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View Full Version : The proplems with dry food


hamish
02-10-2006, 11:49 PM
I ve just had to take Willow to the vets, she was producing lots of blood in her urine. When the vets X rayed her they found lots of big stones in her bladder. I ve never seen anything like it before when i saw the x ray. This is probably as a result of feeding her dry complete for most of her life.

The vets are awaitng results back but in the meantime i have to feed her a moist diet, the problem is i seam to have the only cat that will not touch meat, she wont look at whiskas, go cat, or any shop brands, even tried cooked ham and chicken. no luck so far

dandysmom
03-10-2006, 01:46 AM
Hamish, that's very distressing news! Will she eat fish, or prawns or sardines? Could you try mixing a lot of the gravy from some moist food over her dried food so she'd get a little nutrition while waiting for the vet results? Please let us know how she's doing!

Sweet
03-10-2006, 07:49 AM
((((((huggles)))))) poor Willow x

alexgirl73
03-10-2006, 08:13 AM
Why not try one of the more expensive brands like Iams or HiLife, they have amuch higher meat content than the others. Hope she feels better soon. x

Donna
03-10-2006, 12:06 PM
My fussy Chloe loves Sheba - tis more expensive but never seen her eat with so much enthusiasm before - you could try a product like that? More expensive but worth every penny.

Rosie
03-10-2006, 02:42 PM
Asda's stock 4 tin special of Hi-Life and another brand (think it is John West) of two tins sardines in jelly and two tins tuna in jelly (4 tins) all for 98p. Now my Rosie has never ever liked fish (she is 9) until now. She loves these - worth a try.

MrsH
03-10-2006, 05:20 PM
Poor Willow, how awful! I didn't know that feeding dry food could result in bladder stones

How common a problem is this, does anyone know?

hamish
03-10-2006, 10:11 PM
Cheers for your advice, ive tried some hi life meat, its very stong smelling and willow has had a bite. I am not able to leave the food out though as Keira will eat it. Iam awaiting the results back from the vet but she may need surgey to remove them but he is hoping that a special diet may do the trick, the vets recommending hills s/d which is not cheap but rather that than having to put her under. Until then she will be on a ton of anti biotics. Fingers crossed

Mags
03-10-2006, 10:13 PM
Poor Willow, I hope she will be alright soon.....

Booktigger
04-10-2006, 03:54 PM
Fingers crossed for her - I wouldnt' recommend the HiLife or Feline Fayre tins of fish though, the magnesium content in fish isn't supposed to be good for cats with urinary tract issues. PEbbles only used to like gourmet food, before I discovered HiLife, all she would eat was Gourmet Gold or Felix as Good as it looks, but would go off either quickly - might be worth a try, she would also eat Sheba occasionally. Even using a dry food with a high meat content prob wont work (and I dont think Iams does), as it is things like the magnesium, ash and lack of water that causes UTI's, not the lack of meat in 'cheap' biscuits. Fingers crossed she doesn't need special food.

alexgirl73
04-10-2006, 08:37 PM
Fingers crossed for you and Willow!

candyshandy
05-10-2006, 08:21 PM
Fabian has special dry food from the vets which is for urinary related problems. He doesn't have these problems but had high calcium levels in his blood - the food has helped to reduce these levels. I couldn't feed him the wet version as he will not touch wet food - I have tried everything on the market. He doesn't even like cooked meat or fish!

Fabian does drink lots of water though - I have a Catit Water Fountain which all three love and I'm constantly refilling it!

hamish
05-10-2006, 09:01 PM
Success !! Willow has started to eat. its only taken 4 days. I got the tins of s/d from the vets today and as soon as i opened the tin to see what she would do she was staight in. The stuff looks like boggin but she seams to prefer it than nice succulent chicken breast. not complaining though at least she is now eating and its the food she is supposed to be getting anyway

Mags
05-10-2006, 09:06 PM
That is good news Hamish, I'm so pleased!

Keep us posted as to how she gets on;)

alexgirl73
05-10-2006, 09:14 PM
Woo Hoo Hamish! Excellent news (haven't heard the word 'boggin' in ages, lol)

CathyW
09-10-2006, 07:34 PM
thats what babrnaby had wrong with him, and it was down to dry food. but once we kept him off the dried stuff he was fine, ok he had a little op to clear the blockage, but he was fine. (((hugs to willow))))

sandy
30-10-2006, 10:07 PM
I'd be very surpised if the cause is dried cat food. Many vets advise only dried cat food, since it contains all they need and is great for preventing built-up on teeth.

