Food for male cat blocked bladder

ltuilawa

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Hi all,

My boy had a blocked bladder recently and spent a few days at the vet on a drip with s catheter in. He's since been fine at home on royal canin urinary diet. I rang the vet this morning to ask if he's allowed to have chicken or any other meat to supplement his diet and they said no strictly only the urinary food. Is this really true? I've been doing plenty of research and see a lot of posts in forums about vets advising homemade chicken broth is okay, meat is okay etc so I'm just wondering what others have done?
I'm in Australia so probably don't have access to a lot of the Cat foods that others might.
TIA
 

Kieka

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Veterinary science is an imperfect science. There is less research in the filed than human medicine and advances take longer to get through the field. Add on that unless your vet is a cat specialist most vets only see 20% (or less) feline patients and some don't even like cats that much. You can end up with widely different opinions and methods when it comes to the best treatment option or what can and can't be done.

Take the whole grain free or raw diets. A lot of people swear by them. I personally have had all my cats on grain free diets for years and see a difference in their weight, coat and overall health when compared to cats on grain heavy diets. I tend to side more with the studies that say cats are obligate carnivores and grain free is better. There are vets out there that swear by the older research and think grain free is a waste of money (I hate to say it, but there are also vets paid by the companies to promote specific brands and prescription diets too). Then there are ones like my vet who are more open to the idea and say that a grain heavy diet will contribute to cats being overweight. 

All that together means.... its up to you. Personally, I am not a fan of the prescription diets but I know they have a role and place. Once you get to the point where you need them you are probably best sticking to them until you have healthy test results consistently enough to take a risk and try something different. Without knowing the reason for your boys bladder issues its hard to say. 

Based on what you've said. I would get a drinking fountain for him and set up a decorative little fountain somewhere else in the house with the idea of encouraging him to drink more (since usually bladder problems stem from too little water). I don't see any problem with unseasoned home made chicken broth as a treat for him. It is essentially flavored water and if you make it more of a bone broth it can also have more health benefits for joints and ligaments. In my unprofessional opinion, if a sick person can drink broth on the most limited diets I don't see a problem with a cat doing the same. I would stay away from solid chunks of meat for the time being until you have hit a year of no problems. Just because you don't want to accidentally trigger a relapse and there is a chance there is a reason for your vets insistence. Which isn't to say you can't give one or two bits as a treat option a few times a week; but probably stay away from more than a mouthful. 
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Did your Vet discuss with you that you can actually test your boy's PH at home using human test strips?  That way you can see how things are going and see if things are under control, and IF you ever decide to switch foods, or even give him some healthy treats, broth, you will be able to monitor what happens when you do. 

In the meantime, as Kieka suggested, try to get him to drink more water.  You can even do this by simply adding water to his food (I'm hoping you're feeding him the canned RX food vs the dry, simply because canned food equals more moisture
.  But the more water bowls and fountains around the house, the better. 
 
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