Urinary obstruction headaaaaaache (long post)

katillathehun said:

 
Hi guys,

I'm new here, but I've been lurking for a long time. I'm currently going through the male cat urinary blockage nightmare, and I've found a lot of useful info in the forums here. But I could use some opinions on the differing info I'm getting from vets! NOTE: we're taking our little guy to a new vet soon and will be getting a third opinion from a professional. I'm just curious about what's worked for other cat owners. 

Short version: Mo had a urinary blockage and has been to both an emergency clinic and his general practitioner. He experienced a reblockage about a week and a half later. He saw the GP again, and we then transferred him to the ER. We're not confident in the GP after the way she handled his second block (that's another story for another time), but what do we know? We're not vets. 

So, here's what we were told by the different vets. We didn't tell either what the other said. We just asked straight questions. Tell me what your own experiences have been. Again: we ARE seeking answers from another professional, but while we wait for our first exam, I'm just kinda looking for anecdotes from other cat owners.

DIET

Mo used to exclusively eat a grain free diet that was 50% wet, 50% dry. It's all he had eaten since we adopted him as a kitten (he's almost 3 years now). He liked Tiki Cat and Weruva. Sometimes ate fish flavors but really loved chicken with pumpkin. When he first got his urinary diet, he didn't like it, so we mixed it with his old wet food to get him used to it.

What the GP said:

"No. No more. He can ONLY eat Hills C/D for the rest of his life. Both of your cats should only eat this in case he tries to eat her food too. No treats either."

What the ER said:

"It takes so long for C/D to work that mixing it with his old wet food for the first few days isn't going to hurt him. In fact, the C/D only helps so much. All we really care about is that he eats only wet food and gets plenty of water."

(Our local organic pet food store suggested we continue to feed him the Hills for a few months and then switch him to a raw diet. But, I mean, they *would* say that. Still... thoughts?)

I AM WITH THE ER DOCTOR -- ONLY WET FOOD AND PLENTY OF WATER.  HOWEVER, THE WET FOOD NEEDS TO BE LOW CARB, I.E. BASICALLY MEAT, FAT, AND NO MORE THAN 10% CARBS.  THIS WILL KEEP URINE pH SLIGHTLY ACIDIC AND THAT WILL PREVENT STRUVITE CRYSTALS FROM FORMING.

MEDICATION

We noticed that he started reblocking the day after he ran through his course of Prazosin, which he was given for urethra spasms. We asked the GP if he should be given more.

What the GP said:

"He can continue to take it and it won't hurt him, but it won't help either because that's not what's causing his crystals."

We did not ask the ER about Prazosin. They volunteered this:

"What we think is happening here is that his urethra is still experiencing spasms. The spasms are causing irritation because of the crystals, and that's causing inflammation which is causing him to reblock. We don't want to increase his dose because that could lower his blood pressure, so we're going to continue his regular dose but split in half and have you give it to him twice a day instead of the whole thing once a day."

THIS TIME BOTH DOCTORS ARE RIGHT.  PRAZOSIN IS NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR THE CRYSTALS, BUT IF HE IS STILL HAVING SPASMS, IT WILL HELP HIM WITH THAT.  THE CRYSTALS ARE CAUSING THE INFLAMMATION.  HE NEEDS EXTRA WATER AND AN ACIDIFYING DIET TO HELP WASH THEM OUT.

FISH?

We picked the tuna stew flavored Hills when we went through Mo's free samples of the chicken. I read later that you shouldn't give male cats with crystals any fish. 

What the GP said:

"That's been debunked. There's no evidence that fish has any effect one way or another on the pH of the urine."

We didn't ask the ER. Honestly, I feel like the GP is probably right, but I'm so nervous I may not give him fish anyway.

What's your experience been? Have any of you had a cat that blocked twice quickly but didn't block again after? I need some hope here! 

YES!!!

THE GP IS WRONG AGAIN!  (YOU NEED TO CHANGE VETS.)  HERE IS THE SKINNY ABOUT FISH:

Phosphorus is a general indicator of the calcium and magnesium load of the diet.  If a diet is low in phosphorus, chances are it is also fairly low in calcium and magnesium since all of those minerals are high in bone material and if a diet is low in phosphorus, it is probably low in bone matter.

Note that fish tends to be high in phosphorus because fish comes with its own bones so stay away from fish.   (from ww.catinfo.org)

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