap of pill pocket (just enough to cover the pill.)

Oh, also, this pill splitter is my fav

https://a.co/d/4NF5FmT

If they need hydrolyzed, I really tend to go with Z/D. I know those rx diets aren’t exciting and they’re so costly, but it’s so much easier to take a protein reaction entirely off the table than try to muck about with various novel proteins trying to find one they tolerate when they’re super reactive. It’s so much easier to calm them down, get them to just stop reacting, and once they’re settled, you can do some novel protein trials (if you want, sometimes it’s just so much easier to stick with what works.)

Best of luck! I hope the pepcid helps!

[Xanthoria]

Thank you @Simkie ! That’s really helpful. Ok I’ll try all of that. Poor little guy really needs to feel better fast!

[cayuse]

I did the pepcid and boiled chicken breast on my old (20’s) cat and he happily muddled along on this for quite some time. It was in desperation and my vet was useless in helping with his diet, she just wanted to sell high end stuff that made him vomit or that he absolutely refuse to eat. Royal Canin being the worst.