Grady has FLUTD - UPDATE #9

[Grace]

Grady has never shown any signs of not feeling well - despite the frequency and hematuria.

We segregated him last night and everyone survived. He is peeing, and there were two decent wet spots in the box this morning.

Stress - yes, she mentioned that as a cause. He really doesn't have much in his life; but Charley does pick on him from time to time. I tend to attribute all his problems to in-breeding. We strongly suspect that his father was also his older brother. Grady was 'rescued' from a house up the street when he was 6 months old. They never even missed him.

Candace - thanks for all the suggestions. I most certainly will bring them up with the Vet.

Thanks to all of you for your concern and well wishes. We all appreciate them.

[Grace]

Well, things are basically unchanged.

Grady did a 10 day course of Clavamox, combined with Valium and the pain med. A week ago today, 6 days after completing the abx, he spent the better part of the day at the Vet. They were finally able to aspirate some urine. Results: gross hematuria - no infection and no crystals, low specific gravity so the kidneys are doing their job. She did an abdominal x-ray that showed nothing out of the ordinary.

Next step is an abdominal ultrasound. Probably up at MSU Vet School. I think we'll wait on that until after our trip to Virginia that begins in 10 days.

Grady is not in any obvious discomfort, eats and sleeps and plays just as he always does.

Idiopathic cystitis normally resolves with or without treatment in a couple of weeks. We're way past that point, and he still has the hematuria. It's a mystery.

[Grace]

Grady had an ultrasound on Thursday, and another urinalysis. He has crystals in his bladder - both calcium oxalate and triple phosphate. The specific gravity is high, but the pH is 6. Still a lot of hemolyzed blood present, but the color is not red any longer. It's dark orange.

So he needs to be on a special diet. Our Vet recommends canned food - it has lots more liquid that the dry variety, and he needs to dilute that urine.

Well, so far we have tried Hill's c/d Seafood flavor and Eukanuba Low pH/S. He won't even come near the bowl, even when it is mixed with lots of his favorite, smelly canned food. In fact, none of our 6 would touch either brand.

Candace, I told my Vet about the cranberry powder, and she has no problems with it. And I read an article I found in a post here from several years ago that advocated routine use of cranberry powder - as well as no dry food.

Does anyone have any suggestions re the refusal to eat the prescription cat food? I did buy a sampling of canned food from a pet store - will see if he likes any of them.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Grace, I'm so sorry to hear this. My Storm had to have the PU surgery because he became blocked 2 times and diet alone wasn't enough. He was on Royal Canin Urinary S/O in both canned and dry and he seemed to like it much betterthan the Hills brand. It's also supposed to help both calcium oxalate crystals and struvite crystals. I actually had all of my cats on this diet for a while until Starr become very sick.

Now with the approval of both my regular vet and my holistic vet, Storm is now eating a grain free diet and is on Innova Evo dry and the canned food which is called 95% Chicken & Turkey. I also add some water to his canned food so that he gets even more moisture. He loves it so much that he's been trying to wake me up in the morning because he wants his breakfast asap. He hasn't done this in years.

All of my cats are on a grain free diet and my holistic vet said that the grains can cause crystals in cats so having them on a grain free diet is best. It's also more like the raw diet without really being raw. I know it costs a bit more but my cats don't need to eat as much of it because the canned food is very rich and the dry food has a lot of calories. I hope that you'll be able to find something that all of your cats will like. I also mix the canned and dry food together for some of my pickier cats. Good luck.

[Catty1]

My guys are on Royal Canin urinary tract wet food - and were on the dry as well. I hear that RC is supposed to taste better, or something. Find out if it will work on both types of crystals. Medi-Cal Dental is supposed to prevent crystals - my vet told me he had just read some studies.

Check with your vet on the RC.

I also mix the wet with a bit of very warm water - more moisture, and a nice stew for the boys!

Pet stores carry Royal Canin...but you want to be sure the formula is the same.

I am glad to hear a diet change may do the trick for Grady.

[Grace]

Sorry I'm so late getting back here. We lost our internet connection due to weather shortly after I posted yesterday. It just came back up this morning.

This Royal Canin S/O - is it only available through our Vet? I looked in two pet specific stores this morning and couldn't find it at either.

I have been adding extra water to Grady's canned food. And he is so compliant that we have been able to give him extra water during the day with a syringe.

I'm not too worried about the food costing more - negating a few Vet bills will more than make up for the price of the food.

Grain free cat food - where do you find it? I saw some dry in one of the stores that had no soy, no wheat, and one other ingredient(?) - can't remember the manufacturer, but could find the food again.

Coming back to add on - I did buy a bag of Purina Urinary Tract dry food - and he will eat that.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, the Royal Canin Urinary S/O is a prescription diet so you have to buy it through your vet. The Innova Evo can be bought at most independent pet stores. They usually carry the dry and the Turkey/Chicken kitten/cat formula in the canned food. Some will carry some of the 95% meat canned foods and they come in Venison,Beef, Duck, and the Chicken & Turkey flavors. I had to have the store special order the 95% Chicken & Turkey and I bought 2 cases and the store also gives me a discount per case.

Here's the website for the Royal Canin Urinary S/O Formula:http://www.walthamusa.com/Learning%20Center/SO30.html.

Here's the website that tells more about Innova Evo: http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1662. You can also click on the link where to buy and it will list the pet stores in your area that sell it. Good luck.