Sigh.....

[catnapper]

I've been picking up pee in a million locations for the past 4 or 5 days. Thankfully its mostly been hard surfaces... the counters, tabletops, dressers, etc. I KNOW someone's sick because its all been a dribble or drop here and there. Pouncer has a vet appointment tomorrow to confirm it (he's most likely the cluprit).

I could just start to give him the antibiotics, but what's concerning me is HOW can the boy be sick again when he NEVER went off the SD food? Isn't the SD supposed to dissolve the crystals? Now I'm sitting here worried that instead of Struvite crystals, my sensitive little boy has calcium oxillate (sp?) crystals because the food overcorrected his problem and now he has the opposite type of crystals. Is this possible?

Part of me is praying he's not the sickie this time because this would be the 9th time we've been on antibiotics for crystals since last August. I keep catching it before he develops stones that would block him (well, one time I was almost too late :(). What happens when one day he develops a tolerance to the antibiotics and they don't stop the infection? Do I need to find another vet that can help fix this or just follow the course my vet is prescribing? I love my vet and trust her, I know she has his best interest at heart and she refuses to rush into surgery unless its absouletly the only option left. I worry about my boy! :(

Sorry for the ramble... I hope everyone is having a fabulous Memorial Day!

[jenluckenbach]

I am as confused as you are. :( First (of course) see what the urinalysis actually tells you. But I "think" KAK mentioned a Royal Canin prescription diet that is good for BOTH types of crystals.

Best of luck!!!!!!!

[catnapper]

Pouncer's been eating Hills WD as his primary food with Eukanuba low pH as his nightly treat. He eats the same as everyone else in the morning and during the day, then at night, they all get their wet food and he goes upstairs with me to eat his low pH food in the bedroom alone. He absoutely LOVES this food! He gets less than 1/4 cup of the low pH stuff a day.

The Brat (and I say that lovingly) refused to eat the Hills CD but everyone else loved it.... and everyone got FAT. The vet swore the Hills WD is perfectly safe for a cat with urine issues. Everyone is on the Hills WD diet and they all like the food well enough (though Harry still insists we're starving him to death :rolleyes: )

I sure hope Glacier sees this since she has been through it with Pete - maybe she has some insight. I now KAK has also been through this with her boys. Sigh.

I just want to do whats right for him.

[catmandu]

We Are Sorry That You Are Having Trouble With Pouncer.
You Meant Well By Adopting Him, And You Are Having All This Trouble.
Tubby Has Been Spraying But I Think That Its Because He Has Only Recently Been Neutered.
I Am Praying That You Can Stop This, As Noone Wants A Dirty House.
We Are Praying That Pouncer Will Stop.

[catnapper]

Gary, in all honesty, I don't care about the house at all! I just worry about HIM! I can handle the cleanup.

[Glacier]

I'm sorry this is happening again! I know the frustration!

How long has he been on the S/D food? It's not meant to be eaten long term. It's not a complete food, too low protein. Pete hated it, but the longest he's ever had to have it was two weeks.

Pete was just switched to Royal Canin S/O. Vet said that he has way too many crystals for eating C/D for over 4 years. S/O is safe for all the cats so I just switched them all. Fortunately, Pete even likes the canned formula! He has to be retested in a month to make sure this food is working better.

Is there actual infection along with the crystals? The anti-biotics won't do diddly for the crystals. If there isn't infection he shouldn't be on them. Since he's had them so often, he may be developing a resistance and you might need to switch types. Pete gets Baytril for his infections most often.

Has your vet suggested other medications yet? Pete took amitriptylene for awhile. It's a human drug that actually does a range of things--mild sedative, mild anti-depressant, used in the treatment of chronic pain. It's used in cats if they think the problems are stress related. Prozac is suggested sometimes too(for the cat, not the owner!).

Do you have an empty litter box? Since he seems to like hard surfaces, he may like an empty box. Pete did for awhile and still likes the box that has very little litter in it. You have to clean it alot, but it's better than cleaning your cupboards! I also have a sssssssssCat canister on my kitchen cupboards to keep someone from peeing on them, but I suspect that's Onyx not Pete. (Onyx has behavioral, not health issues)

Have they done an ultrasound of his bladder? If he has calcium crystrals or stones, they'll show up on an ultrasound. Pete had one--his bladder was basically full of sand at the time (before his surgery) and he has thickened bladder walls. There is a surgery that goes in and removes the build up from the bladder walls.

If you trust your vet, I'd stick with them. IFLUTD is extremely difficult to treat and you aren't likely to get any better results with a different vet. If you have a vet school or a specialist clinic near you, a consult might be good though.

Good luck! I hope you find something that works for Pouncer.

[catnapper]

Pouncer started out on Baytril, and it wasn't working. When the vet suggested a 3rd round of Baytril, I put my foot down because I had heard that some cats can actually lose their eyesight from too much Baytril in a given amount of time. He then switched to Clavimox. He does get infections along with the crystals. We do think it is stress related. This time coincides nicely with my son coming home from college. The house has been an uproar since he got home because all everyone does is argue with my son (he's lazy and expects us to feed him AND clean up after him.... NOT gonna happen)

I am VERY concerned about when the baby arrives. I WILL be asking the vet about a stress reliever for then.

As for food, he refused to eat the SD. We switched him to Eukanuba low pH and the vet approved it as a continual treat. He's typically on it as a full diet for two weeks, then a few peices as a nightly treat. He refuses to eat Hills CD so he's on Hills WD instead, which the vet said is pH neutral and won't raise or lower the pH. I like it because it keeps everyone's weight down ;)

He's only ever had an Xray. The vet isn't/wasn't concerned enough yet to think it warranted an ultrasound. She's really a very thorough and cautious vet. Most vets would automatically urge you to run diagnostic tests for this because they see $$$. I took him to the rescue's vet and she started talking immediately about ultrasounds and surgery. I took him back to my own vet and she said that she still wants to do the "wait and see" thing. If he continues much longer with this pattern, my vet will start suggesting the ultrasound and such.

Silly me! I NEVER thought of an empty litterbox for him! DUH! I do have an extra one and will clean it out tonight and place next to another box just to see what happens. GREAT idea!!!!!

[jenluckenbach]

Rutherford's bladder stones were seen with an xray (much cheaper than an ultrasound). So, another xray might be in order especially if crystals are found in the urine.

No offence Pouncer, but the c/d is MUCH better tasting than the w/d (so say the kitties here) so why don't you eat it??? :confused:

[catnapper]

My boy's at the vet now. His bladder was completely empty, so now he gets to spend the day there until it fills ack up again so that they can test his urine. He was NOT a happy cat when I took him... and right before I picked him up to put in the carrier, he was happily curled up with Allen in the bedroom :(

I'm so nervous. The vet did say he's gained a TON of weight since she saw him last. What could cause the big jump in weight? He's always been my thin boy.

[jenluckenbach]

Any news yet?

[catfamily]

I'm so worried too along with you Kim.I hope he'll be OK.Let us know as soon as you hear anything OK? :(

[catnapper]

Any news yet?
Nope. He's still there. :(

[catnapper]

Allen's been running around the past hour looking for his buddy. I miss my Pouncer -- I hate this :(

Pouncer, whats wrong with you? How can I fix you? :( :( :(

I'd do anything for that boy, I just need to know what "anything" is.