HELP: Male cat w/ struvite crystals & FLUTD

Hi, my friends on Instagram said I should get some advice here for our 5 year old male tuxedo cat, Neo.

He was having trouble peeing and was trying to go in locations other than his litter box so we took him into our local vet ER at 3:00 am last Saturday morning.

They found that his urethra was blocked due to struvite crystals & grit and that he needed to be put in the ICU with a urinary catheter and IV fluids to flush out his bladder and unblock him. He stayed for 3 overnights and we brought him home this past Monday afternoon when it seemed liked he was mostly successfully unblocked ($2000 later).

They had us put him on a "prescription diet" of Royal Canin SO Urinary (dry food) and gave us a sample bag of another similar urinary food. It's supposed to help dissolve the crystals in the bladder.

When we first brought him home he had two decent urinations, but after that has struggled quite often and has been in and out of our two litter boxes a lot, only to squirt out a little bit of pee most times. My husband said it looked like he was a little swollen and red down in his penis area, I'm sure due to the urinary catheter. My husband even helped massage Neo's abdomen a few times to help him relax and pee more, which helped a few of times.

Neo is on a pain medicine & another pill to help relax the urethra, both administered every 8 hrs. Sidenote: he came home with a pretty heavy limp with his back right leg...almost seems like a muscle spasm but the doc wasn't sure.

We are trying to get fluids in him as much as possible because that is what's going to help dissolve and flush the crystals now and in the future. However, he doesn't like canned food (yet) and we want to try some with him because he needs to eat and he definitely NEEDS more fluids and the acidity in the meat will help dissolve the crystals.

I'm not completely sold on this "prescription diet" they want him on...seems like glorified salty food with grains and by-products to help them drink more water, but he's still not drinking much. We've tried adding some chicken broth & water to the dry food and he's eaten a little bit of that. We also bought a fountain water bowl and he's taken a little of that as well. We even tried syringe feeding him some water and dipped his paw in water to get him to lick if off. We also tried an apple cider vinegar mixture to help flush his system so I've dipped his paw a few times to have him lick it off.

1st question: does anyone have suggestions for getting a "kibble-addict kitty" to eat some canned food for more liquids? Our long-term goal is to try to wean him onto a really healthy natural high protein grain-free canned food (or make our own), but for now we are willing to try anything to get more fluids in him.

2nd question: any suggestions for getting more fluids in a kitty who definitely needs more?

3rd question: does anyone have any suggestions or tips on how to better flush and dissolve the struvite crystals?

Any other suggestions and advice is welcome! We want to try to do anything we can to alleviate his situation and not have to go the catheter route a second time! Thank you!!

I have a moderate amount of experience with crystals. I had a kitten who came to us at 4 months with severe struvite crystals.

First, I didn't like the Urinary S/O food either. It does make them thirsty but I didn't like the idea of so much sodium even if it states on the website that there are no known complications in cats for a diet high in it.

We had our boy on the Hills C/D. To me, even though I didn't love it, it was the lesser of 2 evils and didn't contain all the sodium. It also comes in a wet variety. My boy absolutely would not eat the pate style regular food, but they also make a chicken and vegetable c/d stew now and I've had 3 cats who have LOVED it. It might be worth a try.

There are a couple of good guides on transitioning here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade and here: http://consciouscat.net/2011/07/25/how-to-your-cat-off-dry-food/

You can also try occasionally adding some water to his dry food, just make sure you only leave it for about 20 minutes because it can grow bacteria.

For us the Hills did work most of the time, however we still had 2 occasions where our boy had to go in and have methadone to relax him and help him "go" then a number of days of meloxicam follow up.

Once you get him eating the wet you can add a few tablespoons of water to his wet food if he'll put up with it too.

Water wise, if the fountain isn't a goer you can try putting ice cubes into his water bowl, or some canned tuna juice (springwater) mixed in with some water (just temporarily to encourage him to drink until the crystals clear anyway). Sadly though sometimes you can lead a horse to water.......

I know you can also get Hills S/D (I'm pretty sure it's S/D) on prescription, this is a diet you feed just for a week or two until the blockage has been recovered from, then you switch to the C/D. They can and often do need to stay on the prescription diet for life though some kitties manage to come off.

I know there is a supplement you can add to their food to help them remain unblocked but I'm drawing a blank on what it's called and from memory it's not as good as them being on the proper diet.

Depending on where you live, purina make a urinary one also and so does eukanuba. One of them might have ingredients you are happier with if you or your boy aren't happy with the C/D either.

Good luck! I know it's stressful. If he seems to be not peeing properly though definitely take him back to the vet. It can be devastating if they block completely.

