Thanksgiving night we had to rush one of our cats to the ER because of a urinary blockage.  We were told that they are fairly common and that they usually only happen to male cats. After two weeks of back and forth vet visits and hospitalization Timberland was returned home after having his part shortened and widened and is now supposed to be on expensive prescription food.

Has anyone else encoutered this? If so, what are you doing to help your cat? Are you feeding only the expensive food? What about treats? They told us that he can’t have regular treats anymore either. :(

There are other foods that you can feed your cat but, it take some research. You’re probably feeding your cat something like Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d. You can go to this website http://tinyurl.com/6jphb2 to see the product characteristics to compare them with others. There are brands out there that make formulas for proper urinary function that won’t cost you $30 for an 7lb. bag. If you find something comaprable ask a few vets to get their opinion. Good Luck! i wish the best for you and your kitty.

I have a small cat rescue operation and have had a few cats with urinary blockages over the past 10 yrs. - 1 male, 2 females. I took them to my holistic vet and they were treated with herbal preparations and haven’t had reoccurences for some years now.  The best defense against urinary problems is to feed a raw diet with organic ingredients.  My cats get about 60% chicken & bones, 20% organic ground veggies & fruits, and 20% organic oatmeal.  As long as I keep them on the raw organic diet, we just don’t have any problems.  Also, the diet really does prevent hair balls.  Holistic vets say cats are designed by nature to dissolve their own hairballs, but that today’s commercial cat foods are so bad for them that the cat’s immune system is weakened and their ability to dissolve them is lost.  I care for 30-40 cats at any one time and I see a hairball about once a year.
Also, I use only distilled water for my cats.  Bottled water and tap water contain the hard minerals that make the crusty ring around the water bowls, coffee pots, etc.  It’s suggested that these hard minerals are detrimental to the cats (and human’s) organs and that the kidneys must work harder to eleminate them.  Treats are a real no-no with any urinary problem. Most treats are purely junk food, even if you buy top grade stuff.
HOPE THIS HELPS.

When I was at the vet the other day, she asked if Herman drank water frequently.  He really doesn’t like water unless it’s out of the faucet.  Anyone else have this problem?  He likes to drink running water.  She said that it’s important to make sure that they drink enough when they’re younger in order to avoid kidney problems when they’re older.  I’m going to invest in one of the fountain water dishes, but not until we move in Aug.  I’m hoping to make the switch so he doesn’t want faucet water anymore once we’re there.

I’m happy to join this Forum and to answer questions, as possible.

Most (but not all) cats with urethral blockages have crystals in the urine that form plugs.  However, cats also can develop blockages from bladder stones (very small ones can obstruct the urethra, which is the tube through which urine passes from the bladder to the outside evironment), as well as from mucous plugs.

It is critically important that any male cat who has signs of being unable to urinate, is only passing small amounts of urine, is straining in the box, is vomiting, or appears “constipated” (urinary obstruction is frequently misinterpreted as constipation) is seen immediately by a veterinarian.  Cats can and will die from urethral blockages that are not relieved immediately.  Death may occur in as little as 12 hours post-obstruction.

Crystals form in cat urine one of two ways:  Either there is too much of a mineral (calcium or magnesium) that precipates out in the urine or the urine is too concentrated.  Think of crystal formation this way:  If you have a cup of water and a pound of sugar and begin putting spoonsful of sugar into the water, there will be a time when the sugar won’t go into solution. That’s the first way that crystals form.  Alternatively, if you have a cup of oil, the sugar eventually won’t go into solution.

The two most common crystals in cat urine are calcium oxalate and magnesium ammonium phosphate.

I cannot recommend a kidney diet for the treatment of urinary crystals.  Generally, increasing the moisture in the cat’s diet is a key component to managing crystal formation.  The “rub” is , however, that because cats are descended from desert dwellers, they are not “designed” to drink water.  So, we need to get more moisture into their diets by:  Feeding a canned food exclusive or predominant diet, adding low-sodium chicken broth, tuna or clam juice to the diet, and incorporating circulating water fountains to the diet.

It’s also important to make sure that urinalyses are collected at the veterinary hospital and are read promptly.  Urines that are collected at home can have crystals form as artifacts.

Michele Gaspar,DVM, DABVP (Feline)

Hi - I have a male, Ingot, who had almost blocked twice, fortunately I noticed that he was having problems in the box - squat and meow, scratch around, jump out. I would go to clean after him and discovered nothing was wet - so off to the vet we did go!

The vet put him on the expensive dry food - and said to make sure he only ate half to three quarters cup a day - no more. Treats were out, too.  So he gets his food, and for a “treat” I give him a few bits of his food, which he gobbles up. He only gets water to drink also, no milk or anything else. Strict!

I also still have to monitor the box behavior, as the blockage thing can still recur.

I hope this helps you - good luck!

Hi - I have a comment on how to get your cat to drink more water, I tried this and it seemed to work.

My cat was avoiding the water bowl, so when I fed him his dry food, I just added enough water to make the kibble float, waited a few minutes for soak up time, and fed him. Easy and inexpensive solution!

Regarding the dry food:  Talk to your veterinarian about the benefits of a canned food diet.  In order to prevent crystals, it’s important to get more moisture into your kitty.  Canned food is 70 percent moisture and will help tremendously in that regard.

As I’ve written in my Cat Chat columns, most veterinarians now realize that canned food is preferred for cats and I’d encourage you to work with your kitty’s veterinarian in making that transition.

Michele Gaspar, DVM, DABVP (Feline)