Preventing urinary obstructions in male cats

[lv4dogs]

Tiki is my first male cat & soon to be neutered. I know that it is more common for neutered males to have urinary obstructions. I also know that it can be deadly if not treated in time. So I am looking for ways to prevent it. If you's can help I'd greatly appreciate it.

I do know that they are usually caused by crystals & stones.
Which is usually caused by higher ph levels.

I also know that you should keep stress to a minimum.

I also know that they should drink a lot of water to help prevent them and/or feed canned food to help add more water to their diet.

I have heard that fishy type foods may cause blockages, does anyone know if this is true?

Does anyone know if it would hurt to feed him a special diet like Purina One urinary tract health formula?
Do they really work?
I really prefer to feed a better food like Innova, Felidae, Wellness etc... but they don't offer a urniary diet.
Or should I just wait & see if he ever gets blocked, then if he does start the special diet then?
If I should ever feed him a special diet for urinary problems is it ok to feed my female cat the same diet even if she never has any urinary problems?

Do you know of any other suggestions that may help prevent blockages?

[Barbara]

Only about 25% of the cats with urinary tract problems have the problems due to crystals. In these cases a diet can help. In about 50% of the cases the reason is unknown (the reason could be auto-immune, or an unknown virus or whatever)- so it's called iFLUTD (idiopathic Feline Lower Urinsray Tract Disease). My Tigris suffers from a chronic inflammation of that type. It occurred when he was 9 years old.

In the acute case, it is normal that not only the inflammation is very active but there are bacteria as well. Against the bacteria, antibiotics will help. For the inflammation Tigris became cortisone and it helped well.

He does not have to eat diet food (as he has no stones) and I mix some water in his food as he doesn't like to drink much.

There is nothing you can do to prevent that type of disease- but you can deal with it when it happens.

And maybe Tiki doesn't get it at all.:)

[catlover4ever]

I have three males in my household and the only one with a problem was Smokey. Smokey ended up with surgery to make the urethea bigger so the stones/crystals don't end up blocking him.

Tiki may never develop a problem but here are a few things to look for in case he does.

Look for straining to go the bathroom. When Smokey was not feeling well and was starting to develop a problem he used to put his rear end straight up in the air and try to go the bathroom. He also used to get the urge to go and would pee in where ever he was.

If you are looking for a diet that may help to prevent the stones/crystals you need to read the cat food labels. When it comes to wet canned food look for an ash content that is low. I'm sorry but I don't remember the exact levels that I used to look for but compare a few labels and try to go with the ones that are less. Fish type cat food is generally higher in ash but you can find canned cat food that is fish flavored that is low in ash.

If Tiki should develop a problem I would recommend asking your vet about Methio-Form. It is a food supplement that you crush up and put into the wet food that helps break down the stones/crystals. I always keep it on hand in case Smokey gets a reoccurance.

Hope some of this info helps.

[krazyaboutkatz]

My Storm had to have the PU surgery because he kept on becoming blocked. At first they thought that they found stones but later on it was inconclusive. After the surgery he became very stressed due to another cat which I've had to rehome and this caused him to get another UTI. This time his ph was also elevated and they thought they saw some crystals too.

I feed him Royal Canin S/O dry and he was also on the wet but started refusing to eat it so he's now on the Innova Lite wet food. I mix the dry with the wet and I add some water to it to give it more moisture. I researched the Innova food before I started feeding it to him and it says that Lite formula wet food is good for cats prone to urinary tract infections. I used to feed all of my cats the Royal Canin S/O and it won't hurt them but I wanted to be able to feed them a more healthy food. I really don't think that you can prevent this disease from occurring because some cats will get it no matter what you do. Storm also had a very small urethra opening so the surgeon said it was just a matter of time before he had problems. At least you're very well informed about this disease so hopefully your cat won't ever have any problems. Good luck.:)

[catmandu]

I FEEN NUTRO COMPLETE CARE INDOOR SNIOR,AND SCIENCE DIET ADVANTAGE,AND KNOCK,ON WOOD,NO PROBLEMS,WITH THE FOUND CAT BOYS,SO FAR.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/catphotos921.jpg

EXCEPT,WITH ME!!!! HEEE HEEE HEEEE!!!!!!!

[lv4dogs]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping there was more I could do to prevent it. Looks like we will continue with our regular food & maybe a bit more canned.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I asked the same question when we first got Cracker Jack. There was some good information in the thread about ash levels in food and such.

Here's (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70781&highlight=urinary) the link to that thread.

[lv4dogs]

Thanks Deb, that sure was helpful.