Tobilei said:

I have a moderate amount of experience with crystals. I had a kitten who came to us at 4 months with severe struvite crystals.


First, I didn't like the Urinary S/O food either. It does make them thirsty but I didn't like the idea of so much sodium even if it states on the website that there are no known complications in cats for a diet high in it.


We had our boy on the Hills C/D. To me, even though I didn't love it, it was the lesser of 2 evils and didn't contain all the sodium. It also comes in a wet variety. My boy absolutely would not eat the pate style regular food, but they also make a chicken and vegetable c/d stew now and I've had 3 cats who have LOVED it. It might be worth a try.


There are a couple of good guides on transitioning here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade and here: http://consciouscat.net/2011/07/25/how-to-your-cat-off-dry-food/


You can also try occasionally adding some water to his dry food, just make sure you only leave it for about 20 minutes because it can grow bacteria.


For us the Hills did work most of the time, however we still had 2 occasions where our boy had to go in and have methadone to relax him and help him "go" then a number of days of meloxicam follow up.


Once you get him eating the wet you can add a few tablespoons of water to his wet food if he'll put up with it too.


Water wise, if the fountain isn't a goer you can try putting ice cubes into his water bowl, or some canned tuna juice (springwater) mixed in with some water (just temporarily to encourage him to drink until the crystals clear anyway). Sadly though sometimes you can lead a horse to water.......


I know you can also get Hills S/D (I'm pretty sure it's S/D) on prescription, this is a diet you feed just for a week or two until the blockage has been recovered from, then you switch to the C/D. They can and often do need to stay on the prescription diet for life though some kitties manage to come off.


I know there is a supplement you can add to their food to help them remain unblocked but I'm drawing a blank on what it's called and from memory it's not as good as them being on the proper diet.


Depending on where you live, purina make a urinary one also and so does eukanuba. One of them might have ingredients you are happier with if you or your boy aren't happy with the C/D either.


Good luck! I know it's stressful. If he seems to be not peeing properly though definitely take him back to the vet. It can be devastating if they block completely.

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Thanks for all the info...really appreciate it! Will check out those links.

We are feeding him the Hills C/D Urinary and the Royal Canin SO Urinary, both of which the vet gave us, but haven't tried the canned food only because while he was in the ICU he wouldn't eat any of the wet. We have tried adding a little water or low sodium broth to it which he seemed to kind of like.

I wanted to see if he'd eat some wet canned food yesterday so we got a few cans of a decent grain-free high protein canned food and put some organic baby food and pieces of the prescription diet on top and he seemed to quote enjoy it. Added a little water while he was eating and he continued. That was last night...he hasn't really seemed interested in it today, though.

I bought a natural product called Tinkle Tonic on Amazon that is supposed to help with urinary and crystal issues -- is that the product you might mean? Also got some Rescue Remedy to help keep him more calm during all of this since he's been pretty jumpy and twitchy, I think from both the medicine and his pretty traumatic stay in the ICU. The products will arrive tomorrow and we're looking forward to giving them a try.

Still syringe-feeding him some water because he just generally doesn't seem to be getting enough. He tolerated it pretty well this evening after he took one of his meds.

Hi there Instagram friend, it sounds to me like your trying everything you can to help your little guy.  Did the products from Amazon arrive yet?? If so how are they working??  

Hi there. It is horrible watching them try to pee. I have a male cat of 9 years old who has had this problem, and has had surgery twice to clean out his bladder and urethra. He has been on RC urinary (moderate calory version) for 6 years now. The only time I took him off it he became blocked again. He has both wet and dry types, alternated at meals. I agree it does not look like perfect ingredients but he stays healthy on it and I dare not change him again. I also give him only a mineral water to drink that is low calcium (6mm per litre).

Ask your regular vet about methioform tablets. I give them to my dog who is prone to struvite crystals, but they are prescribed to cats as well. It's a sulfur-based amino acid that acidifies the urine. Comes in a liver-flavored pill that can be ground up on their food if that's easier. It's pretty cheap and I can feed my old lady dog whatever she cares to eat.

Make sure that your cat's potassium level is correct.  If it is too low your cat may end up having seizures.  That is what happened to our 8 year old tabby.  He had twenty-eight seizures from 8 pm Sat evening until 5 am the next morning. Eight of which were equivalent to grand mal seizures.  Unfortunately there was brain damage and we had to put him to sleep.  

ape48066 said:

 
Hi there Instagram friend, it sounds to me like your trying everything you can to help your little guy.  Did the products from Amazon arrive yet?? If so how are they working??HG

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Hey! :-) We got the products...we tried the Rescue Remedy which seemed to help Neo calm down a bit more...are going to be trying the Tinkle Tonic soon. Will let you know how it goes. 

