Male 2 yr old cat developed crystals blocking urine!?

Question

My cat stopped eating,drinking and eliminating for 3 days. Getting to vet earlier was impossible. Currently, he has been hospitalized for 3 days. Dr. placed catheter in bladder and gave ivs. He says prognosis is good. Good God! I don't want to see the bill. Any ideas?
Really, how can I prevent such problems in the future? Is one diet or food better than another? I feed a good quality dry food and give canned food as occasional treats. I also have a second male, neutered cat. Help! I can't go through this again.Any advice? Thanks.

Answer 1

Feed more canned, less dry. You can eliminate the dry food entirely but if you'd rather not, just don't give them as much.

Canned food has more moisture (about 78%) which means that cats will be more hydrated and as a result, their urine is less concentrated.

If you do this, in about a week you'll notice that the odor of the urine is different. Less intense and might actually smell slightly better.

Answer 2

Hi
Glad you caught it in time. You asked the essential question

'Really, how can I prevent such problems in the future' and the answer is gonning to be ,ost likely different then yourt vets but still will be the correct one. The answer is STOP feeding dry foods and that includes the prescription crap the vet probably sold you.
Here's another. There really is no such thing as high quality dry food when it comes to a cat. Aside from the diabetes causing carbohydrates in it that many cats cannot process, 95% of the moisture is zapped out of dry in the processing and your cat cannot drink enough to make up for the loss. The system needs water and your cat will get it from canned foods without gravy. Please read about cat nutrtion.
http://www.catinfo.org/#Common_Feline_Health_Problems_and_Their_Ties_to_Diet_
http://www.catinfo.org/

It says in the first link
'When a cat is on a diet of water-depleted dry food, they produce a more highly concentrated urine (higher specific gravity) and they produce a lower volume of urine which means that a higher concentration of crystals will be present in the urine. This increases the chance of these crystals forming life-threatening stones. The concentrated urine and the lack of volume production is also very irritating to the lining of the bladder wall predisposing them to painful cystitis.

Please keep in mind that a cat has a very low thirst drive and is designed to get water with their food. A diet of canned food will keep a proper amount of water flowing through the urinary tract system and help maintain its health'

Answer 3

Feed canned foods only.You can even and a few teaspoons of water to the canned food. This will increase the fluid intake for your cat. Cats usually don't drink a lot of water. They need to get their water in (as a part of) their food. Feed a high quality high protein cat food like Wellness or Natural Balance. Make sure the first ingredient is meat.

Answer 4

I have two cats with the same problem.They ( and all of my other cats as well) eat Purina ONE Urinary Tract Formula dry food,and Friskies Special Diet canned,and I make sure they always have access to fresh water.But,sometimes,surgery is necessary to re- route the urinary tract and make the opening larger,thereby preventing another blockage.I had a cat years ago who had to have this surgery,as he kept getting blocked even on the special diet.The bill was nearly 300.00 then,but the good news is that the cat lived to be 17 years old and only had one minor bladder infection after the surgery. Good luck with your cat.

Answer 5

Yikes, 3 days at the vet so far...Hope you won the lottery recently!
Seriously though, it is pretty common for male cats to
develop crystals and supsiquently block.
There are many different reasons:
*poor quality diet (cheap cat foods)
*insufficient water consumption (dry diet)
*obesity (a couple added pounds is a lot for a cat)
*bacterial infections
*anatomy abnormalities
*stress
*bladder stones
*infrequent urination (dirty litter box)
*idiopathic (my favorite which means who knows!)
My best suggestion is to switch him to a canned only diet, which will force him to have more water in his diet.
The latest information of Feline Nutrition shows that dry food is not the best for cats and can cause/worsen a lot of health problems.
This link has some great info on why canned diet is superior to dry:
http://www.catinfo.org/#Common_Feline_Health_Problems_and_Their_Ties_to_Diet_
"When a cat is on a diet of water-depleted dry food, they produce a more highly concentrated urine (higher specific gravity) and they produce a lower volume of urine which means that a higher concentration of crystals will be present in the urine. This increases the chance of these crystals forming life-threatening stones. The concentrated urine and the lack of volume production is also very irritating to the lining of the bladder wall predisposing them to painful cystitis.
Cats have a very low thirst drive and are designed to get water with their food. A diet of canned food will keep a proper amount of water flowing through the urinary tract system and help maintain its health.
Generally speaking, a basic (non-prescription) low carbohydrate, meat-based canned food helps normalize the urine pH and provides the proper amount of dietary water.
With regard to dry food and urinary tract health, aside from the lack of water in this type of diet, please also note that there is a correlation between the consumption of a high carbohydrate diet and the formation of struvite crystals as shown by this study"
"What we do know is that decreasing stress and increasing the water content of the diet are the most important management issues to address. The water content of the diet is easy to control."

Answer 6

well my cat blocked and the emergency vet treated it the same way, for fluids, vet visit and an over night stay the bill was almost $600

To reduce the risk of this happening again, improve the quaility of the food, make sure plenty of water is available and buy some Naturvet cranberry relief, you ca get it online, it costs about $15 an lasts a very long time .... it also works ;)

Answer 7

I also had a cat that had this- several times. It was quite expensive. He needed a prescription canned food- well, maybe it wasn't prescrition, but it came from the vet's... I think it was "low ash". He also needed daily pills. He bit my arm through to the bone one time trying to get him to take it- I had to got to the ER every day for a week to check for infection! Now you know what to look for and will hopfully get him to the vet sooner if it recurrs. You have to decide how much you're willing to invest in this. It may sound callous, but sometimes pet illnesses can just get too expensive to deal with for too long- and for all the people who object to that attitude, I say, I love my pets, but they ARE NOT children. Anyway, hopefully this will cure him and he'll be fine. Good luck

Answer 8

There are some good articles by Dr. Jean Hovfe at: http://www.littlebigcat.com Especially "Urinary Tract Disorders in Cat", "Why Cat Need Canned Food", "Selecting a Good Commerial Pet Food", "Easy Homemade Diets for Cats and Dogs".

There are at least fifty articles at the site and they are in alphabetical order by title.

Answer 9

i had a dog with a similar condition, the treatment was prescription food and medication (for life) and a £500 vet bill........ with my dog (a dalmation) we had to make sure he never had red meat products, liver being the worst for him, he also needed urine tests every 12 weeks to check his urate levels were OK,,,,,,,,,,,
your other cat is very unlikey to get the same condition BUT you must make sure your "ill" cat does not eat any foods that may make him ill again............ so feeding the cats separate is a must.......
i assume treatment for cats and dogs differ i can only give info for dogs

Answer 10

My cat had the same problem and I started using Purina one UTI formula and it seems to have her regulated and she has been fine ever since. It breaks down the componets that cause the crystals. Good luck