Dear Cat

[indysteel]

wow, what an angle. no kidding. and watching your cat be in pain ... horrible

Perhaps I stated this inartfully. What I meant is that I would have gladly paid more for canned food to spare my cat and myself the pain of CKF.

[smilingcat]

Yes, we also have a cat with chronic UTI and Urinary tract blockage problem. He has been to emergency on three occasions so far. First two times, his bladder was ready to rupture and he would have died.

We now keep a very close eye on him and watch for signs for urinary related distress: trying to pee out of the box and nothing. Peeing in inappropriate places but just small amount drop or two sometimes maybe teaspoon worth of pee. I also check the litter box to make sure he is peeing. Usually the volume is much bigger than the other cats so I know its him. If I don't find big clump of litter from pee or he does any of the above, we get ready to take him to the emergency.

Definitely no dry food for your cat!! Strictly wet food. We also thin down his food with water about one and half teaspoon of water per feeding. It should be soft paste. It's not so watered down that he would suffer from loss of minerals in his system.

We also buy whole chicken on sale around 99cents a pound and boil the whole chicken. We add pieces of cooked chicken to their food. At 99cents a pound, its cheaper than premium canned cat food. We feed Wellness brand. And the broth/stock is skimmed of fat and we give it to the cat with urinary tract problem.

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getting rid of pee smell.

use hydrogen peroxide mixed with baking soda. Test the fabric to make sure it doesn't bleach or change the color first. We use it around the house and it does breakdown the urea. Even the cats can't smell the pee afterwards.
www.remove-cat-urine.com

[indysteel]

I'd also suggest having your vet show you how to palpate your cat's bladder. It is possible to check it yourself to see if it is full. But there are other issues that dehydration can cause short of a UTI or obstruction, constipation being one of them and, obviously, chronic dehydration can lead to kidney failure. Finally, I'd note that you should determine, if you haven't already, if your cat has any crystals in his urine and, if so, their type. This could necessitate other changes to his diet.

[Biciclista]

oh yeah, i used to do that constantly. But have not had any issues since we turned dry cat food from a staple to an occasional treat.

[Bethany1]

Thanks for all the help. I do give both of my cats canned food, just not every day. Probably once or twice a week. Favorites seem to be Fancy Feast and anything with fish or chicken of some other brands. Tuna fish out of the can when I make sandwiches is a big hit as well.

Absolute no-no favorite for both cats is chocolate milk. If my kids don't put the glass away, one is dipping its paws in to drink out of it.

It never hit me as a UTI as he has been using the litter box.

And yes, I'd rather put the money into canned food than a huge vet bill.

[Biciclista]

good luck
dry cat food is also known in some circles as kitty crack. they put something in it that makes it SO appealing. I look forward to the day that i have a cat who never had dry cat food.

Thanks for all the help. I do give both of my cats canned food, just not every day. Probably once or twice a week. Favorites seem to be Fancy Feast and anything with fish or chicken of some other brands. Tuna fish out of the can when I make sandwiches is a big hit as well.

Absolute no-no favorite for both cats is chocolate milk. If my kids don't put the glass away, one is dipping its paws in to drink out of it.

It never hit me as a UTI as he has been using the litter box.

And yes, I'd rather put the money into canned food than a huge vet bill.

[indysteel]

I've admittedly had trouble totally weening mine off dry food entirely. One cat will only eat a small amount of canned at a time, even without access to any other food. The other cat will inhale any food he leaves behind so I have to supervise every meal. Well, there's only so many times a day that I can give him wet food and only so much of it that he'll eat, so we end up leaving a high protein dry food out for them as well. He is drinking a decent amount of water these days, too. It's not perfect, but it's arguably going to have to do. The vet is happy with his labs and appearance. Thankfully, our younger cat poses no problem. She lives for canned food.

