My poor Donovan

He's all alone at the vet until Monday...He has unfortunatly developed some stones, which are causing blockage and he has had blood in his urine since 1:30ish am this morning. My poor baby! I can't believe this has happened to him! He's not quite 2 yet! And he's on excellent food...which the vet tried to bame it on...she must have been new, never seen her at the clinique before. My Reg. vet was in surgery, and so was my alternat clinic. So instead of having him suffer till sometime after 5 when they may have been able to see him, I let her examine him. So of course she asked what I was feeding him, and I said Royal Canine, and she was like, of that's awful food, no wonder he's got stones. It was all I could do not to hit her! ( obviously fresh out of school, not real world exp. ) So I politely asked what she would suggest and she said "oh I love Iams or Eukanuba" My jaw just hit the floor! I was like yeah, if I wanted to feed him cats and dogs, I'd take home the dead bodies form the pound, it's AWFUL food!!!!I was sooo mad, and had my other vet been available I would have walked right out of there! But since, I had no choice, I left him with her (My reg. Vet there will be the one actually TREATING him, thank god, once he's out of surgery). He was soooo sad, crying...I just wanted to hold him forever. I can;t believe they want to keep him to monday....Why do they need him sooooo long? That's 3 nights!The quotation is outrageous too, never mind and arm & a leg, I'm giving them my body! I just hopehe comes out ok......He's the sweetest kitty in the world.....He dosen't deserve this!


Please keep him in your thoughts, he needs all the comfort in the world right now...he doesn';t like being away from me.

Poor Donovan. He'll survive staying at the vets, but something tells me you're going to be a basket case till he gets home.

If he has developed bladder stones, you will probably have to change foods to a urinary tract formula. My boys are doing wonderfully on PurinaONE. But I think Royal Canine also has one.

omg your vet is an idiot. Iams? Please.

I will send some good vibes for your poor baby. Can you go visit him?? Bring him a stinky shirt that smells like you so he will feel comforted.

Awwww poor baby. ~~mental hugs for kitty~~

She doesn't sound like she knows what she's talking about, and even if she did she was really rude. I think you should print out a bunch of info for her about the differences between what you're feeding him and what she suggested and tell her she needs to read up on it.

Can you go visit him?? Bring him a stinky shirt that smells like you so he will feel comforted.

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They said I could come tomorrow, but I'm working 8:30-6 . And they are closed Sunday so there's no one to let me in to see him. I'm hoping Guy (my fiance) can go see hime tomorrow after work. If he's able to, he'll definatly bring him something to help comfort him.

If he has developed bladder stones, you will probably have to change foods to a urinary tract formula. My boys are doing wonderfully on PurinaONE. But I think Royal Canine also has one.

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Yup, he'll be going on a special diet. I will have to look into the RC, but he may end up on SD for the short term.

I think you should print out a bunch of info for her about the differences between what you're feeding him and what she suggested and tell her she needs to read up on it

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I was thinking that! Got some good links for me? I know I have info somewhere, just need to dig it out...



Oh, and some more good news, just found out he has a heart murmur (they called) So now he has more problems! He's too young to deserve this!!!Have to set up and ultrasound for my next paycheck...

Donovan is such a cutie! I know you don't expect something like this since he's so young, but he'll be okay, I know it. At least your regular vet is the one treating him. Just imagine how happy he'll be to finally come home. But I don't blame you for being a basketcase, I would be too.

My vet recommended a special Eukenuba for my cat (lite-she needed to lose some weight). They sell it there, so I bought it. A few days later I learned what's in Eukenuba and Iams, and threw it out. I don't know how the arrangement works, but they make money off it somehow. I think that new vet was just trying to get you to buy it if they sold it in the clinic.

You and Donovan are in our prayers.

Jill and Candy

Poor baby. A heart murmur is not the end of the world.. dont worry, many cats live just fine with them!!

Well, my fiance was able to go see him today. He's doing well, though not too thrilled with the cone, catheter and IV. But atleast he's getting better! The red blood cell count in his urine has gone wayyyyy down. I can't wait to see him Monday!!!!

Trust me, with Guy seeing him it makes things a lot better. Just letting the cats know you still love them and want them, even if you just sit by the cage and talk. I think it is the only thing that kept my baby Mia alive when she was only a year old (she had pan-leuk and the vet didn't expect her to live through the night, but each day we would leave school and work to go sit with her and talk/cry. I hope everything turns alright, our german shepherd had a heart murmur as a puppy and he is just fine now (a little to fine!).
I am sending major get well vibes!
Oh and I would have laughed in her face if she told me to feed my cats Iams instead of Royal Canin, I know the SPCA recomends it because they also get money from them somehow, which I have no problem with because SPCA's need all the money they can get, along with any other shelter!

Sorry to hear about Donovan. Poor baby. Royal Canin makes my cats sick but I'm guessing the food doesn't have much to do with Donovan's condition. Of course now that you know what it is there are foods special for his condition.

iluvcandy, Eukanuba is made by the same company as IAMS. I guess I'm in the dark here though because I don't know what the issue is with IAMS and Eukanuba. But my cats do beautifully on them.

http://www.uncaged.co.uk/iams.htm
http://www.iamscruelty.com/?source=overture
http://www.iamskills.com/


And well, the food itself is not great...let me see if I can find a comparison for you...

Glad to hear he's doing better. He'll be in our thoughts and prayers.

Don't fret too bad on the heart murmur at this stage. Just keep tabs on it. Cats can live for years with it.

My Sphinx has a heart murmur since last year and he's still doing good with it. There are 6 stages of it (1 being the least and 6 being the worst). Try to find out where it's at on the scale and keep tabs every time he goes in.

