Pouncer again :(

[catnapper]

Sigh, my boy is straining to pee again. Will he ever get better? I went to vet again today, and they gave me a different food because he wasn't eating the Hills SD. I know its my stupid fault for letting him eat the occasional kibble of regular food.

In the meantime, he's also back on the Baytril and I'm not gonna let him near the regular food. As soon as the 20 pound bag of regular food I bought is gone, EVERYONE will be on a food thats good for him to eat. I can't continue to keep him separated at feeding time -- I think thats part of the problem. He wants to eat what everyone else is eating, regardless of whether or not its yummier. Then when I let him out of the room, he flies downstaris to eat whats left over in the food dishes, and then Abby and Harry fly into the room to eat whats left over of the SD I'm almost certain Abby and Harry have eaten more of the SD in the past month than Pouncer has.

Oh, I also have to make doubly sure he gets plenty of fresh water. I'll be looking into a water fountain for the cats as soon as I can afford one.

[Barbara]

Tigris sends his best wishes to Pouncer and adds he would never eat a diet.
Hope your boy is well soon.

[Glacier]

My cats all eat the Hills CD formula. Only Pete needs it, but my vet said it was safe for all of them. They all seem to like it too. Pete gets the canned version too. The rest of them get different kinds of canned food.

Don't beat yourself up about letting him eat a bit of other kibble. From the sounds of it Pouncer has idopathic FLUTD--that's what Pete has. Just means they don't actually have a clue what causes it! Diet is just a best guess.

Getting more liquid into him is very important. Does he like canned food? Pete was on a canned food only diet, much to his delight, at one point when he was having constant flare-ups. I also sprinkle a bit of parmasen(sp??) cheese on his food occasionally. He loves it and it's makes him thirsty! Chicken broth, drippings from a roast, are good for baiting water too.

How old is Pouncer? My vet told me that when a cat develops FLUTD young, they sometimes outgrow it as they age. That seems to be happening for Pete. He did need a PU surgery, but that doesn't cure the cause, only the life-threatening symptoms. Pete still had difficulties after the surgery, but they have diminished as he's aged. He was two when he got sick. He's 6 now. It's been well over a year since he had a flare-up!

Good luck! It's a frustrating disease to deal with.

[catnapper]

Thanks Glacier! Pouncer is only two, and I thought that he was awfully young to develop crystals already. It is entirely possible Pouncer does have the samne thing as Pete. Poor dudes.

I'm thinking the flare-up is related to the introduction of Aladdin. Awfully coincidental that two days after Aladdin was introduced and scaring Pouncer that he deveolped crystals again. Pouncer is such a sensitive boy, and I think he gets stressed much easier than the average kitty. I've been told stress is a trigger for crystals. Just one last sign that I should wash my hands of fostering.

[Craftlady]

PetSmart online has the fountains for $19.95 plus shipping.
Get the fountain at the store and it's $34.95. It's a no brainer where the best deal is located

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Oh no, not poor Pouncer again. Sure hope the meds do the trick again and he'll be ok once and for all!

[moosmom]

When I tried saving a couple of bucks on dry food, I went for the cheaper stuff. Casey (RB, 2002) got instant crystals in his urine!! The vet told me that some males are more prone to UTI's than others. So, I put them back on SD and I never had another problem of a UTI again.

[catmandu]

I will have to tell Pouncer Angel to guide her Little protege to the Right Food so he will be healthy.
I rememberbuying Medi Cal Food for Mr Scrappy,and Princess and Michael eating most of it at 35 Dollars a bag!
We hope that Pouncer will be All Right!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Kim, I'm so sorry to hear that Pouncer's having problems again. It probably is due to stress. I'm pretty sure that Storm's was also due to stress but he also had a very small urethra so it was only a matter of time before he became blocked. Since Storm's surgery, I've been making sure that he gets plenty of water and I've been mixing his dry food in with wet food and adding a little more water. So far so good but I'll know more next month after his urinalysis check up. I think that putting the cats all on the same food is great idea. I sure hope that this will help Pouncer stay healthy. I'm sending prayers and postive thoughts to both you and Pouncer. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[Uabassoon]

I'm sorry to hear about Pouncers problems. I hope it gets better soon.

[smokey the elder]

Poor Pouncer! You need to learn to eat the good food.

[slick]

I'm sorry I didn't see this until now. I've been wrapped up in my own problems here.

Max get's crystals quite often and he really doesn't like the SD much but he will eat it because he knows there is nothing else available. Before Specks got so sick, I would do what Glacier does and give them both SD when only Max needed it.

Also at night I would crush up the SD into a powder and mix it in with the wet food. That seemed to help alot.

Good luck Pouncer and get a good boy and eat what you need to, OK??

[jenluckenbach]

My entire crew is also eating c/d. After several problem cats I came to realize that the cost of the food was better than the cost of treating the crystals/bladder stones/blockages.

If Pouncer has no choice, he WILL eat the food.

[smokey the elder]

I hear that. All my cats ate C/D from 1997 till 1999, because Smokey needed it. They didn't seem to object!

[Barbara]

If it's FLUTD (in Tigris case it is) then he doesn't need a diet as he doesn't form crystals. But water intake is important. I always add a teaspoon to Tigris' food.

Tigris had now no symptoms for one year (is there any wood I can knock on?)