Sigh.....

[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???