Avoiding Urinary Block Recurrance??

We have an 8-year old, fixed, mixed-breed, mostly indoor, male, with no history of UTI, FLUTD, etc. Fed dry Friskies entire life (hasn't liked super premiums) and has been very healthy and not overweight.
While out of the country for two weeks, he was free-fed. A friend & my mom were checking on him -- all was well. When we arrived home, he was a bit lethargic, but by evening was clearly in pain. We got him to the vet -- full urinary obstruction, temp of 97! He was catheterized, given antibiotics & fluids, a drug to reduce the potassium in his blood, etc. Vet says struvite crystals.

Three days later, he is home from the hospital seemingly as good as new, with vet orders for a wet prescritption diet (Waltham), it's $1/can!! We're trying to figure out our options...

Reading articles online, it seems that there is no clear consensus on the cause or prevention of FLUTD -- I know...low magnesium, acidic. I certainly do not want another sick kitty (nor the vet bills!!), but also want to avoid an expensive diet -- one that makes it difficult to leave him for a weekend!

It seems unusual for an 8-year old cat to have his first urinary issue, with no change in diet. I am curious what others have experienced and what diet options we should consider? How likely is recurrence? What ranges of protein, fat, fiber, minerals are considered ideal? What about some of the non-prescription diets for urinary health?

Any advice or suggested articles are most appreciated!!

You really want to follow your vet's advice on this one. UTI are nothing to sneeze at and can claim a cat's life quickly. Myself, along with a few others on here can sadly attest to that. I would find a reliable cat sitter for the time you leave your home and make sure they follow the diet plan to the letter. I would take an expensive food for kitty any day over the heavy vet bills that might result because of trying to find a cheaper alternative. Most of the cat foods out there on the market, do not have what your kitty needs.

A week ago I took my 3 cats for annual exams and shots. ($433) Five days later my 8 yo male becomes completly blocked. This was a first for him. He spent 3 days at the vet ($500) and just came home last night. I am writing this at 5 am because I can't sleep--I am so stressed over the possibility of a reoccurance. After almost $1000 in one week I can't afford any more vet bills. My vet told me that the current theory as to the cause of FLUTD is leaning more toward low fluid intake and stress. Well, I know the cats don't drink as much in winter and he certainly was stressed when he got his shots. Also, I just read online that homeopathic vets blame liver toxicity for stone formation and that vaccinations can tax the liver. Looking back it was probably bad timing in that all of these risk factors occured at once. I hope this is the case and that it is just a fluke and will not become chronic. Any advice for this first time poster on seeing a cat through the recovery period and preventing reoccurance would be greatly appreciated. Please, only good news, no horror stories, I'm stressed enough!

We are now +1 year past a urinary block that almost killed our kitty. I was also a wreck right after it happened and determined to not have it recur, so I completely sympathize! It is interesting that you read that stress and low fluid intake could be to blame for FLUTD, that was the theory I came away with. (I would love to know where you read that so I can show our vet!!)

Our cat was 9 years old with no prior history of crystals and certainly not a block. This incident occured when we had been out of the country for two weeks, so he was most likely lonely/stressed. I know my Mom and friend, who were taking care of him, came by frequently, but I have no doubt that his water and litter was not as fresh as we keep it, so I think like in your case, it was just a combination of factors that led to his block.

That said, on our vet's recommendation, we have continued to feed him Waltham S/O, which is meant to keep the urine neutral (as opposed to acidifying it, which a lot of urinary tract foods do and can lead to other issues, like low potassium). It is definitely more expensive (prescription only), but better than a very sick kitty and high vet bills. He doesn't like this food as much as the Friskies he had eaten his entire life, but this has actually turned out to be a good thing. We are able to free-feed him and he doesn't gain weight. (He also gets a couple cans of wet food spread through the week.) Plus, his coat is much healthier than we have ever seen it!

Another thing I would absolutely, 100% recommend is getting a water fountain. We got one after the blocking incident and I know that our kitty drinks much more than he used to -- we see him drinking several times a day. He really likes the flow, it's fresher, etc. I think this is our best insurance against a block in the future. They're only about $30 at the pet store (we got ours at PetSmart). The filters are $4-5 for two, each lasts 3 months or so.

He's been checked since and there is no sign of crystals, so I think our situation was a fluke, like yours. However, I am staying on the cautious side, 'cause I want to keep our guy around for a long time. Obviously, with several cats, you may have a tougher time giving just one a special diet. By all means, go with what your vet recommends, but get the water fountain -- they'll all benefit!

Best wishes, keep us posted!!

I am glad to hear your kitty is recovering so well. Thank you for taking the responsibility to provide good care to him as well. I agree about the drinking fountain- encourages all the cats to drink more water, something that they all need to do, regardless of health issues.

