Ways to help My Emmet

Ever since Emmet got blocked almost died and we found out he had a narrow urethra I have been looking into different kinds of Herbal ways to help him...I think some of you know I have been getting into herbalism a lot lately...Anyhoo...I know that cranberries help keep your bladder and urinary tract healthy and while I was purusing through my copy of Cat Fancy I stumbled across a product called "Uri-Ease" its this cat treat that had cranberry extracts in it....I asked my vet about it and he didnt really know anything about them.... So since i trust you guys like you are my Vet i wanted to know if any of you had used this product and had any imput in the matter...Also since his problem is a blockage will this product even help???
Also if you guys have any more suggestions i would love to hear them all.....thanx in advance

I would think if it had cranberry in it it would help. I came across this product that also has cranberry http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store....p-flypage-2026

Thank you sicsy...i will definitly look into that.......my vet told me that the blockage is caused by too much acid in the urine...and that acid causess crystals...and this product says it lower the ph balance...so heyyy that seems like a good product for my emmet

I must have jinxed myself the other day because Zoey has a UTI too right now So she is on antibiotics. (big freaking horse pills *cries*) The vet said she had very high ph levels, white blood cells and crystals. It's upsetting because I never thought it would happen to my babies. I feed them high quality food, I keep the litterbox clean, and she drinks plenty of water.

So I have the UTI paste but she wont eat it straight out of the tube so I dont know what to do.. I dont want to force her since I'm already having to pill her once a day. It's not fun at all when our babies are sick. I am so glad your Emmet is ok though.

There are two types of crystals commonly found in cat's urine, struvite and oxalate. Struvite crystals are more common in younger cats and form more readily in alkaline urine, urine with a pH higher than 6.5. Oxalate crystals form more readily in a more acidic urine with a pH of 7 or less. So, before you supplement or medicate your cat for crystals, you need to know what you are dealing with. The supplement "Uri-Ease" contains a lot of magnesium. Magnesium is one of the building blocks of struvite crystals. It doesn't state if it acidifies the urine, but that is a common effect of proprietary medications for "urinary tract health" in cats. But if your cat has oxalate crystals, that will make it worse. In people cranberry can keep bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall, helping to decrease infection. I don't know if that is true for cats. Often in cats, infection is not a big part of lower urinary tract disease. Becky

Originally Posted by Sicycat

I must have jinxed myself the other day because Zoey has a UTI too right now

So she is on antibiotics. (big freaking horse pills *cries*) The vet said she had very high ph levels, white blood cells and crystals. It's upsetting because I never thought it would happen to my babies. I feed them high quality food, I keep the litterbox clean, and she drinks plenty of water.

So I have the UTI paste but she wont eat it straight out of the tube so I dont know what to do.. I dont want to force her since I'm already having to pill her once a day. It's not fun at all when our babies are sick. I am so glad your Emmet is ok though.

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You didnt do anything wrong...Sone cats are just prone to it....I guess it can be a very common thing in cats....dont worry...everything will be fine i know it will

Interesting information. I am looking at Zoey's report and 8.5 is circled under PH level. That's pretty high. I havent given her any of the paste though, she wont eat it.

The good news though is she is already peeing normally.. I have not seen her strain or make multiple litterbox trips since Thursday night.

sorry for hijacking your thread bridget

Sinscycat Also i got from the vet this food from Hills called either S/D (stone desolver)..and C/D crystal desolver.......it helps desolve stones and crystals and lowers the acidic level of the cats urine....you could ask your vet about it...

Originally Posted by Nebula11

You didnt do anything wrong...Sone cats are just prone to it....I guess it can be a very common thing in cats....dont worry...everything will be fine i know it will

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Thank you. I really hope this will not be re-occuring Its so hard to pill her. The vet said to make sure I finish all the antibiotics so there is less of a chance of it happening again. She also told me she wont change her diet yet until we get the results from a second urine test at an off site lab. I guess it will tell more information about the urine than the in house test.

Although that would suck too because I also have Saki and if I have to try to feed them different food I'll go crazy

Usually, just switching to a canned low carbohydrate diet is enough to lower their pH to an acceptable level. You might need to start with the prescription diet to dissolve the crystals or stones present, but a good quality canned food will adjust the pH correctly and not over acidify the urine so that doesn't encourage oxalate stones. But the presence of bacteria in the urine will raise the pH, so if there is an infection, it is important to treat it completely. Also, rechecking the urine after switching to the regular diet that you intend to keep the cat on is a good idea, to check that the pH is adequate. Asa got struvite crystals and after a couple of weeks of prescription diet I changed him to all canned Wellness and Merrick and he has not had any problems since. Stress can also be a factor, but on a canned diet he has successfully boarded at the vet, which is what brought on the first attack, and not had any problems. Becky