Urethra Blockage and Diet

I had to take my cat Ridley to the vet today because he couldn't urinate. They said his urethra is blocked and they'll have him for a few days clearing it out and keeping him with a catheter to flush out the bladder.

Now, I'm wondering what diet changes I can make when he gets back to prevent this from happening again. I guess first things first, I should switch to wet cat food. I had been feeding him Orijen until a couple bags ago, I switched to Acania, which I know isn't as good of a cat food. Any suggestions?

Also, I have read that hard water can be a cause of problems. We have EXTREMELY hard water because we actually get our water directly from a well, completely unfiltered. It is so hard that it has actually changed the colour and texture of my hair since moving here and all of our dishes get a thick, white coating on them no matter how much jet dry I use. I think this may be the culprit.

Another thing is, Ridley is only 10 months old and the vet said he has never seen a case in such a young cat. I'm afraid this is a sign of things to come. If he is prone to this, I need to be SUPER careful.

So... give me all your tips for preventing blockage!

Charlie had a UTI - he's less then 2 yrs old. He's on Royal Canin for Urinary (dry) and I'm selective on canned foods. So far, no reoccurances (thank God). It does seem if they get it young, they will have it on/off their entire lives, so you have to be careful.

I get Max Cat (lite or senior) canned, and Natural Balance (venison or duck) and a few cans of Iams beef.

And I would use filtered or bottled water rather then the water that is in your house. I hope YOU are not drinking the water!

In addition to the previous suggestions, we also used Pro Plan for Urinary Health canned food for our cats when they were having urinary tract issues. They really liked it, so we used that in addition to Nutro Max Gourmet Classics.

For dry food we used a few different foods at different times, but the ones that stick out were Nutro Max adult chicken and Hill's c/d.

I also agree that you should be using bottled or at least filtered water. There is a Yahoo Group called FLUTD that is very helpful too.

Does your kitty have a fountain? They really help with water intake.

Heidi, if you're concerned about how hard the water is, getting a water filter might help things too. For now all we have is a $10 pitcher at Walgreens and even that has been a tremendous difference on the water quality. If I purchase a home, my first upgrade would be in invest in a reverse-osmosis system. And as Brandon said, water fountains help them drink more.

My friend has a similar situation and got recommended Evo. It's been working so far but even a day or two without Evo started to create problems again.

My Coco is on C/D. I give her Can and Dry food. Her last Bladder infection was in Nov and it too until Jan to get rid up. She has a Son thats had Crystals two times and he is on C/D, Last time he had Crystals was 2 Years ago. I hope your cat feels better.

My cats are on more canned than dry because they don't like to drink water much. Seldon does though.
I use Wellness dry.

We have incredibly hard well water, as well. The kitties all get water from a jug I buy in the store. You can't filter some of that junk out!

At his age, I think yes it'll be a lifelong issue. I advise feeding mostly if not all wet food. Sharky, our food guru, can help select good foods if you give her a PM.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to start giving Ridley filtered water from the grocery store and I'm switching him to raw food. The vet gave me some Hill's, but I personally think Hill's is crap. I'm also going to see about making myself a Smart Cat Box rip-off so I can test the ph of his urine. We'll see if he goes for that.