It's now 2pm and Sammy is peeing less often but greater amounts. I hope this is a sign that his urgency (from irritation of the urethra) is decreasing. I went to several drug stores and health food stores this am in search of holistic treatments. I found 2 homeopathic medicines recommended by holistic/homeopathic vets for this problem. I also went to a pool supply store for pH strips to test his urine pH. My first attempt didn't work out so well. It showed alkaline urine but I don't think it was enough urine to be accurate. I was only able to dab at a drop that was left on his bottom after he pee'd. I'll try again tomorrow....he's put up with enough of my poking and pill-stuffing for one day.

ahuff....It was my vet that told me about the stress/low fluid theory. He said it is the most current theory out there for FLUTD. He also told me about the fountain to encourage more drinking. I'll have to check those out.

Thanks for the replies!

Frantic had magnesium crytals in his bladder December 2002. Like CrazyMom, my vet said it was the result of low fluid intake and stress. He was put on PurinaONE urinary tract health kibbles and many cans of wet a week. Before his problem, he refused to eat wet. He would sniff it, scratch around it, and walk away. I have since discovered which wet he enjoys and incorporated it little by little.

I also bought a fountain. He's not thrilled with it but his brother loves it. Frantic loves running water so several times a day he runs into the bathroom with me and I'll turn the faucet on very gently for him.

Sandy

ps...I hate to say it, but peeing less often but in greater amounts could also mean the cat is waiting as long as he can to avoid the pain of peeing.

My cat also had a UTI and got blocked due to stress. They found no crystals in his urine whatsoever. I've been sneaking extra water into him by mixing a tablespoon of wet food with three tablespoons of water. It's not much, but it's something and he loves his wet food treats so I'm happy. Luckily, he has not re-blocked.

My husband and I are going on vacation for a week in May so I'm scared to death he's going to have a problem again. I guess I'll try to get a friend to go over every day and give him his treats.

I am new here and have really enjoyed reading all your posts. I am in the middle right now of a UT blockage in my 7 1/2 year old cat. He is my life. I delivered him myself when his mommy came to our clinic for a spay and we noticed babies. Mommy had no milk so I was lucky enough to help save 2 of the kittens and bring them home to bottle feed them. I was their only mommy they knew. I just lost one of them a few months ago when she snuck outside and got hit in the road. ALL my cats are indoor only so they knew nothing of cars. It was one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with. Now I have the other cat who is nammed Sami. I have clung to him much tighter now that I lost his sister. I can't loose him too. He has never had any medical problems but just 4 days ago I had to rush him in the middle of the night to the vet. He had a complete blockage. They took care of that and now he is on an expensive science Diet S/D prescription diet for 1 month. They exrayed him and also found 3 very small possible stones which they are concerned about so they hiope his new diet will take care of them as he has both Crystals and stone segments in his Urine Analysis. I AM A WRECK. He is home now for the last 2 days and things seem to be better but I have 4 other cats so he is sad that he has to be seperate from them so I can monitor his drinking and urinating. My loving hubby is on his way tonight to get the drinking fountain for him so I hope that will encourage him to drind=k as this is why I beleive, that this all happened. he has always been fussy about his water so I pray this will work.
Any recomendations or tips would be GREATLY appreciated.
I go in a litle over a week to have another Urinal analysis and then again 2 weeks later for anpother exray. Its costed me over $1,000 already so its financially hard right now but I HAVE TO do all I can to make sure he is my best friend for a long time.

Sadly I am very familiar with UTI problems with my persian cat Lucy. The problems started about 3 years ago also while I was out of town. I was feeding her Purina One at the time. The vet said she had blockages and may need surgery. After leaving her at the vets office for 8 days she had not eaten anything since she left home. Against the advice of the vet I brought her home thinking that I would have a better chance of getting her to eat than they would. I began feeding her Purina One for Urinary tract health. She loved the food and it cleared up all of her symptoms. About 1 year ago I switched over to Purina ProPlan for Urinary tract health because I thought it had better ingredients. I also suggest getting the water fountain, it really does encourage them to drink more water. And another idea is tring a soft food that if specific for urinary problems, it has more water in it than dry food. This is what worked for my baby, hope it helps you!