[winddance]

Just as a side note about the high-protein, I was switching my cats over from another premium dry to EVO canned only when the Orange One developed pancreatitis. I used to be somewhat of a food snob and got preachy about the benefits of a more natural, appropriate diet for my cats. In DOGS, it is common to have a high- or different-fat/pancreatitis correlation, but not so much in cats. I was told the causes of feline pancreatitis are not really understood. Still, after episode #2, the vet recommended we try a low fat diet, which has kept him out of the hospital for pancreatitis. I used a premium, low-fat food (combination wet/dry.) After he had a urinary tract blockage on said food, we had to switch him again to a food that addressed both issues. The vet mentioned they were starting to see more pancreatitis, particularly in dogs, as people switch to these super premium diets.

Now that my cat is the third most expensive thing I own, I put my reservations aside and decided I don't care what he eats as long as he's eating it, thriving, and not racking up vet bills. I picked the "better" (read: not Hills/Science Diet) of the market available prescription foods. We did work out a, "this actually has food in it" non-prescription wet food to augment the prescription dry food. He refused the prescription wet, as he thought it contained aliens, and doesn't eat any wet food consistently.

So....I'm just saying. I get it. My cats are family, I fed them as family, and took them to the doctor as family. This "step down" in food quality was a big deal for me. But it's working, so I am not going to complain and am just going to be happy my beloved kitty is still here and trying to get into my fridge so he can eat all my yogurt.

I also agree that various water bowls tucked away across the house are preferred and more heavily used. I left some out after his blockage and they proved so popular with my two that they all but abandoned the fountain. I do think they're both drinking more.

Whatever works!

[smilingcat]

How odd that as we are reading and replying to this thread, my problem cat started do the trying to pee here there but nothing kind of thing yesterday morning. Still was doing it around noon so off he went to the vet.

They managed to get urine sample, his bladder wasn't full. Went over his history with the new regular vet. Came home with some pain med to make him relax so he would pee.

Sure enough after 30 minutes or so he went and seems to be fine now. His urine sample came back normal. No crystal everything was normal. So we must be doing something right with his diet. We water down his food so its bit soupy. This forces him to drink more water.

The vet suspect that he may have had a small kidney stone that his body was passing. Pain meds helped him with the pain, relaxed him and he peed it out. Today he is acting normal. All is well except my pocket book.

[Blueberry]

Dear Kitties:

Please behave yourselves while the house is on the market - please!

We are boarding you for a week in a kitty palace for the initial market push (seriously, I found the vet with the big room you can stay in instead of a cage), and then you are coming home. We have a very well thought out showing plan for you for your safety. Please don't be mad at us for it!

Please don't eat the realtor's staging stuff. Please don't destroy the house otherwise. We really need to sell the house so we can move on with our lives - please don't sabotage it!

Your loving owners.

[indysteel]

Good luck, Blueberry! I'm jealous that you have a kitty palace to use. What a great option.

[smilingcat]

two of our cats white and grey is Twiggy and grey long hair is Lover Boy aka Sammy. Dog is the protector of cats named Cody.

[smilingcat]

Morgan cat is a rag doll. Bit spoiled and managed to get Cody to be his personal groomer. This happens more often than you might think. Almost every day.

[Chile Pepper]

Dear LuLu,

If you wish to join in my yoga practice, we need to clarify a few things. First, it's called downward-facing DOG. Dogs don't have claws, so this pose does not involve clawing at the yoga mat. Second, when my hands are resting in a mudra on my thighs, they are not available to pet you. Third, if you tickle me with your tail while I am in triangle pose, I am likely to fall on top of you and crush you. Finally, we usually chant om before and after practice, as opposed to chanting meow throughout the practice. You are, however, welcome to purr during meditation.

Namaste,
The woman who ought to seek inner peace in the feel of your fur on her fingertips

[indysteel]

Dear Izzy, you are one spoiled kitty. Because we know you love boxes, we have indulged you by leaving four of them out so that you can play in them. They are overtaking the house. But because we love you and think you're the cutest thing ever, my guess is they're not going anywhere. I particularly love when you get in the smallest of the boxes. It's perfectly Izzy sized. It's especially cute that you like to be carried around in said box. For all the things you squirm away from, the mere fact that you like to be carried in and on things is endlessly amusing to your humans.

But I'm telling you: Four boxes is my limit! Don't go asking for me.

Signed,

Your adoring Mother