Cat with idiopathic cystitis, advice for the future?

Last monday I noticed my black kitty Eridan couldn't pee and was so distressed, we rushed him to the vet in the morning and they kept him there until Thursday (a day longer than planned) and it ended up being $700 from their $500 estimate...he was flushed twice and they sent him home because the poor boy was freaking out way too much and he barely ate the entire time I think (came back much skinnier). Apparently one of the causes is from dry food...now...I've been tossing around the idea of raw food so I gave it to them as a treat maybe once a week, their diet was still mostly kibble. The vet recommended switching to canned food only and tried to put him on a science diet prescription food, but the ingredients are TERRIBLE compared to what I feed now! Pork by products as the first ingredient on the ocean fish flavor? ***?! I went out and got canned wellness, innova, and authority brands and the she got so offended when I explained that I didn't think SD was the best food, calling my proposed raw & quality canned feeding unhealthy. >:I

Is my plan better? Any of you deal with this situation before? I also went out and got a cat fountain (which they all LOVE) for improved hydration and will be almost completely phasing out kibble feeding in the future.

Moisture is very important for a cat with any type of FLUTD to keep the system flushed out well, so I think your plan of an all wet diet is good. I would avoid fish if you can. I have found that many vets are not very well versed on feline nutrition and what they do know comes from the big pet food manufacturers like Hill's and Royal Canin.

The other known factor in idiopathic cystitis is stress. Minimizing stress as much as you and providing and enriching environment can be very helpful.

High quality ingredients are nice so long as they don't contribute to crystal formation in the bladder, and special diets like SO are good at helping to control crystal formation.  High quality ingredients are good in theory, and appeal to our human esthetic of what is proper, but when a cat is medically compromised this takes precedence in my opinion.  Wet food, moisture, water fountains are all important to help flush the system, but preventing crystals may require a prescription diet.

vball91 said:

Moisture is very important for a cat with any type of FLUTD to keep the system flushed out well, so I think your plan of an all wet diet is good. I would avoid fish if you can. I have found that many vets are not very well versed on feline nutrition and what they do know comes from the big pet food manufacturers like Hill's and Royal Canin.

The other known factor in idiopathic cystitis is stress. Minimizing stress as much as you and providing and enriching environment can be very helpful.

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I've been working on the stress & enrichment part! The only stress thats between the four is he picks on Daisy sometimes, but that is it. I have been sloooowly buying more cat furniture, and maybe some wall climbing shelves and the like so they have more territory to roam.

StephenQ said:

 
High quality ingredients are nice so long as they don't contribute to crystal formation in the bladder, and special diets like SO are good at helping to control crystal formation.  High quality ingredients are good in theory, and appeal to our human esthetic of what is proper, but when a cat is medically compromised this takes precedence in my opinion.  Wet food, moisture, water fountains are all important to help flush the system, but preventing crystals may require a prescription diet.

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But that's the thing! Idiopathic has no cause, he had no crystals, no infection, just could not pee. 

wildkitty said:

 
I've been working on the stress & enrichment part! The only stress thats between the four is he picks on Daisy sometimes, but that is it. I have been sloooowly buying more cat furniture, and maybe some wall climbing shelves and the like so they have more territory to roam.

But that's the thing! Idiopathic has no cause, he had no crystals, no infection, just could not pee. 

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Oh! No crystals.....does he have an inflamed urethra?  Was there no explanation as to why he couldn't pee? Very strange.

StephenQ said:

 
Oh! No crystals.....does he have an inflamed urethra?  Was there no explanation as to why he couldn't pee? Very strange.

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There was just a lot of "gunk" like tissue plugging him up. It was very odd, after he came home he was still straining in the box a bit, then he passed this big icky glob and has been fine since. He's the picture of health besides this, almost 2 years old, healthy weight, decent quality (being upgraded now) diet... I did some reading but wanted to see if there was anyone on here with the same problem and their success with it.
A few articles I found:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...02/21/feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease.aspx
http://homevetsnyc.com/feline-idiopathic-cystitis-fic-its-cause-signs-and-cure/

 

StephenQ said:

 
High quality ingredients are nice so long as they don't contribute to crystal formation in the bladder, and special diets like SO are good at helping to control crystal formation.  High quality ingredients are good in theory, and appeal to our human esthetic of what is proper, but when a cat is medically compromised this takes precedence in my opinion.  Wet food, moisture, water fountains are all important to help flush the system, but preventing crystals may require a prescription diet.

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I agree. I went through cystitis 3 XS w/ Angel. (Even being on good quality wet food). He has sturvite crystals. The first UTI was from bacteria, but the last two were cystitis. 

 I tried everything to avoid going on Rx food because I felt the same about the ingredients, but in the end, It was the only thing

that worked. Knowing how I felt about it  The vet looked at all 3 labels of the urinary foods they had (wet) & the Purina UR SO had the least of crappy ingredients. I put him on it, & in 3 wks he had his first "all clear"

urinalysis!  He had now been on it for a little over a yr. & as much as I would love to get him back on a better food, I am scared to & would rather be safe than sorry, & not see him go through all that again.

I still to this day add some water from the PUR filter in his food every day for extra moisture.  

I also now keep a Feliway or comfort zone diffuser plugged in.   

I did find a restricted diet food at a natural pet food store that was recommended by the staff when I told them about Angel's history, & they recommended the one that would be the one for that issue. 

I showed it to my vet, & she didn't dismiss it, she said sense it's been over a yr on the Rx food, if I wanted to try it, we could do a urinalysis after he was on it, but I haven't decided if I will do that yet.

I originally bought it a few wks ago when he wasn't very interested in his food, & knew he had to eat, because he wasn't eating much. There had been no stress, & none w/ me for him to pick up on, so I think maybe he was just getting tired of the same food for over a yr. Once he ate some, I used it to add to his food to get him eating better again.  I may also just get a few to add into his food once & a while, or alternate w/ his Rx food.  

Here is the one I bought for him. It's dave's pet food. It's a great co. Natural, no by products. (watch Dave's video).  I was impressed. 

http://davespetfood.com/product/restricted-diet-magnesium-phosphorus-pork-dinner-cats/

Yes, I also agree fish is a definitely no no for kitties w/ urinary issues, especially males.

Wishing you all the best, keep me posted. I'll be glad to help any way I can.  There were a lot of people on here that supported me when I was going through it!