I just tried adding water to Sami's canned food as he does not like the dry. He like it much better. I added warm water so it made a gravy and he gobbled it up. Is urinating but I noticed tonight again it was not that much. Hopefully has to do with the fact that he is not drinking as much. I sure hope he drinks the water from the fresh flow bowl tonight when it gets here.
Are there any home remedies for taking care of these stones that anyone knows of? I have Sami on antibiotics and is on the perscription science diet S/D canned food. Anyone else know of any other ways to help this go away?
Thanks so much for replying

A friend of mine heard a vets radio show on this topic and his advice was not to free feed them, stating that whenever they eat, it creates acidity in their system (or something along that line). I don't remember for sure, but I think he said to feed them 3 times a day. Neither my friend or I have had this problem with our cats...yet.
A cat I grew up with had problems with it and the vet told my dad to give him liver. I didn't pay much attention to it since I was a young teen at the time, so I don't know the reasoning behind it or if that ended the problem, but I think it must've.
Our cats get fed 3 or 4 times a day, mostly canned food. They're both less than 2 yrs. old.

I can't emphasize proper diet enough if you don't want your kitty to block again. Higher quality food is more expensive, but it's cheaper than your cat getting sick again! Walthams Ph control or Hill's/Science diet S/D, C/D or X/D depending on the cat are your best choices. Here in Canada we also have a very good brand called Medical.
Please don't go back to feeding your kitty Friskies (which is a horrible food) if you don't want him to reblock. I'm a vet assistant, and too many times I have seen cats brought in with urinary blockages multiple times because their owners won't feed the proper diet they need. I don't meant to lecture, just trying to help!

Thanks for the info. I took all 5 of my cats off the grocery dtore brand foods and have them all on Science diet maintanence now. Sami, who had the blockage, is now on Science Diet S/D for 1 month and then he has to be on Science Diet C/D for the duration of his long life Its $30 per 20 pound bag but is worth it. I do not want him to go through this again. I am hopeful that it will be ok for all of my other cats to eat (C/D) as well so I can eventually let Sami roam the house free with the other cats again.
Thanks for the tips. I have been a wreck the last 4 days so I am greatful for ANY tips you all may have

With all of the research I've been doing over the past few days I've learned so much about this problem.!
For the first day that Sammy came home from the vet he still moaned and strained each time he urinated. He would get off of the litter with his legs spread and lick & lick himself. He was going frequently and small amounts. It was during this time that I really feared he would re-block. I went on some sites that gave info about homeopathic meds. for cats. I found one of the meds. that was highly recommended for FLUTD at, of all places, a human drugstore. It claimed to help with straining and inflamatiion/irritation of the urethra. Well, I gave him his first treatment of this "Cantharis" at 1pm and by 3pm he urinated a good amount with no crying or evidence of straining. It was recommended to give 3 treatments of cantharis 4 hours apart. I did so and Sammy has been pain free ever since the first dose! He urinates a normal amount every few hours instead of small amounts 4 times/hour! (from my own experience with UTI's I know that frequent urination is due to the "urgency"- feeling like you have to go all the time, even when bladder is empty) He is not licking at his privates and he sits and lies down normally instead of the gingerly way he had been because of discomfort "down below". I think we are over the worst of it! Some other measures I took (and are still using) are: Extra water via a medicine dropper, adding water to the canned food from the vet (Eukanuba, low pH), Vitamin C 250mg 3-4 times a day, Carpon (cranbery extract tablets for cats), Vitamin E (two drops from a 400IU capsule, once a day--important not to overdose on this!) to promote healing and reduce scarring in the urinary tract. He gets his meds from the vet too which are and antibiotic and an antispasmotic. I also want to be careful not to over-acidify his urine so I got pH testing strips at a pool supply store and test his urine. To do this I wait until he urinates then pick him up right away. Usually there is a drop or urine left on the tip and it's enough to saturate the small test pad. His urine was on the acidic side yesterday so I cut back on the Vit C. To prevent Struvite crystals (Sammys problem) the urine should lean toward acid. If the problem is Calcium Oxilate stones the urine should be more alkaline. Right in the middle (natural pH of 6) is just right for a cat who isn't prone to either of these stones.
Now...on to the still contraversial diet theory. Here is what I have learned: My vet told me on Monday that after keeping Sam on the prescription canned food during this initial recovery period, I could go back to supermarket brands (canned only, no dry) as long as I gave him a supplement to acidify his urine if it tested naturally on the alkaline side. The food that is advertised for "Urinary tract health" contains added ingredients to maintain a healthy pH. in cats prone to specific stones/crystals. If those foods are given to cats whose pH is NATURALLY adequate to prevent stones it could CAUSE stones in that cat. For example, if a cat with a natural pH of 6 is fed a food designed to promote low pH urine,over a period of time it could make the urine too acidic causing that cat to form Calcuim Oxilate stones which are more difficult to treat than Struvite. My theory, in the case of Sammy, is that this episode of stone formation was a fluke, caused by a combination of several things including stress from a vet visit for shots, lowered immune resistance caused by the vacccinations in his system and decreased fluid intake. If this is true and he normally has a perfect pH urine (not alkaline) and I feed him the low pH food for an extended time, he could get Calcium Oxilate stones---don't want that! So, I plan on watching him and his urine pH very closely for the next few months and formulate a plan based on what I see. I have to take anther urine sample to the vet tomorrow, so we'll see what that shows.

