Cat Diagnosed with FIUTD

Hi! My cat, Tommie, was diagnosed with FIUTD (Feline Idiopathic Urinary Tract Disease) about a month ago. I was looking for some recommendations on ways to get him to drink more water and eat more of his wet food. I was thinking maybe adding the water from tuna or maybe a beef or chicken broth to his water or something like that? Or I think I might've read somewhere a few years ago chicken or beef broth is bad for them? Not sure. Right now I've just been adding more and more water to his wet food gradually. He's 7 years old and has been on dry food his whole life, so it's hard to get him to eat sometimes (especially if it's not a brand new can of food). I've read that cats on canned food get most of the water they need from their food, so they don't necessarily need to drink more water - but since he has FIUTD I was wanting to try to get more water in him if he'll drink it. I recently added six new water bowls in different places in the house, all different sizes, shapes - I even bought him a fountain to see if that would encourage him to drink more. 

Another thing I noticed was he's having a hard time eating the wet food. When he tries to eat it he just licks it further and further away from him and doesn't really pick it up or eat it. I tried putting it in a food bowl with raised sides, but he doesn't like eating out of those. Then I tried a saucer, he eats off of those (as long as it's a new saucer every time   lol) - but I also noticed that some of the food always falls off the far edge of the saucer when he tries to eat. I was thinking maybe someone makes a food bowl with a raised far edge? Something where he could get a hold of the food and lick it up off the edge and eat it? I haven't checked online yet but I was hoping something like that existed or maybe I could make one for him. He weighs 12 lbs and eats one can a day mixed with as much water as I can add without him not being interested in it anymore, so I'm not sure if he should be eating more or if that's a good amount.

Any other advice on a cat with this disease or just general advice for increasing water intake would be wonderful! Thank you all! 

What wet foods have you tried? Some cats prefer gravy, chunks, pate, different flavors, so you need to try lots of different ones. If you don't already look at getting a water fountain. You also might want to look at giving him a d-mannose supplement. 

Here's a list of good wet foods and info on d-mannose

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/urinary-tract-disorders-in-cats/

Here's an article on how to get your cat to drink more water:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/tips-to-increase-your-cat-s-water-intake

Chicken broth and beef broth are ok as long as you make it homemade and don't add any onions or garlic and keep the sodium low.  BONE broth is excellent, if you've got the time.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/301643/...-make-broth-for-cats-very-simple-instructions

And,yes, the bowl makes quite a bit of difference.  One of my guys always licks his wet food to death and I usually end up turning his bowl when he comes up for air to keep a lot of it from goin off the back end.  In this thread there is a picture of a nice elongated bowl (further into the thread) that might work nicely.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/324900/food-bowl

Another thing that helps with FLUTD is reducing stress.  Did your Vet discuss that with you.  I don't know your circumstances, but is anything unusual happening right now...new pet, new baby, new construction, new schedule?  Anyway, stress plays a huge part in FLUTD, so if you can try to figure out a stressor and reduce it,, that would be helpful to your little guy as well.

I've tried pretty much all of the Friskies flavors. I bought at least two of each kind to see what flavors and types he likes. So far he loves anything pate or gravy but hates the chunks or hearty cut type food. I haven't tried any others yet but he seems to like those so far! I bought him a fountain a few months ago and he loves drinking out of it. Thank you for the d-mannose info - I've never heard of that before so I'll definitely do some research on that!

Thanks for all the info! I've never seen a bowl like that before and it looks like that would be perfect!! Also his whiskers wouldn't touch the sides, so that would be great as well. The bowl at the top of that thread is the one I was talking about that he will not eat out of - I'll buy a few elongated ones for him and I'm sure that would fix the problem!

Yes, she discussed stress with me as well as increasing litter boxes. I live with my dad, sister, and grandpa, who altogether have four dogs (a pitbull mix, chihuahua, yorkie, and a pyrenees mix). He mainly stays in my room and doesn't leave my room except at night when everyone is sleeping. He gets along good with the dogs but I'm pretty sure being in my room most of the time is causing him stress. We live far from the road with a lot of woods behind our house. He used to love going outside and exploring but for the last few months there's been another cat in our neighborhood that has attacked Tommie and my other cat, Tido, twice. Thus now he's terrified to go outside, even if I stay outside with him. 

Do you think toys would decrease his stress? I was thinking of buying him some cat toys or maybe stress spray or incense for cats, I'll have to do some research on those. I'm not sure if he'd be interested in toys though as he sleeps pretty much all day, I'd have to try different things to see what he likes with that as well. I used to have tons of toys for him when he was younger but gave them away because he stopped using them a few years ago. I also need to check to see if that cat belongs to anyone or if he's a stray. I don't know if going outside would decrease his stress or not. I believe keeping them inside-only is suppose to be less stressful for them, but since he can only really explore my room I'd imagine he gets pretty bored inside.

Thank you again for all the help!