This is a problem with older cats: the built-up gets so bad that they are in pain, and they have to be given an anasthetic for it to be removed, which they don't like doing, since there is always a risk with older cats especially.

I give my cat one feed wet food and one dried food per day.

hamish
31-10-2006, 01:01 AM
OK I am not a Vet, but I do trust my vet and if he says that the stones in her bladder are caused by dry food i am not in a position to argue. There is no other reasons why she has got stones there and all £200 quids worth of tests, x rays etc says that its due to the dry food. I have always fed my dogs and cats on dry food, its easy to work with, you can leave it out and the flies wont get at it and it is good for their teeth so if i could i would go beck to feeding Willow the dry food.
Unfortunatly the special diet and anti biotics havent worked so she is going in to the vets on Thursday for an operation to have them removed. The X rays looks as if she has been eating lots of little marbles and the blood that she is producing in her pee is caused by the stones damaging the wall of the bladder. Heres hoping !

Thank god for insurance (not that no insurance would have stopped me anyway)

sandy
31-10-2006, 08:56 AM
All the best for Thursday, Hamish! I hope it all goes well.

I'll be getting a whopping great vet's bill soon too. I'm not insured, but I'll pay whatever it takes. My cat has cost me practically nothing in 13 years so I reckon she deserves it.

I find the big things, like operations, are not too bad. It's the little extras, like x-rays (50 euros each) that mount up.

Mags
31-10-2006, 10:46 AM
Good luck on Thursday Hamish, I hope it will all go well.....

Rosie
31-10-2006, 03:32 PM
I am worried now because I feed my cats on HiLife fish at least once a day. How often is it safe to feed? Incidentally I would never give either my cat or dog Iams as they experiment on animals.

dandysmom
31-10-2006, 09:01 PM
Fingers crossed for Thursday! Keep us posted how Willow's doing, please!

Booktigger
02-11-2006, 02:00 PM
Fingers crossed for today.
Sandy - there are a lot of studies been done that show that dry food does very little for their teeth - if I get chance later, I will post some.

alexgirl73
02-11-2006, 09:46 PM
Hi Hamish, any word on Willow yet? Fingers still crossed for her.

hamish
03-11-2006, 09:10 PM
The operation went absolutly fine the vet pulled out about 8 marble sized balls and a whole load of grit. Willow arrived back a wee bit sleepy and a wee bit growly but seams to be back to normal now and trying to keep rested is a bit of a nightmare, and she has been having a good yank on her stiches so i have had to fit a collar, which she hates.

Itsa case of watching this space i just have to discuss the best diet now. So I am hoping this is done the trick.

I am truely touched by everones concerns, thank you for all our messages :)

alexgirl73
03-11-2006, 09:15 PM
Fantastic news Hamish. So glad to hear that's she's recovering well. Hope this does the trick and that her new diet will keep her stone free!

Mags
03-11-2006, 09:47 PM
That's great news Hamish! Glad to hear she is recovering well :D

dandysmom
03-11-2006, 10:02 PM
So pleased at the news...(((hugs))) to you both!

Booktigger
04-11-2006, 03:25 PM
I am glad things went well - do they know what kind of stones they were?

tilly
11-11-2006, 04:26 PM
Hope everything is going OK
Tilly had a bladder problem Cystitis sp? and had to go on s/d as well. That was ages ago but she is fine now.
All the best and hugs from us
Sally

hamish
29-11-2006, 09:32 PM
Hi folks, again. Just noticed I put this message in the wrong thread. Heres the 2nd attempt in the right thread!! Heres a photo of willow and her baldy patch. She managed to get her collar off and rip out her stiches, but the wound had healed and the vet was happy with it. Its taking an age for her hair to grow back.


http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/kingkenny1975/willow.jpg

Mags
29-11-2006, 09:38 PM
I'm glad Willow's wound has now healed Hamish, hopefully she can live her life without anymore problems....... :cool:

Fran
29-11-2006, 10:40 PM
Glad all is going well for Willow!!