Best wishes to those who are dealing with this complex and stressful problem.

Thank you for all of the kind replies.

WOW, you are in to this very much. I have learned so much from your post Thanks. I am so glad to hear that your Sammy is doing better. My Sami had a great day today as well with normal amounts of urine. Its was great news. I still do not think he is drinking enough water, he does not care about the nes fresh flow fountaing I got him either. So I still am adding water to his canned food.
I am so thankful that I found this site to hear what you all have to say about this. It has really helped me Thanks

Crazymomof4, that's great that Cantharis worked. It is a commonly used remedy for bladder infections, no antibiotics needed. I only say this because that was the remedy that put an end to my chronic bladder infections over 16 years ago. I'd be bleeding by the end of the day if I didn' nip it with fluids, so I was on antibiotics a lot before that remedy. That was my first experience with homeopathy and I was skeptical, but I knew how my infections acted and I'd know if it didn't work. I haven't had one since.
Those of you not familiar with homeopathy need to know that it won't work on every UTI, but another remedy most likely would. It's a great form of medicine for animals and people alike.
Keep up the good work!

kariablinger- Glad to hear Sami is doing better too!

For those who may be interested the recommended cat dosage for Cantharis is as follows: 1 30c pellet every 15 minutes for three doses. These 3 pellets inside of this half hour time frame is called a "treatment". Repeat this "treatment" 3 times spacing them by 4 hours in between each.
If this doesn't work they say to try the same routine using "Nux Vomica"- I got that too but never needed it!

RBG- I also am prone to UTI's. I'll hang onto the Cantharis for both Sammy and I to use as needed!

Being an RN my first choice has always been traditional medicine (allopathy) but I am learning more and more about homeopathy. I was very impressed by the success of Cantharis. Now that I've got Sammy over the hump, I'm looking into homeopathic remedies for my own suddenly swollen knee!



PS-last night I read this course of treatment recommended for 1 month after a urinary blockage:

Vit C, 250 mg., twice daily to acidify the urine.
Vit E extra 25-50 IU added daily to food
Vit A (cod liver oil) 4 drops to food once a day.

I haven't heard of that method of dosing before. Typically you might give several doses close together to start just to get it down to a tolerable level, then taper off when improvement is seen. What I do with my pets is give one dose a wait 1/2 an hour or so, then repeat again if I don't see any improvement or if I do see some and it doesn't seem to be moving along, then I give another. If it's working I repeat it whenever there seems to be an aggravation from the infection.
When I had my last UTI, I think I had 2 doses of 200C cantharis that evening, then woke up the next morning and felt it coming back on and thought I'd need to go in for antibiotics, but I decided to try one more dose first and that put an end to it for over 16 years!
I was fortunate to be able to learn about it before I used it when there were some good classes offered, which were taught by a man who became my naturopath. My health was so far down by the time I went to him that he couldn't even get a reflex response out of me. I know I had a very good one in my knees before my decline. There were so many improvements after just one month. I was so amazed after having MDs tell me it was all in my head for several years before that. I might have believed them if I'd stuck with them through the years and heaven only knows what would've happened in the long run.
I've seen it do many amazing things since then and it never ceases to amaze me.
John Stossel (or however it's spelled) did a segment on it 2 or 3 weeks ago just for the sake of knocking it. He succeded to make a fool out of Dr. Ullman (a well known homeopath) and probably turned some people away from it who might have been thinking of trying it.
I told my husband that someone should've just clubbed him with a hammer and had him wait 1/2 an hour, then give him a dose of arnica to experience how it takes down the swelling and bruising. It does a very good job. I was glad to know about it after having kids, with all the bumps and bruises they get. It also brought my daughter out of a state of shock after a head injury.
Any way, I'm glad you found the correct remedy for you cat and I hope others will be helped by it too. It's a much gentler medicine for animals.
Crazymom, if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the encouragement toward homeopathy......I sure didn't get any from my vet! Just like most allopathic medical doctors, they see any type of alternative medicine as competion and an insult. I didn't see the Stossle story. I don't know why people are so skeptical. Homeopathic medicine is widely used in Europe. There, antibiotics are not taken like candy as we do here in this country.

I got the dosing information from a website on homeopathy for pets. Someone there had posted it in the form of a quote from a Veterinary Homeopathy book. The author was Pitcairn.