Good luck.

you poor thing...i would cry untill my cat came home.. im sure everything will be fine...your kitty will be in my thoughts..


by the way is there really cats and dogs in that food...eeek thats so disturbing.

Poor Donovan. I'll keep him in my thoughts! My Simon had a blockage around Christmas and the vet told me the same thing about Royal Canin, which I had been feeding him for about a year.

He's on diet food from the vet now!

Simon's as good as new now and I'll pray that Donovan comes home that way too!

what a cutie! he has to make it out of there (he will)

i noticed your new, welcome

Oh, Your Donovan is a real cutie. Have faith, everything will be OK. I know how much you are suffering. I had to leave my Kirim 8 days at the vet clinic due to an infection when she was spayed, and believe me , I know what you are going through, but I am sure your regular vet is going to take the best care and Donovan will be home soon with his mami.
I'll be praying for both of you and give a big hug to Donovan once he is home with you.

mzjazz2u -

A cat lover that I know (and I trust his views and opinions) told me that companion animals ARE in IAMs. If you look toward the bottom of the IAMs bag, I think under the ingredients, there are some words and a symbol (I'm so sorry, I was told this a year ago and for the life of me I can't remember the words) that means these dead animals are included in the food.

When I bought the Eukenuba from my vet I didn't realize that IAMs and Eukenuba were made by the same company, that's why I threw the food out.

Even if this turns out to be one of those urban myths, I still couldn't in good conscience buy IAMs because of the cruelty they inflict on the test animals.

I switched Candy over to Wellness dry and she loves it. If smell is any indication, (it really does smell so good, I can smell it as she's eating it) then it must be a good food (I hope).

I read a weekly pets column in my newspaper, and the person who answers owner's questions almost always recommends a holistic diet, switching cats over to organic chicken or turkey. I'm going to do some research about that and talk to my vet to see if she thinks it's a good idea.

Jill and Candy

Hello Lixx, welcome to the site Your Donovan is such a cutie and I hope he gets well soon.
Now, I know this thread isn't really about cat food, but I have read some strange things here. I wouldn't go so far as to say your vet does not know what she/he was talking about. My vet, who is very very good, also likes Eukanuba. In fact, this vet is so good, I drive a very long distance to go there and trust no one else. I have a bobcat as a pet and she is one of the few who will treat her. I have never tried Royal Canin, so I can not make a statement about the quality. However, I have read the ingredients and have seen better. Just because the SPCA recomends it, does not really make it a better food. They recomend it because they get much needed money from Royal Canin. Eukanuba has better ingredients and has one of the best AAFCO statements of most foods I have seen so far. In fact, our bobcat likes the Eukanuba so much, she will not eat her raw meat diet that we make for her.I have tried many other foods, because I thought I could do better than Euckanuba. Some of these so called "all natural" foods go so far as to put carrots, apples, alfalfa and garlic, to name a few, in the food. I don't know, I have never seen my cats go and eat apples or dig carrots out of the ground to eat them and garlic is harmful to cats. My cats will eat grass and have been known to nibble on a pea or bean once in a great while, but that is about it. What is good for us humans is not always good for our pets. One of the cat foods I thought and was told, would be better than Eukanuba, was California natural. Well, my cats did not like it and when they did eat it, one of my Pixie Bobs got a bad case of diarrhea. I bought a new bag of the food thinking maybe the first one was bad, she still had the diarrhea. I put her back on Eukanuba and she was fine. I tried the California natural again, same thing. I have never seen wllness here, so unfortunately, I can not try it. As for IAMS putting companion animals in their food? I have to say, that is one big urban legend. Think about it, where are they getting all the cats and dogs to put in the food? I have read the PETA information about the treatment of cats and dogs in the care of IAMS and I have to say, I found it upsetting, because I love and so do my cats, Eukanuba. However, if we are all truly concerned about the animal care and IAMS, we must all look to the products we buy for ourselves. Everyday products; tooth paste, cleaners, shampoos, deoderants, perfumes, oven cleaners and womans make up, to name a few, have been tested on animals for a long long time. There are some very good products out there that do not, so it is a very good idea to read the labels.
Well, I am sorry, I did not mean for this to go on so long I am not a nutrition expert, but I trust my vets advise and have read a lot about cat nutrition for domestics as well as exotics. I am not sure if anyone else has had a problem with Royal Canin, but it would be interesting to find out. Most of the problems we face with cats having urinary stones, comes from feeding them dry food. I too feed my cats dry food, but supplement their diet with raw turkey a few times a week. So far, I have been lucky. I had 1 cat with urinary stones, she was 14, but was fed lower quality food when she was younger, until I knew better. My oldest cat is 18. Again, I am sorry I took up so much space here

However, if we are all truly concerned about the animal care and IAMS, we must all look to the products we buy for ourselves. Everyday products; tooth paste, cleaners, shampoos, deoderants, perfumes, oven cleaners and womans make up, to name a few, have been tested on animals for a long long time. There are some very good products out there that do not, so it is a very good idea to read the labels.

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I do. I do my best not to support any companies that are associated with animals in any way. I will in no way support the IAMS corp, no matter how good the product "may" be. While RC may not be perfect, it's better then most, and I have no ethical issues feeding it.

Anywho! Donovan is home!!!!!! He is sooo happy to be here! He is demanding love and kisses (so I guess he forgives me!). He'll be on a special diet for a month to dissolve any remaing crystals, then it's just prevention. We've placed many more water sources around, to encourage him to drink more water, which should greatly help. Donovan thanks you all for your support and sends purrs and headbutts to everyone!!!

Yay Donovan! Here's another way to get him to drink more water. If he ever eats wet food, mix a few tablespoons of warm water in with it. Simon loves it!