JennyR said:

Hi there. It is horrible watching them try to pee. I have a male cat of 9 years old who has had this problem, and has had surgery twice to clean out his bladder and urethra. He has been on RC urinary (moderate calory version) for 6 years now. The only time I took him off it he became blocked again. He has both wet and dry types, alternated at meals. I agree it does not look like perfect ingredients but he stays healthy on it and I dare not change him again. I also give him only a mineral water to drink that is low calcium (6mm per litre).

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It was really horrible seeing him struggling. He seems to be peeing better overall...he's been home about a week now and I think his bladder and urethra have calmed down since having the catheter in. 

That's interesting about the RC urinary...I've heard others mention that as well, but the vet recommended the CD and also Royal Canin SO urinary, which are what we are using for all the kitties now. I'll have to look into it! Thanks for your input!

JennyR said:

Hi there. It is horrible watching them try to pee. I have a male cat of 9 years old who has had this problem, and has had surgery twice to clean out his bladder and urethra. He has been on RC urinary (moderate calory version) for 6 years now. The only time I took him off it he became blocked again. He has both wet and dry types, alternated at meals. I agree it does not look like perfect ingredients but he stays healthy on it and I dare not change him again. I also give him only a mineral water to drink that is low calcium (6mm per litre).

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Oh whoops, you said your cat is on Royal Canine SO Urinary? I was thinking of the Hills S/D...we have the C/D but others were mentioning S/D. Still learning all the different ones and sometimes it's confusing. ;-)

CinqChats said:

 
Ask your regular vet about methioform tablets. I give them to my dog who is prone to struvite crystals, but they are prescribed to cats as well. It's a sulfur-based amino acid that acidifies the urine. Comes in a liver-flavored pill that can be ground up on their food if that's easier. It's pretty cheap and I can feed my old lady dog whatever she cares to eat.

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Wow that is a great idea! Never heard of it before...will be sure to ask them about it! Wonder why the vet never mentioned it before. Thank you!

angeldust said:

 
Make sure that your cat's potassium level is correct.  If it is too low your cat may end up having seizures.  That is what happened to our 8 year old tabby.  He had twenty-eight seizures from 8 pm Sat evening until 5 am the next morning. Eight of which were equivalent to grand mal seizures.  Unfortunately there was brain damage and we had to put him to sleep.  

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Yes, when we took Neo in to the ER they did blood work and tested his urine, and despite being blocked, his levels were all really good, including potassium. The vet said we caught it really quick so it hadn't started to affect his levels and organs negatively. Thanks for your input, so sorry for your loss. :-(

Thanks for everyone's advice and support!

A little update:

Neo seems to be doing a good deal better since he's been home and his urethra and bladder have had a chance to heal and calm down. 

He's taken a liking to the water fountain bowl for the most part, and with some tips and tricks, we've been able to feed him at least a little bit of healthy wet food. For dry food he is on a combination of Royal Canine SO Urinary and Hills C/D, but we're looking into more options that will help as well.

He's peeing better overall...not struggling like he was when we first brought him home. We were really scared that he was getting blocked again for how much he was struggling, but with lots of rest, fluids, healthier food, and medicine, it seemed to really help him. We are still syringe-feeding him some water occasionally just to try to make sure he's getting enough.

We (my husband and I) have both been really exhausted throughout this process...basically being on-call 24/7 to make sure everything is okay with him. We're thankful that we are self-employed at home...don't know what we would have done if we had 9-5's. We sincerely appreciate everyone's input and advice. It's made a huge difference!

Besides being on the mend from the blockage, Neo still has a significant limp on his back right leg which was there when we brought him home.  It had started briefly the night we found out he was blocked -  I had picked him up after he tried peeing in a cardboard box -  he yowled really loudly and when I put him down dragged his right leg as he crawled over to the rug. It scared us a lot, but it was strange because he walked normally right  after that. Then we were at the ER and the vet never saw him walk and didn't think much of our description of it.  

Now that he's been home though it hasn't gone away. It maybe got a tiny bit better, but it's still definitely there. We've been massaging it and he doesn't pull away - we're thinking maybe it was a muscle spasm but not sure. We called the vet  about it again and they said they didn't know and that we could either bring him in, or kennel him for a week or so to see if rest will help it if it's minor. Any thoughts? 

I would rest him at home first. Our boy hurt his front leg once (we think he sprained his toe but it might have been the leg as well). We confined him to a single room, with a washing basket with bedding in it on the floor and nothing he could jump up on, not even a lounge or a bed. He wasn't very happy but he had more room than he would have at the vet and it fixed his problem (along with meloxicam for the swelling).

