(Vanity) Cat lovers! Need aome advise re: male cat's urinary infection

Dec 01,2009 | Yankeedame

[Monkey Face]

http://www.pets4life.com/index.php?p=articles/11

Here ya go!

[Monkey Face]

If you keep in mind that a cat is a true carnivore that requires meat, you can feed it what it needs. A dog is an omnivore, and will eat anything humans eat. Still, meat is best for both of them.

[I Buried My Guns]

"...I’ve found a cordless drill with a 1/4” bit to be effective...

[I Buried My Guns]

[I Buried My Guns]

I tried to give her a varied diet, but she still wants to get a big bite of ME.

[CAluvdubya]

Honestly, IMO, most urinary problems with male cats (not to mention feline diabetes, and overweight) can be attributed to dry food.

If it were me, and the IAMS is the dry type, I'd switch to wet food only for the future health of your kitty.

[CAluvdubya]

When is the last time you had to chase your cat out a corn field? The dry food is responsible for many of these problems; such as kidney issues or diabetes. Most ‘mass market’ cat food is crap, and most vets are clueless.

GTMA and so glad that the fact that dry food is causing harm to feline's is getting out.

The future vet is getting taught and lectured at vet school (on feline nutrition) from reps of the cat food companies. There are only a handful of vets that I've run into that will promote a raw or all wet diet.

Cats are carnivores and the worst wet food is 100 times better than the "best" dry food IMO.

[moondoggie]

I'm serious!

When I told our vet that we had well water, he told me to use distilled...along with the change in diet...until he determined what caused the crystals to form.

[halfright]

I suggest a visit to Henry, my 16’ boa. Henry manages to solve those kinds of problems and the visits are usually the last we see of the patient. No charge for his services.

[GovernmentShrinker]

See posts 24 and 28. In my experience, these specialized Yahoo Groups are the best source of advice — basically lots of pet owners experienced with a particular type of ailment, who’ve all gathered information (often conflicting) from their vets, and put their heads together. As for post 28, that “gender-changing” surgery is often the best solution for male cats, if the problem recurs after less drastic treatment and diet change.

[who knows what evil?]

I'm serious!

So am I. Filtered water for my kitties...period.

[who knows what evil?]

The future vet is getting taught and lectured at vet school (on feline nutrition) from reps of the cat food companies. There are only a handful of vets that I've run into that will promote a raw or all wet diet.

We have a similar problem with 'future human doctors'...

[MayflowerMadam]

If a UTI, it’s a life-or-death situation, so you should get help now from a vet.

The crystals thing, though, doesn’t look like an actual infection.

Something I learned back in the ‘70s is that a lot of canned food is high in ash (for filler, I guess), and that can be lethal when it comes to UTIs. Can’t recall the “allowable” percentage of ash, but a Google should be easy.

Now we give basic dry food — Friskies or Purina — and mix in a bag of dry food for UTI prevention. The brand is “One”, I think.

[who knows what evil?]

Cats are carnivores and the worst wet food is 100 times better than the "best" dry food IMO.

Generally speaking; you are right. There are some nasty high-carb wet foods with creepy ingredients out there, though...personally; I wouldn't buy a Sam's Club canned cat food; if there is such a thing. :-)

[Scarlet7]

My kitty had a similar problem.

Vet instructions: NO FISH PRODUCTS.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

It sounds like it may be “cystitis” which is something like kidney stones except the blockage results from a gritty (sand like) mucus which blocks the urethra. At one time it was almost epidemic among neutered male cats and was thought to be caused by a virus.

The late onset is unusual as it more often occurs in males that had been neutered before the urethra had developed completely. The tendency to have an adolescent cat neutered arises because they will not begin "spraying" to mark their territory until sexually mature, the underdeveloped urethra however, is more likely to have clogging problems eventually.

Control requires maintaining a proper Ph level in his urine, and keeping to a low ash diet. A link to a web site fiollows:
http://www.homevet.com/petcare/cystitis.html#causes

There are surgical solutions as well, my wife's grandmother spent nearly $2000 on an operation for her beloved old tom. The operation was a success but was definitely a solution that not everyone would even seriously consider. Thirty some odd years ago I lost my old friend Charley Chan (seal point Siamese) to cystitis and I still miss him.

Regards,
GtG

[voiceinthewind]

Interesting link. Thanks!

[Truth29]

"My cat had this problem years ago due to the crap cat food I was feeding him. Once we got the crystals dealt with I started feeding the C/D catfood (canned and dry). My cat lived until he was 19 years old. He died in my arms the day before Thanksgiving this year. I cried like a baby.

Never be another one like him."

Sorry to take to long to reply to you. I have been off dealing with a cat health problem myself. I understand your loss and miss each of ours that have struggled with various health issues before they passed on. You have my sympathy.

[Monkey Face]

Actually, you should thank redhead for that. It’s on her webpage.

http://www.opinions3.com

She has a lot of interesting and informative links, and all of them are worth looking at.

(I stole it when she wasn’t looking!)
:ducking and running:

[foolscap]

I have a male cat with chronic UT problems. He went to the vet a million times it seems like and had a cath done each time. Finally the vet said it was a chronic problem and gave me a antibiotic and cortisone to give as soon as he showed symptoms. With him, he tend to start licking the area a lot so I know he is starting to become uncomfortable. I discovered on my own that when he eat dry cat food he would have problems. I switched him to wet food and added water to it so it was like a soup, Since I have done that he has not had problems at all for five years. When he eats dry cat food, which he loves it. starts right up again.