Olivers at the Vet again

[Amie]

Two weeks ago Oliver had a urethral obstruction, thought everything was fine until this morning when he was straining and crying when going to the loo.

Vet has phoned and they have found crystals in his urine they said they didn't find any 2 weeks ago tho, so will need to go on a special diet for 3 months(to start with)

Trouble is apparently it makes the cat put weight on and Oliver already is over weight:? He did lose weight, but since moving and being made a house cat(for now) he has just got so Bl**dy lazy its all came back on.

Has anyone had this problem before with their male Cats?
Did the diet help? any tips to help him get better :D also how to get him to drink more?????;)

[EmmaG]

Try using Natures Menu wet food and also James Wellbeloved cat nuts. You can get more water into his diet by adding it to any wet food, it is amazing how much more you can get them to drink by using this method.

Good luck.

[Amie]

Thank you.

Oliver loves rain water, do you think that would be OK?

[cybeeb]

We had one male cat that was prone to this and the vet actually removed his penis and made him pee like a girl. He never had urinary problems again. I know all the men out there are cringing right now, but it worked!

[dandysmom]

Sorry to hear about Oliver. My males luckily never had it; my girl Leia had one bout of it a year ago and has been free of symptoms since. She refused the special food. She prefers dry but I cut down drastically on that and feed her mostly wet food with a few sprinkles of her favorite dry on top. Also, adding water to the wet does help the liquid intake. Here's a link that might be interesting....

http://www.specialcat.com/FelineCystitis.htm

[Amie]

We had one male cat that was prone to this and the vet actually removed his penis and made him pee like a girl. He never had urinary problems again. I know all the men out there are cringing right now, but it worked!

I know I have been reading up on the condition:shock: lets hope that is will not be the case with Oliver.

A bit annoyed at the Vet TBH I was never once told how quickly this condition can become life threatening.

Thank God Im a owner, that takes pets to Vets as soon as I see a problem, if I had left it 24/48 hours to see how it went he could have been dead:(

The Vet said Oliver Loves the new food (no surprises there:lol: ) he will eat anything at all:roll:

Have to ring at 3 to see if he comes home.
Hope he does I may get used to sleeping though the night and waking up naturally instead of a claw stuck in my cheek:lol:

[Amie]

Sorry to hear about Oliver. My males luckily never had it; my girl Leia had one bout of it a year ago and has been free of symptoms since. She refused the special food. She prefers dry but I cut down drastically on that and feed her mostly wet food with a few sprinkles of her favorite dry on top. Also, adding water to the wet does help the liquid intake. Here's a link that might be interesting....

http://www.specialcat.com/FelineCystitis.htm

Thank you for link will look at it when I get some time laterxx

[Kay]

Is Oliver coming home today? I hope he is feeling much better. It is an awful condition for them.

[Amie]

Phoned at 3 His cafiter was removed this morning and he had yet to pass urine by himself:? Have to call back at 5 30 to see if that changes! if not he will have to stay in and have the cafiter replaced.

So lots of weeing thought please;)

[babycakes]

Poor Oliver. I have no advice to offer just best wishes that you get it sorted soon and he is feeling better

[dandysmom]

Any news yet if he can come home? Sending weeing thoughts.......

[Amie]

He is home:D I'm £250 worse off today 2 weeks ago it cost me £180 so lets hope that's it :shock:

Picked him up at 10.30 this morning, he is really pleased to be home.
Walked in he laid down to let 5 Dogs give him the once over.

Now he is crying for food:? they have sent him home with a special food, he can only have one tin a Day:shock: (small like a tuna can) there is know way on Earth that will keep him happy, so looks like I will be getting NO sleep:mad:

I know he is over weight and this food puts weight on, but this is Kitten portions and Ollie is a Massive Cat even without the extra weight.

OH Joy:lol:

[dandysmom]

I'm so happy he's home! But only one small tin a day!! Poor you; there is nothing as imploring as a very hungry cat who can't understand why he's being starved! Not gonna be easy....:roll:

[Mags]

So happy he's home!

Good luck with the one small can a day :? I don't envy you standing by as Oliver is asking for more!;)

[angieh]

Oh poor Oliver and poor you, Amie. My cat Merlin had similar problems many years ago. He was an in-patient at the vets while they tried to unblock him. Luckily, he was OK and came home and was also on a high pH diet which I understand stops the formation of the struvite crystals in the bladder. The food he was on was Royal Cannin (later Waltham) high pH, and he used to eat about two sachets a day, sometimes more. He never used to drink water, although he always had fresh water available. I don't remember how many years he was on the diet - the recipe and look of the food changed about 4 times over the years. I wish I had better recall of the times now, but I suppose he was about 6 or 7 when it started, he had about 3 or 4 occurrences of cystitis after the initial diagnosis, which was controlled with anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-biotics. He had ultra-sound scan (which we had to help the vet with) and all in all was on "the diet" until about a year ago, when he point blank refused to eat it any more. A couple of weeks ago I treated him to a new litter tray - the old one had big patches where the plastic had almost been eaten away by his acid urine. But he is still with us and he was 21 last July. He still has Metacam anti-inflammatory drops every day. He started having this before it was licensed for use in cats and had the dog variety, just one drop a day. The vet reported good results in cats for various reasons, not just as an anti arthritic. He is regularly monitored and, as the vet says, even with the concerns over the prolonged use of Metacam, it is quality of life that counts and Merlin has always seemed better with it than without.

I do hope you manage to stabilise Oliver. He can be a happy, healthy cat with your's and your vet's help. Good luck!

[Kay]

Hope everything is going well with Oliver's new regime.

[alexgirl73]

My Broxi is on a special diet because of crystals in his urine. He has the RC(walthams) weight&stones dry food from the vet. There are 2 different kinds, one also helps skin, but Broxi doesn't need that. I thought it was strange putting him on a dry diet for crystals, but apparently it does work and he hasn't had any problems since. I also bought a cat water fountain, and my lot all love to drink from it, as the water is fresher, and they all drink a lot more now. Hope this helps and that Oliver is doing ok!

[dandysmom]

Amie, how's it going?

[Amie]

Sorry Ive taken so long to reply Had flu since boxing day and just starting to feel better now and totally forgot I started this thread:roll:

Thankfully Oliver is doing well:D have managed to keep to one Tin a day, give him 1 1/2 if he is really Hungary.He is Losing weight too so that's a bonus.

I add 20mls of water to each meal so, at the very least he is getting 60mls a Day.
He also is drinking small amounts of cat milk so getting more fluid than before it all helps.

Have brought him the water fountain have not seen him use it yet Dogs love it tho:roll: .

Started using filtered water and Cookie my Leonberger loves it so its costing me a fortune:lol:

Have to take him back to the Vets for the day in 2 months so they can do a urine test, so will let you know how he gets on.

Thank you all for your good wishes and advice xxx

[Jac]

Hi Amie, Sorry you have been unwell.

Glad to see things are looking better for Oliver. They are a worry aren't they! Sounds like you have things under control. Well done

[angieh]

Sorry to hear you've not been well Amie. Glad to hear things are looking up for you and for Oliver too. It is such a worry, isn't it when any animal is poorly and can't tell you what's wrong. Well done you for seeing him through this - let us know how he gets on at his vet checkup.