You're welcome on the advice front I hope the good quality food and c/d mix works for your boy, for some though they have to be on prescription diet food and prescription diet food only for it to work properly. If my UTI boy had anything off the diet he would stop peeing. Just keep an eye on it, some are fine with a mix Keep us updated!

You are right - my boy Bonaparte is on the RC S/O Urinary, a mix of the wet and dry versions, and has been for 4 years now. As he is overweight I give him the moderate calory pouches and kibble. At one time I tried to mix it with Purina urinary (not a veterinary food but the one that pet stores sell) and he got blocked again within a couple of weeks. So now he is limited only to the RC, with low calcium water to drink. He is now 7 years old and although we cannot seem to get him to lose weight, he is doing well. It is horribly expensive but I dare not change his diet. If you try to mix your cat's diet I would watch him very carefully for any changes.

Tobilei said:

I would rest him at home first. Our boy hurt his front leg once (we think he sprained his toe but it might have been the leg as well). We confined him to a single room, with a washing basket with bedding in it on the floor and nothing he could jump up on, not even a lounge or a bed. He wasn't very happy but he had more room than he would have at the vet and it fixed his problem (along with meloxicam for the swelling).


You're welcome on the advice front I hope the good quality food and c/d mix works for your boy, for some though they have to be on prescription diet food and prescription diet food only for it to work properly. If my UTI boy had anything off the diet he would stop peeing. Just keep an eye on it, some are fine with a mix Keep us updated!

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Good to know. The majority of what Neo is eating right now is the dry prescription diet with some water mixed in. Been happily surprised that he's taken a liking to eating it like that.

We've tried a little bit of wet food, but it's been a particular kind that doesn't have grains and other harmful ingredients. I was doing a bunch of research about the crystals and kept coming across how much a raw diet would help, and how meat is acidic and will help dissolve/prevent crystals, how grains &
other junky ingredients can be a big factor in cats getting blocked, how you can add certain things like vitamin C to their food to help with the acidity of their urine, etc.

We're thinking eventually we may want to try making raw for Neo & his brother (his brother has not blocked before but we don't want to take any chances).

JennyR said:

You are right - my boy Bonaparte is on the RC S/O Urinary, a mix of the wet and dry versions, and has been for 4 years now. As he is overweight I give him the moderate calory pouches and kibble. At one time I tried to mix it with Purina urinary (not a veterinary food but the one that pet stores sell) and he got blocked again within a couple of weeks. So now he is limited only to the RC, with low calcium water to drink. He is now 7 years old and although we cannot seem to get him to lose weight, he is doing well. It is horribly expensive but I dare not change his diet. If you try to mix your cat's diet I would watch him very carefully for any changes.

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Yeah Neo is almost exclusively eating the prescription dry food with some water mixed in. It is really expensive, and trying to feed 3 cats...it goes quick! Tried a little bit of a grain-free, junk-free, meaty wet food to see if he'd like it and to get some more liquids in him and he did eat some. But we're being really careful and monitoring him. Thanks for your advice.

Anyone have experience with a traumatized cat from a vet experience, particularly an unblocking process?

Since we've had Neo home he's been super jumpy, easily spooked, and abnormally twitchy especially when sleeping. I think some of the twitchiness was due to the medications he was taking because it's not quite as twitchy now that he's done with the meds.

But overall, I know he had a really hard time with his 3 overnights in the ICU...our normally sweet cuddly boy was reported to be aggressive with the vet techs, they had to put a big "CAUTION" sign on his cage, and we had to come in and give him his oral meds because he wouldn't let the vet touch him for the most part. He was so scared and in pain, we felt so bad. Coming in and spending time with him helped a lot and helped the vet be able to interact with him, so we did that a lot.

Some history: we found Neo and his brother when they were two weeks old and bottle-fed
& raised them, so I'm guessing part of it is due to the fact that he's super bonded to us and has never been in a strange place without us, let alone being poked and prodded and surrounded by unknown people and other animals.

We bought something called Rescue Remedy for pets...going to see how that helps him. Other than that, any suggestions on how to help him?

Anyone have experience helping a traumatized cat cope and heal after an intensive vet stay?

The first thing I would do is use calming agents like a Feliway diffuser.  That will help de-stress.  Then, lots of TLC, time, patience, and food.  It's much like bringing home a new kitty.  Place him in isolation for a day or two until you know things are okay and that he's using the litter box and eating properly.  Then gradually open up the rest of the house to him.  Or, if you have one, use a large wire crate and keep it in the family room/den where people hang out.  That way you can socialize yet keep him confined so he can rest and recuperate.