Oh, boy, cat trouble!

[BiggJawn]

Just heard from My SO...Buster's gonna be staying at the vet's with a cath up his pee-pee for a day or so. Blocked Urethra...

How do we keep this from happening again, besides getting "The Change" done to him (he's already 1/2 way there, No Nutz)

[Rosco T.]

1. Switch to a LOW ASH dry food.....

most of the 'department store' brands are high in ASH which will clog up the tubing... so will most of the 'wet' foods.

go to your local PetSmart and get SCIENCE DIET UNIRARY TRACT CONTROL dry.. little pricy but cheaper than vet visits.

My herd is on it completely (ages 18, 15, 12, 3, 3 and the twins at 3 months) and they love it... the oldest has a case of cystitis a coupla of years back and after the vet treatment went to it.. no problems since then...

[shadu]

3. Good tip

[petersjo]

4. This is good advice--take it

Proper diet is the primary key to managing this condition. Seems like males--even neutered males--have the most problems. One of my cats even had his "thingy" removed, which widened the opening so that gravel was less likely to plug it up. Change food first. If that doesn't do the trick, go for the surgery. Hope your guy feels better soon.

[BiggJawn]

6. He's been on Excel since November...

Before that, I dunno, we're adopted, y'know...:-)
(he's the guy who showed up at Thanksgiving with a summer coat on and got sick)

We've already decided to put them all on a pee-diet.

[Kanary]

2. Sorry 'bout the kitty.....

but, I think you turn a wrong turn at the lobby

:hi:

I believe "Lounge" was what you were looking for.....

:)

Kanary

[BiggJawn]

5. Yeah, I don't know HOW this wound up in GD...

Funny, it LOOKED like the Lounge when I posted it....

[REP]

7. Put Him On A Low-Grain-Content Food

Nutro Natural and Nature's Recipe are two excellent, low-grain-content cat foods. Cats need methionine, which is found in meat, to keep crystals from forming in their kidneys and bladder. You can also get methionine supplements from your vet, which can be crushed and added to canned food.

"Special" urinary tract foods from Purina, etc, are worthless due to the high ground yellow corn content of the 'food.' The most important thing is to get your cat on a food that has the highest meat content, and lowest grain content possible.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

8. Provide plenty of water, too

In addition to the excellent food advice given above. Keep alert for bloody urine and evidence of multiple attempts to urinate outside the box, with straining to urinate. My late Fergie had this problem for years, and I was constantly on alert for the signs. He lived to be 19, so take heart.

[REP]

9. Good Point - Distilled Water for Cats With FUS

There are many reasons tap water should not be used, especially for cats with renal/urinary tract problems, and distilled water is almost always recommended by vets for cats with FUS since it has no mineral deposits, no chloramine and is as close to sterile water as one can buy for under a dollar a gallon!

None of my cats have FUS (I feed Nutro Natural Kitten formula, even though they are adults; it has a higher protein content) and they get filtered water. Feeding high quality food is acttally cheaper than feeding them commercial crap; I have six cats who free-feed and a 20-pound bag lasts a month. It works out to about a dollar a day for all of them, or about .16 per cat per day - wish I could eat so cheaply! Another bonus, besides healthier, livelier cats with gorgeous coats is that high-quality food results in smaller, far less smelly droppings in the cat box.

Oh, and something I found that's great for checking urine color is that 'crystal' litter. It's white, and makes it very easy to tell what color the pee is, and it's super-low odor and easy to clean. It's not cheap, but if you only have one or two cats, it's not a lot more than other good-quality litters.