Author Topic: Urinary tract problem  (Read 3927 times)

Palustris

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Urinary tract problem
« on: February 22, 2012, 14:36:08 »
Last Monday one of our cats,Bill, was obviously not well. We took him on Tuesday to the Vets. They found he had a blockage in his bladder and did an operation to relive it. They then ran blood tests and found that this had damaged his kidneys. They kept him in until the kidneys had settled down and the blood tests showed that his kidney function was within normal parameters. So on Saturday we brought him home. He is having to have special food and be kept in until the course of antibiotics has finished.
It does not help that the food is designed to make him urinate more often when he has consistently refused to use a litter tray.
We wondered if anyone else has had a cat with basically a stone in the bladder and how their animal has fared since diagnosis?
Wife will not show me the Vets bill so I assume it was horrendous.
Gardening is the great leveller.

grannyjanny

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2012, 14:51:43 »
OUCH. To both the vets bill & the stone. Poor puss. Daughter has a cat with regular UTI but can't help re stone. Hope all is well soon.

elsie

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2012, 15:05:19 »
I feed my cats raw food, I'm not sure if I am allowed to post a link to appropriate sites explaining this. There's a lot of conflicting advice out there about this,  and I have to dash off to do the school run, but if you do an internet search for Raw Meaty Bones UK, it is a good place to start.
I am a member of their Yahoo group, and often people join after such problems as UTI's and kidney problems lead them to discover that it's probably the food that they have been feeding that has caused this. After a couple of weeks of feeding RMB's, their cats are much healthier.
If you have any questions about this, I will be back later  :)

Jill

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2012, 15:37:00 »
Our male cat has this problem.  The first time, about 4 years ago, it got really bad before we realised.  He was straining in the litter tray and only producing a few spots of blood.  Huge vet's bill later and he was unblocked.  He's had a few minor infections since that have cleared up on their own but last year he needed antibiotics.  He's become good at letting us know when he's feeling rough.  The vet gave us some special food for him but it was just too expensive to keep him on it all the time.   Poor Bill.  Hope he feels better soon.

Palustris

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2012, 17:28:39 »
Thanks.
We have tried them on raw food, wet food etc. before, they refuse to eat it unless they caught it themselves. They won't even eat table scraps, not even fresh Salmon. Never seen this before in a cat. All our others would eat anything, but not this pair.
Bill is having Royal Canin Soft food which at least he will eat. We can get this from the Internet cheaper than the Vets which is useful. And at least Ben does not pinch it!
Poor Bill is not happy about being kept in. He could go out tomorrow, but we have to go out first thing and we will not be back until later afternoon and we do not feel he should be left out for that length of time.
Gardening is the great leveller.

elsie

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2012, 18:49:24 »
Cats can be very fussy with their food. I know from others experience how much patience and time it can take to fully transition them over, sometimes up to a year  :o Some cats will take to it straight away, but for others you need to introduce a tiny amount of the new food into their meals, gradually increasing one and decreasing the other over a few weeks. I discovered RMB's before I had either of the 2 I have now, and so I have fed them this way since they were kittens, but if you do decide to try again, I am happy to give you tips/support  :)

Edit: This applies to anyone interested in feeding their cat/dog/ferret RMB's (and it would be great to give others on this forum the benefit of my knowledge for once  ;D)
« Last Edit: February 22, 2012, 18:54:49 by elsie »

grannyjanny

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2012, 19:25:31 »
I had a Westie who developed lymphoma. We took her to a homeopathic vet & he recommended a raw food diet. She loved it. I wish I'd done it for the cat that adopted us. I should imagine she's to old now, about 12.

elsie

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2012, 21:16:13 »
Not at all Grannyjanny. I have heard of some seniors being converted in their late teens, sometimes with less fuss than the youngsters. Sometimes the bad tooth condition caused by pet food can make it harder for some animals to convert, but we can cross that bridge later if necessary. The best way to start is to offer her a strip of raw chicken (roughly the thickness of a pencil) and see what she does. Hopefully she'll wolf it down, but not to worry if she doesn't. Might be best to open a new topic? I don't want to completely hijack Palustris' thread  :)

Palustris

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2012, 15:21:15 »
Bill is out in  the garden now. I walked round with him to make sure he was happy. 5 piddles and 3 sprays, so he must be feeling a bit better!  ;D
Ben came with us and spent much of the time stalking Bill and jumping out at him in mock attacks. They always used to do this before, so I guess they are  getting back to friendliness again.
Talked to the Vet about raw meat and she was a bit concerned that at present the  protein would be a bit too much for Bill until his kidneys are fully working again.
Gardening is the great leveller.

elsie

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #9 on: February 24, 2012, 14:52:50 »
I'm glad that Bill is feeling better. It's great watching cats interacting with each other, playing or loving, it always brings a smile to my face  :)
It's good to know that your vet isn't completely against raw feeding. I had a bad experience with one vet regarding this, and now travel to a pro RMB vet for my cats.
I wouldn't want to advise you to go against the advice of your vet, as of course I am an unqualified online observer, but unfortunately, the advice given by your vet is based on what she has been taught.  As the training given to vets in nutrition is sponsored by the pet food companies, it is very biased, and in this case, geared towards promoting their "special diet for kidney problems" food. If low protein is her concern, then I would imagine that it has a lower protein to their normal mix, but will still contain cereals and other ingredients which will put a strain on Bill's system, including his kidneys. So for me, changing his food to RMB's would still be an answer, though I do understand if you don't want to do it at this time. I know that this subject has cropped up on the RMB yahoo site before, they are very friendly and full of advice (a bit like here ;) ) they even have a couple of vets as members, who have been known to chip in with their take on things, so if you do want some advice from those in the know, then they will do their best to help.  I, of course, am always here to help if I can, either now, or if you decide to wait :)

elsie

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Re: Urinary tract problem
« Reply #10 on: February 24, 2012, 15:02:31 »
I just did a quick search regarding the protein on the Yahoo group, and came across a suggestion regarding Hydrangea tincture breaking down stones, which then lead me to this
http://www.thewholedog.org/artbladderstones.html which is an interesting read  :)

 

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